window-watcher

Sooooo, I grew up with inside/outside cats. It was never a question that they would come and go out as they pleased, hunting mice or squirrels, or bringing a dead chipmunk to the doorstep, inadvertently saying, "look at me! look what i did!"

But now, i have a house cat. She was an indoors cat when we bought her, barely seeing the light of day from her Petsmart cage. So, now she peers out our windows, stalks birds and squirrels with gusto, even though she never actually gets close to touching one. About a month ago, I decided that I couldn't bear watching her look on the "outside world" any longer. It was time to get a cat leash and introduce her to the great outdoors. I liked this plan. Dixie did not.

Her (pink) leash bothered her greatly and as soon as i put it on her, she fell over, seemingly in surrender. Once we actually brought her outside, she was giving us the death look, probably dreaming about her warm apartment and big windows. Here is Dixie before her first "outing".



Please, no one call animal cruelty. I love my cat very much. But sometimes these lessons in life take some prodding and pulling. I realized she was not going to walk out of the apartment on her own, so i picked her up and brought her down the stairs and outside. exhibit A:



cat translation: I hate you. i can't believe you are making me do this. extra meowing for you tonight as punishment.

The second time, we took Dixie out, we had just had a snowfall. John had the idea to just throw her in the snow and see her reaction. Again, parents do this all the time at the pool with their kids.

Above: Dixie trying to "rub" off her pink collar.

And....Dixie sticking her tongue out to taste the snow.

So, I've had about 4 outings on the pink leash since I began, and there doesn't seem to be much improvement. My hope is the warmer weather will bring out the huntress in her. or maybe she'll just be a window watcher for the rest of her life. and that would be ok, too :).