Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: LadyMcTavish on July 27, 2013, 13:13:57 PM
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Huzzah! Tippy is wearing a collar and not going totally schitzo! She has mastered how to get it off quite easily but today seems to be rather accepting. She looks rather cute with it on too :D
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Congratulations. Most of my cats (all at Rainbow bridge) were pretty accepting of collars, although my last went into a possessed state when we added a bell and went baserk finally refusing to move from the shelf in the shed until we removed the evil item. :rofl:
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Well done getting a collar on, None of mine wear a collar, Have tried with all of them over the years. Think I am to soft!
Charlie freaked out completely the first time I tried and went under the bed, with it lodged in his mouth like a gag! I was trying to get the size right when he ran off, I then had to take the drawers out from under the bed to grab him to get it off.
They then started to help each other get them off.
I took the bells off as well, as that really agravated them.
Wordy will wear a cat bowtie though!
Nicky
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I've had to remove the bell, it totally freaks her out to the point she screeches and rolls around on the floor. I'm not stressing her out over a bell at this stage. She's 13 weeks old So no outings yet!
I was going to do a separate post but I may as well do it here:-
How do people feel about letting kittens explore the garden once the are fully vaccinated? Our garden is secure and there's no way out. We wouldn't leave tippy out there alone anyway, but I'm not sure if its a good idea to let her explore a little? OH is quite pushy in letting her just outside the back door but I'm nervous of the whole idea. What does everyone else think??
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You could always get a harness :evillaugh:
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I've thought about that. But she can't get out of our garden anyway. There's a 20ft walk one side plus 5ft fence then a 6ft fence other side and the bottom of our garden is fenced/gated. I suppose I'm more paranoid of her catching something than escaping :/
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Don't let the 5ft fence fool you - the can get over it, but not sure about a kitten ;) Health wise, I'm not sure cos never had a kitten but as long as she's been vaccinated and going nowhere where there is anything she could pick up I would think she'd be ok.
Looks cute in the collar does she? Wouldn't know as you've not posted a pic :evillaugh: Please let us see :Luv2: :hug:
Mary
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Thanks Mary
I took it off earlier to groom her, will put it on again in the morning and post a pic
Will see if she wants to venture out tomorrow and have a look around the garden. There's nothing or her to pick up. We only get birds on the garden and she's fully vaccinated, wormed and flea'd
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Good luck tomorrow - I bet she has fun :Luv2:
Mary
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The only other thing I would take into consideration is when your vet will neuter her. She may not be able to venture too far at the minute, but if she gets a taste for the outside, then she might be able to escape the garden when she is a bit bigger.
I would keep her inside until she done, but my vet wouldn't do it until 6 months - but some do it earlier.
We have a 6 foot fence all around the back which our two get over with ease!
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I would try the harness, so she knows her boundaries. Maybe put some of her toys out there for her to play with, make it more fun.
I have a used once kitten harness if want it, it's blue but she wouldn't know, if you want it pm me and I'll post it to you.
Nicky
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Hi ladies thanks for your help :)
I'm reluctant to let her out, more for her bolting than anything. She sat by the back door last night and watched the rain and heard the thunder and it didn't phase her. Unlike last week she scattered under the sofa when the first storm came! Thanks for the offer nicky, I think I'm going to keep her in. My vets will neuter her at 6months but my local pets at home will do it at 4mo which she's fast approaching. I don't really want her to have a season, so I'm totally torn which to go to. her happiness is everything to us :)
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I managed to sneak a pic :)
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Lady M, I fully appreciate where you're coming from on this. :hug: me and my OH haven't seen eye to eye on this point in the recent past - I tend towards the same view as you, and certainly when Suki, Paddy and Flynn were kittens, they weren't allowed out before they attained 6 months of age and had been vaccinated and neutered. Back then, we didnt have a secure garden anyway, and lived backing on to a metro line and a busy street network.
Of late, with Mac and Ross and Dickie, OH wanted Mac and Ross to go out while it was summer and decent weather, albeit only when we were out with him. I didn't. Even though we live elsewhere with a wide open space to the rear of us, I still felt it was too risky.
OH got his wish, but both kittens found means of escaping the garden, in spite of our best efforts. It gave me numerous uneasy moments. I didnt know a minute's peace.
