Derek Roche wasn’t keen on the notion of adopting a cat when his fiancée initially suggested it. He agreed to go along with it because she was so happy about it, so they welcomed Jellli into their family — and it didn’t take long for Roche and Jellli to become great friends.
“The first night,” Roche told us, “my girlfriend requested if [Jellli] could sleep in our bed for just one night.” “By the next day, I was completely smitten with her.”
Roche liked taking Jellli outdoors into the yard to explore since she was such a confident and interested kitty. He was inspired to create her an outside play place after observing how she would light up anytime she was outside.
When Jellli’s health began to deteriorate, she became more cautious and timid, and Roche realized that an outside play place was more vital than ever in helping her deal with her problems and reclaim some of her confidence. Roche and his partner decided to acquire two additional cats that also like being outside, which clinched the deal, and Roche began work on creating the nicest outdoor play environment ever for his cats.
Roche had never undertaken a project like this before and lacked knowledge in the field. He had to practically figure things out as he went along, but happily, Jellli was always there to help him out.
“The task required a lot of attention to detail, and I was learning as I went,” Roche remarked. “I had a strategy in my brain that I followed quite closely. Every day, Jellli arrived on-site, and I observed her movements and reactions to how things were going, where she preferred to sit, and how she navigated the framework. I also utilized her to gain a feeling of size for things like pathways and doorways.
Roche worked on the project most days before going to work, as well as on weekends, and it began to take shape slowly but steadily. The outdoor play facility was finally finished after a year of effort, and Roche couldn’t wait for his cats to try it out.
Jellli and her brother Smudge fell in love with their new outside habitat the instant they saw it. Penny, their younger sister, needed a few days to warm up to it, but she now enjoys it and is perhaps the most outgoing of the three. They enjoy spending the entire day out there together, playing and napping in various locations, and Roche is overjoyed that his hard work has paid off.
The outside play area has its own litter box, and Roche makes sure the cats have fresh water at all times. There is currently no way for the cats to securely go from the outside space to the home on their own, but Roche is working on constructing a skywalk that will allow them to do so anytime they choose.
Roche recognized that spending more time outside would bring Jellli and her brothers a lot of joy, so he designed the nicest outdoor play place imaginable exclusively for them.
