It is in the nature of cats to do a certain amount of unescorted roaming-- Adlai Stevenson

Lexi with the long hair

Lexi seems to be doing okay on her thyroid meds.  She gets the gel in her ear twice a day.  I think it has helped her appetite.  She’s always ready for breakfast and dinner, but she doesn’t seem to be starving.  Of course she has access to dry food all day.  We want to get her regulated so she can maintain a good weight.  She will go back for a blood test after December 4.  Hopefully the meds are working and we can get the right dosage.

Rhody (left) and Jonesie

The Twins, Kaci (left) and Jason

We started allowing our younger cats, Jonesie, Rhody, Jason and Kaci outside this past summer.  It was a new world for them and they really enjoyed it.  But, just as we thought, they would soon start wondering what is beyond the six foot high fence.

Jonesie was the first to find himself in our neighbor’s yard behind us.  I was checking to see where everyone was, which I do about every 10 to 15 minutes.  I found everyone but Jonesie.  I called and called him.  Finally, I heard a frantic meow coming from somewhere.  Charlie looked over the fence and there was Jonesie, a very scared little cat, looking up at him.  He obviously couldn’t jump back up that high.

I walked around to the neighbor’s house and they let me in their backyard.  When Jonesie saw me, he came running down the hillside to me.  I brought a blanket to wrap him in and carried him home.  I was hoping that he wouldn’t do that again, because he had been so scared.

But, no, a few days later I was looking for him and he had gotten down into that yard again.  As Charlie leaned over the fence, this time, Jonesie was looking for a way to come back over.  I went back around and into the yard.  This time, Jonesie wasn’t as scared, so I had to coax him to me.  I carried him home and put him inside, his time in the yard was over for the day.

The next time he went over the fence, it was into the yard of our neighbor next door.  He couldn’t get back and I went next door to get him.  This time I could just hand him up to Charlie.

A week or so later, he was in the yard of the neighbor on the other side.  I heard him meowing like he was afraid.  As I stood on a chair to look over the fence to see him, he jumped to the top of the fence and we met face to face.  I think my neighbor had come out into her yard when she heard him meowing.  That’s what scared him and gave him the adrenaline to jump up on the fence.  Now he knows he can do it.

So, I kept him in for a few days, hoping that he would realize that he shouldn’t be leaving the yard.  But, then we had such a nice warm day, I decided I would sit outside and read for awhile.  Of course, the cats wanted out too.  I thought it would be okay since I was outside too.

I kept a close eye on them and everything was fine.  I went inside for a few minutes and came back to do a head count.  I couldn’t find Jonesie.  Charlie heard me calling him so he came out.  That’s when we saw Jonesie walking on top of the fence.  We got him down and brought him inside.

Jason was also discovering the front yard about this time.  I was in the bedroom, which looks out into the front yard.  I saw Jason walking by.  I went outside and finally caught him.  He didn’t get a second chance.  It was house arrest for him.  He must have seen Mr. Creme jump the fence and go into the front yard.

Mr. Creme (left) and Toby

Mr. Creme is the only one that we allow outside every day.  He usually goes out first thing every morning.  He likes to snoop around the backyard a little, spray a few bushes and then he jumps the fence to see what’s going on in the front yard.  Since Mr. Creme stays in our garage and is not allowed in the house (he can’t help but spray), we feel like he needs to have his time outside.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that Mr. Creme was limping.  I think he must have landed wrong when he jumped down from the fence.  I started opening the gate for him so he could go out into the front without having to jump so high.  He’ll he 12 years old in March.

His limp cleared up, but now when I let him outside into the backyard from the garage, he walks over to the gate and looks back at me like “Haven’t you forgotten something?”  So, of course, I open the gate.  It’s an entitlement now.

After a couple of hours outside, Mr. Creme comes to the front door when he’s ready to come back inside.  He walks in and then straight into the garage, gets a bite to eat and then up to the top of the dryer for nap.  He has his routine and we all know it.


Mr. Creme really missed his brother, Toby, when Toby passed away this past June.  They were raised together and were always together. They both stayed in the garage.  We miss Toby too, Mr. Creme. 

If both of us leave the house before Mr. Creme is back, we call him and put him inside.  I don’t really want him outside if we’re not home.  I worry something will happen to him.

We may decide to just keep the young cats inside now.  We’ve gone through this with all of our cats.  We like for them to be able to be outside with us, especially when the weather is so nice.  It’s just that we don’t want them to leave the yard.  So much can happen to them, even though we are home to watch them:

Our little outdoors girl, Lexi

Like the time Lexi got stung by a bee when she was a “teenager”.  It was so pitiful.  She ran into the house and I knew something was wrong.  We found her under the bed.  We got her out and she was making such a pitiful sound.  The stinger was still in her paw, but we removed it and put a cool washcloth on it.  She was fine.

Another time, Grady dislocated his hip somehow.  We had brought all of the cats inside to feed dinner.  Grady was missing, but I knew he was inside somewhere. We found him in a closet, obviously in pain.

Naturally it was the Monday of a Memorial Day weekend.  But, we took him to emergency for care.  They got his hip back into joint, but in a few days, it was out again.  They suggested a routine surgery to make the socket capable of holding the joint in place.

While performing the surgery, Grady’s leg broke, just at the curve of the back leg.  It had to be set and pinned and he had to wear a taped up brace for about six or eight weeks.  Then when the break healed, they had to take out the pin.  It was a long process, but we couldn’t have had a better little patient than Grady.

Grady with his "potted plant", a pot of grass for him since he couldn't be in the yard

When we went outside to sit on the patio, we let the cats out.  Grady wanted to come out too, so we made a little fenced in area, put a rug down, made him a bed and he stayed in that.  He never tried to get out of it.  He was happy to be outside with us.  We miss Grady.

Jezibel likes to drink water from the faucet

And then there was the time when Jezibel was in our front yard and she got chased and attacked by two dogs who had gotten loose from their yard up the street.  That was another emergency visit.  We were so lucky that no bones were broken and no muscle tissue was damaged.  She had a severe bite which caused her lots of pain, but after a night in the hospital and some special care at home, she recuperated.  Of course, she milked it for all it was worth.  But, even as stubborn as she can be, she was a good patient too.

I think I just talked myself into keeping the cats inside forever now.....sorry, Jonesie and Jason!

More later..........