By Jeanne
Below is a photo of a kitty we rescued through our local SPCA. She was 8 months old when we got her a couple of years ago, and has grown into a real beauty. We think she looks like a Norwegian Forest Cat, but who knows. She wants to be outside all the time, but her original owners had her declawed. So, we bought a little jacket for her, and we hook up a leash to it, and off we go.
I came home from work one day to find her on the porch watching my husband do yard work. She sat there like a queen for over an hour watching us work and letting me take her picture.
When we take her out, she usually heads straight down the street to a neighbor’s bird feeder, lays down on the sidewalk, and just watches the birds. She wants to grab one so badly! The crows and squirrels scream at her, but she just twitches her tail and ignores them. We live across the street from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin House, and Kitty loves to watch the tour groups from her perch on the porch.
The ever more safe, sanitised world is the same in the UK. And children and cats have less of a life because of it. Funny that people’s desire for a more sanitised world affects the most vulnerable the most. This must be proof that parents of kids and cats want things more safe and sanitised for their convenience. Life is more controlled that way. In a chaotic world it provides some control and comfort to people.
America is a country full of people trying to make life perfectly safe! Kid’s playgrounds today are so safe that they don’t appeal to any but the smallest of children, so it is no wonder our pretend and teens are becoming more and more sedentary and obese. As soon as you try to make life perfectly safe, there are unintended consequences. Like when Americans started keeping cats indoors (to keep them safe) but this made declawing acceptable, because the cat would never go outside.
Very sensible approach. I don’t know why more Americans don’t follow you! 🙂 I am not saying letting a cat outside is always a good thing. I just believe that where possible an effort should be made to take a cat outside provided it is safe as it is good for cat health. As you say a bit of risk is part of a healthy life.
Some people will probably say that a declawed cat should never be let outside, but I think if you carefully supervise her I would think it would be ok. You can just never forget that she is essentially defenseless. And of course, no cat has defenses against getting crushed under the wheels of a car. I take my little guy out too, in our fenced back yard. We used to use the leash, but he stays in the yard, so I let him do his thing. I usually stay out there with him, or check on him frequently. In winter I could see him through the back glass patio door, so I’d sit there practicing my guitar and watch him at the same time. Now with all the vegetation back there he can hide from me, so I pretty much stay out with him. Also, he thinks bumble bees are big buzzing cat toys and he can go up trees but not down, so he really needs supervision.
I think it’s good for your cat to be outside. She has lost so much through the loss of her claws, to take the opportunity to be outside away from her too would be very sad, since she enjoys it. Life is not without risk. You can’t make her perfectly safe, inside or outside. I’m glad she enjoys her time outside with you.
Well? I’m leaning more toward Maine Coon. Both breeds have the ruff and ear hair. Weggies often have ‘owl ears’ but not all of them. The reason I say Maine Coon is the shape of her face and eyes. I have been wrong before. Either way she is a real beauty! I’m sooo jealous!
Hi Jeanne, your cat has an unusual appearance for a rescue cat and could be Norwegian Forest Cat. Purebred cats do make up a percentage of rescue cats (about 7 percent of all cats relinquished to shelters).
She has a striking appearance. And I like the way you take her out on a leash with a harness. That’s unusual too! But very nice to read about. A safe way to get out and be natural. I would expect that you get the occasional pedestrian coming up to you having been attracted by your cat.