Boyfie has this trick

Why not fit a catflap that has open/in/out/locked settings? They're
pretty cheap.

To clarify, they weren't my cats and it wasn't my house.

I can make an educated guess why she didn't install a cat-flap. There's
really no good door in the house for one. The front door is a very
nice, heavy wooden door with nice glass accents. It would look like
crap if she cut a cat-flap in that front door. The kitchen entrance has
an external screen/glass door in front of the actual door. The other
external doors are glass. There is no place to install a cat-flap.

If I were inclined to let Persia (or any future cat) outside, there
wouldn't be any place for a cat-flap in my house, either.

I know people who've fitted them in windowpanes. In one case, in
a third-floor Edinburgh flat, over a 30-foot drop. They also made a
ramp for the cat to make its way across the abyss to a neighbouring
building that had enough obvious lumpy bits to provide a cat with
an easy stroll to the ground. They must have been fairly stoned to
design it, but it worked and the cat never came to any harm.

The same couldn't be said of a teenage housebreaker who tried to
get in that way. Cat burglar he wasn't. It took some doing for
the ambulance crew to get him out from where he landed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
e m a i l : j a c k @ c a m p i n . m e . u k
Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland
mobile 07800 739 557 http://www.campin.me.uk Twitter: JackCampin

On 1/8/2014 7:49 PM, Jack Campin wrote:
Why not fit a catflap that has open/in/out/locked settings? They're
pretty cheap.

To clarify, they weren't my cats and it wasn't my house.

I can make an educated guess why she didn't install a cat-flap. There's
really no good door in the house for one. The front door is a very
nice, heavy wooden door with nice glass accents. It would look like
crap if she cut a cat-flap in that front door. The kitchen entrance has
an external screen/glass door in front of the actual door. The other
external doors are glass. There is no place to install a cat-flap.

If I were inclined to let Persia (or any future cat) outside, there
wouldn't be any place for a cat-flap in my house, either.

I know people who've fitted them in windowpanes. In one case, in
a third-floor Edinburgh flat, over a 30-foot drop. They also made a
ramp for the cat to make its way across the abyss to a neighbouring
building that had enough obvious lumpy bits to provide a cat with
an easy stroll to the ground. They must have been fairly stoned to
design it, but it worked and the cat never came to any harm.

That's fun and I agree they may have been stoned to do that. At
least the cat came to no harm.

Sorry, but I won't be figuring out how to install a cat-flap through a
window or glass door. And my neighbor has her house on the market.
Installing a cat-flap at this juncture isn't likely to happen.

The same couldn't be said of a teenage housebreaker who tried to
get in that way. Cat burglar he wasn't. It took some doing for
the ambulance crew to get him out from where he landed.

Oh, oops!

Jill

I knew that was what you meant.

--
Joy

Frazer Island

Fairy penguins march
Out of the sea at sunset
Chatting as they come.
-- Australia Haiku by Joy Gaylord

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 1/8/2014 7:21 PM, Jack Campin wrote:
I leave
[correcting myself: leave = left]

the slider open a couple of times before it suddenly became
clear it wasn't a good idea.

One night I had six raccoons at my glass back doors begging for more
bird seed. After that, I wasn't about to leave her sliding door
slightly open. When I could get the cats in at "dinner time" (dusk), I
made the executive decision to not let them back outside again. Sorry
guys, you're in for the night.

The first few times I couldn't coax them in by 9 or 10PM I just fretted
all night. I figured, they'd been out all day since I fed them at
breakfast. They can stay in at night. And I can relax because I won't
be worrying about them.

Why not fit a catflap that has open/in/out/locked settings? They're
pretty cheap.

To clarify, they weren't my cats and it wasn't my house.

I can make an educated guess why she didn't install a cat-flap. There's
really no good door in the house for one. The front door is a very nice,
heavy wooden door with nice glass accents. It would look like crap if she
cut a cat-flap in that front door. The kitchen entrance has an external
screen/glass door in front of the actual door. The other external doors
are glass. There is no place to install a cat-flap.

If I were inclined to let Persia (or any future cat) outside, there
wouldn't be any place for a cat-flap in my house, either.

Jill

"Judith Latham" wrote in message
...
In article , Christina Websell
wrote:
Which annoys me intensely. If he realises I am going out, even if he's
just come in - and had probably intended to stay in for the whole day
for duvet time - when I put my coat on, he insists on going out again
which means I have to leave the back door open so he can come in again
and atm (he did it today) it makes my house cold. I know he doesn't
need to go out for toileting, as he's just been out for an hour or more
but of course I give in. He's quite manipulative, I think, if that's
possible for a cat. and he keeps doing it. So next time I go out and
he does this, he'll have to wait in the conservatory - he's taking the
p... No more open back doors - I've got his measure. Spoilt, very
spoilt. Tweed

Perhaps he thinks that if you're not there he might as well see what he
can do interesting outside.

He's also very close to you and loves to be in the house with you, if
you're not there then he goes out.

It's a fairly recent thing though, this "if you're going out then so am I"
He used to be quite happy to go up to his bedroom and spend a few hours on
his duvet if I went out.

Tweed

On 1/9/2014 11:55 AM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Judith Latham" wrote in message
...
In article , Christina Websell
wrote:
Which annoys me intensely. If he realises I am going out, even if he's
just come in - and had probably intended to stay in for the whole day
for duvet time - when I put my coat on, he insists on going out again
which means I have to leave the back door open so he can come in again
and atm (he did it today) it makes my house cold. I know he doesn't
need to go out for toileting, as he's just been out for an hour or more
but of course I give in. He's quite manipulative, I think, if that's
possible for a cat. and he keeps doing it. So next time I go out and
he does this, he'll have to wait in the conservatory - he's taking the
p... No more open back doors - I've got his measure. Spoilt, very
spoilt. Tweed

Perhaps he thinks that if you're not there he might as well see what he
can do interesting outside.

He's also very close to you and loves to be in the house with you, if
you're not there then he goes out.

It's a fairly recent thing though, this "if you're going out then so am I"
He used to be quite happy to go up to his bedroom and spend a few hours on
his duvet if I went out.

Tweed

I've only ever had one cat, but I have learned over the years: they're
fickle.

I mentioned before Persia hadn't slept in her cushy pyramid bed for
*months*, maybe not even most of 2013. Then suddenly she started
sleeping there again. She recently started napping on the sofa in the
formal living room. She had never really done that before. There's
really no way to figure out what's going on in their furry little heads.

Jill

"Judith Latham" wrote in message
...
In article , Christina Websell
wrote:

That's a good benefit of having that little dog next door.

I would never leave an outside door open and go out living where I do.
It's not a rough area but not a safe one to leave anything unlocked. in
fact both doors (front door and the patio door) are locked even when we're
in.

Judith

I've been doing it for over twenty years, since I had dogs and got a job too
far away to come home at lunchtime so they could toilet.

It's quite difficult to get to the back of my house from the front and it
would have to look like it was worth it - it doesn't. Plus it's on a road
to nowhere.

We did have a bit of problem a while ago, someone got a bicycle stolen from
their yard and another got their hub caps stolen from their car outside on
the street.
I hate to admit this (stereotyping) but I always suspected the scrap dealers
that were up here twice a week with their vans. Since they now have to be
licensed to do this and cannot take stuff to a scrapyard to get a cash
payment, they don't come any more and nothing metal has gone missing. I
lost my wrought iron side gate when I was in hospital.
The law was brought in after so many buildings (churches, especially) were
being stripped of the lead on their roof.
Now, the scrapyards can only pay you by cheque, which has had a brilliant
effect on opportunistic metal thieves here as has the licensing law. Now,
if they steal it, they can't get rid of it as the scrapyards get regular
visits from the enforcement agency and if they can't account for where it
came from with paperwork, they will get a massive fine. Seems to be working
quite well ;-)

Tweed











--
Judith Latham
Stourbridge, West Midlands. UK.

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 1/8/2014 6:22 PM, Joy wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 1/8/2014 5:23 PM, Joy wrote:

I keep my doors locked all the time too, even though I live in a good
neighborhood. I certainly would never leave a door open, not only
because
of the weather, but because insects could get in. We don't have
mosquitoes
here, but we have flies occasionally, as well as wasps.

Joy

When I lived in Tennessee I always kept the front and back doors locked
even when I was at home. Since I've been living in this gated community
(on an island) I leave the front door unlocked. The reason for that is
if
the alarm goes off and I don't answer the phone they'll either break
down
the door (good luck with that, it's a steel door) or break one of the
picture windows to get inside. I'd rather they didn't do that.

That makes sense. I don't live in a gated community, but I do have a
Lifeline emergency button. My next door neighbors have a key to my
house,
and that is registered with Lifeline, so I'm hoping they wouldn't break
into
my house if I needed help.

Hopefully you'll never have to find out!

When I was cat-sitting for my neighbor and had trouble getting the cats
in
at night, she'd sometimes tell me to leave a sliding door open a little
bit. Uh, no. Not with the raccoons and (in the summer) lizards, snakes
and bugs that might just come inside, too.

Jill

Right!

Joy

I leave the slider open a couple of times before it suddenly became clear
it wasn't a good idea.

One night I had six raccoons at my glass back doors begging for more bird
seed. After that, I wasn't about to leave her sliding door slightly open.
When I could get the cats in at "dinner time" (dusk), I made the executive
decision to not let them back outside again. Sorry guys, you're in for
the night.

The first few times I couldn't coax them in by 9 or 10PM I just fretted
all night. I figured, they'd been out all day since I fed them at
breakfast. They can stay in at night. And I can relax because I won't be
worrying about them.

Jill

I'm not suggesting USA people leave their doors open, what with the
raccoons, huge insects, possums, cougars, bears, and alligators.
It's been safe here to do this for many years as we don't get any of them.
The worst I got, wildlife-wise, was when a blackbird kept coming into the
house to steal dog food to feed his large babies and one of my whippets
chased him on to a shelf, where he knocked some precious ornaments over,
sentimental value, and smashed them to bits.

