Conference misery::feline_v1

    Denise,

    I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I'm glad to hear about the new
    cats, and am so glad that you have made the decision to keep them
    indoors given the circumstances.

    Deb

    I'm so sorry for your loss but also happy to hear you are starting
    a new family.
    
    We live in a very busy part of the city and knowing how much our
    babies like fresh air have turned the roof into a cat run for them.
    They think it's just wonderful - we have planter boxes up there
    with grass and oates for them to chomp on and that is their outdoors.
    
    
    Perhaps you could build some kind of enclosure to keep your babies
    in and everything else out - a little wood and chicken wire does
    wonders for them and for our peace of mind.
    
    
    Giudi in SF (Pippin, Gino & Stitch Too)

    I'm sorry about your babies also.  I have recently converted my
    new cat from outdoors to indoors.  I would be interested to hear from 
    others about "how they bring the outdoors inside".  There are lots
    of toys and securely screened windows, but no place to attach an
    outside cat run.  i have been thinking of lots of (non-poisonous)
    plants in one area maybe if I can figure out what to do about plant lights.
    

    I have a fenced in back yard and Barney and Gonezo are so fat they
    can't go over, and I think too stupid to climb over.  So, they are
    safe.  I worry, though, about my Benjamin who frankly, is my favorite. 
    He hangs out in the field across from my house, which is somewhat like
    a buffer between our neighborhood and a busy road.  There are some
    places of business on the corner and he will hang out up there on the
    edge and watch the traffic.  I'm paranoid some day he won't come home
    so I leave him in all day and he goes out for a few hours every night
    and most of the day when I am home.  I will go out periodically and
    call/whistle for him - he usually comes running to me like he was a
    dog.  One night in July he didn't come home.  I found him under my
    husbands car in the driveway at 5:00am and he couldn't walk.  I took
    him to the vet that day and they took xrays, but found nothing wrong. 
    It's now 4+ months later, and Ben still has a hard time getting down
    from things (bed, table, couch, etc) and he sometimes is a little
    wobbley when he walks.  I've had him to the vet for more xrays, but
    still nothing shows up.  I think Ben and I have both learned our
    lessons - he stays in all night every night, even if it means he only
    gets 1 hour outside.
    
    I think you're doing the right thing by keeping your new babies inside. 
    It definitely give you a peace of mind.
    
    Mary
    

    Your message was beautifully written and I know that all of us are
    sharing your mixture of joy and sorrow as we read this testimonial
    to your lost friends. I think you have made very clear how so many
    of us have stood on both sides of the "always hot" indoor/outdoor
    issue that is expressed in several of our notes. The underlying
    motivation is the same ... we love our cats dearly and want so much
    for them to have long, healthy and happy lives. Though our opinions
    on how to do this may differ ...our wish is the same.
    
    My heart goes out to you for the pain you are feeling at the loss
    of Einstein, Tigger and Tarbaby. They knew they were well loved
    and that is the greatest gift you could have given them. 
    
     

    =3.
    
    Karen:
    
    I've been real successful growing oates in-doors as well as out.
    I began with a starter kit (expensive but it had all the instructions
    on how to do it indoors)and tried it out.  They absolutely love
    it.  Little green grass starter kits are cheap and you can put a
    lot of those around too.  We've now taken to going to the feed store
    and getting oates (don't do wheat - when it goes to seed the cats
    can swallow the fox tail things on the end).  This little garden
    in the house during the winter helps the life of my house plants
    as well.  If you get a large enough container for the oates your
    babies might just enjoy sitting in it.  All the grass and oates
    need is a nice sunny window & lots of light.  An indoor garden and
    a screened window can bring a little of the outdoors in.
    
    
    Giudi in SF.(Pippin, Gino & Stitch Too)
    
    

    Denise, I never announced this in Feline, partly because of guilt
    and more for fear of "being jumped on" by other feliners; however,
    I think after reading your note I can talk about it now.
    
    We, too, live off a main road, up a very long driveway, with lots
    and lots of wooded area behind our house.  Maybe I was naive but
    I never believed that my indoor/outdoor cats would venture down
    that long driveway to the main road.  But Chauncey did.  How many
    times he did it safely over the past two years, we'll never know...
    but over the Columbus day weekend last month, Chauncey was killed
    by a hit and run driver.  No one stopped, no one moved him from
    the road, no one cared.  He was wearing a collar and tags and no
    one even bothered to stop and find out where he lived.  One of our
    neighbors saw him on his way into work and came back and informed
    us.
    
