Saturday, September 28, 2013

Hanging Out with the Girls

As fall settles in, there’s nothing much to report on in the…wait, what’s that in my garden?

IMG_20130927_185622_891

 

 

It looks just like McKenna...

IMG_20130927_185650_504

 

 

What in the world is she doing out here?  I thought she was an indoor cat??

IMG_20130927_185249_943

 

Well, see, even before we got her, I already felt sorry for her, trapped inside watching the dog go gaily in and out of the door.  What kind of life would that be, never feeling a breeze or sniffing the tracks of the creatures that passed through in the night?  So among the other kitten equipment we bought, I picked up a kitten-sized harness, determined to acclimate her early to the idea of walking on a leash.

Her training has been spotty, but by now she’s more or less used to the pressure of harness restraining her.  In spite of her eagerness to run jauntily across the yard on her own, she’s still a bit hesitant about trotting out with a leash-wielding human by her side.  So, instead of taking her for head-turning walks down the street, I’ve done a lot of standing around in the back yard while she sniffs and stares and moves ahead at a glacial pace.

Frankly, that gets boring for both of us.  So the other day, I came up with the idea of re-purposing Rosie’s old dog run.

IMG_20130927_184241_558-1

 

I noticed as I was stretching the line back across the yard that the sound of the trolley seemed to alarm the cat.  So I picked her up and walked back and forth with her in my arms, dragging the line with us until she seemed more used to the jingling noise.  I could feel my eccentricity score mounting with every step.  Then I put her back down and switched out the leash for the blue line I used to clip to the dog.

The clasp on the line is really heavy for a 7-pound cat—you can see how it drags her harness over to the side.

IMG_20130927_190336_388

 

But that didn’t seem to bother her very much.  In fact, in spite of her initial suspicions, it took her a surprisingly short time to adapt.  At first she was a still a little alarmed by the trolley, then she decided she was being stalked by the line trailing her across the grass.  But once she decided those were mere distractions, she got a lot more exploring done than she ever had on a leash.  And I could tell that the time I had spent getting her used to that leash was paying off.  Check out how she handles hitting the end of the line here.

 

And so, now that I was free to sit back and relax with my book, it was very nice to have both girls outside with me on a lovely fall evening.  Hopefully this will become a regular routine.

IMG_20130927_190149_215

 

“Did you hear that!?  We can hang out together outside too!”

IMG_20130927_190250_651

Fortunately for Rosie, she’ll still have plenty of room to get some time away from her pestering little sister.

I don’t have a clever conclusion, so here’s a picture of some lovely fall flowers instead.

flowers 09b

Happy weekend!

4 comments:

  1. Well aren't you clever? And isn't McKenna brave? I tried taking a cat for a walk on a leash once. Notice the word "once"...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha, yes! And that is why I decided to start McKenna with it early, even if we ended up never using a leash. There are few second chances on that, I think.

      Delete
  2. "Oh my gawd, the crazy cat lady is walking her cat again..."

    My cat of 14 years always wanted to go out but unless it was by accident, she wasn't permitted. I liked it that way. The only time I let her out on purpose is when there was snow in the yard.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, dang it, now you've made me feel guilty (all over again, for about the millionth time) about keeping our cats totally indoors. You've got a good system there!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for dropping by--please share your thoughts!

"Every time we get comment mail, Rosie wags her tail!" (Seriously, you should see that puffy thing go.)