Newsletter chitchat - August 13th, 2024

[Cassel]

If you have pets, how far have you gone to make their life easier?

Do you have cat shelves? Do you have special enclosures? Do you have special feeding stations?

How have you adapted your own environment for your pet?

Let's share (and photos are welcome too).

[Tricia Spayer]

Yes, we've had one of these cat doors in our screen for many years. Our deck extends into the backyard, and the cats have the best time out there! We have a couple kittywalks connected, so they stay safe. When it's the right temp, the cats come & go as they please. 
It took a little while for them to figure it out, but once they knew what was on the other side, they made it happen! During the summer, they beg to go out first thing in the morning. They can see the birds, deer, chipmunks, squirrels, turkeys, and anything else in the woods out there.

It's their greatest joy!

[Cassel]

Interesting model of door. Yours is more see-through than ours, which I think is scarier for her!

[Susan Ewart]

5 hours ago, Tricia Spayer said:

Yes, we've had one of these cat doors in our screen for many years. Our deck extends into the backyard, and the cats have the best time out there! We have a couple kittywalks connected, so they stay safe. When it's the right temp, the cats come & go as they please. 
It took a little while for them to figure it out, but once they knew what was on the other side, they made it happen! During the summer, they beg to go out first thing in the morning. They can see the birds, deer, chipmunks, squirrels, turkeys, and anything else in the woods out there.

It's their greatest joy!

Those kitty walks are so cool!

[Susan Ewart]

We have a door to the basement that has a cat door.  It's translucent but not really see-through.  It allows them access to the basement where one of the litter boxes are.  One cat goes through fine, the other not at all.  It's a swing door so we've had to use a chain going from the cat door flap to the door to hold it up so the other cat would go through it.  The door to the basement is usually open as that's where the laundry room is and one of my studios.  And even when the door is partly open they will go through the cat door and not just the people door.  

We also built floating shelves(with carpet on them) for them in the upstairs "cat room/ my husbands office"  they are set in a ascending stairs that lead to the top of built in bookshelves, where they sleep and on the other side is two more stairs coming down.  they will race through the house, up the cat stairs and down the other side.  Other than cat trees by the windows we put a permanent shelf behind the couch which is in front of the living room window, so the cats can sit on the shelf (about 5 feet long by 8-10 inches wide) and watch outside.  It is a very well used.  And this older gentleman that delivers the flyers will stop and talk to the cat through the window.  

[Jeni Simpson]

Sadly, my cat is no longer with us. She didn't need a cat flap because she would jump up and swing on the door handle until it opened and in she would come. She lived to a great 19 years of age when we had to have her put down.

[Susan Ewart]

On 8/17/2024 at 5:00 PM, Jeni Simpson said:

Sadly, my cat is no longer with us. She didn't need a cat flap because she would jump up and swing on the door handle until it opened and in she would come. She lived to a great 19 years of age when we had to have her put down.

I bet you have some great memories of her.  It's so hard to see them age and let them go.  Little angels (or therapists) that bless us for a short time.  

[Rene Marker]

I never put in a dog door when I had Pepper and Paige. At that time I didn't have any fenced in area in my yard so there was no way to contain them or keep other animals out. When I got Peyton I thought about it but decided not to. I do now have a fenced patio area and when it was put in, a section was made for her to use to pee and poop. I just let her out the sliding door or she can go through the garage if the door to the patio is open.

I also set up an area right inside that door that leads to the patio from the garage. I prop the door open enough that she can get in and out. The area is inside an exercise pen that I can close off if I want to have the garage door open. Inside the area on one side is a pillow she can lay on. The other side has pee pads. Yep, I trained her to use pee pads. In the nice weather months, whenever I go away, I put her out there. She can be out on the patio in the sun if she wants (on the patio furniture quite often) or in the shade of the garage. 

[Jeni Simpson]

7 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

I bet you have some great memories of her.  It's so hard to see them age and let them go.  Little angels (or therapists) that bless us for a short time.  

