Saturday, July 30, 2011

peace in the house

Over the course of a few years, our sweet Leo


has turned into a tyrant


When we adopted him, we really had NO IDEA what we were getting into. I'd had several cats throughout the years but they were mainly outdoor cats and barn kitties.


Between furniture shredding, closet and other stuff spraying, dog pouncing (in their sleep of course) and Suki bombarding, he has shown us the really bad side of cat ownership.
Throw in an unhealthy dose of "being high strung" and you get the picture that Leo is one neurotic cat.

He's been on meds and Feliway...you name it....and quite frankly, I was sick of it. Leo had worn out his welcome. I decided to give him up for that and another more serious reason.
..the dogs.

Ginger who used to lovingly clean him and play with him now wants to kill him. Once her attitude toward him changed Mojo picked up on it. They would growl at him and charge him. I knew it was just a matter of time before they teamed up and took him out. The thought of coming home to shredded cat wasn't very appealing.

Before that could happen, I decided to put Leo outside part of the day. I put his old collar back on and basically tossed him out. He had been out with us before lots of times...but never on his own.

I called the shelter I got him from and since they've known what has been going on, they said to do it. They didn't think anyone would want to adopt a high strung, mean tempered cat who only had eyes for yours truly. (he'd even started hissing at Dean and the kids...not good....not good at all.)

T
he good news is that "King kiss my butt" Leo has turned back into "I'm so glad to see everyone" Leo.

Now he goes in and out of the house with the dogs throughout the day....which totally cracks me up. Most of the time he stays outside...sometimes until 11 PM. He doesn't even mind the rain.

He loves to lie in the sun on the patio..



but when it gets too hot or starts to rain he gets up under the baker's rack...way at the bottom, there is even a tiny dish under there with water in it...for the toads....
I wonder if he drinks out of it?




All our poor lizards have half tails right now...should have warned the poor beasties...a few have become kitty chow...
here he is stalking one now...




Leo hasn't left the backyard yet. He hasn't jumped the fence but I know he might one day. He has been out for three months now and so far, he's been content to stay put.

He walks the fence line and then finds a sunny spot to relax...and watch the squirrels...he almost caught one the other day....he is getting pretty quick.


sometimes he plays with the willow branches when it is windy....he looks like a kitten when he does that.



When he comes in, he greets everyone lovingly...then he'll eat and promptly go to sleep.


All the other fur babies are happier too. Ginger and Mojo greet him now instead of growling at him.....whatever bad vibes he was giving off are gone.....so far...

I hope for good.....

peace is good.

6 comments:

jillytacy said...

Peace is good. I'm glad Leo has found some and has learned to be a nice fur family member again. Funny that the freedom to go outside was just what he needed.

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

Some cats just aren't mean to be inside. I adopted two when the lady I used to work for was leaving to go back to London -- both were street cats before she took them in. yikes! After two weeks, my husband said I had better get rid of them or he would throw them out. They would run crazy all night long. When I would put the little one on the balcony, he would throw himself at the backdoor and growl. The bigger one would climb on the corrugated siding -- I don't know how he balanced up there.

My aunt has one indoor kitty and another one that came around during the winter. She feeds him and lets him inside to sleep but he won't stay inside. Seems he likes being free to roam. He came with a collar but she doesn't know who he belongs to.

Obviously Leo is happier now. And safe. If Jingles didn't have our balconies to go out on, I think she would be a bit stir crazy.

Hope you are having a great weekend. Tammy

LittleRed said...

That's probably all he wanted......was some outside time:) Our cat would love to go outside....but I know she would just keep on exploring and never come home. Lots of times when she sees us outside she does not recognize us. So now we take her out on a leash once and a while.

Robin (RsIslandCrafts) said...

Poor neurotic Leo. It's nice to hear (for the whole family) that he has found some peace. Funny that just going outside calmed his mind. We had a cat that loved to go outside on a leash just as much as he loved to stay inside sleeping in the laundry basket. Dogs are easy, cats can be alot of work and they seem to change personalities as the years go by.

Zoƫ said...

So glad that you found a way to make life easier. We had a cat like that before the kids (and boy am I glad that she went to her reward before we had kids..... she would have been a BEAR with them) and she was like that until the day she died.

I will cross my fingers that it keeps working for you:)

manda said...

Silly Kitty...all you can do is exactly what you're doing! I suggest setting up a routine with him, so he goes out in the morning at say, 7:00, and comes inside all night again at 7:00. Our 6 cats (must blog about number 6 soon!) are all very happy with this situation, although there is a few scuffles now and then.
just keep praying that Leo stay a good kitty!

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