Kittens and the wide wide world

[smokingboot]

OK, they hate their collars with a passion, but this distaste is nothing compared to the sheer loathing they feel for their leads.

These leads, borrowed from Splendid Sekhmet, are meant to ensure their safety outside until they know the area. And if ferrets can be put on leashes, as Falco_Biarmicus has discovered, why not cats?

Because cats are bastards, that's why.



Bit of a sticky wicket you see...only way of being sure they'll be OK is to not let them out as kittens at all, but wait until they are 6 months old. However the splendid book on cat behaviour, on loan to us from November_Girl, states that the only real cat phobia the author has ever come across is fear of the outdoors, stemming from cats being kept in too long as kittens. This cat psychologist recommends getting kittens used to the world beyond as soon as healthily possible, i.e, when their shots have 'taken'. Q today.

I had to abandon the leads. Surya, already livid with the collar, seems prepared to hang herself from a kitchen chair rather than subject herself to the humiliation of a lead, and Ralik just won't move at all if subjected to this disgustingly canine-orientated treatment.

So instead, we went out into the world of pre-sunset winter. The sky is bright, the air is cool and they were rapt.

I gave them two turns at it, first out the back, next out the front. Out the back, Ralik was king, sitting quietly on the back step watching the world with wide eyes. He was fine while I was nearby, keeping an eye on him sniffing the earth, watching the sky. Surya watched closely from within the conservatory, and came out when she saw Ralik and me there.

It was her turn to be more confident when it came to the front door - she stepped out onto the red brick of the storm porch and sniffed all round the front, stopping only to observe the huge fast metal monsters way beyond the trees and grass verge. Ralik wasn't going near any of this roaring rubbish and watched from within. She paid considerable attention until a bus rumbled past. Then she ran away terrified into the kitchen.



The newness of it all hitting their fuzzy little minds is just fantastic. I love them.

Comments

[mitchy.livejournal.com]

I remember when Rob the furball first discovered the outdoors. It was so cute! His brother had got the hang of the cat flap and the outdoors no bother, but Rob was very nervous. Gradually he spent more and more time in the hall, taking station closer and closer to the cat flap. Then, one afternoon, he decided to take the plunge. Literally. He dived out of the cat flap then did what must have been a mid-air U-turn and came straight back in again. On discovering he was intact and not vaporised, he tried it again. Then again. Then finally he went outside for a whole minute! He came bursting back through the cat flap, and ran down the hall to me, mewing proudly, as if to say "Look! Look! I did it!"

Bless him :)

Sweet!

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

Good for Rob:-)

Catflaps are a whole new adventure we have yet to begin...