Yup. Lady just turned 13. The first time we tried them was in November. She didn’t put up too much of a fuss. However this cat has had her paws handled a lot, mostly to stop her from digging her claws into tender human flesh. That’s supposed to be the biggest issue, since you’re supposed to get a kitten used to having it’s paws handled before starting a nail-trimming/soft paws regiment as well.
The ex-boyfriend and I had good intentions about keeping the cats indoor cats. Both of us grew up primarily with indoor cats (while I was growing up the cats were indoor cats but as they got old(er) they went outside a bit but stayed close to the house).
But one of the cats (or shall I say kitten, he wasn’t even a year old) was so strong willed that we had no choice. Therefore both cats have ended up being indoor/outdoor cats; they come and go as they please. Luckily I have the cats and live at the end of a dead-end road with a couple empty lots around my place in a residential neighborhood. Yep, they’ve got the best of both worlds. I live next door to my aunt and uncle and they come and go from their house as they please as well.
But I do need to mention that the strong willed cat (also known as NAC - Nosy Ass Cat) disappeared for 4 weeks about 5 years ago. I was heartbroken. We did everything we could to find him but he just finally showed up meowing very loudly at the front door one night about midnight. He was fine except for the cat collar with the bell was not only around his neck but also wrapped under one front leg and he was rubbed raw. He must have done lots of walking. The fur under the leg was completely gone, he was taken to the vet and there was nothing to be done about that. To this day he has no fur under one leg (on a human it would be the armpit). I must mention that he was wearing a breakaway collar with contact information if he got lost and he is the friendliest cat one could ever meet. I still wonder what adventures he had…to this day he never strays too far from home but still goes outside several times a day for hours at a time.
Just for that, you know what’s going to be on your doorstep when you get home tonight, right?
My little warrior stalked, attacked and ate a vicious piece of pancake with syrup last night. He was very proud of himself.
Who says indoor cats are lacking?
Ava
One day, we put a charming purple leather collar on Tashacat. She hated it, but she adjusted. A week or so later, she was wrestling with the strip of plastic from the top of a milk jug when she somehow hooked the collar on a mounted doorstop. Another time, one of my outdoors kitties, wearing a flea collar, was climbing down a tree when it hooked the collar on a branch. The collar snapped. We quit putting collars on cats.
For what it’s worth Tasha was an indoor/outdoor cat who died at age 7, hit by a car. Her son Spanky died at 13 months, hit by a car. We had many strictly outdoor cats. None lived as long as Tasha. Some disappeared (they may have just wandered off). Many were hit by cars. One was shot. One lost a fight. Two died in separate incidents involving car engines. A litter of kittens was suffocated by an opossum. And some kittens were picked off by owls.
That’s great! I may try and do something like that for my thesis project!