Tag Archives: escape

Bad Cat Frankie

Frankie has been a real pain lately. If you read my post, We’ve Created a Monster, you know it started when Frankie escaped briefly on Thanksgiving and then got worse after I decided to put a harness on him and let him outside.

It seems that whenever we are in the living room, Frankie is there batting at the vertical blinds or digging his claws into the screen. I decided after that post to stop bringing him outside. I thought he would eventually forget about it and stop being such an annoying pest but things don’t always go as planned.

When Rose and I come home together it is easier to double team the cats to keep them from running out. Chris has always been great at sneaking out the door but we have adjusted to his little tricks. Unfortunately, now that Frankie is aggressively trying to get out as well, keeping them both in has become much more difficult.

A little over a week ago I came home without Rose. It is very dark by the door since we don’t keep a light on all day so I knew I would have to be extra careful. I opened the door, which swings open from my right to my left, and put one of the bags in my hand down low and pushed Chris back, away from the door. Just then Frankie came around from the left. I moved the bag over to block Frankie but he slipped under the bag and under the door and was free.

I put everything down, closed the door and went after him. Frankie is not a cat like Chris, when he gets out he runs and keeps running away from the house (see Frankie’s Big Adventure). Since it was dark and did not have Rose’s help, I really worried I would lose him. We nearly lost him twice before during the daytime.

I pursued him past the condo building next door and he then disappeared between two buildings. I thought that was it, he would either come back on his own or he wouldn’t. I didn’t want to give up but didn’t know what to do so I decided to stand near the street and wait. My hope was that he would venture back toward me.

I waited about five minutes and suddenly I saw a flash of gold. It was Frankie. I moved toward him but he hid under a car. I tried to coax him out and it worked at first. He come out close enough to smell my hand but when I moved to grab him he was gone.

I then tried to think like a sheep dog and basically “herded” Frankie toward home. When I got close, I saw my neighbor and asked for his help. Together, the two of us forced Frankie to our front yard where he gave up and rolled on his back in surrender.

Since then, he has been more annoying then ever. We decided to buy a spray bottle in an attempt to keep him from ruining the screens further and as a method of coming and going at will. We tried that before on Chris with little success (see Chris versus the spray bottle) but so far it has worked on Frankie. Now when we leave we point the bottle at him and then leave it outside the door for when we come home. I also spray him when he starts picking at the screen.

Does anybody else have a problem with keeping cats inside? i’d love to her about it.

We’ve Created a Monster

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Rose’s mom came to visit on Thanksgiving and accidentally let Frankie outside. If you read my previous post, “Frankie’s Big Adventure,” you would know that Frankie is a cat who likes to run and does not stay close to the house. Twice he led us on a wild chase and I fear we will lose him if he gets out again. Fortunately, this time, the three of us surrounded him and Rose’s mom grabbed him as he tried to go under our truck.

That short jaunt outside rekindled his passion for the outdoors and he spent a lot of time that day crying at the door and scratching on the window. I decided this would be a good time to put his harness on him and take him outside. I bought the harness a few months ago but Frankie refused to let me put it on him so I gave up and put it away somewhere.

It took awhile before I found where I put the harness but the lead wasn’t with it. I had to call in the help of our resident expert tracker and Rose located it with no problem. Again, Frankie would not let me attach the harness. I managed to get it over his head but he struggled too much and I couldn’t put it around his body and attach the clip. Finally, Rose helped me. I held him while she attached the clip. I then attached the lead and opened the front door. Frankie and Chris both ran out the door at the same time. Frankie took of in a sprint and was surprised when he reached the end of the rope and was suddenly stopped. He rolled onto his back and was quite cute when he suddenly go up and ran again.

This behavior repeated a few times and then, as if by magic, he had the harness off his head and was just being held around his belly. I knew that wouldn’t last so I scooped him up and put him inside. I then collected Chris and we stayed in the rest of the day.

The next day Frankie was at it again. He seemed to be desperate to go outside. It was a nightmare to leave the house or come back because he was right there trying to escape. We have put up with Chris doing that for years but never had to worry about losing him because Chris stays close. He will wander off after a while but I usually get tired of watching him and bring him inside before that happens. Frankie will run and keep running, stopping briefly to investigate whatever catches his eye, before returning in the direction away from the house.

I decided to let him out again but skip the harness and use a regular cat collar that I had in the closet. I bought a few collars four years ago when we moved back to Florida from Myrtle Beach. I wanted to put one on each of the cats with our contact information in case they escaped during our trip. Rose poo pooed that idea. She thought I was being weird and paranoid so the collars never got used.

I put the collar on Frankie. It had one of those plastic clips that are easy to put on and take off. I then hooked the lead and opened the door. Again, Chris went out with us and again Frankie ran until he reached the end of the lead. I tried to keep up with him because I didn’t want the collar to choke him but he was too fast.

He eventually figured out that running was not good and slowed down a bit but he had to investigate everything. He would walk around bushes or under our neighbor’s chairs and I had to keep moving his lead from one hand to another to keep it from getting tangled. After a few minutes he saw a lizard and lunged for it. When he did the color snapped open and he was free. I was able to grab him right away and pick him up only because the lizard distracted him. I carried him into the house and gave up for the day.

Saturday we tried again. I realized what we did wrong when attaching the harness and wanted to give it another try. Of course, he made it very difficult to put it on him but when I did we went out the back door this time. Frankie was becoming a real pain about trying to get out the door and Rose didn’t want him to expect to be let out that door. I understood her reasoning but I first wanted to get Frankie used to the area so he would know where home was if he got out by mistake.

I asked Rose to help because I wanted Puck to go out too. I felt bad that he was always left inside. So off they all went, Frankie on the lead with me and Puck and Chris under Rose’s watchful eye. Frankie immediately led me away and we found ourselves at the far side of the back yard where Frankie tried to slip through the fence. This time he couldn’t. I didn’t want to pull him like a dog or horse so I picked him up and walked him closer to our back door.

Rose was having a little trouble with Puck by then and decided to try to catch him and bring him in. Frankie was investigating the bushes by our neighbor’s patio when Chris stopped by to say hi. He and Frankie exchanged sniffs and then Chris noticed the screen door to their patio was open slightly so he decided to go inside to investigate. That complicated everything so I picked up Frankie to bring him inside. Meanwhile, Rose had put Puck inside and then went to retrieve Chris.

Whew! That was an exhausting eight minutes. I don’t think I want to do that again for a while. Now we just have to put up with Frankie picking at the window screen. I tried blocking it with objects today but that didn’t stop him. Hopefully that won’t last long.

This and That

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Today I just want to catch up on a few things that are each too small to dedicate a blog post to.

First, I entered a photo in Bailey Boat Cat’s photo contest on his Facebook page to promote his new book that is coming out on Thursday and I shamelessly need your help. Please go to facebook.com/baileyboatcat and then scroll down until you see this photo:

Once you find it just click the “like” button. You could also leave a comment if you want to. Also, while you are on Facebook, you can go to Facebook.com/badcatchris and like Chris’s page.

Okay, now that the important stuff is out of the way I want to mention that Chris’s e-book “Bad Cat Chris: The Baddest Cat You’ll Ever Love” is only 99 cents for a limited time. I actually lowered the price a while ago and had a senior moment forgot to mention it so I will keep it this price for another couple of weeks. The link above is for Amazon Kindle but you can also get it at Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and other retailers.

Finally, Frankie got out the other day on another “Big Adventure.” (Read about his first adventure here.) He ran out the door as we were coming in despite our best efforts to contain him. This time he went in more of a straight line and brought us even farther from home than last time. I thought we were going to lose him when he went into the fenced back yard of a condo building where we could not follow. Fortunately he came back out and we eventually got him when he hid under a car. I think he just gave up from exhaustion.

Frankie’s Big Adventure

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Thursday evening, after I got home from work, I prepared to cook pork chops on the grill. At our house, grilling has become such a chore because every time I go through the door Chris is right there trying to get out. Unfortunately, we had the meat since the weekend and it needed to be cooked before it went bad.

Before I even got close to the back door, Chris had suspected I was going outside and “followed” me from the front. I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and let Chris out. I figured he wouldn’t annoy me about going out if he was out. Once out, he immediately started eating grass while I turned the grill on. I watched for a couple of minutes while Puck and Frankie became very jealous of what was going on. Frankie was standing on the little table near the grill when Puck jumped up alongside him and pushed him over with his body so he could see better what was going on.

