My cats have never been out

On 19 Jun, 12:35, *carmen* wrote:
Hi there
I have two cats, 4 and 5 years old who have always lived inside in a
flat. Now we have moved to a house with garden and a forest behind and
we were so looking forwards to leave the cats to enjoy.. but I am
scared they panic or get lost or a bigger aninmal attacks them (or
them attacking a bigger animal) ... Any suggestions?
thanks
Carmen

I suggest that you follow your heart. I live the UK too, & I
understand your fears regarding allowing your beloved cats out, for
fear of anything happening to them. I understand how it feels to be
affected , or rather my cats being affected by allowing them to roam
free. We both know that it is fairly unusual to hear of anything
happening to cats allowed to roam free other than road accidents...

If I were you, I would take Barbs advice and invest in a pair of reins
from some where like Pets @ Home, then take them out together
personally. You might find that they hate the idea; however they might
love it. But if you have them on reins & you are with them, what could
possibly happen to them?

This seems to be the happy medium here.

If you find that they love it, you can start offering them a little
extra extension on their leads & reins so that they have a bit more
rein to sniff around, & roll in the grass & play with one another too.
It seems to me that you moved where you did so that you could take
your cats out. If I were you, I would allow them a certain amount of
freedom, so that if there was an escapee, then they know where home is
if they need to find/locate it, & might they even learn a bit about
what is surrounding you.

This is a long standing difference of opinion here, so most of the
advice you get will be totally conflicting. You are better following
your own judgement/instinct on this one, because you know your cats,
where we don't....

The one thing you "didn't do", was come here to get a barrage of
people having a slanging match, simply because you asked for some
advice.. Ignore those who know no better, & the sarcastic remarks too.
*Generally you DO get excellent advice here*. I am just sorry that
everyone jumped on your post and minced-meated it.
Some people are just very passionate about this subject because they
have had a dreadful experience, & don't wish the same to happen to
you.

My last bit of advice would be to invest in a cat run possibly? That
way they get to catch some real life and sun rays as well, & when you
have the time, take them on their supervised walks. Trust builds & I
am sure it will become easier to deal with , the more time passes
Good luck & please do let us know how things are going?
S;o)

on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:07:22 GMT, wrote:

What do you mean? That the disease is in the population, uncontrolled?
I haven't heard of this, and I live in California. What part of CA, by
the way?

Rodents in The Sierra (and maybe in other areas) carry the plague. I
recently read that rodents in an adjacent state tested positive (can't
recall exactly where).

You don't really need to worry unless you have an infestation, or if your
cats hunt mice--though you may still want to look into it. I only visit
certain parts of California (like The Sierra, Yosemite and Joshua Tree) so
those are the only areas I know much about.

If you ever do have a rodent infestation, there are simple precautions you
can take to clean up the droppings and bedding (use gloves, a mask, and
soak all rodent droppings and bedding in a bleach solution before
disturbing/moving/disposing of it).

--
Lynne

wrote in message
...
Lynne wrote:

on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:37:19 GMT, Patty wrote:

Oh, and we've never seen a case of
the plague either.

The plague is no long contained in California, FYI.

What do you mean? That the disease is in the population, uncontrolled?
I haven't heard of this, and I live in California. What part of CA, by
the way?

JOyce


In the foothills, mountains and along the coast; not so much in the Central
Valley and desert areas.

Plague is endemic in certain rodent populations. Among domestic animals,
cats are among the most susceptible to plague.

http://www.cchealth.org/special/dhs_...jul17_2006.php

http://www.cchealth.org/special/dhs_...aug24_2005.php

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/plague/epi.htm

on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:35:52 GMT, "MaryL"
-OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:

This isn't what I would consider normal. I have had cats for 45 years
and have never had one act like that. My cats have been indoor cats,
active and happy, but not destructive. On they other hand, they have
lots of toys and attention plus multi-level climbing surfaces. Holly
will get on the table and carefully push papers onto the floor,
one-by-one. It's a game to her. But I have never had a cat that has
shredded curtains or been as destructive as described here. It takes
a little time (say "no" and distract their attention any time they
head for the curtains, for example), but this should not be viewed as
normal behavior.

You have just made my point all that much stronger (and we agree). A
kitten will do these things naturally, unless you give him or her
appropriate toys and multi-level climbing surfaces and also your attention.
I don't think this person should have kittens.