We lost Mac to a road accident a day before his first birthday - he got a taste for wandering early on, and wanted to follow another cat he'd made friends with who was a bit older than him. No-one's fault, but heartbreaking just the same.
Dickie was allowed out from the age of 9 or ten weeks by his owners. I didn't agree with that either, especially as him and Ross became firm friends, but whereas we would only let Ross out with us and - come the winter - he was in by dusk, Dickie wasn't. As a result, he would find hikmself locked out, and would sit outside our house and cry to be in. His own people never heard him. It was always us who would get up in the wee small hours, having heard him pawing at our locked cat flap and wailing pitifully in the frost and the snow to be in.
As a consequence as the months went by,Dickie has virtually moved in with us, and we firmly class him as "one of ours." He's extremely welcome, and we love him as much as we love Ross, but even his owners acknowledge they shouldnt have let him out and left him to his own devices when he was so yuong. They key here is "being left to his own devices" which is not what you're proposing to do with Tippy at all, but I mention it just bby way of illustration.
There are so many associated risks with letting any cat out, and it's hard to envisage them all, but what I would say - long story short - is however "cat-proof" you believe your garden to be, unless it is "properly" cat proofed with correctly designed fencing and netting, they will always find a way to get out into that exciting, inviting and unsafe world outside. :hug: :hug:
If you're willing to be very vigilant, and to stop up all the gaps you can think of, and then some more that you think may be way too small (but which won't be) then try it first with her on a harness when you can both keep a very close watch on her. And then enjoy the fun in watching her explore her garden and get used to all of the exciting things that will be going on there for her. :)
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Aw - doesnt she look beautiful in her dotty collar! :wow: :Luv:
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Thank you sue. I'm so sorry to hear about Mac it must have been totally heartbreaking. We also have train tracks nearby but they are at the front of the house not the back so I'm hoping she'll never venture near them. Also at a fair distance. We have lanes to the rear and lots of gardens. Our fences are all dug into the ground so she couldn't get under them, but in time she could get over them. Our gate is 3ft tall so she could get over it if she tried, but otherwise there's nowhere for her to get out as to our left there's a brick walk then next doors fence (6ft) on top of it.
It's so hard to do "what's best" I don't want her outdoors yet. But she is so desperate to get out. I would rather her be spayed by my vet (not p@h I don't trust them - the vet there basically said tippy had a death sentence when I took her in with conjunctivitis and she's been fine since. It wasn't feline herpes)
Oh the joys of being a miowmy !!
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No matter how much she cries to go out, don't let her out!!!
You may think your garden is escape-proof, but she'll find a way out. It only takes a hole the size of a kitten's head..even then, you can't be sure. Cats are very elastic, their bodies can slide through very small spaces.
Leave going out until she's at least 6 months old, you'll be glad you did. Hopefully, she'll have the next 15 years or so to catch mice and be an indoor/outdoor cat. Don't rush it.
Instead, amuse her inside the house, buy her a cat-tree, lots of toys, Da Bird etc so that she forgets about outdoors.
And don't assume that she won't at any time manage to get to the front of the house. She will. But this is the risk you take in allowing cats their freedom. Personally, I take the risk, but others keep cats indoors or have their garden professionally cat-proofed.
As a small kitten, she's also prey to urban foxes. No matter how she cries, keep her in. Would you let her chew a live electric wire just because she wanted to? No. What she wants isn't necessarily good for her.
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Hi hippy kitty. She has a huge tree, a massive bowl full of toys, a big sisal fish, a big sisal mouse, feather chasing stick, balls, laser pen, scratch mats, the s-shaped sisal/lounge post and my son to play with. Trust me, she has PLENTY to keep her occupied indoors. I have no intention of letting her anywhere outside of my garden, nor leaving her unattended out there. I'm asking more to show the OH that not everyone thinks like him, and that she doesn't need to be outside yet. She is still just over a kilo too, she's so slight bodily. Even when she's neutered she won't be going anywhere until she is full healed and even then it'll be accompanied on the garden.
