On 2005-06-18 05:55:51 -0700, "C. Andrews La Varre"
said:

Hi all.

Below is the saga of Hank, who was locked in a basement for 31 days
before he was found, alive, but three of nine pounds lighter. We've
done the vet route and all will be fine, but in the meantime, I
really don't want to go through that again, and I'm sure he doesn't
either. So the issue I ask you to help solve is:

+ How do I let him be a cat and go in and out but stay in the yard?

I'm looking at Innotek and PetSafe, and of course am overwhelmed by
the available choices. PetSafe has one version with an "ultralight"
1.5 oz receiver, but how big. Most talk about controlling dogs, what
about cats?

I'm not sure cats are as trainable as dogs, although Hank has been
trained to not leave the boat we lived on for several years by being
dumped in the water whenever he tried to leave. It only took two
such events to convince him.

Supervision. Lots and lots of supervision. And positive reinforcement.
And consistency.

We have a pair of former ferals who go out in our (very tiny) backyard
to play, but don't go outside the limits we've set for them. They're
not 100% perfectly reliable, and we don't let them go out unless
someone is downstairs and can check on them every 10 to 15 minutes. Our
yard is tiny, but has a 6 foot privacy fence, which makes for a very
visible and easy to identify barrier for them. I don't know if they
would do as well with a chain link or no fence at all.

We've done it by being consistent, reinforcing that they have to come
when we call them and making sure that they don't associate being
called with having to stay inside. Standard positive reinforcement
training techniques. We're at a disadvantage, though, as the kittens
don't like any of your standard cat treats. They like kibble and they
like some kids of wet food, so we have to rely on voice and praise to
reinforce them.

Valeria has wandered off once or twice when we weren't checking
frequently enough. We think she's following her momma (a feral we've
TNR'd and are slowly socializing) off to where ever momma hides. We're
trying to be a bit more pro-active and keep a better eye on her, but
haven't yet sorted out how to convince her this is not acceptable
behaviour.

So if you want him to be able to go outside but stay in the yard, you
can. It's a LOT of work, though, to train them to do so, and you can't
just let them go out and expect them to remember that, say, not getting
on the fence is against the rules.

As I write this, the door has been open for the last 6 hours. Cats (all
three of them) have been in and out, Amelia is currently playing
outside (after taking her morning siesta in her bed inside) and Valeria
is curled up on the chair spending quite a bit of time playing outside
this morning. Last I looked, Momma was curled up down the side of the
house in one of her spots.

As an aside, all the cats are chipped and the kittens (well, they're 2
year old 'kittens') have collars.

I'm glad you found Hank! Sounds like he's a great cat.

bisky