I guess you could call it a transition zone between the garage and the house. So theoretically you could dump your boots in this area and not traipse them through the whole house. So there is a bit of that – our work shoes typically live here and we have some hooks on the wall for hats, jackets and backpacks. We also put an Ikea book case in there to use as holding area for stuff we grab when we go out the door but don’t necessarily want on view – like reusable shopping bags, bicycle helmets, rain jackets and sunscreen.

The basket on top of it was recycled from a Christmas hamper I got given one year. It’s a great place to keep my handbag of the day. Oh – and the odd cat as well.

I’ve hardly ever heard it used successfully to train cats. I’m still waiting to hear that the ongoing “poop in the toilet” training process courtesy of Rainbowtatt has been fully completed. Humans may think they have trained their cat not to do certain things but I guarantee that if you set up an infrared and normal camera to record their activities while you’re not home or are asleep, you will find they are not as well trained as you may imagine. Particularly if they have virtually free run of the house. The best you can really hope for is that they will be compliant with what you want them to do when you are home – usually reinforced by yelling their name in that tone that says they are doing something that makes you unhappy.

It’s occurred to me over the last couple of years, particularly since we have had two cats in our house, that cats are in fact the absolute masters of operant conditioning when it comes to training humans. The whole premise of operant conditioning is that behaviour has consequences right? So consider the following scenario.

Cat wants to be fed. Human thinks it isn’t ready for dinner time yet. Cat rips at carpet or chews on plastic (those are most frequently occurring in this house). Human yells at cat or tries to ignore it. Repeat step 3 (sometimes ad nauseum). Eventually human feeds cat and cat is happy for now.

Now that first part of the loop will go on for a long time in humans who are resistant to the training process. These humans are called stubborn. These humans are foolish and will eventually be beaten into submission. Because no matter how hard you try to ignore the bad and reward the good, the cat will win. Because they usually are that much more persistent. Cats have known this for centuries and frequently use it to their benefit.

I’ve learned that my life goes much more smoothly (and less things destroyed) if I simply comply with what my cats want me to do.  Less stress, less yelling and more time for cuddles. The cats usually dictate their dinner time and on days where I don’t feel like fighting the process, I will just give in and feed them. So they know they have me beat already.

Bring on the second example of cat-initiated operant conditioning. Human uses the computer a fair bit. Cat wants a cuddle. Cat gets in way of human trying to use computer. Cat gets put down on the floor, gets back up. You get the picture. Eventually human resorts to trying to use mouse and keyboard with cat half draped across up causing a semi paresthesia (yes it is so a word, go Google it) of the affected limb. This is not satisfying for the cat or the human. Eventually a compromise is sought and both parties are content.

Happy Caturday!

In my next life, would it be too much to ask to come back as a cat?

The absolutely brilliant thing about this set up is that it is easily demountable. The last cat enclosure we had was fantastic for them but when it came time to move house, removing it was an utterly painstaking process because the new owners didn’t have cats and had no need for it. When we took it down, we discovered that parts of it had rusted out which is why we ended up going with this kind of structure. With this one, it isn’t really connected to our house and should we decide to move, all we need to disassemble is to take out the bolts holding it together.

The cats are enjoying their new space outside, particularly when we’re outside pottering about. They can watch the birds, bask in the sun and jump around on the platforms that are up. Their litter tray is out there as well so they can go to the toilet in peace….or should I say, I can have a bath in peace without the accompanying noise of cat scratching around in hooded tray.

There are still more things we’d like to do to make it a really fun place for them to be – more lounging spots, a few platforms lower down for Rosie so that she can get to the upper perches and maybe a swinging hammock that hangs from the ceiling. Even though it took several months, a painful freighting process and a few injuries along the way, I’m glad we decided to get this one. I’m sure the moggies are glad too.

The cats are probably less than impressed that we still haven’t finished it. Particularly as now they can see it and it’s almost so close to that window that they can smell it!  Of maybe it’s the newly planted cat buffet that has their noses twitching. Fixing the tunnel to the side of the cats’ house will need a bit of handy man power, probably beyond what either of us possess. I’m thinking an angle grinder or something similar may be involved so I’m thinking as the most clumsy and accident prone individual on the planet*, I should stay well away from that when it’s being done.

Then it’s just a simple matter of getting a glazier to install the cat flap and getting our shutter installer back out to insert a small door into the shutters and we’ll be all done. Not long now kitties….well I hope not!