We most certainly do have wonderful memories. My girl went everywhere we went, she didn't particularly enjoy travelling in the car, yet she would enjoy exploring every new place we travelled to. Staying with friends, she would take off, and only return when it was time to eat. I remember coming back to our tent once, to find her curled up sleeping under the tent floor. Anyone meeting her would show surprise when she would return at meal times, of course, cats always want their meals on time! She was attached to me, more than a place.

[Susan Ewart]

5 hours ago, Jeni Simpson said:

We most certainly do have wonderful memories. My girl went everywhere we went, she didn't particularly enjoy travelling in the car, yet she would enjoy exploring every new place we travelled to. Staying with friends, she would take off, and only return when it was time to eat. I remember coming back to our tent once, to find her curled up sleeping under the tent floor. Anyone meeting her would show surprise when she would return at meal times, of course, cats always want their meals on time! She was attached to me, more than a place.

Wow, she really sounds like an amazing cat.  I couldn't imagine my cats actually finding their way back if we let them out. We did camp with our first cat, then when she was gone with 2 cats we had after her.  We leash trained them. It would not have been safe to let them out unattended.  Of the two provinces we camped (British Columbia, my home province at the time or Alberta -Jasper or Banff, my now province) there was wolves, coyotes and bears.  Lots of bears in BC.  Now, I don't want to camp because it's holiday for my husband but for me it's just housework on wheels.  

[Jeni Simpson]

3 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

Wow, she really sounds like an amazing cat.  I couldn't imagine my cats actually finding their way back if we let them out. We did camp with our first cat, then when she was gone with 2 cats we had after her.  We leash trained them. It would not have been safe to let them out unattended.  Of the two provinces we camped (British Columbia, my home province at the time or Alberta -Jasper or Banff, my now province) there was wolves, coyotes and bears.  Lots of bears in BC.  Now, I don't want to camp because it's holiday for my husband but for me it's just housework on wheels.  

Susan, the woman I got her from had already taken mum and her kittens on a 600 km journey by the time I got her. I just continued, taking her to the grocery store to start with. Then to visit with friends. The long journeys were interesting, and she never got lost. I don't know what she did once I let her out in the mornings, and I'd get back from a conference and she'd be waiting. It made things so much easier when heading away on holiday, we didn't have to get anyone to look after her. I don't know how true it is, I heard the Dalai Lama carries a cat with him, hidden in his robes when travelling.

A kitten I had earlier, was taken by bus, train, boat, and aircraft. The journey by plane was interesting. I had given her some water at the airport in Dunedin after traveling from Auckland. When I got back on the plane, she meowed, and the woman ahead of me asked the hostess had she heard a cat? The hostess said we don't allow cats on planes, and didn't say anything to me so I didn't enlighten her.  My kitten was six weeks old, tiny, and I carried her in a paper bag with a pillow case in the bottom, and she slept most of the way.

[Susan Ewart]

4 hours ago, Jeni Simpson said:

Susan, the woman I got her from had already taken mum and her kittens on a 600 km journey by the time I got her. I just continued, taking her to the grocery store to start with. Then to visit with friends. The long journeys were interesting, and she never got lost. I don't know what she did once I let her out in the mornings, and I'd get back from a conference and she'd be waiting. It made things so much easier when heading away on holiday, we didn't have to get anyone to look after her. I don't know how true it is, I heard the Dalai Lama carries a cat with him, hidden in his robes when travelling.

A kitten I had earlier, was taken by bus, train, boat, and aircraft. The journey by plane was interesting. I had given her some water at the airport in Dunedin after traveling from Auckland. When I got back on the plane, she meowed, and the woman ahead of me asked the hostess had she heard a cat? The hostess said we don't allow cats on planes, and didn't say anything to me so I didn't enlighten her.  My kitten was six weeks old, tiny, and I carried her in a paper bag with a pillow case in the bottom, and she slept most of the way.

These are wonderful memories.  I'm blown away by the adventures you have had with your cats.  Reading it puts a smile on face and jet-setting kitty images in my mind.  You've lead a very interesting life.