Tweed

On 1/9/2014 12:57 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 1/8/2014 6:22 PM, Joy wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 1/8/2014 5:23 PM, Joy wrote:

I keep my doors locked all the time too, even though I live in a good
neighborhood. I certainly would never leave a door open, not only
because
of the weather, but because insects could get in. We don't have
mosquitoes
here, but we have flies occasionally, as well as wasps.

Joy

When I lived in Tennessee I always kept the front and back doors locked
even when I was at home. Since I've been living in this gated community
(on an island) I leave the front door unlocked. The reason for that is
if
the alarm goes off and I don't answer the phone they'll either break
down
the door (good luck with that, it's a steel door) or break one of the
picture windows to get inside. I'd rather they didn't do that.

That makes sense. I don't live in a gated community, but I do have a
Lifeline emergency button. My next door neighbors have a key to my
house,
and that is registered with Lifeline, so I'm hoping they wouldn't break
into
my house if I needed help.

Hopefully you'll never have to find out!

When I was cat-sitting for my neighbor and had trouble getting the cats
in
at night, she'd sometimes tell me to leave a sliding door open a little
bit. Uh, no. Not with the raccoons and (in the summer) lizards, snakes
and bugs that might just come inside, too.

Jill

Right!

Joy

I leave the slider open a couple of times before it suddenly became clear
it wasn't a good idea.

One night I had six raccoons at my glass back doors begging for more bird
seed. After that, I wasn't about to leave her sliding door slightly open.
When I could get the cats in at "dinner time" (dusk), I made the executive
decision to not let them back outside again. Sorry guys, you're in for
the night.

The first few times I couldn't coax them in by 9 or 10PM I just fretted
all night. I figured, they'd been out all day since I fed them at
breakfast. They can stay in at night. And I can relax because I won't be
worrying about them.

Jill

I'm not suggesting USA people leave their doors open, what with the
raccoons, huge insects, possums, cougars, bears, and alligators.
It's been safe here to do this for many years as we don't get any of them.
The worst I got, wildlife-wise, was when a blackbird kept coming into the
house to steal dog food to feed his large babies and one of my whippets
chased him on to a shelf, where he knocked some precious ornaments over,
sentimental value, and smashed them to bits.

Tweed


No one said you suggested anything. You said you'd rather not leave the
door open because it makes your house cold. But Boyfie wants out when
he knows you're leaving. We understand that. It's your decision
whether or not to let him out, you know.

As for the rest, it's a natural thread drift for people who live in
different areas (and different climates) to discuss whether or not it is
a good idea to leave doors open. Naturally it depends on what wildlife
might walk in the door. I know you can understand that.

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 1/9/2014 11:55 AM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Judith Latham" wrote in message
...
In article , Christina Websell
wrote:
Which annoys me intensely. If he realises I am going out, even if he's
just come in - and had probably intended to stay in for the whole day
for duvet time - when I put my coat on, he insists on going out again
which means I have to leave the back door open so he can come in again
and atm (he did it today) it makes my house cold. I know he doesn't
need to go out for toileting, as he's just been out for an hour or more
but of course I give in. He's quite manipulative, I think, if that's
possible for a cat. and he keeps doing it. So next time I go out and
he does this, he'll have to wait in the conservatory - he's taking the
p... No more open back doors - I've got his measure. Spoilt, very
spoilt. Tweed

Perhaps he thinks that if you're not there he might as well see what he
can do interesting outside.

He's also very close to you and loves to be in the house with you, if
you're not there then he goes out.

It's a fairly recent thing though, this "if you're going out then so am
I"
He used to be quite happy to go up to his bedroom and spend a few hours
on
his duvet if I went out.

Tweed

I've only ever had one cat, but I have learned over the years: they're
fickle.

I mentioned before Persia hadn't slept in her cushy pyramid bed for
*months*, maybe not even most of 2013. Then suddenly she started sleeping
there again. She recently started napping on the sofa in the formal
living room. She had never really done that before. There's really no
way to figure out what's going on in their furry little heads.

Jill

No there isn't. I find it interesting the way they develop an established
routine and follow it for a long time, then suddenly change. Of course, I
have been known to do the same thing myself. ;-)

Joy

On 1/9/2014 1:49 PM, Joy wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...

I've only ever had one cat, but I have learned over the years: they're
fickle.

I mentioned before Persia hadn't slept in her cushy pyramid bed for
*months*, maybe not even most of 2013. Then suddenly she started sleeping
there again. She recently started napping on the sofa in the formal
living room. She had never really done that before. There's really no
way to figure out what's going on in their furry little heads.

Jill

No there isn't. I find it interesting the way they develop an established
routine and follow it for a long time, then suddenly change. Of course, I
have been known to do the same thing myself. ;-)

Joy

I think cats like to keep people guessing. They're like little
comedians. Always coming up with new material.

Jill