    I have two other indoor/outdoor cats at home, one of them came with
    the property when we bought the place.  I have not converted them
    to an indoor only life but have curtailed their time outdoors to
    daytime only (Chauncey was killed at night) and try to limit
    their outdoor excursions to the times when either my husband or
    I are home.  I could be naive again but I have never seen T.K. or
    Nikki venture farther than the backyard as they are both very afraid
    of other people and don't like to be where the action is.  Chauncey
    was a people cat and everyone in our little neighborhood knew him
    and loved him.  He had many other "homes" besides our own and would
    frequently walk the children to the bus stop in the morning.  I
    still hear many stories about him from folks in our neighborhood and
    his escapades always put a smile on my face.
    
    After Chauncey died, I wrote a letter to the editor of our local
    paper expressing my anger toward the people who hit and run
    and it was published a week later.  I received a beautiful
    letter in the mail from a woman in the next town who went through
    a similiar experience and offered her sympathies as well as a new
    cat.
    
    I don't think I could ever get T.K. and Nikki used to a completely
    indoor life, but do know that future cats will always live an
    indoor only life no matter what our surroundings are.  I have no
    regrets with Chauncey... he loved being outdoors and was happiest
    there.  I have many fond memories of him and know we gave him the
    best years of his life.  It's just a shame that whoever killed
    him didn't care that they had taken away from us a very special
    friend.
    
    Thank you, Denise, for having the strength to enter that note.
    
    
    --Roberta
    
    

    I'm very sorry about Chauncey.
    
    Karen
    

    I, too, am very sorry for Chauncey.
    
    Giudi

    Roberta,  I also am sorry about Chauncey.  Like you, I was worried
    about what other noters might think of me for what happened (sorry,
    other noters, I don't think I've treated you fairly) - I did what I felt
    was right at the time for both the cats and me.  We are entrusted with 
    the lives of our feline friends and we do the best we can (sounds like
    parents, doesn't it).  If we feel we have done that, we must accept that
    and move on.  Does it make the hurt at our losses any less?  No.  Maybe,
    just maybe, it makes us better able to do the right things in the future.
    Life's not perfect - we're not perfect.  The only thing we can do is our
    best.
    
    Denise

    I hope I never will have to write a note on this subject but Mocha
    was a stray for at least 3 months before we took him in and we have
    never been able to make him an indoor only cat. If he doesn't get
    out he pees and messes where ever he wants to and it's just awful
    to have him around. Roberta and I have talked for hours on this
    subject. I felt so bad about Chauncey (you can't believe how far
    away that main road is from Roberta's house) when Roberta told me
    the tears just came like a flood as someday I may be facing the
    same thing.
    
    Mocha's qualilty of life was improved when we took him in (sometimes
    I don't think he thinks so) but he will never be the lovey dovey
    lap cat that is so nice to have. I swear I will never take in another
    stray as they are a constant worry every time you let them out.
    Lately he has changed so much, real aloof, nasty personality and
    wants out all the time. We've had him to the vets, all kinds of
    test taken and health wise he's fine. Vet says he has a behavioral
    problem. I really believe in my heart he would like to be an outdoor
    cat and be the merry wanderer he was. The Ragdoll breeder who saw
    him said he would knock the socks off many of the Ragdolls being
    shown but surely that life wouldn't be for him.
    
    I'm sorry you experienced the heart ache you did.
    
    Barbara
    

    Barbara, when Mocha is in the house, do you play with him?  I
    thought Little Bit would never acclimate to being an indoor cat
    either, but what he wants is physical activity not just cuddles.  We
    play throw the catnip mouse for ten minutes or so when he starts wailing
    at the door (about twice a day), and that tuckers him out and changes 
    his mind.  Now if only LB would learn to fetch, sigh....
    

    Denise and Roberta, I'm so sorry to hear about your babies. I remember
    when you first got Chauncey, Roberta - you worked so hard to give
    him a good life. And Denise, your love for your pets really shows
    through strongly.
    
    Thank Heavens feliners can now discuss indoor/outdoor without abusing
    each other - some of the old notes on the subject made me cry at
    the time, and very nearly made me give up noting. Unfortunately
    the pros and cons of breeding non-show cats has caused nearly as
    much unpleasantness in the last year or so.
    
    But most of all, thank heavens for the love we and our feline friends
    share, and the chance to talk about our love with sympathetic (human)
    friends.
    
