Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Still wondering about Leo
After a few weeks of having this blog up, we are disappointed that we are still not seeing Leo as often as we would like (the ideal frequency is daily!). We were hoping that once others could see that we do want Leo home and that their kindness to Leo is actually taking away our opportunity to enjoy him has our pet, they would realize that feeding him or inviting him inside is not appropriate. He can easily find his way home and he has a heated house on our back porch to stay in if we are not there. He also has a heated water bowl. Obviously, if we would go to all this trouble, we love our cat and want to take very good care of him. We are still hopeful that the people who are taking him in will be kind enough to encourage Leo to come home to us!
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3 comments:
To see more of Leo, consider keeping him indoors.
http://www.runway.net/b/moonmaid/in-or-out.html
http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement101/a/indooroutdoor.htm
http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement101/a/outdoors_cats.htm
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=105
We have considered keeping him indoors, and discovered that he is miserable if he is confined. Last winter we had a pretty good pattern going where he went out for the day, used his heated hut if he was cold, and then came in for the night. This year it seems someone (or some people) are letting him inside their homes, rather than letting him figure out that he needs to come to our house. If Leo is ever bothering you, we would be happy to come and get him. Of course you would need to say who you are and where you are located.
Sometimes keeping cat's indoors can cause serious behavioral issues. For example, urinating and defecating in the home with out any medical problems. In order to keep a cat like Leo healthy and happy is to let him go and hope that your surrounding neighbors say a quick, "hi" to him and then let him on his way home. Letting Leo outside is actually a great compromise in his overall health care. Since Leo is able to go outside, he has not once urinated or defecated in the home, which is a behavioral issue. In their home there are 5 litter boxes located around the house, leaving Leo plenty of options of where to go potty. After meeting with cat behaviorists Leo's parents have made a wonderful decision to let him live a life where he is truly loved at home and he can also go outside which is his second love. Please let this family enjoy THEIR pet while making sure that he is healthy and happy.
It is critical to Leos care that he be left out of other peoples homes so he can go home and receive his specially medicated food.
The main reason that cats are turned in to animal shelters or euthanized is because of behavioral issues such as going to the bathroom in the owners home. So, as you can see, it's not only important to the family to see Leo, let him outside, and hope that people let him come back, it's important for his long term care, so he can have no behavioral issues AND receive his medication.
Please be respectful of others decisions with their own pets, especially when there is nothing that is causing harm to that pet.
Thank you.
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