A cat's first winter bring a lot of anxiety...

On Dec 12, 7:35 pm, "-Lost" wrote:
Response to "William Graham" :

Reminds me of the Robert A. Heinlein story, "The Door into Summer"
about the cat that kept going from door to door, looking for the
one that led to Summertime Weather........

Hrmm... which one?

http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/bo...59714973&isbn=
0345330129

http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/bo...59714973&isbn=
0345413997

The FIRST one looks right (cat on the cover) yet talks about a guy time
traveling.

Or was the cat not the main character?

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Door_into_Summer

Response to honeybunch :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Door_into_Summer

Jeeeez, how many copies of this book have been made (by the same
author)?

Thanks for the link!

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

studio wrote:

: lol...you're new at being a doorman aren't you?

It became especially intense once the weather turned arctic.

: Resist temptation to feed her every time.

We compromise with her 1/2 way. What I try to do is to divide up the
same food in more snacks.

: Discourage play? Better to warn your visitors...

Yeah, don't know what I was thinking. I thought there might be a way to
"request" her that is ok to ambush us but not others. Maybe not.

: A better rule of thumb would be what her purpose of going outside is.
: If she is just going to the bathroom, give her 5-10-15 minutes
: dependent on wind and temperture, and call her back inside.

Maybe I'll better but so far I really can't tell when she intends to
only go bathroom and return soon, and when she wants to goof around
outdoors. I am also not very successful at "calling her back". Once I
let her out, she returns when she feels like it.

So our decision is only to let her out or not. Of course, when we are
going to be home we let her out and she can come in whenever she wants,
at most she has to wait a few minutes at the door before we notice her.
(she climbs to the window, which is pretty visible from many angles
inside, and makes a great spectacle of herself).

The tough part is deciding when we are going to be away for a chunk of
time: should we leave her in (with litter box, some snack) or out?
There is no doubt that she would like to be left out but in bad whether
she may regret it when she want to come in and can't.

(One mystery in the puzzle is that her old house has a cat door, so she
could go there and be safe, but as far as we can tell she has stopped
going there. I tried leaving her favorite kibble inside and it was
untouched. I don't know if she'll remember to go there if she was
uncomfortable outside.)

So far we have have locked her in a few times and she has been upset
with us later, refusing to talk or play for several hours. The mood
resets itself by 4-5AM next morning

AKT wrote:

....

Sorry, that got posted from a family member's account. No big deal but
didn't want to confuse anyone.

On Dec 12, 3:53�am, RPSinha wrote:
I am taking care of a cat, approx 1 yr old, for neighbors who are out
of the country for several months. During warmer days, she spent her
days in the connected yards including perhaps her own, came to us at
sunset, had dinner, went to sleep on our couch, woke up around 5AM,
demanded breakfast, and then went out. Her behavior was perfect if a
bit reserved.

As Midwestern winter has set in, perhaps the first one of her conscious
life, her behavior and personality have changed. That plus our
inexperience is giving rise to some anxiety and *many* questions. All
help on what we should do, or leave alone, would be appreciated.

0. With snow storms and icy rains outside, she is now spending much
more time at our home indoors. This is also driving her stir-crazy and
moody.

1. Sometimes she wants to get out at odd hours. Of course, she's back
soon, or not so soon and we are worried. Then she wants to go out
again. (This is at least partly because she hates using the litter box
and wouldn't unless the weather was truly miserable outside, but also
because she has had outdoors all her life and feels cooped in)

2. She wants to eat something every few hours. I think she is bored,
not hungry. We resist, try to entertain her, but success is limited.
She is always sitting in the kitchen or follows us there and expects at
least a few crumbs of something.

3. She has started a new game indoors which is to hide behind something
and mock-attack our legs as we pass by. It is truly harmless and we
even enjoy it, but she tries the same with visitors and they get
startled. How to discourage that?

