He wants to go outside, but after 14 years in Brooklyn, he very well knows that he cannot. I relate to his sense of adventure, but I love him too much to simply let him run off into the wild.
He wants to go outside, but after 14 years in Brooklyn, he very well knows that he cannot. I relate to his sense of adventure, but I love him too much to simply let him run off into the wild.
I inherited a cat that was never allowed outside but always wanted to go. When she got old, we found out she had cancer, at which point I figured she couldn’t out-run me to catch other features, and if she did get injured by a car or bike, at least it would be (hopefully) quick.
So I started letting her onto the patio with me, but herding her back when she headed for the edge (I wanted her to know the patio as “safe” and “home”). Then I went with her another ten feet farther out into the yard (“less safe, but familiar”). Eventually we would walk all the way around the house!
She was so happy to finally get outside, and those are some of my fondest memories of our time together, just slow-walking around the outside. I hope, when your cat is old enough, you can give him some supervised time outside as well :)
This is such a beautiful story.
I had a friend with a cat like that was leash trained and off leash would follow us around the block and come in. It was pretty cool.