:)
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She is very very pretty :Luv2: :hug:
Mary
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You must be firm with your OH too. Maybe discuss having the garden professionally cat-proofed. There are many on Purrs who've done this. It's not cheap or pretty, but it will keep her safe. :hug:
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She looks utterly lovely. :hug: :hug: My Billy is indoor only. If he was to go out, he would never have a collar on. I'd be worried he might get caught on a bush or branch ,and accidentally choke. :shify: :innocent:
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I'm in private rented so my landlord wouldn't allow us to alter the garden. She'll follow my rules as she's predominantly my cat so she won't be going anywhere.
Tippy is also a nutter where collars are concerned. She wore hers for hours yesterday and didn't both but today is was on 20mins and she managed to get it stuck and I ended up taking it off. She's chipped but I worry about people not being savvy enough to think she could be and take her in thinking she's a stray
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I always keep mine indoors until they've been 'done'. Then supervised walks until they come when called (this phase doesn't last long unfortunately). At first I make sure the cat is a bit hungry before going out so I can tempt them back in with food.
As for collars, I don't usually like them, I've seen too many cats who've come to grief because of them but I've just had to get one for Harvey as he has brought me a starling, a sparrow and two mice just in the last couple of days. I has a bell on and it's driving ME mad! I'm wondering if he's 'providing' for Anikin who is temporarily back with me while his new owners are on holiday. Harvey loves kittens!
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Excuse me for asking but is she your first cat? I ask that because of:
She'll follow my rules
I don't know about other peeps, but I've never managed to get any cat to follow my rules, especially when I'm not looking, and that's with a lifetime's experience with cats. The only time I didn't live with a cat was when I was at uni.
Have you considered keeping her as indoor only? This isn't what I do with my cats. I've weighed up the risks of them being killed on the roads etc as against their enjoyment of the outdoors and allow them out, keeping my fingers crossed that they'll be okay. If you want to be 100% sure of your cat's safety, keep her indoors.
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No way. I don't believe in keeping cats indoors. Personal choice obv. Cats are predators and belong outdoors where they use their natural instincts. It's relatively quiet were we live as there's lots of fields and open areas for her to explore. I appreciate people keep pedigree cats indoors, I totally get that, but to me a cats natural instinct is to hunt and use their senses and she can't do that indoors.
For now she'll be strictly Indoors. But once she's spayed and healed I'll be accompanying her outside on little jaunts around the garden an down the lane then once shes confident I'll sit at home worrying myself to death about what she's up to ;)
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It's a very personal choice, I think - indoors or outdoors, and both arguments have areas of merit. I feel the best compromise is a cat proofed garden, but without the means to do so effectively, I've opted for outdoor.
However, I think if I had the ability to cat proof effectivelyand the wherewithal to achieve it, I'd have gone for that option and go hang with neighbours, covenants and aesthetics.
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I'm the same sue. If I had a hûge beautiful garden and lots of money I would cat proof and she could have her own assault course and all sorts. Unfortunately we rent, we have a small secure-ish garden and enough money to get by on. Tippy has lots of toys and space indoors and her own private space too. I have a friend who has main coons and hers are indoors cats with a totally cat proofed garden but its massive and really beautiful....I'll keep dreaming ;)
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I know what you mean Lady M. The first cat proofed garden I'd ever seen belonged to a friend of mine who lived over in the Lake District. She had an admittedly fairly small garden, but, being walled, it lent itself well to cat proofing, and her hubby made the most amazing job of it, with very discreet struts and netting She planted creepers and climbers and all manner of plants round the perimters and it was just the most amazing playground for the cats whilst keeping them entirely safe.
Since then, I've seen one or two more in real life and lots on the inetrnet which I've really admired :)
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It's fairly easy to do yourself, it's just know-how and a LOT of money! My dad has cat proofed his garden for the oposite reason. He doesn't like cats on the garden as my step mum loves the birds. But they've done it safely and tastefully. Our house is pretty big so tippy has lots of space and at least half of the dining room is her space. She's currently snoozing....
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You can really see her markings beautifully in that photo (Shhhh! princess sleeping..... :evillaugh:)
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Try telling my 4yr old that! He's a live wire bless him but tippy accepts him just fine and they play lovely together :)
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Aaaw bless her - I love it when they tip their heads like that.
Glad to hear your son loves her and she loves him too.
Mary
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:Luv2: so ladylike just like Tilly. Lovely photo though. :rofl: