Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Big Debate - need help deciding what to do

Pita got out again last night. It was my fault...I didn't close the door to the garage all the way. I don't know how long he was out, but I didn't realize the door was open till at least an hour since I had last gone out. Initially I thought both cats were gone, but "the fat one" came running when I busted out the bag of treats.

I took the treats out side and called his name but there was no sign of him. I came back in and locked Madi in the bedroom so that I could leave the garage door open in case Pita decided to eturn. Within 5 minutes of me calling him he was back in the house torturing a poor defenseless lizard, which he caught on his outdoor adventure.

Pita spent the entire rest of the evening meowing incessantly at both doors...begging to get out to get more lizards and annoying the hell out of me.

So, the big question...Should I get a cat door? Pros and cons are vast, but here are a few:

Pros:
He's a cat, born outside
He craves the out doors: this might calm him down and make him less of a PITA

Cons:
He could get killed
He will bring in lizards to dismember

I don't know...need help. Should I keep him indoors or allow him to venture outdoors?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes...like a child, the cat has learned yet another form of leverage over it's weaker human roommate. Slowly, the cat is gaining complete control over you and you will soon be scratching at the door...begging the cat to let you out.

>So, the big question...Should I get a cat door?

Short answer...HELL NO!

Explanation:
I know you love your animals. Believe it or not, I love animals. Well, not cats so much, but I still respect animals and peoples desire to enslave them. What I do not like is free range critters...this includes children. In general, people that turn their critters out upon the rest of society probably shouldn't have acquired said critter to begin with. I know YOU aren't intending to neglect, but that is ultimately what it is all about. You want the cat to leave you the hell alone!
Not only is this little bundle of furry love going to bug the shit out of your neighbors while out on the prowl...it is going to torment you with all the dirt, garbage, and other things it is going to bring back into your house. Are you or is Ian going to clean up all the entrails of the leftovers of it's hunting trip? One or both of you are going to get tired of it. He will not calm down and become less of a PITA...he will just become a different PITA.
Where do you propose putting the pet door? This involved destroying a door or another part of your house that you've worked so hard on. Is it really worth it? My answer would be: no. That being said, we will probably have a dog one day and will have a pet door somewhere. But, the pet door will only be to let the dog out into our yard only and not to allow it to go roaming willy-nilly, like cats tend to do.

(Soapbox mode: OFF)

C Ya,
Mikey

SunnyD said...

Not sure if you made a decision about this yet but I had the same dilemna some years ago and I finally decided that, they are animals, if they want to go out "go out" and if they don't want to come home, so be it but that was NEVER the case. They knew were breakfast and dinner were served and always returned for it. And since they are animals, they have there own built in survival system so they will be fine outside. YOUR only issue will be that IF they become outside creatures, outside creatures bring outside stuff IN....be it lizards or fleas so be prepared. Hope the little monster finds some peace so that YOU have some peace. xo, D

Unknown said...

Púki is getting a cat door when we move to the new house (wherever that will be).