Cat Indoors and Outdoors
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Where Should A Cat Stay? Indoors or Outdoors?
Whether your cat would be permitted to explore the outdoors or not, might depend mostly on the quality of the surroundings where you live. If you dwell in a city apartment, his outdoor living could be confined to a collar and leash. A cat could be trained for this, as long as the training is started when he is quite young. If you live in the city, your cat would enjoy sitting in open windows. It is really crucial that these windows have screens. Cats have great balance, but they have been known to fall; so every safeguard must be taken to avoid such an accident.
If you live in a single dwelling in a rural or suburban neighborhood far from the highway or busy streets, your cat might have more unsupervised freedom. If your cat is going to be permitted to go outdoors, you can start taking the kitten out under your supervision as soon as you acquire him. He won't go far away from you, and he will love every second of exploration. When you take him out for play periods a lot of times a day, he will start to learn the ways of the world. Your protection would be essential for a few weeks, but it won't be long before he can get out unescorted. Cat intelligence holds up, and they will not take on more than they can manage.
A young cat will oftentimes run up a tree or telephone pole for the fun of it. He goes up to the top enthusiastically, only to look down and wonder how he got there. The ascent was easy, but from this great height he can't piece together the inverse mechanics. Must he run down head first, or back down gingerly? Neither idea attracts him, although he might make a feeble attempt at both. Lastly fear and frustration give way to howling. You'll instinctively try to entice him down with food at the base of the tree. He will only howl louder since he can't get it.
The next thing is calling the fire department. The fire department would refer you to one of the animal societies who would tell you that your cat will go down of his own accord. A woman phoned the fire department to get her cat out of a tree and was informed that they rescued people, not cats. They tried to appease her concern by telling her there were no cases of cat skeletons being found in treetops, which was a great indication that the cat would go down of its own accord. The cat isn't going to fall from the tree since he's holding on for dear life. All the same, until he is so hungry he can't stand it, he won't get himself out of this predicament—and cats can go a long time without eating. He might even spend the night in the tree. Nevertheless, he would work it out, and both you and your cat will come through the ordeal.
Young kittens enjoy playing. There are a number of rubber toys, like mice and balls, that would amuse them for hours. A wooden spool, a few un-shelled walnuts, a piece of paper on a string hung from a doorknob or pulled around a room will likewise entertain your cat. There are soft toys that are filled with catnip. Catnip makes cats frisky. Kittens will not need it—they are active enough—but it can make old cats act like kittens if they smell it, eat it, or roll in it.
Outside in the early evening, when moths and flying creatures are around, your kitten will jump and play with anything that moves. He is a miniature of the fearless lion or tiger pouncing, and leaping, and dashing around the jungle of your lawn. He is starting to lay down his boundaries and reign supreme.
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