Published on 12, July, 2020
I've run into a couple of cat issues with our pair of Rescue cats, one psychological and one more "digestive".
We are pretty sucessful generally with cat's and I like to think of myself as a "cat whisperer", but there comes a point where you need a bit of guidance.
1. My ginger boy alternates between eating healthily and just not being able to hold anything down. We've tried hairball remedy, all sorts of foods, but it just seems random. You can get quite a while out of him, but just when you thinking this combo works, it comes back..It seems to be connected to his vocal abiltiy.
2. These are INDOOR CATS, we got 'em at ten years of age, I was told they were indoor only by cat's protection and that it would be nice to give them a run or even fence off the garden...
Well, we waited for 6 months, until they'd got some sort of a functioning relationship with us, before (whilst i was down south visiting a mate) my O/H unilaterally decided to give the orange boy some garden time, which he was obviously quite keen to have... By the time I got home a week later this was a regular gig.
Well it was bloody great at first! They ate grass, (both are really, really keen on a bit of fresh grass), orange boy used the facilities outdoors, (vastly reducing my workload!) and they both really, really liked it for about a month. Then they started wanting more & more... 4 "escapes" later, (which ever one it is always come back real quick) and I'm at my wits end. They are REALLY resourceful!! I simply cannot convert them into "outdoor cats" at ten years of age, (even if the cats protection people would forgive me) but they seem so damn determined to explore.
Our belief is that they didn't get the same level of "interest and interaction" from their previous human staff, and they seem to be coming along really well, especially the one who only reliably responds to the full appellation "Queen Missy Spud the first". Unfortunately, as my 01:15 experience up on the garage roof attempting to rescue the golden boy, followed by my 01:30 foray into the next door neighbours (very secure) garden via ladder with cat basket in hand, indicates, we don't yet quite have the level of understanding and trust that I usually get to enjoy. But it has only been six months... Gaining that proper trust and understanding with a cat can be a multiyear project I know. (getting past that point where they stop "masking", and treat you more like a companion and less like a "keeper".
We lack the resources to get an eight foot high fence around the garden, a "professional company" quoted us £2,000 just for bits of plastic and wire supports, with a plan that would not have worked anyway on our bottom fence, so whilst I keep plugging the gaps as they find them*, any hints as to ways to reduce their wanderlust would be greatly appreciated! (I never thought he'd even consider, much less easily execute a 7 foot drop from an upper story window onto a shed roof, although I never leave that particular window more than a crack open anyway...)
Did your cats develope a habit of sitting by the window watching the world outside?
Ours like like different things at different times. Ours are clearly adjusting to a completely new way of living. Even basic playing seemed to be a novelty. (although to be fair that's been a bit thin on the ground recently but they have been instead exposed to the garden which is clearly a BIG hit with them.
I think we are starting to get the idea that the boundaries are there for a reason, and that when we need to go in, we need to go in without any messing about.
And to be fair, I've NEVER seen a cat actually respond correctly to "Stay" before like Blackie did the other night. That was new to me. (It was V. late and they needed some fresh grass, I wan;t in the mood to mess about and when Blackie went to follow me onto the garden I told him, (in a fairly grumpy & businesslike way, to be fair) "No, mate, I need you to STAY". He was still sitting in the same spot when I returned with a bowl of fresh grass...
They have a bay window at the front that they like, and a bedroom window at the back from which they can look down and survey the garden, and all the places we don't want them to go. Next week, more materials will be arriving with which to increase the difficulty of exiting our garden. If we didn't have a patio twixt house and grass we'd have got them a catio ages ago, but they really need better access to what nature remains in our garden. When it's fully secured against escape by a combination of physical barriers and/or psychology then they can have catflap access to it.
I have to assume that whilst they are not a perfect prganisation that the cat's protection peoples experience of many cats has greater value than my much more limited experience of a few cats.
I do know that cats can live to a great many years in a very restricted environment. I do know that ours show all the signs of being happy and contented, and none of the signs of frustration and boredom. We seem to have a lot of "give and take" going on, and the little one is definitely losing her fear of me now, and gaining a little bit more confidence every day. Today, she woke me up and was nice to me. Which is new, she used to outsource al the "human wrangling" to Blackie, but recently she's been starting to take some initiative.
Cats are interesting and it's great to bring them on a bit, so they start trying to interact with you properly, and not just to get a simple result before going back to ignoring you. I just wish I could be so successful with humans...
Me too, I speak cat :P but not human.
I am happy to hear you're taking such a good care of your pets, they are more important than humans. Staring through the window will hopefully replace the need to explore.
My friend's flatmate, a difficult case, is moving out of their flat and my friend asked me if I want to take over his room, I said ''Yes man''. My friend has a whole bunch of various animals and landlord's permission to keep them, his dog staffy bulldog Princess is cat friendly, I'm thinking about adopting a pair of cats after I move in, until now I couldn't find a flat where landlord would say yes. Except there is no garden, and the flat is in block of flats, but ground level, so I could leave the window open for them.