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Pet Conversations
Apr. 30th, 2012 04:29 pmSo Pixil comes with us on walks. Sometimes he doesn't make it all the way, but I walk with him while he investigates new things. It's fun to watch him, and to play with him when he asks me to. Yesterday he discovered another young tabby in the tall grass. I watched while they ignored each other until a bunny ran by - then all bets were off.:)
I thought I would only let him out during the day, but that turned out to not be such a good idea. During the day at Sherwood there were a *lot* of dogs, and, as the place is still formulating their pet policy, a lot of dogs ended up off-leash during the day. Maybe most dogs wouldn't be be interested, or capable, of getting a hold of Pixil - he's a terrific climber, and I've left his claws intact, but dogs are aggressive; most are bigger, stronger, some are faster, their restraint is likely to be low when they're already unsupervised and running loose.
The night, oddly enough, was safer. There's less traffic and fewer people, and most dogs and possessions that might attract the curiosity of a kitty are packed up. In the dark cats have the advantage - their night sight is ten times better than the best night vision equipment the Army can make, and much better than a dog's, making them effectively invisible most of the time. If spotted, their ability to break line of sight and hide is greatly increased, and their natural desire to hide, stalk and observe of course dovetails nicely with the night. We sometimes forget that they are nocturnal, but cats never do, do they?
They nocturnal predators to fear at Sherwood would be coyotes, who can track by scent, owls, whose stealth and night vision surpasses any cat - and other cats. I wasn't worried about coyotes, as they would be much more interested in avoiding man-frequented areas and raiding the garbage bins left behind in the patron campgrounds, all deserted during the week. I worry sometimes about owls, though Pixil has the natural camo of the tabby, and an owl big enough to hunt a cat even Pixil's size would be uncommon.
I'm not saying it's all been perfect. There turned out to be several feral cats on the Sherwood site, and I was awakened at night twice by the sound of cat fighting. Each time I bolted straight from my bed to the door, followed closely by Strider, who shot out into the dark, with just enough barking to let everyone know where he was. Both times Pixil returned to the door, Strider proudly trotting up for praise and treats, which I was not too sleepy to heap upon him.
The third time it happened the sounds were pretty fierce, or possibly just closer to the house. This time I held Strider's collar at the door, and we saw two shapes skirting the circle of the porch light, Pixil running away from a large black cat. Strider's collar tugged in that direction and I released him. He tore off towards the disappearing cats, Pixil darting a moment later from under a parked car back towards him. Pix crouched a moment to let Strider reach him - Strider sniffed him once, then tore off after the black cat. I took Pixil inside, while Strider silently pursued the feral up and down the row. He never caught him, of course - an excited Strider is fearsome to any cat, but his sight could never have found a black cat at night even when he was young. Still, I doubt the feral wanted any part of such shenanigans; I never heard another peep outside at night, though Pix took this attack from a fellow feline rather hard, and spent all next day sleeping in the cabinet. Every new fair has its own encounters, and Pix knows it.
Pix does have a harness which he wears whenever he's out, of course, and also a small 20 foot cable which I keep him on when we're new at a fair, or when we're in a place that doesn't allow off-lead cats and he wants to sit outside. But the cable would be dangerous if we left him alone on it as we might with Strider, even if there's no danger of entangling himself. A cat on a lead isn't a dog; its agility is curbed, it cannot run or climb, and it has no proper defense to attack from any predator. It's simply a staked-down target that nothing has found yet. Also I admit Pixil has every cat's gift for entangling himself, no matter what's around.
So, when we are at a fair where it's allowed I introduce Pixil to the grounds, make sure he knows to avoid things he should, and gradually let him off-lead as he become more familiar with the surroundings. I also make sure he's properly fed, and doesn't miss coming-in times for meals; a tired and hungry cat will make mistakes others won't.
Anyway, the method (if you can call it that) seems to be working so far. Maybe the secret is lots of love, gradual introduction to new environments, and and early fixing to keep them home-loving, but I think it's more complicated than that. Like my practice of leaving my purse alone in my cart sometimes while I shop, I suspect it works because of conscious practices that we create to augment our natural tendencies, something which is much harder to cultivate, but generally works better than listening to conventional wisdom.
