Saturday, January 12, 2013

How is everyone coping?

A flagger on the 101 Highway. Everyone fumes for a while; then, looking out, they don't mind at all. There is always something beautiful to see: a coastline and big waves on one side; forest and pastures on the other!

Everyone I know, retired, living a quiet life, everyone walks with their dog when the rain stops.
We walk too, Hubby and I. And, the very minute the rain stops my cat jumps out the window-where she's been pining for hours-and joins the rest of the world sniffing and ambulating in the neighborhood. We all get cabin fever after hours or days or weeks of rain. Especially a cat like mine who is used to constant sunshine from her previous Southern California residence.

Yesterday, Hubby and I shopped for a cat door.
The array is small. A hole with a flap. A hole with a trap. A hole with an automatic door that opens with a special magnet.
Eureka!
We ordered the automatic door/magnet contraption and will call a local carpenter to have a proper hole cut into one of our doors, and hopefully she will have on demand in-and-out experiences.

What if she refuses to wear the magnet? What then?

I know people who have made lots of accommodations for their animals. In our house, when we leave Newkie on her own, we leave a window open wide enough for her to jump in and out. An open window in a rainy environment is not a permanent solution!

 How is everyone else with pets coping with winter woes?


8 comments:

  1. have never heard of those magnet doors....my kitten would not wear a collar or anything like that...bet he would not mind a door though....mine is in and out...his biggest challenge is the loss of his sister...but he seems to be brightening...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had to giggle when I read your post. Several years ago I rescued a cat from imminent death, brought him home, named him Rocky. The vet thought he was around 8 months old, I provided the essential health care/neutering. My intent was to keep Rocky indoors (I live in a row of 11 town homes) so neighbors wouldn't have kitty visits. That lasted about four months until spring arrived and I realized Rocky grew up in the outdoors and wasn't going to settle for indoor life - not when all the birds began to sing. Not only did he want in/out constantly ... it happened every morning around 2am. He climbed the screen door in my bedroom to ensure entry. After weeks of sleep deprivation, I hit on a makeshift solution. (these are sliding doors/no way to install kitty door.) So, I cut a hole small enough for him to enter/exit and fashioned my own fabric flap. This worked fairly well until one of my neighbors told me it 'was unacceptable and against HOA rules' and made 'the town homes look cheap.' THEN, Rocky decided to bring that neighbor his 'gifts' on a regular basis. Mice, birds, whatever. That sent (rightly so) the neighbor over the edge and Rocky was surrendered to our Humane Society ~~~ where he was adopted by a family who needed a 'mouser' in their barn!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. We have a cat door. Larisa looks out, and if it is raining she turns around and heads for the back of the living room sofa. If it's not rain, through it she goes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We don't have any pets anymore, but there were times when we had a Newfoundland dog and several cats. They kept life interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I also don't like the house bound nature of winter and come to the Caribbean and Florida for the two worst months. My daughter living here makes it easier.

    ReplyDelete
  6. With our first cat Freddie -- whom we adopted 30 years ago -- we decided he would be an indoor/outdoor cat and installed a cat door. It had its advantages and also disadvantages -- like Freddie bringing friends home to visit or little gifts for us through that door. I think the magnetic door would be an excellent choice and defense against wandering skunks or racoons -- we had those, too. Now, because of the very real coyote threat here in rural Arizona, all pets are kept indoors here. Our current family of cats -- four of them -- have always been inside and so don't mind. They do like to sit by a screen door and look out at the world going by and feel fresh air. Today, however, we opened the front door and they dashed away from the screen with the first rush of cold air. We are having the coldest weather in 20 years here this week -- the temperature will be 19-22 degrees overnight-- and our cats don't want any part of it. They're huddled on our bed quite content!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We've had an indoor cat for 16 years now. But our GSD has a doggy door in the garage with a piece of rug for a flap. Then an "invisible fence" keeps him on the property

    ReplyDelete
  8. our cat goes in and out as she pleases. no cat door though as we just don't have a convenient place for one. all three doors to the outside have screen doors, one with screen all the way down and the other two are metal on the bottom half.

    ReplyDelete