Don't let this sweet picture fool you.Recently this member of our family has been a little bugger.
Kitters (aka Harley, 'The Cat' and occasionally, "why, you little....) Wants. Out!
With summer creeping in, the birds chirping, the grass growing, the flowers blooming and every other kitty in the neighborhood outside, our guy is pretty sure that he is missing out big time. And I'm pretty sure he's right. Even our neighbors have noticed. I have gotten comments ranging from:
-"Your cat is so pretty but man, does he want to go out! Everyday I see the little guy at the window..." (polite)
- "Why don't you let your cat out? He must be miserable in there all day." (um, rude.)
- "Oh, he's a Bangle cat? Excuse me, He's a 'designer' kitty. No wonder you don't let him out." (hey, Humane Society people. It's not like we stole him from the jungle or anything.)
But, it's true. All day he cries to go outside, scratches at the door, perches on the sills, runs from window to window and tries to escape every time we open our front door.
We decided early on to make him an indoor cat and for the most part, we have seen no signs of resentment. Until recently. He is like a little kid now, doing just about anything to get our attention and make us mad enough to let him out. Frustrating!
With all of the research we have done, letting cats outdoors is not recommended - especially when they are older cats. More probability for disease, infections, being out casted by neighborhood cats, and of course , 'car hits kitty and ends in death' - yikes.
And so the dilemma. Let him out and risk the previously mentioned things or keep him in, driving us insane...??
As mentioned in yesterday's post, I think I may have found a solution after doing a bit of research and getting a bit of advice. A cat harness.
It's a good idea, right?! C'mon, better than a cat stroller (which do exist!)...
Anyways, the truth is that I can't get over the fact that I feel like a mom with one of those kid leashes. The ones I SWEAR should be banned from society. The ones that shout, "...overbearing, get a grip on your kid, you have issues" type of leashes. (I hope I don't offend anyone here - I dont' have kids. So who knows, maybe I will be writing an "I was wrong!" post in a few years).
Any ideas, thoughts or suggestions on the topic, please let me know!
5 comments:
I used to tell a story of how I remember being on a "leash" when I was little, shopping with my Mom, etc... One day she heard me telling someone and she was like "WHAT are you talking about? You were NEVER on one of those things Amanda... GIVE ME A BREAK!" (She's a teacher, she had discipline and children under control, obvs) So funny because I vividly remember walking through the Hudson's Dept. Store On. A. LEASH! Guess not... she couldn't believe I was telling people that story!
This is too funny! I wonder if it was a dream (or should I say nightmare?) Your poor mom getting an earful. haha!
I was totally judgmental of kid leashes when I had Mikaela. She was so cautious, and listened to me, and minded...and then I had Sofia. Who is not at all cautious, and literally can't listen because she's so busy experiencing and exploring. I did get her a leash and we only used it a few times in very busy places from the ages of about 15-22 months. Sometimes you just get a crazy kid who hates the stroller, doesn't want to be held, and just wants to run. I felt it was a happy solution for both of us, since she could no longer disappear in a split second, but still have a limited range of freedom that she so desperately wanted.
So now I take back my comment about judging the cat leash. :-P It's exactly the same. You want to give the cat some freedom but protect him from harm. I say go for it!
My mom used to tie a balloon to me when we went shopping so that she could see the balloon floating around above the racks and know where I was. Probably would work for a cat, though... I think a leash would be fine. Dogs are on leashes all the time and no one thinks anything of it.
Ha - a balloon? Genious! I just purchased the darn harness, steak and leash during my lunch hour. If this doesn't work, however, a balloon may be next.
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