Settling into Their New Home

The brothers adjust to the new regime.


We decided to cede the entire garage to the brothers. The garage is the one place in our house where neatness is left to the four winds. The cats were welcome to tear the garage a new one if they so desired. Just let cats be cats, and there is likely to be less friction between humans and cats. However, on occasion we do allow them into the rest of the house, but this is understood as a privilege, and can be revoked upon any display of bad behavior, like eating an orchid or smashing a bird egg. (We have a basket full of hollowed out bird eggs. More on that later.) The revocation of privileges suffices as punishment for any bad behavior, instead of corporal punishment. Cats respond well to voice signals and know when something is considered "bad," but that is no guarantee they won't do it. Every cat is a juvenile delinquent at heart. Only dogs give a fig about obeying the rules. Cats are into crime big-time.

Why not let the cats wander around outside? Well, that was my policy with my previous cat, the beloved Burlington, a very intelligent cat that was mugged by a neighborhood stray, contracted feline leukemia and feline HIV and died. I witnessed the mugging incident and it was enough to persuade me to leave my cat indoors. Not every area may be as risky as mine. I remember when I lived in another state, I left my cats outdoors all the time and they didn't seem to come to any harm. It really depends on the prevalence of feline disease in your location. If you live in an area where a sizable percentage of owners don't bother getting shots for their pets, that will present a risk to your pets. I don't like the idea of anything happening to our "family members," the cats, and therefore keep them inside. However, cats prefer the great outdoors and arguably this isn't fair to them. It's a trade-off for their safety and my peace of mind.

Maybe in the future, humans will be the pets, and cats will be the ones making decisions as to whether we stay outside or remain indoors.