Damn Kittehs

So, as some of you may be aware of, our cats are indoor cats. We have three, and it can get a bit overcrowded sometimes, but we generally all get along fairly well. I think it probably takes a certain sort of person to have indoor cats (as well as certain types of cats). You have to maintain a tidy litter tray, and provide them with plenty of daytime stimulation when you're not there. Ours get along pretty well, and can easily entertain themselves with bird watching or play fighting. They also like to partake in approximately 16hrs of sleep a day, which may not seem like much to the average house cat.

The only really bad things about having indoor cats is the destruction they can create (such as shredding carpet, and ripping wallpaper lol) and the general neediness that can occur in an indoor cat. Our cats are fairly good, and are only really mildly needy. They like to be anywhere you are, even if that place is sitting on your lap while you're on the toilet (yes, seriously lol), and they always sleep with us, taking up most of our large bed.

There are tricks you learn along the way, like making sure all temptations like cords, shoelaces, expensive vases and other such items are out of sight and locked away. So it's not too hard, unless of course you forget to shut a door properly, and they break into the room with all the stuff that's off limits. That's always fun.

Most people are slightly confused as to why we have indoor cats, so I guess I had better explain that as well.

My whole life we'd always had outside cats, and the unfortunate statistic for, at least our outside cats, is that they die young from either car-meets-cat accidents, runaways or general sickness from eating poison or, dare I say it, intentional-asshole-neighbour poisoning.

The last time I had a cat die (by car), I had to see a therapist. I was distraught and I'm still not over it. My attachment to cats is as if they're a part of my family (as I'm sure most people feel for their pets), so it's very sad when one dies.

So this time, I opted to not put them in the path of danger. Something that could at least be a potential risk was a good enough reason to not have them outside. I also figured that for the amount of time a cat sleeps, wouldn't they rather do it in a safe, dry place?

But I'm not out to convince anybody that the way I do things is right, it just works for us.

So Jemima, Nanaimo and Aubrey don't get to play outside, they can watch from windows, and are always the first to be near an open window to sniff all that outside has to offer. They seem fairly content, tho I'm sure they'd love to go outside for a roam - we have good intentions of building them an outdoor netted oasis for such purposes.

There haven't been any major escapes. Of course, that was until last night, when Aubrey decided that an open window in the spare room (which we didn't know was open) was an excellent invitation to the grand adventure she'd always wished for.

We discovered the escape at about quarter to 12 last night, and with not knowing how long she'd be gone for, it was full panic mode for all of us. Bjorn and I went out as the search party, as Jemima and Nanaimo comforted each other on our bed (they did actually look very worried lol).

Up and down our street, and surrounding ones, calling, cracker container shaking, and nothing. An indoor cat, outside? That's a pretty scary thought. That and living close to a large, busy street with trucks and boy racers.

I had all but given up when I heard this cry from the neighbours backyard. We doubt that she had been there the whole time, because she would have mewed sooner if she had been, since we'd been around the house, calling for ages. So after coaxing her up the fence, we finally had her back, which then began the "never do that again!"'s and the "poooooor bubba Auuuubreeeey"'s. She still seems a bit off today, and is very jumpy, so we're not sure if she encountered a neighbours cat or maybe even a dog.

I'm hoping she did, maybe she'll think twice about escaping out enticing windows next time.

Or maybe not. I guess you can only expect the unexpected from a cat.

Damn unpredictable cats.