I felt bad for the other two cats but, believe it or not, Chris has become the least bad cat when it comes to bringing him back inside. Puck will stay close but sprint away when I try to get him. Frankie, we learned from his first and last time outside, that he is eager to explore beyond our imaginary boundaries (see here). He went through the fence on the neighboring property and I thought I was going to lose him.

I brought Chris inside so Puck and Frankie wouldn’t feel deprived and proceeded to go in and out while I cooked our dinner. When it was just about ready I went inside, grabbed a plate and then went out the door to shut the grill off and bring our dinner inside.

Just then Frankie slipped past me and out the door. I put the plate down and tried to get him but he moved away from me. I didn’t have my phone on me so I had to decide to pursue him or let Rose know what happened so she could help. I didn’t want to burden her, because she stayed home sick with bronchitis that day, but I decided I would need help, so I quickly yelled through the back door and then went back out to try to catch Frankie.

He was still close when I saw him run at full speed for the fence and then walk through it. He then walked back through it and then again, as if he was taunting me. I opened the gate that separates the back yard from the front yard. Fortunately it was unlocked, unlike the last time he did this. It was then a long walk to the end of the fence and then back again on the other side. I found him but he was not letting me get close and wound up back on our side of the fence and I had to make the long walk back around the fence. He then went back through the fence to the other property and I could see he was very interested in the water. I worried he might end up in the water so I quickly went around the fence again.

By the time I got back around he was on top of the fence and jumped back to our yard, this time in the front yard. I went back around again and Frankie went back through the fence and then again to our back yard. At this point I felt like a sheep herder and eventually got him close to our back door. I took that opportunity to shut the grill off and save our dinner.

Frankie then got past me again and crossed over into the other property. Again, back around only to find him on top of the fence again. He jumped back down to the front yard and I went around to catch him before he started wandering the neighborhood. I tried to corner Frankie but he slipped past me to the front yard where he became interested in the bottom of a truck. I tried to coax him out but he just went to the other side. Eventually he came out and ended up close to our front door. I took that opportunity to knock and say “Hey, I need help!”

Frankie then started to head the other way toward the marina. I tried to get around him to keep him on our property. I did not want him to go on the marina property and I especially wanted to keep him away from the busy road just past the marina. Fortunately he turned back just in time. He then headed south again, past our front door as Rose was coming out to help.

He quickly ran to the edge of our property and onto the next. He seemed to be oblivious to us as many small birds grabbed his attention. We tried a couple of times to grab him while he was distracted but came up empty-handed. We might have tried harder but if we missed and scared him there would be no hope.

He ran into the next yard and then across the street. It was starting to get dark and I was afraid we were going to lose him. He crossed the street again and ran into the next yard. He kept getting farther from home. I wondered at that point how far a cat’s territory stretches. I was hoping we were at the edge. He eventually ended up close to a house and I was hoping to corner him there. I tried to get him but he ran the other way, right into Rose’s hands, to end his big adventure.

Fortunately Rose was there to help or I don’t know what would have happened. I do know that Frankie will not be going out again any time soon.

Approximate map of Frankie’s adventure.

The Return of Our Feathered Friend

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Our Egret returned last weekend looking for food. I tried giving him a little ham and Puck managed to slip past me and ran outside. He just ignored the big bird and ran off to do his own thing. I decided to let Chris out too but Frankie had to stay in after what he did on his first foray outside. Both cats seemed to not be interested in the egret and the egret seemed to not be afraid that two cats were running around the yard.

I felt bad that Frankie did not get to participate. We talked about letting him out today. I said it would probably be okay if Rose stayed and helped watch him but she was skeptical so only Chris got to spend some time outside, and that was only because he escaped twice while I was coming through the door.

Photo Friday: Frankie’s First Foray Outside

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The weather was so beautiful last weekend that I decided to let Chris and Puck outside for a little exercise. I felt bad about leaving Frankie inside but I was not sure about what he would do once outside. I also did not feel comfortable trying to watch three cats at once.

C’mon Puck. What are you waiting for?

I see you having fun out there!

Okay! Enough pictures already!

Looks like this isn’t a good time to ask for hot dogs.

