After a brutal winter of endless confinement and mild depression what does a big black domestic cat do in London, England when the first warm days arrive? This is what mine did. It’s a simple, but I hope, subtle, basic movie, which I think conveys something of the pleasures that a cat derives from going out in the garden, on the grass, in the warmth with his human. You’ll hear the birds and the London traffic! I’ve deliberately kept them in because that is the reality of London life.
Charlie insists that I go out with him. This may be because we are together all the time and he does not go out that much due to the English weather and me being a hermit ;). He is a bit anxious about going out – a good thing from a safety point of view.
For me, one of the most interesting little snippets is Charlie sniffing intently on the air. I think, actually, he might be “Flemming” for a while. It is not clear. This is tasting the air. You can see his mouth very slightly open to let the air pass over his Jacobson’s organ.
Of course, he had to nosh (English slang for “eat”) some nice, fresh, green grass. People aren’t sure why cats eat grass. My considered theory is that it improves oxygen intact into the blood stream making the cat a more efficient predator.
Charlie rolls over in the grass. This is a sign of joy. I love these moments with my cat companion.
Well, you get big variations in temperature, while we get damp at one end of the spectrum and mildly warm at the other. It’s not quite like that but far less of a swing in temperature.
I agree that a black coat in the sunshine will feel too hot, quickly. They head for the shade.
A cat has different problems regarding temperature control. We can take clothes off and put them on but cats are wearing an overcoat all the time. It is probably worse for a double coated cat. Charlie has one coat as does Monty as far as I remember.
I should upload a picture of Monty outside last week in our unexpected little three day heat wave. Poor guy. He stuck to the shade, sprawled on the cool ground to keep warm. “But cats love warm sunshine!” people were telling me. Not when the temperature shoots up thirty degrees in the span of one day and they still have their thick, black winter coats!
Two days later the temperature literally dropped thirty degrees in the space of one hour and it’s been somewhat chilly ever since. It dropped to forty degrees Fahrenheit overnight right after the heat wave of 80+ degrees. Poor Monty again! I refuse to turn the furnace in in May, I don’t care how cold it gets. He was just miserable in the chilly house after three days of shedding and me brushing him to get that winter coat off him. I put him under the covers on our bed, where could feel the heated water bed mattress. He curled up and finally slept but I could hear him meowing softly in his sleep now and then, as if his dreams were not pleasant or maybe he hadn’t quite warmed up yet.
Such are the joys of spring in Wisconsin.
God, I know how you feel. I am happy when my cat is happy 😉
A lovely video of Charlie I so enjoyed watching him so happy and having fun in the sun 🙂 Its a joy to me just knowing that my cats are happy 🙂
Sounds very nice. I have seen those. I think they work well because a cat can spend hours lounging outside that kind of enclosure, watching, smelling and hearing. That is about all you need to make a connection with nature.
Just make sure your lease or tenancy agreement allows it!
This is a page on the PoC Blogger site about building a cat enclosure. It shows one high up on an apartment balcony.