Cat Problems

When I was a kid having outdoor cats wasn't really an issue (that I know of). If you live in a fairly rural area it works out fine because the cats have room to roam and there are fewer cars around. They still have animal predators, but as far as population density of people, it's pretty quiet.

In the suburbs I think it's safer to keep them inside, though, because the cats just don't have as much space to explore without danger of cars. Plus if I keep my cats indoors I don't have to worry about fleas and cat diseases being spread. On the other hand, I have to clean the litterbox... Note to anyone with indoor cats: the "Healthy Pet Milled Grain" cat litter has been working very well with our two cats and is sold at the Doggone Natural store in old Ashburn. This litter is made of natural materials like the Feline Pine but doesn't have the strong odor of the pine stuff. Eight paws up!

I know a guy who had an indoor/outdoor cat in Burke and he had a cat door installed so his cat could come and go as he pleased. A local stray started coming into his house through the cat door and harassing the pet cat. One day the guy chased the cat around the inside of his house, trapped the cat and gave it a bath/shower. The cat never came back. On a side note, I would have loved to see a video of that!

 

Cat on a Hot Shingle Roof - now playing at the National Theater

 

Haha... change "cat door" to "dog door" and that's exactly how my cat became my mom's cat (back before she became my cat). The cat followed the dog through the dog door once, and pretty much just made herself at home. Mom came home to find the cat lying on the kitchen counter waiting for food. Of course, my mom fed her.

She was made an "indoor" cat after the night she brought a family of rabbits home. Not just one... a whole family. My mom found them the next morning huddled behind the sofa, where the cat couldn't reach them. (Yes, they were all alive. Somehow they had the sense of mind to find a spot where the cat couldn't reach them... amazing.)