Most of you know that we own a dog and two cats. You would probably call me a bad pet owner because I let my cats outside during the day, when it’s nice outside. The expectation is that the dog and cats will stay in the back yard and just rummage around or play. The idea is that the animals will get some fresh air and more exercise than if they were stuck inside all day.
Usually I don’t let them outside unsupervised unless it’s warm out, or at least not cold out. This winter the cats have gone a little stir crazy in the fact that they can’t go outside, and when they do go outside, it’s wet out with all the melting snow. Poor cats.
Today, I got up and because it’s warm out today I opened the door for the animals. Immediately Tim, the cat, went outside and started stalking something, typical cat like activity. He goes out with the understanding that he will come in every once in a while to check in, and will come in when he’s called.
He’s pretty good about checking in and with coming in when called. All morning he was outside doing his thing, the other cat comes and goes, the dog comes and goes. Everybody is content as can be.
Around noon, I notice all the animals are in and because it’s warm out, comparatively to the usual winter temperatures, I decided to close the door. For the next hour I hear Tim going to each of the doors and caterwauling to get out.
I got tired of hearing the complaints and decided to open the back door again. I holler out “Who wants to go outside?!”, I open the door, and nobody responds. Finally Tim notices that the door is open and trots out. A few minutes later, I am watching a movie, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, next thing I know, Tim is sitting in the living room watching the movie with me.
Now do I go close the door again? Seriously, what am I supposed to do? I could try to be the boss, but have you ever tried to boss a cat around? Needless to say today is going to be a day of in and out, in and out.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, the cat is watching the movie? He was just looking at the TV, following the sound or some such. I have the surround sound on and the sound doesn’t necessarily come from the TV, and he does watch TV. We used to have a channel called Love & Nature, he loved that when they showed birds or small animals, he even liked watching the snakes slithering around. He would stare at the TV for several minutes, his head moving to the movement on the TV.
There ya go, I have put into writing how terrible of a pet parent I am, I let my pets outside unsupervised, and I let my cat watch TV.
It’s not a pineapple.
PS Remind me some day to relate the story of “It’s not a pineapple.” to you.