# JOSIE WALES THE OUTLAW KITTY



## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

Well Josie may not be long for this world. She spent the night outside last night! I over slept this morning because she didn't wake me at her prescribed time of 6:21am. I wnet to take Rosie outside and called for her and she didn't come. Most unusual. I put Rosie out and went through the house to see if she was sleeping on another bed--no. Then I thought about husband's habit of going outside when talking on his cell and he had been doing so right before bedtime. Sure enough Josie was out in the back yard--just as happy as if she had good sense. I have been having to block her to keep her in the house when I take Rosie for potty breaks; but we let her out in the morning with Rosie and then we go out in the afternoon after work with both and let them play for an hour or so. Guess she just wants to be an outside kitty. But I have lost two to the highway over the last 20 years and don't want that for her. It is a shame that a cat can climb a fence. The only option is to have her declawed, but that is such a terrible thing to do. Any suggestions?

And yes I know that I said she would be an outside kitty when I got her; but, I didn't plan on getting attached to another cat. And Rosie loves her.


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

I did a little research when my daughter was thinking about getting their cat declawed. It is never recommended unless you can be absolutely sure your cat will never go outside since they would be completely defenseless. My daughter finally decided against it and it's a good thing because Pokey loves to go out in the backyard with the rest of the family and has also been known to climb over the fence!


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

I wouldn't declaw her because it won't stop her from wanting to get out. She will need those claws for protection and escaping predators. We had a declawed cat. He got out. The neighbor's Rottie got out. He couldn't escape up a tree.

Do you have a screened-in porch? The cat boarding place we used to use had a huge screened-in porch. They dragged in tree limbs for the kitties to climb and hung bazillions of feeders all around the porch. They also had a little tv inside that sat on the floor and played videos of mice frolicking. I loved that place! I was so disappointed when they retired. It was great and so over the top in kitty decadence.

What if you hung a feeder right next to a window which she could see out?


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

Cats are such strange creatures. We have 2 old barn cats that never leave for more than an hour or so. But our neighbors' cat spends more time at our barn than in their house. Our DD loves cats and has had many. They have all left for days at one time or another and some to never return. She had to say “no more”, when she moved to Wales.

Is JW's spayed? Maybe she won't leave as much as the others.


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

Yeah she got spayed two weeks ago. We think she is about 6 months old. I am not considering the de-clawing. My upper deck is screened and she sits out there a lot. But now she rushes the door everytime we go out. I can't believe that I am going outside with a cat just to make sure she doesn't run off. I wouldn't be as concerned except last year we adopted a male kitten. I spent a lot of money on him also. Then he started wanting outside and I would let him out. He started going potty outside and I thought we had it made. then one afternoon, he climbed the fence and was gone. I called and called and searched for a few days until the neighbor called and said that he was dead about a half of a mile down the road. I swore when I brought Josie home that she would never stay in the house and I wouldn't worry--but she did and I do.


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

Maybe with being a female and spayed she will stay closer to home.


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## Johelian (Apr 29, 2010)

A concept thats currently sweeping the forums I read here in UK is catproofing gardens. In its most simple form, this constitutes a sloping wire overhang that fits to the top of your garden fence/edge of house etc, which prevents cats from being able to cross it - either into or out of your garden. I could only find one pic this morning;
http://is.gumtree.com/image/big/20462935.jpg
(this one actually has mesh - I have seen ones that are just elastic strings, which stretch if the cat somehow manages to get onto the fence and distribute them neatly back onto the ground).

I have also seen ones that comprise a rolling wooden bar that fits either along the top of the fence or just inside the fence; this rolls freely if the cat catches hold of it, so that they cant keep their grip.

None of these systems are cheap, but they are supposed to be quite reliable. We want to do this to our garden, but at the minute its not possible as we have tree borders that would be impossible to screen off. You can buy collars to fit onto trees with a large expanse of trunk, but as our borders are leylandii they're not suitable! I guess it will have to wait til we have cut them down.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I'm afraid to say that we were completely unsuccessful in making our Snowbelle an "indoor cat". She would rush the door ALL the time, and the times she ws likely to get past us was when we were in a hurry... carrying things, leaving for work or church... any thime we were distracted. THEN she would hide under the cars, trailer and travel trailer, running from one to the other so we couldn't catch her. In the end, we'd be forced to leave her out and worry the whole time we were gone.

Finally we decided that a shorter, happier life was a better option for her than this constant "door battle". We compromised, and decided we would keep her in after dark, when the dangers (mainly coyotes!) are greater. We get her in well before dark, and she stays in until morning. The funny thing is, that as soon as we started to let her out regularly during the day, she stopped battling us about the door. On the rare occasion that she does slip out past us, she'll let us walk over to her, pick her up and bring her back in.

I'm not going to tell you she has NEVER been out over night, because she has slipped past us without our noticing a couple of times, and once or twice has refused to come in in the evening. But this has been a handful of times in the last 7 years. 

She is 9 now, and has been an indoor/outdoor cat for 7 of them. So it seems to be a good solution for us. I do realize that we could lose her at any time... cats are unpredictable, and while the coyotes generally don't come out of the woods during the day, it has happened every now and then. But she's SO much happier this way that for us it's worth the trade-off.


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

Yeah Krandall I really know this in my heart. Like I said I had planned on never letting her in the house when I brought her home. She was so little though and I had baby chicks at the time and you know how it happens. My neighbor always has a cat outside but it always disappears after a few months. Course she never has them spayed or neutered so that is the problem there. And there are a few feral cats around so of course I had Josie vaccinated for all possible diseases and the spaying. I can't put the wire around my fence, I would feel like I was in prison. So, I will probably let her stay out in the daytime and hope that she doesn't decide to cross the road. Last year a feral cat had kittens in my basement window well. Of course they were adorable and I was able to give them all away, but the momma cat disappeared and never came back. Then we fostered 7 kittens and two mommas for a shelter in Nashville. Then we adopted one and like I said he didn't live much over 6 months. I had spent around 400 dollars on him with the vet neutering and vacs. (yes my vet loves me). Just have to take it one day at a time.


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## marlowe'sgirl (Jun 17, 2010)

My cat has attempted escapes a few times. I usually just pick her up as I'm opening the door to leave, go outside, and put her back into the house right as I close the door. I've done that enough now that she stays fairly far from the door most of the time when I leave because she's not a fan of being picked up.


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

Did we ever get a picture of Josie and Rosie together? Oe just Josie?


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