Chris and Frankie have both been increasingly annoying lately in their attempts to get one of us to let them outside. Frankie is the vocal one. He will make lots of noise while sitting and staring at the door. Chris is the sneaky one. Every time I go outside I check to make sure there is no cat around and then make a quick dash out the door. More often than you could imagine, before I get a chance to close the door, Chris is already outside.
At least I don’t have to worry too much about Chris running off and often I will let him stay out for a few minutes before I bring him in. He mostly just eats grass or lies on the driveway. If I leave him out too long he will start to wander off and then I know it is time to bring him in.
Frankie I have to worry about. If he escapes it is very difficult to catch him. He tends to travel far from home and I worry if I ever lose track of him he might not remember how to get home. So to allow Frankie to have some outside time and also to let him get used to the neighborhood, I have been trying to take him for a walk more often lately.
These walks are always an adventure. Granted, a good part of the time spent outside is Frankie standing around smelling bushes.
Some of the walk is a bit boring for me, as you can see from the video, but there is always some excitement, such as Frankie trying to run after a bunny or a lizard. On our last walk we had both of those plus a snake, which required great effort to keep him from catching.
One time we even encountered a big dog off his leash.
The camera just stopped recording at that point but everything turned out fine. The dog owner apologized and said the dog was best friends with a cat at home. Even so, I hope he keeps him on a leash from now on.
The main problem I have with taking Frankie out is that the more he goes out the more he wants to go out. At least, that used to be the main problem. A new, bigger problem appeared the other day.
On Friday Rose noticed what she thought was an eye booger on Frankie but when she removed it she discovered it was a flea. That led to DEFCON 5 in our house and we had to buy flea medication for all the cats, which I don’t like because it is unhealthy for them, but Rose thinks my all natural methods are a bit crazy at times and I knew I wouldn’t win this round with fleas in the house. We bought a six-pack of Advantage II for cats at PetSmart which was expensive, about $76 before tax. I then discovered it on Amazon for much less but we needed it right away.
Now Rose insists that Frankie and Chris never go out again. I don’t agree with that but for now Frankie is stuck inside. Chris has already been out this morning but only because he is better than Frankie at escaping.
Bad Cat Chris 
Oh dear……well first of all glad that snake GOT AWAY and Chris didn’t catch IT. ICK…..second of all, fleas are a big problem of course once they make headway into the house so getting something to get rid of them is a good thing – you don’t want to have to fog the entire house, etc. Never a dull moment in kitty-ville!
Pam
Always exciting here.
What a bummer that Frankie and Chris are stuck inside because of fleas! We just get flea treatments, since going outside is a regular thing for me. I’m VERY impressed that Frankie got to chase a snake! We never see them around here.
We have lots of snakes, mostly harmless but some are poisonous.
If Frankie has been treated with his Advantage, he should be good to go out. You are a great Cat Dad to take him out with the harness so he can explore. None of us have ever seen a snake. That thing sure moved fast. Fiona is our sneaky one. She can escape in the blink of an eye. But she absolutely never leaves the yard. Whew! XOCK, Lily Olivia, Maurcio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
Thanks. Rose doesn’t want them to go out but now is the best time to take them out since they are treated. It seems that both of us have a sneaky one that stays close.
Ugh, fleas. We’re sorry to hear that those nasty things are keeping Frankie and Chris from the great outdoors.
So far we only saw one so I think it won’t be a big problem.
My cats get outside time and for the most part they come back wanting in after a brief time. My girl, Chloe, however is a different story. I mostly limit her outside time to my upstairs balcony. She’s like her mom (me) in that she tends to be slightly antisocial!
I use Petbucket.com for my flea meds. I get autoship delivery of a 12-pack of Stronghold (similar to Front line) for about $90. I have a lot of cats and honestly if I had to get from a big box store, I couldn’t afford it. I have used them for several years now and have found them very dependable. There is an international exchange fee but it is usually around $1.
That is good advice for everyone who needs flea meds.
I think it’s great to use alternative flea meds. Unfortunately I live in the country and have lots of cats so I have to resort to chemical flea meds. You’ll have to keep us updated on your findings. Thanks!
I hate snakes- they scare me, but everything does. Flea meds are expensive, but it is cheaper to put the treatment on before than to attempt to get rid of them later- I know from experience 🙂
I need to find healthier alternatives to flea meds that my wife won’t reject. I also don’t mind snakes but I do have to learn how to identify the poisonous ones.
Oh Meow dat musta been sum luv letter in dat furst video. Frankie just didn’t wanna leave did hims? MOL As fur da snake, mommy wulda jumped outta hers skin and snatched me up so fast me wuldn’t know what was happenin’. You be so calm just followin’ along and filmin’. MOL We haven’t been out walkin’ on our leash much lately as da manager keeps tellin’ da dog peeps they don’t have to use a leash (contrary to da lease and da law) and they’re not kitty furiendly. And mommy wuld hate to have to hurt sum old purrsons doggy, but she wuld to purrtect us. have fun and tell Rose to lighten up. Long as they be on a leash, they’re safe and da fleas…dat’s what flea tweatments awe fur.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Lexi
That’s too bad about the dogs. I hope you get that resolved so you can go outside.
Fanks. It is and we wish we kuld get it resolved. Mommy will continue to twy cuz we do like to go fur walks and mommy sez da sunshine is good fur us.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Lexi
Reblogged this on Bad Cat Chris and commented:
This is from a couple of years ago but Frankie and Chris are still relentless about wanting to go outside.
I have the same problem with my cats, specially with Harper, a Maine Coon. We have to watch him constantly. If the back deck door is open a tiny bit, he can open it, and he’s gone for hours, and we can’t catch him. I take him out on a harness, but he does what Frankie does. Since this is an older post, I hope all your cats are doing well. Take care.
Thanks Patrick. Everyone is well. Frankie and Chris go out, usually on Saturdays, and they know when it’s Saturday. 😀