Indoor-outdoor cats

“We heard you wos posting pictures of faces.”

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“So here we are.”

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“For updated mug shots.”

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“Portraits, Blackie, They are called portraits.”

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“That’s right! Mug shots are for criminals.”

And the little darlings would never do a bad thing. Lately they have taken to visiting me at my desk periodically.

Except Dee Dee. She follows Grant around but does not involve herself in my activities.

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That is unless she wants one of her favourite exclusive (expensive) treats.

Suddenly then, I am her best friend, fully deserving head-bumps – as she stares pointedly at the cupboard where said snacks are kept.

Dee Dee is an operator! And quite shameless.

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When one of the others comes to poke me it is often because they too want a snack, though they are much less particular than Dee Dee.

But just as often, they simply want to be petted.

It is usually the case with Lily. She becomes very insistent which can be a little distracting, but usually she is content to sit on my lap. She loves to be brushed, but once you start, you are not allowed to stop. Last time I obliged, I was horrified to realise I’d given my cat a bald patch!

Lily also likes to have the kitchen tap turned on, but in this case she goes there and yowls!

YAAAOOOWW!!!

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When Willow wants attention, she taps on a paper bag. This is her signal to say “Pet me!”

(Or “Lunchtime!”)

With the return of milder weather, the girls have resumed taking daily walks.

This is something I have never been very happy with, but Grant is of the opinion that it is cruel to keep cats housebound. Where we lived before he took cats out on a harness because we were near a busy highway. Now we live off the beaten path and the cats remain close to the house, staying out only for 10 minutes or so.

Still, I am happier once they return and I am fairly neurotic about Lily going out because she is deaf, so one of us tends to follow her around.

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Blackie was a stray that happened upon me in my garden back in Washington. Inevitably, I said hello to her and although she was very shy and kept her distance, she sat down to watch me. Thereafter, anytime I was outside Blackie came to see what I was up to and we began putting a bowl of food out for her.

Before long, we were allowed to pet the timid little girl and one afternoon she walked through the front door and announced she had come to join our rather large family.

From that day, Blackie stayed away from the door as if afraid we might shoo her back out, but once we moved to New York, she observed the other cats going for walks and eventually she ventured out tentatively. She stays nearby so she can run back quickly. This year she has not yet seemed very interested in going out.

Like us, she is getting on and she has a little arthritis, but her annual exam went well.

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It has been two years since that morning when I heard a faint cry from under a hedge while I was topping up seed trays. It sounded like a cat, but I knew our gang were all inside. Then a tiny grey and white face appeared.

Once we’d established that the kitten had no intention of returning to wherever he’d escaped from and that no-one was looking for him, we invited him to stay. Another cat, particularly a kitten, had been the furthest thing from our minds. After all, we still had 7 cats which may have seemed a comparatively small number, but with all of us aging and costs escalating, we did not need another!

The only option was to take the kitten to a shelter or advertise for a home, which basically amounts to the same thing. In our fostering days, we gave out questionnaires and did home visits, but you can never be certain about the people you entrust an animal to.

So the boy remained and oh, did we fall in love! We had avoided naming him, expecting that a distraught owner would turn up and by the time we decided he was staying, the kitten was responding to being addressed as Little Man, so why change it?

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As it happens, he has remained quite little. He is long and lanky and very beautiful.

He is also the most affectionate animal I have ever known.

After Little Man had been with us a few months, Grant debated about letting him venture out. Would he wander off and continue the journey he’d undertaken before coming to stay? Allowing the girls out for a short walk is one thing, but cats that go roaming get into trouble.

Before the matter had been decided, Little Man shot past Grant one morning, disappearing into the undergrowth and he did not come back.

We had lost Tinkerbelle only a few weeks before. The thought that we may have lost Little Man as well was unbearable and worse for not knowing what had happened to him. We scoured the property but there are so many places for a small cat to hide and if you know cats, you know they rarely come when called!

Not unless it is their idea! We hoped hunger would persuade the boy but two mealtimes came and went. Next day, Grant decided to rig up the trail-cam in case Little Man came by when we were looking elsewhere and sure enough that second night he did, though by daybreak he had once more vanished.

On the third night, we decided to try luring our little chap in. It meant keeping a door open, so we had first to enclose the other cats. “You what?” said Dee Dee. It was very out of order.

Another slight problem was that the weather had turned fairly frigid, this being November. It was, in fact, right after the miserable election and the one good thing about all of this was that it took our minds right off that sad situation.

We could bundle ourselves up, so that was not a big deal. I was far more concerned about what other creature might wander through the door in search of a meal. Raccoons and possums I could deal with, but I really did mot want a skunk sauntering in.

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Much as we would love to get to know them, indoors would not be the optimum setting.

Luckily – it did not come to that and Little Man had now missed several meals. Although he has proved to be a lethal mouser in the basement, he was still a small boy then and outdoors hunting is no doubt more of a challenge.

So, shortly after dark, in he walked.

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A couple of months later, Little Man escaped again, but at least that time we knew he would come back and what we needed to do to get him in. Ever since, he has run away from the door when it opens, as it it frightens him. Maybe being outside was not such fun, or perhaps he fears coming back and not being able to get in.

Whatever the case, if it keeps him safe, it’s a good thing!

Grant still thinks the boy should know the outdoors and we’ve tried a couple of harnesses on him, but both were rejected out of hand.

He seems happy enough being an indoor cat.

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