5. Tonight she wanted to go out and down. Something about icy stairs
spooked her and she came back and (for the first time) climbed &
started walking on the railing of our 3rd floor porch. The railing is
only 3" wide and was icy in patches. If she had fallen, it would be
onto a wooden deck about 2.5 floors below.

When I saw this my heart almost stopped. She wouldn't listen to my
pleadings to come back and I didn't want to startle her. Fortunately I
was only a few feet away from the dry food bag and the sound of shaking
the bag brought her down and in! (Question: Was I right to worry about
her on a 3" railing, or is that safe enough for cats?)

6. She has been an indoor-outdoor almost all her life here and wants to
go out. If she has been out for long, we may get busy and she may have
to wait 20-30 minutes before someone notices her and lets her in.

Question: �Up to what kind of wind-chill can she safely wait 30 minutes
outside? (I have put a heat-reflecting pad on the chair and there is a
doormat.) If she did stay there, she may be exposed to the wind but not
precipitation.

Question: Up to what kind of temperatures can she safely stay outdoor
all day? (I am sure she can find places that are dry--though she could
get rain/snow getting to those--and avoid winds, but not sure if she
has any really warm spots.)

7. Inside our home the night temperatures is set at 60 deg. She is
welcome to sleep anywhere and she has her favorite comforter, cushions,
beds, etc. But we don't have any cat-beds, neither heated ones nor
dome/pyramid types that would trap her body heat. Should we? Are those
things essential or gimmicks?

8. Everyone is spreading rock salt and the more expensive kind. Are
those harmful to her?

Lots of questions, and as I said all help appreciated!

You obviously like to take things very seriously. I see that you tend
to compensate for your insecurities by talking a lot. Do you realize
this....? Because none of your concerns are well-founded. Not in my
opinion.


IBen Getiner

In article IBen Getiner wrote:

: You obviously like to take things very seriously. I see that you tend
: to compensate for your insecurities by talking a lot. Do you realize
: this....? Because none of your concerns are well-founded. Not in my
: opinion.

One of the pleasures of Usenet is that we meet all kinds.

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:35:44 -0600 from -Lost
:
Response to "William Graham" :

Reminds me of the Robert A. Heinlein story, "The Door into Summer"
about the cat that kept going from door to door, looking for the
one that led to Summertime Weather........

Hrmm... which one?

The FIRST one looks right (cat on the cover) yet talks about a guy time
traveling.

Or was the cat not the main character?

The cat was the sidekick of the main character, who was a time-
traveling man.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
"If there's one thing I know, it's men. I ought to: it's
been my life work." -- Marie Dressler, in /Dinner at Eight/

On 13 Dec, 01:17, "William Graham" wrote:
"studio" wrote in message

...





On Dec 12, 8:21 am, "-Lost" wrote:
Response to studio :

You may be able to find a extra small dog house and line the
bottom inside with foam and a piece or two of old blankets...or
buy a specialty
pet bed at Walmart pet section and put it in.
Staple a thick piece of vinyl or felt over the doorway to help
keep the wind out, and allow easy enter and exit.

One idea that I had was to take a large box and staple a small
blanket or a large towel into it on all corners, but allow a little
to drape down in the front.

That would work as a temporary solution, as long as no snow or
rain gets on it.
Also, any tape that holds the box will tend to fail after long
exposure
periods of cold and warm.
The box shouldn't be too large though.

The small wood houses are permanent solutions...plus they're
re-saleable...although don't look for appreciation values.

Another neat thing would be (forgive me, I can only explain it) that
rubbery material that has a slightly furry effect...

...you can staple it to either side of an entryway with a slit down
the middle. It basically seals itself after a cat squeezes through.
Kind of like those old plastic coin purses.

As long as it works to cover the entrance, and keep a bit of heat in.

