Vino is getting more and more daring

Up until recently, whenever Vino made a dash out the front door, he'd just
go to the nearest patch of grass and start munching. It was pretty easy to
just go over and pick him up and bring him back inside.
Well, all that has changed apparently. A few weeks ago, he managed to
streak past me as I was coming in with a load of groceries. I put the bags
down and went back out to see where he was and just saw him jumping over the
low wall into the neighbour's yard! And to top it all off, he went straight
to their dog enclosure and stood only about a foot away from where the dog
was barking up a frenzy right at Vino!
I rushed over, calling his name. He gave me a dirty look and hunkered down
under the neighbour's car. Now how was I supposed to get him. The
neighbour lady must have heard my yelling so she came out and with both her
and me running around the car yelling at Vino, he finally came out and I was
able to corner him and get him back home. What a little brat! Unbelievable
that he would choose to go right up to a barking dog too, even if it was in
an enclosure.
Anyway, just a few days ago, just before Dennis left, we'd gone out for a
few errands. Came home to find the front door open! Yikes! I guess it
hadn't quite clicked in properly. Needless to say, Vino was nowhere to be
found inside. Dennis totally started freaking and began running up and down
the street looking for Vino. I figured I might as well check in the
neighbour's yard again. Aha! There he was, hunkered down under their car!
He must have been down there for a while because he actually came to me when
I called him. I took him home and he barfed up a bunch of grass and lay
there panting from all the heat and excitement.
Now I'm even more freaked out about him getting out. Maybe we should just
consider moving back into a high-rise condo? Well, I guess that's not
exactly an option around here, but I'm really going to have to watch him
more closely from now on.
--
Britta
ROT13 to reply
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on Vino and "friends" album

badwilson wrote:

A few weeks ago, he managed to
streak past me as I was coming in with a load of groceries.

Before I started letting Smudge out on a leash, I kept her inside all
the time, so she was extremely anxious to get out. I always had to worry
about going in and out, because she always tried to escape. So I have
had some practice dealing with this.

The main piece of advice I have (not that you asked, so if this wouldn't
work for you, just skip it) is *never* enter or leave the house with anything
in your hands. Put your groceries down outside the door and let yourself
in first. That way you'll have both hands ready to catch him as you enter.
(It's also good to enter in a semi-crouched position, so your hands can be
at cat-level.)

Once inside, put Vino in a closed room, and then bring in whatever you have
to bring in. That's what I had to do. After you've got everything, including
yourself, inside and the door shut tight, you can let him out of the closed
room.

I don't know if he's ever gotten out when you're leaving, but I developed
a trick for not letting Smudge get out: "toss'n'slam". I'd pick her up
with one hand, and have *nothing* in my other hand. Then, I'd lightly (and
gently) toss her into the room, and then immediately shut the door with the
other hand before she could get back.

Yeah, it's a pain in the ass, but not as much as running up and down the
street calling for him!

Hope you find a way to keep him from escaping!

Joyce

I don't know if this will work for Vino, but it works for us. Every
single time we open the door (the main door we use anyway, which has
glass panes so we can see how many cats are there), we make a sound like
a hiss, but with a p. Like pssstttt!!!! The cats now understand what it
means and they scurry away from the door as soon as we open it.

Good luck with crazy Vino!

--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

"Victor Martinez" wrote
I don't know if this will work for Vino, but it works for us. Every
single time we open the door (the main door we use anyway, which has
glass panes so we can see how many cats are there), we make a sound like
a hiss, but with a p. Like pssstttt!!!! The cats now understand what it
means and they scurry away from the door as soon as we open it.


I hiss, too, when I open the door. It keeps my cats from escaping through
the door, though they are always there to meet me when I open it. Maybe Vino
isn't intimidated by a human hiss, if he's not even intimidated by a barking
d*g? Crazy cat. ;o) Purrs that he doesn't manage to escape again.

--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi

On 2 Dec 2003 05:53:32 -0600, "badwilson" wrote:

Up until recently, whenever Vino made a dash out the front door, he'd just
go to the nearest patch of grass and start munching. It was pretty easy to
just go over and pick him up and bring him back inside.
Well, all that has changed apparently. A few weeks ago, he managed to
streak past me as I was coming in with a load of groceries. I put the bags
down and went back out to see where he was and just saw him jumping over the
low wall into the neighbour's yard! And to top it all off, he went straight
to their dog enclosure and stood only about a foot away from where the dog
was barking up a frenzy right at Vino!
I rushed over, calling his name. He gave me a dirty look and hunkered down
under the neighbour's car. Now how was I supposed to get him. The
neighbour lady must have heard my yelling so she came out and with both her
and me running around the car yelling at Vino, he finally came out and I was
able to corner him and get him back home. What a little brat! Unbelievable
that he would choose to go right up to a barking dog too, even if it was in
an enclosure.
Anyway, just a few days ago, just before Dennis left, we'd gone out for a
few errands. Came home to find the front door open! Yikes! I guess it
hadn't quite clicked in properly. Needless to say, Vino was nowhere to be
found inside. Dennis totally started freaking and began running up and down
the street looking for Vino. I figured I might as well check in the
neighbour's yard again. Aha! There he was, hunkered down under their car!
He must have been down there for a while because he actually came to me when
I called him. I took him home and he barfed up a bunch of grass and lay
there panting from all the heat and excitement.
Now I'm even more freaked out about him getting out. Maybe we should just
consider moving back into a high-rise condo? Well, I guess that's not
exactly an option around here, but I'm really going to have to watch him
more closely from now on.

