Posted on March 3, 2014

Our kitty is adorable! But, since he came to us 2 months ago already full grown, he came with a lot of unsafe learned behaviors. Now, a lot of this has been worked out. He is no longer allowed to roam outside at night at all. Since we live in a semi-rural area, there are predators out there at night time. Many kittys in our neighborhood became prey and were never seen again, because they were allowed to be nocturnal. So, most everyone here are finally keeping their kittys inside at night. Some are always inside. I do not like that. I feel a kitty should be allowed outside too. But, this means that the outside has to be as safe as the inside.

The front area of a home here is really not the natural world. Yet my kitty was so used to living in an environment like that. He has apparently always taken to hiding under cars to escape danger. But, in reality, cars are very dangerous hiding places. So I am working this through right now. It is not safe for a kitty to sleep under a car at all. That should not be allowed. I am watching for this behavior and correcting it. I praise when he responds to me the right way and I give him kitty treats too. It works!

The other danger are the plants around our home. These were planted without our knowledge or permission. I am making sure that all of these plants are safe for my kitty. He loves to chew on the wild grasses and even some of the plants outside. We are now growing our own food and so naturally we have included kitty grass. I was so happy to see him enjoying this today!  He is responding to these changes because it really is the natural way for a kitty to live. In our back yard area, there are several natural places for him to wander around and be free from the high tech dangers of the front. This is where I would rather he hang out. And so far it has been safe. I have had to pick up several nails though from the sloppiness left behind by people who did some repairing on our patio walls. This is a very bad thing, seeing all these nails scattered about the plants. And I am sure there are several everywhere else, but I am at least checking my immediate area and cleaning it up.

This is just an update because I am sure there are going to be more kitty adventures to post about. He is a very smart and loving creature. We want him to feel safe and secure and know that he has a real home now.  He has earned a kitty blanket I made for him, and now his kitty grass. It’s fun..