I had a good scare tonight when Sammy decided to bolt out the door, making this my 3rd heart attack in the 3 years we've had him.
When we adopted Sammy, he came from a home where he was allowed to be an indoor/outdoor cat. Since he has been outside before, he knows what to expect and runs as far and as fast as possible. Luckily, the first two times, we recovered Sammy pretty quickly thanks to some speedy running and matrix type leaps through the air.
Tonight, he managed to bolt out while the dog was going out to pee. We have about 10 feet of grass behind the townhouse which steeply slopes off into scruffy shrubs and trees. With it being nearly pitch dark and (presumably) unexpected underbrush, by the time I got down the slope calling to Sammy, he darted away and ran back up to the back door. Thank goodness. I don't know what I would have done if he'd done his standard run to the next county.
When we first got Sammy, we had a talk about getting him a cat walking jacket (http://www.catwalkingjacket.com/) since he did like to be outside and those had gotten good reviews. We came to the conclusion that allowing him any outside time might only make the bolting for the door worse. Our compromise for Sammy was buying a few window seats and cat trees so he can sit at the open window (which he loves). After this last escapade, i'm revisiting the idea of the walking jacket again. The only way i'd consider it is suiting him up, putting him in a cat carrier, then letting him out once outside. I'm still on the fence though if allowing him some outside time would help or hurt?
Does anyone have a similar cat or experience?
When we adopted Sammy, he came from a home where he was allowed to be an indoor/outdoor cat. Since he has been outside before, he knows what to expect and runs as far and as fast as possible. Luckily, the first two times, we recovered Sammy pretty quickly thanks to some speedy running and matrix type leaps through the air.
Tonight, he managed to bolt out while the dog was going out to pee. We have about 10 feet of grass behind the townhouse which steeply slopes off into scruffy shrubs and trees. With it being nearly pitch dark and (presumably) unexpected underbrush, by the time I got down the slope calling to Sammy, he darted away and ran back up to the back door. Thank goodness. I don't know what I would have done if he'd done his standard run to the next county.
When we first got Sammy, we had a talk about getting him a cat walking jacket (http://www.catwalkingjacket.com/) since he did like to be outside and those had gotten good reviews. We came to the conclusion that allowing him any outside time might only make the bolting for the door worse. Our compromise for Sammy was buying a few window seats and cat trees so he can sit at the open window (which he loves). After this last escapade, i'm revisiting the idea of the walking jacket again. The only way i'd consider it is suiting him up, putting him in a cat carrier, then letting him out once outside. I'm still on the fence though if allowing him some outside time would help or hurt?
Does anyone have a similar cat or experience?