My cats also show no interest at all in going
outdoors. I did have a cat, many years ago, that was an outdoor cat.
When she was killed on the road, I decided that I would only have cats
that I could keep safe *and happy* indoors from that time on.

That's awful. I had indoor/outdoor cats many years ago and consider myself
very lucky that neither one of them met the same fate. So again, you and I
agree, a cat can be perfectly happy indoors, and definitely safer.

--
Lynne

on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:33:21 GMT, Patty wrote:

I said it once before. When people attack each other for a different
opinion it's time to leave and so I will.

I didn't attack you, merely expressed my opinion.

Don't let the door hit you on your ass on your way out.

--
Lynne

On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 16:39:41 -0700, sheelagh wrote:

On 19 Jun, 12:35, *carmen* wrote:
Hi there
I have two cats, 4 and 5 years old who have always lived inside in a
flat. Now we have moved to a house with garden and a forest behind and
we were so looking forwards to leave the cats to enjoy.. but I am
scared they panic or get lost or a bigger aninmal attacks them (or
them attacking a bigger animal) ... Any suggestions?
thanks
Carmen

I suggest that you follow your heart. I live the UK too, & I
understand your fears regarding allowing your beloved cats out, for
fear of anything happening to them. I understand how it feels to be
affected , or rather my cats being affected by allowing them to roam
free. We both know that it is fairly unusual to hear of anything
happening to cats allowed to roam free other than road accidents...

snip
S;o)

Don't do that here if you live in the US or you will surely be attacked.
Everyone else knows better than you what you should do.

Patty

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
...

"Lynne" wrote in message
. 97.142...
on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:37:19 GMT, Patty wrote:

Ripped my curtains to shreds, knocked everything of the top of the
cupboards (you know, the space between the ceiling and the top of the
kitchen cupboard?), knocked anything on a flat surface off breaking
many items (even the top of the refrigerator). When I came home from
work one day and found him dangling from the top of the curtain rod in
the living room (the windows are nearly ceiling height, (I live in an
old home and the ceilings are 9 feet off the floor),

And by the way, I recommend that you never get another kitten. Stick to
adult cats. None of the above sounds unusual to me...

Now had you put away the breakables and trimmed his nails, you could have
saved some of your prized possessions. To toss him outdoors for being a
kitten and then call him 'fixed' is just illogical as hell.

--
Lynne

This isn't what I would consider normal. I have had cats for 45 years and
have never had one act like that. My cats have been indoor cats, active
and happy, but not destructive. On they other hand, they have lots of
toys and attention plus multi-level climbing surfaces. Holly will get on
the table and carefully push papers onto the floor, one-by-one. It's a
game to her. But I have never had a cat that has shredded curtains or been
as destructive as described here. It takes a little time (say "no" and
distract their attention any time they head for the curtains, for
example), but this should not be viewed as normal behavior. My cats also
show no interest at all in going outdoors. I did have a cat, many years
ago, that was an outdoor cat. When she was killed on the road, I decided
that I would only have cats that I could keep safe *and happy* indoors
from that time on.

MaryL

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
Duffy: http://tinyurl.com/cslwf
Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o
Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e


What the OP described is a daily habit of my hellions. I have had calm
kitties. I have had tigers hidden in the body of a small four legged
furball. I have had the devil himself hidden behind a beautiful set of
eyes ( no not the ex b@tch ;-) ). Once my furballs start to chase each
other there is nothing that stands in their way including Daddy. They have
climbed the walls knocked over items. But there is one thing I am
intelligent enough to know better than to have anything valuable that a
child, visitor or one of my furballs that could be knocked over.

"Lynne" wrote in message
. 97.142...
on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:33:21 GMT, Patty wrote:

I said it once before. When people attack each other for a different
opinion it's time to leave and so I will.

I didn't attack you, merely expressed my opinion.

Don't let the door hit you on your ass on your way out.

--
Lynne

Hey that is my line but it goes a little like this Don't let the doorknob
hit you where the good lord split ya'

on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:58:55 GMT, Patty wrote:

Don't do that here if you live in the US or you will surely be attacked.
Everyone else knows better than you what you should do.

I love it when people proclaim they are leaving and then keep posting.

"Oh, those rpchb people are such meany pants for putting the welfare of
cats before people's feelings!"

--
Lynne

on Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:06:35 GMT, "Matthew"
wrote:

Hey that is my line but it goes a little like this Don't let the
doorknob hit you where the good lord split ya'

hehe & YOUCH

--
Lynne