advice?

[toughCookie]

tonight, I found Emma playing with....a SCORPION! I knew it was just about the time of year that they will be showing up. I hate AZ for that, anyway.... now that it is summer again , what do you think, should I stop letting Muffin outside? she loves it so much, and I am always with her, but I can't be by her side, and I don't want her to get hurt. what would you do? I never should have let her out in the first place, it was just one of those things that started then got to be more often, and I have stopped letting her at times, then when I got the other two cats, I let her out again.... but how do you tell a cat that things are not safe out there? well I think I will just let her on the enclosed porch, thats how I have done it in the past with her and Cookie. It was dumb of me to start this, and spoil her. I don't remember exactly how it started like this, seems like it just got more and more...so, any advice? the enclosed porch is worry enough, the nasty scorpions can get ther too, but not as common, and we have the pest control once a month.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

I never let any of my cats outside anymore. Over the years, we had several killed by cars and two poisoned by a neighbor. I just keep them inside and they don't seem to mind. Good luck what ever you decide.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Muffin will put up a fuss at first if you start keeping her in now after letting her out, but she will get over it and will be just fine. I used to take Tubby out all the time, but since he's been throwing up the grass that he eats when he's out there, I don't take him out as much because I constantly have to watch him so he doesn't get on the grass and eat it, so it's not as fun anymore for him or for me. The only time he minds not being out is when I'm putzing around in the backyard with the back door open, otherwise he's just fine with staying in. It's kind of like she learned to like going out, now she can learn to like staying in. We feel bad for not letting them out, but they adapt to that like they adapt to most everything else.

Scorpions, eeeeeeewwwwww!!!!

[Edwina's Secretary]

(Scorpions! I am a graduate of the University of Arizona but bugs that you can saddle, poisonous bugs, etc caused me a bit of discomfort!)

Anyway, I have the same problem with Edwina. Now that the weather is nice she wants to be outside all the time. She cries and I feel so guilty. If I am outside without her it is even worse. Memorial Day she caught a mouse (she claims it was a giant rat...NOT) and I worry about fleas or other things she could catch. (BTW..the mouse survived -- at least long enough to run away.) Now she is frankly obnoxious about going out. I have a monster.

We are resigned to taking her out -- only on leash and with parental supervision.

(Another BTW -- the eating grass and throwing up is actually "good for them." It is a way to keep good digestion and control hairballs!)

[Sia1]

Edwina's Secretary,
I am currently a senior at UA!!! We don't have much of a problem with scorpions, tarantulas, etc. in my apartment complex but I don't let my babies out because I'm afraid of the cars and other stray cats they might come in to contact with. Whisper and Shadow's previous owners used to let them outside but they seem content now to be indoor only kitties...

[wayne0214]

Edwina's Secretary, I lived in Tucson for nearly 20 years and if your cat caught a scorpion then I would think that you live near an arroyo or a "river bank". My greatest fear with the cats that I used to own there was their being bit by a rattle snake. That area of Arizona is full of them. However, I have not seen a rattler bite kill any of my furkids, instead it seems to swell up where they have been bit, and the cat become lethargic for a few days, and then begins to come out of it. Personally, I would not allow any of my cats to roam outside in that area. Perhaps you could put a collar and leish on your cat and allow him/her to roam at will, but under your supervision.

......wayne

[krazyaboutkatz]

I wouldn't let my cats outside either. The only way I would do it would be with a leash. There are just too many bad things that can happen to your cat when it's outside. All three of mine love being indoors. I'll let them out on my balcony if I'm supervising them and they love to sit in front of an open window which has a screen of course. Good luck.

[khoyman]

i personally do not allow my cat outside, and i never have. i love my Squirt too much and am completely paranoid of him getting hurt or just losing his way home. He is now 11 and knows no different but to be inside. He is curious of the outside, as all cats are. But once he is out there, he realizes it is not the comfort of his own home and immediately wants back in. Eventually your cat will get used to it. You may have to put up with his meowing for a week or two, but it will be worth it in the end. Water bottles work great for teaching cats what they can and cannot do. If he is meowing at the door, spray him with a water bottle. He will learn quickly that he is not allowed. And no, using a water bottle is not mean. It is a type of reinforcement that really worked on my cat.

-Khoyman

[NoahsMommy]

How scary! I would keep your cats inside and/or only allow them supervised patio/outdoor visits. Cats will eventually do what you want them to, they get used to the rules over time. Good luck, let us know how it works out.

[toughCookie]

well first I have to say that Muffin is NEVER let out without me.
but I know even with me outside with her something could happen, very quickly.

second, she may just be solving the problem herself... the little devil has been jumping over the fence to the neighbors before I can catch her!! she did that this morning, and I had to hop over the brick fence, luckily its a short one...funny mental pic if it was tall!!...I was very irritated that she did it again, so I was going to pick her up and bring her inside, but she did that roling over thing, that means oh I love it dont make me leave! and looked at me with eyes that seemed to say Im sorry but there was a bird--I couldnt help myself. so I let her stay out ther, and watched her, for a few more minutes.

I know I have been pretty wishy washy with the cats lately, Louise has been getting too much canned food. I am very bad about spoiling them all! but I am going to stop all that, those 2 eat way too much of the canned stuff, and miss muffin is going to run into a rattlesnake if she keeps this up. she never forgets, it will be miserbale for several weeks, but I am cutting the canned food to once a day for breakfast and no more outside...I just feel bad for muffin because she wants to play and the 2 don't play with her, so yesterday I put a sheet over a chair and made her , her very own tent!! she loved it! i played with her, throwing the toy mouse in there, or waving a string, and she would attckc it! i closed the door so the others couldnt get in ther and bother her.

I don't live near any river banks, but I have seen rattlesnakes around a few times, and it is scary.

someone metioned grass... whats that? LOL, here in the desert, we don't see much of it!

owning cats(or--being owned by cats) sure has changed in 20 years, I used to have one in Ca. and in that neighborhood there were no coyotes or snakes, I would just let her outside, feed her, and that was that...never knew I had to brush their teeth, trim claws, hairball medicine etc ...
well they are worth it all.