Cats and Kittens

On our trip to Tag yesterday, we bought a carrying cage, some canvas with which to build scratching posts. kitty litter. some dry cat food, a squirt gun, and a trio of ping pong balls. They like the ping pong balls, which work well on my tile floors, and the kitty litter. The food is okay. They have yet to face the wrath of my squirt gun.
 
Zkribbler said:
On our trip to Tag yesterday, we bought a carrying cage, some canvas with which to build scratching posts. kitty litter. some dry cat food, a squirt gun, and a trio of ping pong balls. They like the ping pong balls, which work well on my tile floors, and the kitty litter. The food is okay. They have yet to face the wrath of my squirt gun.
Click to expand...
Just be prepared to use the squirt gun for other purposes if you find your cats either don't respond to it or develop behavioral issues because of it.

Of course there are times when you shouldn't use it - if the cats are snoozing on your computer keyboard, for example (some kittens do that; a couple of mine did).
 
We had a kitty jailbreak last night. :hide:

Boots snuck out of the upper floor of the little house, came down the steps to my orchard garden, then jumped the one meter down to the ground level.
I noticed my German Shepherd Magellan looking with consternation and curiosity at the ground and further explanation revealed the fugitive kitty. Busted!

My fear of the kitties getting down to ground level is they will squeeze under the gate and get into the traffic of National Highway. :run:
 
Zkribbler said:
We had a kitty jailbreak last night. :hide:

Boots snuck out of the upper floor of the little house, came down the steps to my orchard garden, then jumped the one meter down to the ground level.
I noticed my German Shepherd Magellan looking with consternation and curiosity at the ground and further explanation revealed the fugitive kitty. Busted!

My fear of the kitties getting down to ground level is they will squeeze under the gate and get into the traffic of National Highway. :run:
Click to expand...

Not allowed outside?

One of our friends kittehs. He's young, less than a year.

IMG-716ea2ee541c19bf2f854266a459b3b2-V.jpg


This is Rex.
 
Zkribbler said:
Only under close supervision.

Cats are smart. Any escapee would soon figure out how to scoot under the gate, which leads to the National Highway and speeding vehicles. :scared:
Click to expand...
It's best to keep them inside for several months and get settled with all the people and inside places before you let them venture out. And for the first few times supervise them.
 
Zkribbler said:
Only under close supervision.

Cats are smart. Any escapee would soon figure out how to scoot under the gate, which leads to the National Highway and speeding vehicles. :scared:
Click to expand...
I still have to watch Maddy when the door is open. It's annoying when the maintenance guys come around because I have to keep telling them to shut the door so the cat doesn't escape.

I still lived in a house with a large, semi-wild back yard when I adopted Maddy. It was a cat's paradise, but apartment living put a stop to that. Maddy's been out on her own about five times since 2009 - once because the screen popped out of the basement window and she fell out - and was thankfully so surprised at being outside that I had time to grab her by whatever part of her anatomy I could reach and get her back inside. She got out into the hallway and I ended up chasing her around the apartment building at 3 am (thankfully it was only 3 floors and this was before I had the walker); I finally cornered her under the table in the laundry room.

The next excursion into the hallway was the one that resulted in my getting the walker. She got out, I was trying to catch her, I lost my balance, had a bad fall, and that's the end of venturing outside without any kind of mobility aids.

Another time she got out on the balcony, and I managed to get her back in immediately. And of course she snuck out when the pizza guy was at the door. Now I tell people at the door that if they distract me enough so the cat escapes, they have to help catch her.

After all these years of living inside an apartment, she still doesn't understand why she can't just roam around and explore. Cats aren't allowed, and it isn't safe. If someone were to toss her outside, that would be it. She has zero survival skills to fend for herself.
 
I sometimes let my cats on the apartment balcony when the weather is nice. But I had to stop letting one out because she would jump on the railing and it's a long fall.

Sometimes they rush out to the apartment hallway too. Thankfully the doors to the stairs are closed for fire reasons.
 
Seems weird not letting your cat out to me. Dexter loves the outdoors, gets to mooch on new humans.

Not judging and I've never really had to live in an apartment long term.

Very different culture I suppose.
 
I remember hearing at one time statistics of cat lifespans. IIRC, it was 10 years for an indoor cat, 4 years for an outdoor cat, due to traffic, stray dogs, and diseases.

Our cats are allowed into the orchard garden, which is about 4 meters by 4 meters and 1 meter above ground level. There is a forest of shrubs in there, plus 4 coconut trees with metal bands (to keep out the rats which live in the trees), so it's a kitty playground. It's fenced with fishnet, so I foolishly thought the kittens couldn't get out. One kitten came bounding down the steps into the orchard garden just as JJ came out of her room. She made kissing sounds, the kitten raced over and up the fishnet, doing a flip at the top. She caught him as he plummeted. --I need a new plan. :think:
 
We have list a couple of kittehs, one to a car another one due to infection from getting in a fight.

Sucked but I suppose the idea of keeping them inside is very alien here. Most landlords won't let you keep one in an apartment.

Due to housing crisis a lot of landlords have no pets policy full stop.

IMG_20200914_082732.jpg


She likes the balcony you can kind of see in the background. She goes outside to use the bathroom.

This thing barely leaves the house. Dexter lives outdoors,cones in for food and to sleep.

Think he's top cat in the neighborhood and he lives mooching on strangers. Kids next door love him and they can't own pets.
 
Zkribbler said:
I remember hearing at one time statistics of cat lifespans. IIRC, it was 10 years for an indoor cat, 4 years for an outdoor cat, due to traffic, stray dogs, and diseases.

Our cats are allowed into the orchard garden, which is about 4 meters by 4 meters and 1 meter above ground level. There is a forest of shrubs in there, plus 4 coconut trees with metal bands (to keep out the rats which live in the trees), so it's a kitty playground. It's fenced with fishnet, so I foolishly thought the kittens couldn't get out. One kitten came bounding down the steps into the orchard garden just as JJ came out of her room. She made kissing sounds, the kitten raced over and up the fishnet, doing a flip at the top. She caught him as he plummeted. --I need a new plan. :think:
Click to expand...
Your orchard garden sounds like a great place for them. For many decades all of of our 30+ cats have been indoor/outdoor. Almost all made it to 10-12 years and many to 15+. At the moment we have 2 over 10 and 1 at ~6.
 
 
Summertime and the living is easy...


IMG_0134.jpg
 
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