Is it possible to teach my next cat road sense?

lowis

i'm an indoor cat person too - and my 13 and 14 year old seem very content indeed! i don't have a pen as i live in a flat on a high floor, but i have turned my balcony into a safe haven for them by building a secure frame and fixing some sturdy mesh across it. i won't let them out there unsupervised 'just in case', but in the sumer i often sit out on my balcony with the door open and let them come and go as they please - mostly they prefer to sit indoors.

i don;t have anything against outdoor cat people at all, my circumstances just won;t allow for it. i usec to have outdoor cats all the time. nowadays, if i had a garden i too would build a run as i have siamese and they would get stolen in a flash - one of them is so friendly he would just approach any passer-by for some cuddles.

krystal-divination

i have just got my british short hair blue kitten archie as early christmas gift from my O.H. he is wonderfull ! :cheesy:
my last cat was a regular moggy and much loved by us all, he was outdoor cat but incredibly sensible, we would follow me to the schools like a dog and never cross roads without my instruction and if i said no stay he did !!
i didn't teach him this he just understood, and when we got so far from home he would stop i would say wait and sure enough as i came home he joined me for the rest of journey.
he lived to 19yrs died of old age. i miss him terribly.

however my new kitten will be indoors cat i now live on fairly busy road, my garden is walled and my extention comes out to the decking then the garage the other side of decking, so it would be easy to get mesh wire and give the whole garden a 'roof' which i am going to do. so he can get fresh air but not leave the garden.

i think we have to do what is appropaite to each cat and our living circumstances.

can't see the point of the cat buggy, its just like looking out of a window :rotfl:

Kimberley

krystal-divination wrote: »

my garden is walled and my extention comes out to the decking then the garage the other side of decking, so it would be easy to get mesh wire and give the whole garden a 'roof' which i am going to do. so he can get fresh air but not leave the garden.

:rotfl:

I wish my garden was like that so my cats have the whole garden.

AbbieCadabra

we've had 2 bengals now for 4 & 5 years, indoor cats with loads of things to play with, small cat trees & 1 that goes floor to ceiling that they swing off like a pair of monkeys! very happy & content puss cats they are.

Kimberley

AbbieCadabra wrote: »

we've had 2 bengals now for 4 & 5 years, indoor cats with loads of things to play with, small cat trees & 1 that goes floor to ceiling that they swing off like a pair of monkeys! very happy & content puss cats they are.

Aww pictures please

rita-rabbit

Kimberley wrote: »

Did i say that? :rolleyes:

I said we should ban them meaning people should be made to keep their cats indoors or in a secure garden.

There should not be any stray cats out there who don't belong to anyone.

:mad: so it seems there are those who would dictate everything involved in pet ownership from how often we clean litter trays to whether or not we allow our pets to wander free. Nice to know you have the freedom to express those views

I think now I am understanding the view held by some about cat owners being batty!:eek:

Owners should be able to let their cats wander if they so choose. Stray animals are another thing altogether - some have been bred through irresponsible owners & some have ended up `homeless' through no fault of their own. Dear me - listen to yourself:cool:

Kimberley

rita-rabbit wrote: »

I think now I am understanding the view held by some about cat owners being batty!f

That bit is true, i've always been batty

LouBlue

Tis true. :D

Kimberley

LouBlue wrote: »

Tis true. :D

Oi you madam

squeaky

DKLS wrote: »

Sadly the little tabby that adopted me when I moved in got squished last night. :mad: poor little sod was so friendly and loving.

Sorry, I've come to this one quite late - but yes it's quite possible to teach a young kitten a few things...

After her jabs and stuff I used to take Sally outside, holding her in my arms so that she could look around and see the area she lived in and what was the way home. Started at just a few feet and then went gradually further afield.

I don't live on a main road, but my dead end street is still moderately busy. So whenever a car started coming along I'd stop dead, look at it, and then quietly hiss at it, and then slowly and calmly walk to the nearest safe place off the road.

Guess what Sally does now?

Simpler things too - like not walking across the keyboard! As soon as she could climb up me and get onto my desk she'd end up strolling across the darn thing. So I'd tap her paws with a single finger until she got off. These days as a grown up, whenever she hops onto the desk she either steps carefully over the keyboard or walks round it.

But you can indeed find yourself teaching the daft bat things you never quite intended. If you teach your cat not to hop onto a hot cooker (as an example) she'll never hop onto it when it's cold either. In other words - they're not for good at "conditional" lessons - it's very much a yes/no black and white thing.

So pick your lessons carefully