Scooter update

[sugarplumkitty]

The specialist vets were closed for the weekend, so I found Lee-Roy's pain med from last fall to take over. I'd forgotten it was a morphine-like fluid. She's doing surprisingly well. Only one bone in "forearm" is broken right at the elbow, so the leg looks like it's in the right position. She just can't straighten out her paw. It hasn't stopped her from boxing Mike's cat Otto with it. She's sleeping more than usual and is sucking up the attention. She looked very contented with Mike snuggling her. They gave her some of the pain med and that made her loopy. She was forgetting to blink. My BIL brought her a dish of water when she started smacking her lips a bit and she drank about half the little bowl. They're also bringing her food to her and taking her into the back yard to do her business. She refuses to use a catbox. She loves being outdoors but the jingle of keys is enough to send her into a panic. Hearing the little dog next door through the fence scares her. She can walk on three legs.

The rottweiler lives several houses away. She can't hear him jingle. The owners have decided to permanently lock their gate so there is no chance their dogs can get out again. The $3,000 to $5,000 vet bill they're going to pay may have something to do with their resolve, though from the way my sis and her husband were talking, they're nice people who are horrified by what their dog did.

I don't know much about dogs. Don't they have to be taught to hate cats enough to hunt them down to kill them?

As for the suggestion that all cats should be indoor cats, that only works if you start them out that way and they don't have any hardened outdoor cats in the house to teach them the joys of freedom. Scooter adopted my sister's family as an adult. She was around 8 years old when she decided her human wasn't what she wanted and started hanging out at my sister's house where there were two boy cats and two teenaged boys home a lot to give her attention.

My family's cats have always been indoor/outdoor because we've lived in suburbs where it's relatively safe. The whole trend for indoor-only is very recent. Heck, my grandmothers didn't let their cats in the house at all! When I met Eric, Lee-Roy was indoor only. We were raising Scamperdoo with him that way. When Boo and I moved in just before our wedding, we tried to convert him to indoor only. The next five years were pure hell. Boo was depressed and surly. Eric didn't understand why I loved Boo so much because he was such a grouchy cat. Boo was a cat who tore screens to make his own cat doors. I kept re-capturing him when he escaped until the day he bit me very badly in his rage. Boo HAD to be outside to be happy. When I gave up and let him be out, he quickly taught Lee-Roy and Scamperdoo the joys of the yard.It was only then that Eric could see the cat I fell in love with. Happy, cheerful Boo! We only have Miss Cactus because Boo found her in the garden and brought her to my attention so I could get her to the vet to save her life.

The indoor-only policy, if strictly followed by everyone, would result in a major overpopulation of rodents. I don't think anyone wants that! I think moderation in the key. Indoor only makes sense in an urban setting because the dangers are really high. Where we live, there is no through traffic and we have yards for the cats to hang out in. We're far enough from the foothills to be safe from coyotes.

Anyway, that's the news for now!

Comments

[chymerikaen.livejournal.com]

I hope she'll be alright - she sounds like she's a fighter.

Baby Kitty is an indoor/outdoor cat, so much so that we just put in cat doors for him to use. I can't imagine how unhappy he'd be if we tried to keep him in all the time - already he hates rainy days when he can't go out. I don't think he's overly damaging to the ecosystem. I know our house and yard are mouse/shrew free, and he probably has gotten a bird or two - but I think it's unrealistic to think he's decimating our local bird or rodent population. Some cats are just happiest when outdoors where they can pretend to be little tigers.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Poor, poor kitty. If she's drinking and eating, that's a great sign.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Oh she is! She loves being served!

[odindeathcrush.livejournal.com]

i've never agreed with the indoor only policy.
think of yourself only haveing to live indoors forever.
no living thing should be indoors all it's life, it's unhealthy. heck i even put my houseplants outside.

i'm glad your familys' cat will be okay. i guess it was just the week for kitty mishaps... :/ ...?

[aikoheiwa.livejournal.com]

I think there are certain situations that may require cats to be indoors only; such as my situation.

[aikoheiwa.livejournal.com]

Well, my cats were originally indoors only simply because we lived in an apartment and I didn't want them to get run over. Now we're out in a country type setting. I'd let them out, except there's a new problem; there are coyotes out here. So, they're strictly indoor for good; at least until we move some place where there aren't so many cars like the apartment and there aren't coyotes.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Coyotes are especially mean to cats.

