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...)
if you love something let it go. isnt that what sting sang? let cats be cats. they need to roam and explore.
I didn't love Steve Barrett when I was 11, but when he walked out from behind a bus into the path of a car, I pulled him back to safety.
As with my cats, if they have lived 10 years indoors without growing the required outdoor survival experience and given that I have a "known to be dangerous to cats" road in front of our house, then whilst I appreciate the advice, I prefer to keep them restricted to our garden, until it no longer seems the right thing to do.
And that is how it is working out.
The escape attempts have at last subsided as Blackie appears to have given me this one for the time being.
As they subsided, it then became possible to give him more time in the garden, MUCH more, and better quality, happier time, and cats are not stupid... They did however somehow manage to get a third cat to come and join them today, whilst I made a cup of tea, and they noted how he left, but did not attempt to follow. The idea of making our fences actually too high to cross, prison camp style did not sit well with me, but making the perimeter a decent enough obstacle that gives a cat pause for reflection, (and makes an attempt noisy enough that I can thwart it) Seemed to be the way to go. Each time he looks at the place from where he used to escape, and decides not to try, reinforces the desired mindset. I'd LOVE the idea of him to go out and be free and as cat as he can possibly be, but the same thing that stops me walking into the local gypsy encampment and seeing how many friends I can make, is the same thing that keeps him inside of our garden. I honestly believe that neither of us has had the right preparation in life, to need those experiences. SOMEONE ELSE neutered him. Someone Else kept him indoors for ten years, but I have the power to now make the decisions for him and I have to consider that his urge to explore might get him into situations for which he is unprepared, because of his previous ten years.
They both are a lot happier and friendly now since when I made the original post, and (touch wood) the digestive issues seem to be in the rear mirror at last, so this feels a lot like winning.
Blackie has become very "Familiar" already, in a very fast time indeed. He is fast asleep snoring away on some packing material he discovered, but I know when I get up to go to bed he will most likely wake up and follow me... And no, surprisingly enough, fleas are very, very, rarely an issue for us.
Forty years ago I learned all I ever needed to about fleas, which is that a nice warm/hot cup of reasonably strong tea with 2 sugars left near where your cat sits, or if it's on you where YOU sit, is irresistible to the little buggers, and a dead easy way to check for them.
I do not prophylactically treat my cats with the latest flea treatment, unless they actually get fleas, which flies in the face of every bit of vetinary advice that I get, but is A) cheaper, & B) does not expose the cats metabolism to unneccesary chemistry. I do what works for me and my cats, which is not always exactly the same as the professional classes advise as being correct.
Right now I am being asked to stop typing and come and do a service...
ive had a load of cats in a rural place. one road. the only road. ,most of them still get hit by cars. i think its the hegerows... once something gets their attention they tune out the oncoming traffic. saying that i would still let them out. dont want to fall out with anyone. good luck.