Catio: George is still winning [cats]
May. 14th, 2026 01:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeisterSo first off, S is back in town!! Yay!
What that means is he is getting a lot of quality time with the cats while I'm off rowing or at work or or or...and S must come up with his own cat management strategies in order to get his work done.
I dutifully apprised S of the catio situation, and in fact he found the video of George's attempted ninja escape rightfully hilarious.
The thing is that Martha has been exceptionally well-behaved when it comes to catio etiquette, and she asks so nicely if she can go out that it's hard to say no. So, how to manage one well-behaved cat and one miscreant? My method had been to open up the catio for Martha, but then close the door at the top of the basement steps. That way, Martha can come back inside the basement when she feels like it, but George cannae go out.
S says he had trouble with George darting down the basement steps when S opened the door, so he came up with a different workaround: use the basement window as a one-way catio valve. Leave the window hanging down but unlatched when Martha is on the catio, then she can push back in when she's ready to come inside.
...anyway, I knew nothing of the one-way valve setup when I arrived home last night. All I know is, I arrived home to see George out enjoying himself on the catio. Lucky George!
It seems necessity is very much the mother of invention, heh. He must have figured out how to push the window open far enough to squeeze out.
Also, somehow or another, a brick that I had used to temporarily seal one of the catio gaps also fell down*, so soon thereafter George was no longer on the catio either. When S went out to see what was up, suspecting a full escape, he encountered George out in front of the house, lolling in the grass, as George does. When George saw S, he trotted right back over to the gap in the catio and popped back inside.
We tried to have our supper out on the catio, keeping the cats company, which they greatly enjoyed, but then it got just a little too rainy and was time to come back indoors. We eventually lured the cats back in with bribes - their favorite freeze-dried salmon treats. But, geez.
Later in the evening, George came along and curled up on my chest for a snooze, prompting me to also have a little nap before heading to bed. This is the first time George has ever curled up on my chest! Emma used to do that far more often. It is irresistibly cute.
*Are we surprised? No, we are not surprised in the slightest.
What that means is he is getting a lot of quality time with the cats while I'm off rowing or at work or or or...and S must come up with his own cat management strategies in order to get his work done.
I dutifully apprised S of the catio situation, and in fact he found the video of George's attempted ninja escape rightfully hilarious.
The thing is that Martha has been exceptionally well-behaved when it comes to catio etiquette, and she asks so nicely if she can go out that it's hard to say no. So, how to manage one well-behaved cat and one miscreant? My method had been to open up the catio for Martha, but then close the door at the top of the basement steps. That way, Martha can come back inside the basement when she feels like it, but George cannae go out.
S says he had trouble with George darting down the basement steps when S opened the door, so he came up with a different workaround: use the basement window as a one-way catio valve. Leave the window hanging down but unlatched when Martha is on the catio, then she can push back in when she's ready to come inside.
...anyway, I knew nothing of the one-way valve setup when I arrived home last night. All I know is, I arrived home to see George out enjoying himself on the catio. Lucky George!
It seems necessity is very much the mother of invention, heh. He must have figured out how to push the window open far enough to squeeze out.
Also, somehow or another, a brick that I had used to temporarily seal one of the catio gaps also fell down*, so soon thereafter George was no longer on the catio either. When S went out to see what was up, suspecting a full escape, he encountered George out in front of the house, lolling in the grass, as George does. When George saw S, he trotted right back over to the gap in the catio and popped back inside.
We tried to have our supper out on the catio, keeping the cats company, which they greatly enjoyed, but then it got just a little too rainy and was time to come back indoors. We eventually lured the cats back in with bribes - their favorite freeze-dried salmon treats. But, geez.
Later in the evening, George came along and curled up on my chest for a snooze, prompting me to also have a little nap before heading to bed. This is the first time George has ever curled up on my chest! Emma used to do that far more often. It is irresistibly cute.
*Are we surprised? No, we are not surprised in the slightest.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-15 01:16 pm (UTC)