The "squirt bottle" has always worked for me. I no longer have to use
it. In the beginning (after adoption) each tried to escape and did a
couple of times. When I started with the spray bottles, they caugt on
fast. They don't like it but it won't hurt them and they do not seem
to associate it with me. Better to have a face full of spray than to
be run over. MLB

That truly is scary! I do hope you find a way to keep Vino inside when you
go out or come back. Can you maybe put him in a room and close the door when
you go out? If he has his toys there he may not feel so confined.
Best wishes,
--
Polonca & Soncek

"badwilson" wrote in message
...
Up until recently, whenever Vino made a dash out the front door, he'd just
go to the nearest patch of grass and start munching. It was pretty easy
to
just go over and pick him up and bring him back inside.
Well, all that has changed apparently. A few weeks ago, he managed to
streak past me as I was coming in with a load of groceries. snip

On Tue, 2 Dec 2003 4:18:04 -0800, wrote
(in message ):

If he is going to hide under cars the only recourse I know of is a squirt
gun. Once they know they can get squirted you don't have to squirt them
just herd them with it by spraying and moving the spray towards him. I
got pretty good at herding Bruiser with a squirt gun. You can also shoot
it ahead of him and turn him. Bruiser rushes the door as well. I always
assume he is going to rush it and pick him up and toss him on a well
padded chair that is a few feet away.

badwilson wrote:

A few weeks ago, he managed to
streak past me as I was coming in with a load of groceries.

Before I started letting Smudge out on a leash, I kept her inside all
the time, so she was extremely anxious to get out. I always had to worry
about going in and out, because she always tried to escape. So I have
had some practice dealing with this.

The main piece of advice I have (not that you asked, so if this wouldn't
work for you, just skip it) is *never* enter or leave the house with anything
in your hands. Put your groceries down outside the door and let yourself
in first. That way you'll have both hands ready to catch him as you enter.
(It's also good to enter in a semi-crouched position, so your hands can be
at cat-level.)

Once inside, put Vino in a closed room, and then bring in whatever you have
to bring in. That's what I had to do. After you've got everything, including
yourself, inside and the door shut tight, you can let him out of the closed
room.

I don't know if he's ever gotten out when you're leaving, but I developed
a trick for not letting Smudge get out: "toss'n'slam". I'd pick her up
with one hand, and have *nothing* in my other hand. Then, I'd lightly (and
gently) toss her into the room, and then immediately shut the door with the
other hand before she could get back.

Yeah, it's a pain in the ass, but not as much as running up and down the
street calling for him!

Hope you find a way to keep him from escaping!

Joyce

wrote in message
...
badwilson wrote:

A few weeks ago, he managed to
streak past me as I was coming in with a load of groceries.

Before I started letting Smudge out on a leash, I kept her inside all
the time, so she was extremely anxious to get out. I always had to worry
about going in and out, because she always tried to escape. So I have
had some practice dealing with this.

The main piece of advice I have (not that you asked, so if this wouldn't
work for you, just skip it) is *never* enter or leave the house with
anything
in your hands. Put your groceries down outside the door and let yourself
in first. That way you'll have both hands ready to catch him as you enter.
(It's also good to enter in a semi-crouched position, so your hands can be
at cat-level.)

Once inside, put Vino in a closed room, and then bring in whatever you
have
to bring in. That's what I had to do. After you've got everything,
including
yourself, inside and the door shut tight, you can let him out of the
closed
room.

I don't know if he's ever gotten out when you're leaving, but I developed
a trick for not letting Smudge get out: "toss'n'slam". I'd pick her up
with one hand, and have *nothing* in my other hand. Then, I'd lightly (and
gently) toss her into the room, and then immediately shut the door with
the
other hand before she could get back.

Yeah, it's a pain in the ass, but not as much as running up and down the
street calling for him!

Hope you find a way to keep him from escaping!

Yeah, we often lock him in the bathroom when we have a big load of groceries
to bring in. Have done the "toss'n'slam" too (great term, BTW!). When
leaving, we also have this trick where we sort of squeeze him behind the
open screen door against the wall, then quickly close the front door.
I swear, when we build our "dream house", it's going to have a double door
entry way, a vestibule kind of thing. That way he won't get out so easily.
He is the biggest sneak! And if we don't let him out, he lets us have it
with a stream of nasty language like you wouldn't believe. Whoever taught
him to swear like that, I wonder ;-)
--
Britta
ROT13 to reply
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on Vino and "friends" album

badwilson wrote:


He is the biggest sneak! And if we don't let him out, he lets us have it
with a stream of nasty language like you wouldn't believe. Whoever taught
him to swear like that, I wonder ;-)
--


Pine Cone grins proudly

Pam S. who's not surprised

badwilson wrote:

I swear, when we build our "dream house", it's going to have a double door
entry way, a vestibule kind of thing. That way he won't get out so easily.

LOL!!! You have to have a special security chamber for the kitty!

Joyce