    Shayne (New Zealand)

    
    it just has to be a personal decision--what we feel is right for the
    cat(z).  stella was adopted at 7 1/2 weekz, so she was never an outdoor
    cat. she thought she wanted to be, when she was younger. i would let
    her outside for a few hourz at a time. gradually, it was longer each
    time, but she alwayz came home the same day--until the week before last
    thanksgiving. she ran off and was gone for three dayz (an eternity to
    me). i thought i would never see again.
    
    when she returned, with only a few bramblez in her tail, i was so
    grateful that i decided never again would i agonize like that. there
    are too many carz where i live for any outside cat to be truly safe.
    
    stanley was a stray i took in, but it soon became apparent he had once
    been an inside cat. (he recognized the sound of the refrigerator!) i
    even put him outside a few dayz after he first came here, thinking if
    he had a home to go to, he would surely go. he just waited on the deck
    for me to open the sliding door again.
    
    unless the weather is real cold, i open the sliding door for the catz.
    they love the fresh air through the screen. but i don't let them out.
    it may be selfish, but i couldn't live with myself if anything happened
    to them after i let them out.
    
    we each have to make our own decision...
    
    diane, stella & stanley  
                                           

    It's so hard to deal with the death of an animal.  I just lost Kitty
    2 weeks ago to something unknown.  What makes me feel good is the fact
    that Kitty could not have had a better life than the one that I gave
    him.  He was an apt cat (indoor) for the first 2 1/2 years of his life.
    He wanted nothing more than to go outside.  His glory was for the best
    of both worlds.  The last 4 1/2 years of his life he spent inside and
    out w/ curfews of 10 or 11pm.  I feel that I did what was right to make
    Kitty happy.
    
    Even though Kitty is gone now.  I do feel comforted by the fact that he
    had a great life.  Having another cat as well filled a void I felt
    would be unbearable.
    
    I have much sympathy to give the noters that have lost their loved
    ones.  I know what you're going through.  It's so hard not to feel
    quilty about what may have happened to our loved one, but it's so
    important to think about what you did offered them (ei: a home,
    food, love & care) while they were alive.
    
    My thoughts are with you.
    Sonia                                      

    Thanks for the good thoughts everyone.  Denise, I am so very sorry
    about the loss of your friends.  I didn't say it earlier and want
    you to know that.
    
    I think it is important for folks to realize that although several
    noters have successfully converted cats from outdoors to indoors,
    not all cats are "convertable."  This is evident by the stories
    told in this file of people who have converted their cats, only
    to write in about those same cats trying to escape from doors, windows,
    etc.  It's not an easy task and as Barbara mentioned, oftentimes
    the cats rebel by doing just what Mocha is doing.  Chauncey became
    destructive if left indoors for a long period of time, T.K. sits
    by the door and howls and scratches, and Nikki would probably be
    content with a life inside the house if every other cat in the house
    was indoor only too.
    
    I guess the point is that we who choose to let our cats out shouldn't
    be made to feel that we are bad pet owners.  Nor should we be
    stereotyped into the old cliche that "all indoor/outdoor cats have
    fleas, earmites, worms, etc."  That simply isn't true.
    
    As Barbara said, the constant worry of having indoor/outdoor cats
    is enough to make me vow that all future cats in my house will live
    an indoor only life.  It is a horrible feeling not knowing where
    they are, why they didn't come home, etc.  I like the security and
    comfort of knowing that all of my pets are safe with me, inside
    the house, all of the time.  That is why I choose to say "no more
    indoor/outdoor cats" once T.K. and Nikki are gone.
    
    
    --Roberta
    
    
    

    I started to answer this note this morning and the power kept going
    out so I gave up.  Marlboro was experiencing some problems with
    the major feed.
    
    Anyway - I wanted you to know that Einstein, Tigger and Tarbaby
    will be commemorated with this quarters Silver Lining Memorial
    Gift (See note 2228 for more info).  Indoor/outdoor is an issue
    that must be resolved by the person in light of his/her environment.
    Personally, I choose to keep my cats in - or let them out supervised
    on leashes.
    
    Jesse is adjusting fairly well to the indoor life tho he occasionally
    escapes.  He doesn't ask to go out much anymore - probably has
    alot to do with the weather.
    
    Finally, Chancey was commemorated with last quarter's SLM.  At the
    time Roberta had asked that it be done confidentially so his name
    never appeared on any lists published in FELINE.
      Nancy DC