[fortune-cookie.livejournal.com]

I really doubt those owners set out to train their dogs to viciously attack neighborhood cats. Animals can be mean/get pissed off just like people, it was probably just that dogs personality. My aunt has a rottweiler who is a complete doll, it's too bad this one had to contribute to their bad rep :(


On the other hand, I may be biased because I'm definitely a dog person, heh.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

My friend's brother trained his pit bull to attack cats. That's where I got the idea.

[kitfoxx.livejournal.com]

I love to hear from other people that let their cats outdoors. I am not a fan of having indoor only cats, unless they're declawed, and dangit, they shouldn't be declawed! I don't understand why people think cats have to be kept indoors. I think it's mean. Cats are not delicate gentle little pillow-toppers. They are only relatively recently domesticated wild critters that have instincts to prowl and pounce and stalk and roam. Granted, my kitties have strict rules on when they get to go outdoors, but that is for their safety and my sanity. No kitties allowed outside after dark, and all kitties must be in when mommy leaves the house are the two firmest rules. It keeps them happy and gives them some variety in their life. Keeping them indoors all the time is like locking them up just like the bigger animals in the zoo. That's no life!

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

I agree!

[just-colleen.livejournal.com]

We have 2 cats who have been indoor-only all their lives. It's worked out very well for us, but I think you'd have to start them out as kittens like we did. They are extremely healthy for almost 13 years old...last fall I had to take one of them to the vet for a urinary tract infection, the first vet trip needed in probably ten years, after we decided it was silly to keep getting their shots when they never had contact with other cats. The vet was very surprised at Josie's age, thought she was much younger. And recently I was visiting a home where there was a big arthritic-looking cat and the owner talked about her being old...I asked the age and it was the same as ours, but ours still act like kittens half the time.

My reasons for not letting them out were selfish - the cat I had right before I got them got hit by a car. But it seems to have agreed with them.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Our Lee-Roy is quite youthful for his 15+ years while Scamperdoo is quite old for 13. It probably has a lot to do with genetics.

[lesliesailor.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad Scotter is doing better! Poor little girl must be completely freaked whenever she hears a dog bark at this point!

I don't think dogs are necessarily taught to "hate" cats. In some, I think it is just their personality, and in others, well, I think they may just be trying to play with the cat. I've always had cats and dogs together and never had a problem, even when introducing a kitten to a dog who was about 10 years old at the time and had never been around a cat. There was some growling and hissing, but after about 5 minutes, the two were curled up together and were inseparable after that.

As for the suggestion that all cats should be indoor cats, that only works if you start them out that way and they don't have any hardened outdoor cats in the house to teach them the joys of freedom.

Again, I think it depends upon the animal. Kiki was outdoors for the 1st 10 years of his life. I was hesitant to bring him in because I was afraid he wouldn't take well to it, and would spray, etc. - plus, that was his environment. When we found him injured, we brought him in, and he has never wanted to go out since. He loves it inside, and loves to be served. He goes back and forth between Tahoe and SF with the other 2 cats, and never trys to get out. They all sit in front of the sliding glass door and watch the squirrels (which come right up to the screen and touch noses through the screen). Kiki took to sleeping on blankets, chairs, couches, my Dad and Mom's lap, etc. You would never know he was originally an outdoor cat. In fact, he never sprayed, and knew exactly what the litter box was for... None of our cats are declawed (which I think should be outlawed), and none have ever scratched the furniture, curtains, etc.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

That's good to know! Ours seem obsessed with having access to outdoors. After Boo's reaction, I hadn't ever planned on trying to convert a cat again. He bit his mommy! He was sorry after he calmed down, but that's a lesson I'll never forget.

[sweet-byrd.livejournal.com]

Poor kitty! I'm glad she seems to be doing okay though -- she sounds like she is on her way to healing if she is eating, drinking and getting herself around.

Our Yosemite is an indoor kitty. It just kind of happenned that way. You see, I found her when she was just 4 weeks old, and she wasn't even really convinced of the whole 'solid food' thing yet. There were some feral cats in the neighborhood and we were in school at the time, so our baby stayed inside with us. We have moved all over the country with her (she is a very good traveler), and since she was an indoor cat as a baby and adolescent, she just doesn't have any 'outdoor instincts' -- and no older cats to show her the ropes. We let her out onto the patio fairly frequently, and take her outside with us sometimes, so she isn't forbidden the outdoors -- she just doesn't really live there. She seems happy -- and we go out of our way to play with her and let her be outside with us, so it seems like a decent enough arrangement for us.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a wonderful compromise!