Ok, I let her out...

....but only for some SUPERVISED outdoor time.

Mischief has been crying at the door ever since she snuck out last
week. "Mooo-OOOOOOOMMM!!! I wanna go OOOOOUUUUUTTTTT!!!!!"

IT was so bad tonight and in an effort to satisfy her and shut her up,
I decided to let her out for some supervised outdoor time.

It was 11:30, and the courtyard was empty, and as soon as she saw the
open door and the inviting world of the OUT beyond, Mischief TORE
through the doorway. I merely walked behind her and shut the front
door. First she inspected the plants under the front window and then
went to the neighbors door, meowing and rubbing everything. I first
thought she was upset but then she ran over to me and rubbed against my
leg and kept meowing.

She was HAPPY!!! So happy that she sprawled out on the concrete and
meowed loudly. Then she jumped up and trotted onward to inspect more
plants. I then picked her up and carried her to the other end of the
courtyard, stopping to let her sniff the trees. THen I carried her
back to my apartment door and set her down in the planter bed by the
door. She sniffed and rubbed and MEOWED all the way and then darted
past me and to the plants under the front window. SHe was so happy
that she sprawled out again behind the plant pots.

Well I couldnt' leave her there and I didn't want her to stay out so i
moved the pot and picked her up, much to her chagrin. Then I took her
around the planter bed and put her up on the patio wall.

WHOA!!!! There's PLANTS up here!!!! She streeetched out on the dirty
wall and started sniffing and chewing on a nearby frond. I called to
her and she meowed shortly her approval.

I felt like a mom who just brought her kid to the playground for the
very first time. Her eyes were wide and she was looking ALL AROUND.
"MOM LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME WOW!!!!!"

Takayuki...

She's so funny! I'm sure that you won't be able to resist giving
Mischief what she wants, so you've just added to your slave duties.
You'll need to give regular supervised outdoor playtime now. :)

After a few minutes i felt it was time to go inside and so I reach up
and picked her up off the wall, and she cried in protest. Then i
brought her back inside.

Mayhem and Imp came up to sniff her as i brushed the dirt off her fur.
Then she shook her head and looked up at me forlornly and started
crying.

She's now sulking and looking out the window.

She's got a collar and she's chipped, and i guess i could let her out,
but who knows when she'll come back? And I don't want her meowing at
every door and have the neighbors find out I have a cat, (which I only
have cause i got permission from the owner, and as far as he knows I'm
only supposed to have ONE cat, not three)

I hope i haven't opened up a can of worms, but she was practically
climbing the screen door and making a racket with her crying. So it
was either shut the sliding glass door and suffer inside a hot
apartment, (Oh did i mention my AC was broken?) or take her out and
carry her around. She seemed to like that. I tried to put her on a
leash (across her chest like a seatbelt) and she just pouted and
meatloafed and refused to move ONE step. And she didn't run away, it
was like I said, SUPERVISED outdoor time, and it's so late that no one
was around.

She's now in my bedroom and looking forlornly out the window. But at
least now she stopped climing the screen door and crying.

For now.............

Any ideas?

Monique Y. Mudama...

No ideas. She sounds much more determined to go outside than Oscar
is, but Oscar is still driving me nuts.

Kristi

btw, my patio is too small for a kittywalk and even if i did set one
up, it would have to be late at night so no one would see her.

laurie w...

I'd really be trying to get her to wear a harness. But then again every
cat
I've ever tried to put a harness on has found it instantly disabling.

Jo

Both of our kitties have harnesses on , and only go outside when they
have their
harnesses on, and walk outside only on leashes.

We have an inground pool, and they love to sit on the pool deck during
the day,
nap around lazily, but at night, they have zoomies on the pool deck.
Kady can swim, GRRRRRR.
(we got ours at petsmart)
and now when they are on the pool deck, they are harnessed and turtled.
Also when we travel,
the harnesses almost constantly are on them.

I would suggest putting the harness on in the house. Probably once she
got hungry,thirsty, or felt
the call of nature, she would figure out how to make her legs work!
All of our cats plopped at first with the harness, but within just a few
tries, they got the hang of it.
If she is very reluctant, also let her drag around the leash inside the
house, while you supervise,
of course.

kitties CAN get used to harnesses and leashes,
they just dont want people to know that they can!

I will try to get at it and add a few newer pics of the kitties and
their harnesses and turtles.
There are pics of them walking on the leashes in the camping photos... a
few different places.

laurie
slave to koko
kady the swimmer
gabby the d*g who thinks she is a kitty most times

Jo Firey...

I'd really be trying to get her to wear a harness. But then again every cat
I've ever tried to put a harness on has found it instantly disabling.

jmcquown...

Persia immediately became crippled when I tried to walk her using a harness.
I gather they have to be teeny tiny kittens to be harness-trained. When I
tried it on Persia at age (the vet guessed) two, her legs collapsed. She
refused to budge. Unless I wanted to be seen dragging a cat around, there
was no getting her up walking in a harness!

jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt...

I didn't start putting a harness on Smudge until she was about 2 or 3. She
was fine with it, got used to it immediately.

The only thing she hated was the process of getting it on her, as I had
to put the head part *over* her head. Once that was over with, she was
fine. And much later, I found another harness that had two clips on it,
one for the head part and one for the body part, so no more slipping her
head *through* anything. Nonetheless, she had imprinted on the idea of
"mom coming at me with harness" as something uncomfortable, and she
continued to go under the coffee table to try to avoid that process. I
had hoped that after a while, she would learn that this harness didn't
require her head to go through a loop, but she never did get used to
that. Once the harness was on, though, she was fine.

Now she doesn't need one anymore, and she's even more fine! :)

bobblespin...

I suggest you do what we did when we had 3 indoor cats who loved the
outside: do not let her _walk_ out the door herself, but pick her up
and put her out. Ours got used to the fact they were not allowed to
walk out but had to be picked up and placed outside.

I would also try the harness again until she gets used to it, but put it
on when she is already outside and if she drops, pick her up and bring
her to another stop to sniff something and take her mind off the
harness. Also, if their harness was on too tightly, mine wouldn't
budge. Try it a little loose at first since you're there with her. She
should soon associate the harness with going out (ours did).

Now that she has tasted the out, it will be very hard to keep her in, so
if you can keep her on an "out" schedule, for instance evenings only, it
will be easier on both of you. They do get used to a routine very
quickly and love them.

jmcquown...

The kittywalk is only 6 feet long.