*Not an exaggeration, I almost lost the tip of my finger in the assembly of this cat house.

Until he started coming every single night. The only nights he is not there when we first get home is if we have been out late and even then, he comes not long after. So then we decided perhaps he is homeless and given the plaintive howling from outside on a particularly cold and rainy night, we probably did something we shouldn’t have done. We put a blanket on a chair in the corner and gave him a little food and water.

Surprisingly, he still was gone in the morning so we figure he must have somewhere else to be. Given he doesn’t spray or otherwise cause a fuss, it doesn’t bother me overly that he visits but it does not sit well with me either. I’ve always been a strong advocate for keeping cats indoors, particularly at night but also when the owners aren’t home.  It’s as much for the cat’s safety as it is for those animals it would prey upon. So the fact that he is out on the prowl after dark every single night really bothers me.

And then there is the fact that he is not neutered, yet he has a collar and very recently, he’s had a bath. We figure he must have a home somewhere because who in their right mind would try and bath a cat they did not know? Maybe that person is braver than I am!

Given it has been a fortnight now, I’ve decided that I will try and crate him and take him to AWL on the Gold Coast. If he has a microchip, they will be able to contact the owners and hopefully instil some sense of responsible pet ownership in them. And if not, at least he will have a chance at being re-homed with someone who will care for him properly. He is a really nice cat, so I’m hoping he will have a positive future ahead of him.

The number of cat enclosure options available in Victoria is staggering. Where we live, the options are much more limited. There certainly aren’t products like the one available below in kit form for purchase. Perhaps there is more demand down south for enclosures of this type where the weather is substantially more….shall we say erratic? I like the idea of an under cover area – it contains sleeping nooks and there is ample room for a litter tray as well. The wire enclosed area has an open bottom so they can nibble on grass – no doubt to be later regurgitated inside.

I think a pot planter of cat nip in the corner will be a perfect addition. The roof has slots in it so the grass and any plants we place inside will still get rainfall. All we need to do is hook up one of our existing tunnels to the side mesh and that’s it! I plan to order it in the next week so hopefully by the time we go on holidays in September, it will be here ready to be put up. Fingers crossed that all goes well!

From "Design A Shed" - very noice style!

Even Rosie is loving the cold weather. Especially out on the sandstone blocks – they warm up quite a bit during the day when the sun is on them and I’m sure in kitty language, that is just heaven! They also make a handy scratching surface it seems. This is probably the first time she has been outside unharnessed and unleashed yet not inside a cat park. She is easier to catch though and she doesn’t jump six feet in a single bound so I am happy to let her out when I have time to watch her like a hawk. Unfortunately Mojo has proved conclusively time and time again that he cannot be trusted – so he had to enjoy his time in the sun wearing his harness. I’m sure if he could, he would complain about the unfairness of it all.

PS – Yes this does mean we haven’t done anything with the cat park yet. That would require us to not procrastinate and actually do something about putting it up. I’m sure the cats have lost hope that it will ever be put up.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if cats had opposable thumbs? They could help you hang out the laundry.

But then they’d also be able to raid your pantry, your fridge, mess up the linen closet….okay, maybe it’s a good idea they don’t have them. Otherwise they might be worse than kids.

So we looked at a few other options but so far, we are yet to come across one which is worth it to avoid DIY activities reasonably competitive and will give the cats the amount of space we would like them to have. We’ve investigated using aviaries, DIY kits and netting but none of them seem to fit the bill. So it looks like it will be the DIY route if we are going to do it at all. It should be easy enough to do but fairly labour intensive. By my best calculation, it’ll be a good weekend’s worth of work. And that’s assuming we have the faintest idea of what we are doing once it comes to doing it.

I’ve put in a very dodgy concept drawing below. The idea is to put in a cat flap in our dining room window, use some of the existing tunnels from the old cat park to create a walk way into a bigger timber frame enclosure which will be about 4m long x 5m wide x 2m high. Whack in a couple of timber ramps around the edge, some hammocks, encase the whole thing in chicken wire and voila, DIY cat park. There’s even enough room in there to put a small garden setting in there and perhaps a few plants. The only thing I haven’t quite figured out yet is how to protect their litter from rain. Maybe a small dog kennel?

It’s still just a concept but it’s a bit more of an idea of what we can do than we’ve had previously.

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