So i began noticing that Cricket was not interested in spending time with me any longer. She would demand rather urgently to have her food immediately upon me pulling up and then disappear under the car as soon as it was eaten. One night i became fed up with this screaming and clawing to get food and then disappearing immediately. It felt very ungrateful and i felt used. I followed her under the car with the intention of retrieving her for a cuddle. I didnt want to be the cat’s wallet and nothing else. I felt like our relationship had become rather transactional and i couldnt understand when it had happened or why. This was a cat that used to sleep in my arms for an hour after mealtimes. Now she just disappeared. When i looked under the car she wasnt there. It was like some kind of magic. She had gone under the car and then she wasnt there a second later. I suddenly realized where she was. I opened the hood of my car. This cat had crawled into the innards of my car to be near the warm engine, protected from raccoons, foxes, and coyotes, and of course the cold. She wanted nothing to do with me because she had to get in there while the engine was still warm. She was in there happily making biscuits on various rubber tubing. I wasnt sure what it belonged to, im not a car gal, but i was sure whatever it was i needed it not to have tiny little pin prick holes in it. also, i was pretty sure it would ruin the engine and the cat to start the car with her in there. Now i would have to be so careful every time i tried to drive somewhere. I tried to reach in and pull her out but cricket just delved deeper underneath all the metal and tubing. I could see her tail. In the end it was the only part of her sticking out. She singed the fur on her face black and got grease on her. She burned the fur off one of her ears. I tried to get her out by poking a metal tomato or bean growing stick in there, then a branch, but she refused to budge. In the end i opened a can of cat food on the porch and the noise sent her running in my direction. I caught her, put her in the pet taxi that was meant to be her bed, and called a family member. After hours of discussion, i could not figure out how to keep her out of the engine of my car without a garage. The decision was made that she would have to be an indoor cat. I couldnt have her running loose in the house. She was half feral. She would pee and shred everything (i was right about this). I put her in an old dog crate and made her a makeshift litter box with a baking dish and litter i had from years ago to put under car tires and on porches in sleet situations. I put her blankets and a scratching post in there. I got her a few jingle toys. I ordered a 4.5 by 4.5 ft outdoor enclosure for cats with 3 stories. I would need some place for her to stretch her legs. So, cricket being a mouser went out the window when she took my car engine for her new home. Also, i lost my bathroom that i had just reclaimed from the chickens, permanently. I will never again know the luxury of standing directly by the sink while brushing teeth or being able to face forwards while sitting on the toilet. But, she showed up here so God must have meant her to be with me. She cant live in the car engine so this is the only logical option and here we are.