Nothing wrong with boarding up the entrance and installing a standard "cat
door" in it. They have a magnetically closed plastic curtain that is
effective in keeping the cold out.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

good point well presented.

the one i was thinking of was shown onthat website and is called the
Kat Kabin or something, it is made of plastic so therefore it will not
rot or pickup moisture or get socked like a cardboard box or whatever
else someone suggested earlier, AND it is raised off the ground so
keeping it a bit warming by keepignit off the cold ground, AND
stopping it getting flooded inside. you could also put some dry
bedding in there on a daily basis for extra snuggliness, not sure how
you would close off the entrance to keep heat in, maybe drape some
sheets of clear plastic over the front? obviously with a split down
the middle to allow access.

just don'tdo anything daft like give him/her a cardboard box to hide
in outside as that will just get soaked and do more harm than good

bookie

On 13 Dec, 07:03, AKT wrote:
studio wrote:

: lol...you're new at being a doorman aren't you?

It became especially intense once the weather turned arctic.

: Resist temptation to feed her every time.

We compromise with her 1/2 way. What I try to do is to divide up the
same food in more snacks.

: Discourage play? Better to warn your visitors...

Yeah, don't know what I was thinking. I thought there might be a way to
"request" her that is ok to ambush us but not others. Maybe not.

: A better rule of thumb would be what her purpose of going outside is.
: If she is just going to the bathroom, give her 5-10-15 minutes
: dependent on wind and temperture, and call her back inside.

Maybe I'll better but so far I really can't tell when she intends to
only go bathroom and return soon, and when she wants to goof around
outdoors. I am also not very successful at "calling her back". Once I
let her out, she returns when she feels like it.

So our decision is only to let her out or not. Of course, when we are
going to be home we let her out and she can come in whenever she wants,
at most she has to wait a few minutes at the door before we notice her.
(she climbs to the window, which is pretty visible from many angles
inside, and makes a great spectacle of herself).

The tough part is deciding when we are going to be away for a chunk of
time: should we leave her in (with litter box, some snack) or out?
There is no doubt that she would like to be left out but in bad whether
she may regret it when she want to come in and can't.

(One mystery in the puzzle is that her old house has a cat door, so she
could go there and be safe, but as far as we can tell she has stopped
going there. I tried leaving her favorite kibble inside and it was
untouched. I don't know if she'll remember to go there if she was
uncomfortable outside.)

So far we have have locked her in a few times and she has been upset
with us later, refusing to talk or play for several hours. The mood
resets itself by 4-5AM next morning

1) maybe only let her outside for a pee just before she is due to be
fed, or her dinner time, that way she willhave to return as she will
be hungry

2) don't let her out when you are going to be away for any length of
time and it is cold outside. We have no cat flap in our house due to
having a double glazed back door (we would have a tunnel or something
built in the back wall or maybe replace said back door in order to
accommodate a flap but it is not my house, we are renting, so cannot
do either) so the cats can only go in or out when someone is home to
let them and they have learnt this. sometimes in the summer whenit is
really warm and it is definitely not going to rain (about 2 days in
mid august here in england) have i left them outside and locked the
back door whilst i go out and then that is only for a few hours whilst
i pop to the shops or something, never longer than that. that is
usually cos one of them is sleeping onthe lawn or under a bush and
will be there for a while and it would be rude to disturb them, so i
leave them be. usually they are in exactly the same place and position
when i return, still sound asleep, so no harm done usually.
yes she may strop for a bit but you will have to exercise tough love,
it is for her own good, she will get used to it after a while and find
distractions indoor, ro just sleep as most cats do.

bookie

On Dec 13, 2:28�am, RPSinha wrote:
In article IBen Getiner wrote:

: You obviously like to take things very seriously. �I see that you tend
: to compensate for your insecurities by talking a lot. Do you realize
: this....? Because none of your concerns are well-founded. Not in my
: opinion.

One of the pleasures of Usenet is that we meet all kinds.

All you have to do for that pleasure is to peer into your bathroom
mirror in the morning.
Why do you ramble on and on when you have so little to say? Does this
sound familiar...? I can't imagine how it couldn't. It's probably the
one most oft repeated criticism of your entire life.


IBen