Hello all,
Okay, first I would like to say that I know that this is in part my fault for not being as clever as my cat. He always gets the best of me. Every time I open the door, Forrest is there trying to escape. Sometimes I can catch him, but increasingly, he has snuck up behind me and darted through my legs the second I open the door. I keep being silly enough to forget that he does this all the time :
It used to be that if he escaped I would either sic my dog on him and she would catch him for me, or that he would roll cheerfully in the dirt and I could just pick him up. But now he's caught onto it and by the time I call my dog, he's long gone. He's learned to climb the fence.
Just a few hours ago he escaped for the second time this week. I had just gotten home and when I opened the door he darted out and instead of hiding under a car like her normally does he crawled through a small hole in the fence into my backyard. By the time I had opened the gate he was already into the other section of the yard (my yard is shaped like a C) My dog tried to catch him for me but he jumped on the dog house and then jumped down on the side opposite to my dog. So by the time she had gotten around the house he had climbed the fence into the neighbor's yard and disappeared.
I'm not worried about him getting hit by a car as I've only seen that happen once in the 6 years of living in my neighborhood. He always comes back after a few hours of cavorting with the half-feral cats down the block. They are well cared for and seem really healthy. I'm not really worried about his safety but it is very annoying. Should I just let him be an outdoor cat? His obese and lazy brother could sure use some air... I can't afford flea meds and heartworm meds though.
If their being outdoor cats is not a good idea, how do I break his habit?
Sorry this is so long!
