Walking My Cats

I have always believed that cats should be able to come in and out as they want. You don't have to have a litterbox for one thing, and when they start bouncing off the walls inside you can shoo them out to work off their extra energy. The coyotes that lurk in our local woods have changed my mind. Nate and I have had five cats in the four years that we've been married. We have two now, Stuart and Melvin. One cat, Cappy, we gave away. The other two, Sadie and Sophie, each went out to play and never came home. So, the decision was made for us that Stuart and Melvin would be inside cats. Poor fellows. A new idea came to me, however, that this didn't always have to be the case. They have cat harnesses now which you can attach a leash to so that you can take your cats out to play without any danger!

The first time I put the harnesses on the cats, they were not happy. One part wraps gently around the neck and the other wraps around the chest and the whole thing connects at the top of the shoulder blades. Our silly cats tried everything they could think of to get the things off. Crawling with their bellies on the floor, rolling onto their backs and even walking backwards! The next step was the leash and then convincing them to go outside with this whole getup. Once we got them outside, we quickly discovered as we followed our exploring cats around the yard that a four foot leash wasn't long enough. So, now we have those fancy leashes that extend as they move around the yard.

Cats are not dogs. They go under, into and around things chasing bugs and leaves. So, sometimes we have untangling to do! A lot of the time, they just lie down enjoying their pseudo freedom. One of the Brown's cats likes to come and lie down a few feet away, almost as if he's flaunting his true freedom. Cats, as you all know, are very independent and they don't come when you call them unless they happen to feel like it. So when it's time to go in, you have to plead and cajole and tug on the leash (gently, of course) until you finally have to just give up and pick them up and bring them in.

When the Brown's dogs first came down I was scared to death. All I could picture, as they carefully approached the cats, was a cartoon-like whirling dust-cloud at the end of the leash with fur flying everywhere! Thankfully, this was not the case. There was tentative sniffing, some eager tail-wagging from the canines and some fearful back-stepping from the felines and then some sort of agreement to peacefully co-exist. I was even more nervous when the Brown's cat came down, but that was an even more peaceful greeting. Maybe they just all feel sorry for these poor pitiful tethered creatures. I certainly feel silly sometimes babying my cats this way. I don't want to lose them, though.