In fact, conventional wisdom is coming to mean "That thing you fall back on if you can't think of something better." Does that make me an apostate?
I thought I would only let him out during the day, but that turned out to not be such a good idea. During the day at Sherwood there were a *lot* of dogs, and, as the place is still formulating their pet policy, a lot of dogs ended up off-leash during the day. Maybe most dogs wouldn't be be interested, or capable, of getting a hold of Pixil - he's a terrific climber, and I've left his claws intact, but dogs are aggressive; most are bigger, stronger, some are faster, their restraint is likely to be low when they're already unsupervised and running loose.
The night, oddly enough, was safer. There's less traffic and fewer people, and most dogs and possessions that might attract the curiosity of a kitty are packed up. In the dark cats have the advantage - their night sight is ten times better than the best night vision equipment the Army can make, and much better than a dog's, making them effectively invisible most of the time. If spotted, their ability to break line of sight and hide is greatly increased, and their natural desire to hide, stalk and observe of course dovetails nicely with the night. We sometimes forget that they are nocturnal, but cats never do, do they?
They nocturnal predators to fear at Sherwood would be coyotes, who can track by scent, owls, whose stealth and night vision surpasses any cat - and other cats. I wasn't worried about coyotes, as they would be much more interested in avoiding man-frequented areas and raiding the garbage bins left behind in the patron campgrounds, all deserted during the week. I worry sometimes about owls, though Pixil has the natural camo of the tabby, and an owl big enough to hunt a cat even Pixil's size would be uncommon.
I'm not saying it's all been perfect. There turned out to be several feral cats on the Sherwood site, and I was awakened at night twice by the sound of cat fighting. Each time I bolted straight from my bed to the door, followed closely by Strider, who shot out into the dark, with just enough barking to let everyone know where he was. Both times Pixil returned to the door, Strider proudly trotting up for praise and treats, which I was not too sleepy to heap upon him.
The third time it happened the sounds were pretty fierce, or possibly just closer to the house. This time I held Strider's collar at the door, and we saw two shapes skirting the circle of the porch light, Pixil running away from a large black cat. Strider's collar tugged in that direction and I released him. He tore off towards the disappearing cats, Pixil darting a moment later from under a parked car back towards him. Pix crouched a moment to let Strider reach him - Strider sniffed him once, then tore off after the black cat. I took Pixil inside, while Strider silently pursued the feral up and down the row. He never caught him, of course - an excited Strider is fearsome to any cat, but his sight could never have found a black cat at night even when he was young. Still, I doubt the feral wanted any part of such shenanigans; I never heard another peep outside at night, though Pix took this attack from a fellow feline rather hard, and spent all next day sleeping in the cabinet. Every new fair has its own encounters, and Pix knows it.
Pix does have a harness which he wears whenever he's out, of course, and also a small 20 foot cable which I keep him on when we're new at a fair, or when we're in a place that doesn't allow off-lead cats and he wants to sit outside. But the cable would be dangerous if we left him alone on it as we might with Strider, even if there's no danger of entangling himself. A cat on a lead isn't a dog; its agility is curbed, it cannot run or climb, and it has no proper defense to attack from any predator. It's simply a staked-down target that nothing has found yet. Also I admit Pixil has every cat's gift for entangling himself, no matter what's around.
So, when we are at a fair where it's allowed I introduce Pixil to the grounds, make sure he knows to avoid things he should, and gradually let him off-lead as he become more familiar with the surroundings. I also make sure he's properly fed, and doesn't miss coming-in times for meals; a tired and hungry cat will make mistakes others won't.
Anyway, the method (if you can call it that) seems to be working so far. Maybe the secret is lots of love, gradual introduction to new environments, and and early fixing to keep them home-loving, but I think it's more complicated than that. Like my practice of leaving my purse alone in my cart sometimes while I shop, I suspect it works because of conscious practices that we create to augment our natural tendencies, something which is much harder to cultivate, but generally works better than listening to conventional wisdom.
In fact, conventional wisdom is coming to mean "That thing you fall back on if you can't think of something better." Does that make me an apostate?