Our cat Frankie watching Chris and Puck from inside

What about me?

Chris: Puck. I think I found a way in. Puck: What do you want to get in for? Chris: Oh yeah, you got a point.

C’mon guys, let me out.

After a few minutes, Rose came out and said I should let Frankie out too. I told her I would be happy to but I needed her help to watch them. So Rose agreed to stay outside and help babysit.

We opened the door to let Frankie out but he was hesitant at first.

Okay Frankie. You can play with us if you want to,

Come on Frankie. It’s great out here.

Are you sure it is safe?

Okay, here I go.

I’m outside! This is great!

There’s so much to do. Where do I start?

I think this is where work is done. I don’t want to go in there.

Oh Frankie! You need to do a better job cleaning your ears.

No, this isn’t catnip.

After doing a little exploring close to home, Frankie decided to venture further away. This is when I had to stop taking pictures and pay attention. I put myself between him and the far side of the yard, hoping to encourage him to turn around. It didn’t work. He slipped past me and started heading for the other side of the property.

Our building has six units. We live on the side closest to the marina and that is the side I am familiar with. There is a fence and a gate on each side but I only ever use the one side so I don’t really know what is on the other side. On our side there is a wall that separates the Marina from our property. My only concern there is that Chris will crawl under the gate (which he has done), but even then he has a long way to go to get out of my sight. We also have a padlock on the gate that can be a bit of a hassle because the numbers are hard to read for an old guy like me.

The other side borders a large condo building and, until Frankie started heading toward it, I never noticed the fence had gaps big enough for a cat to walk through. I yelled to Rose that I needed her help but she was not there. She went inside the house.

Frankie did just what I thought he was going to do. He ran straight to the fence and walked right through. I thought about running back into the house to tell Rose I needed help but instead I headed for the gate to walk around the fence. I forgot about the lock so I had to fumble with the combination. that is when I learned that the numbers were different on that padlock.

I quickly ran back to the house, told Rose I needed help and headed out the front door. I hurried back over to the condo property to look for Frankie. When I got there I saw him between cars and when I approached he walked through the fence to our side. This is exactly what Chris would do to me at our last Condo (see here – coincidently, if you follow this link and click on the second photo and enlarge it, you can see our current home).

I walked all the way back around to our side only to see him walk through the fence again. To casual observer, this must have seemed funny, but I was not amused. So back around I went only to have him disappear through the fence again. This time Rose scooped him up and put an end to the games. I have a feeling that outside time just got more difficult.

Photo Friday: For The Birds

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When we moved into our current home in June, there was an egret that would come by every day and hang out by our back door waiting for us to feed him. We assumed the woman that lived there before us would feed him everyday and he came to expect it. I did not really want to continue the tradition but I felt like we should wean him off the handouts. Unfortunately we had no meat to give him other than cat food so I put some out for him but he was not very interested. Eventually he went away but then suddenly showed up at our door the other evening.

All the cats were on the patio, interested in what this bird was doing so close to their space. We only had sliced ham for him so I tore a piece into smaller pieces and threw them to him. He gobbled those up quickly and stuck around begging for more.

Rose gave me another piece so I did the same thing. This time Puck ran out the door and chased the bird back but he didn’t leave the yard. I then had to spend the next ten minutes chasing Puck back and forth until Rose finally opened the door and I was able to corral him back onto the patio.

Stubborn Cat Chris

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We had a party Saturday afternoon for Rose’s staff. I moved the bikes outside and we put a table on the patio for food and refreshments. It was something different and too much for Chris to resist. He kept jumping on the table and we kept making him get down. But being a bad cat is in Chris’s nature so he would not stop getting on the table.

Bad Cat Chris on party table

Rose wanted me to put him in the house so I pulled him off the table twice and put him inside. After the second time she realized the cat door was still open. I knew it was open but I felt bad about locking him inside. Rose didn’t feel bad and closed the cat door. That only worked until the first guest arrived and then Chris was on the patio the first time the sliding door opened.

The patio was just the first step. From there it was outside. The party was an outdoor event so people were constantly coming in and out of the patio and our bad cat Chris was constantly going outside with them. I would usually let him stay out for a little while because it was easier to watch him outside then try to keep him inside.

When I got tired of watching him I would put him back inside the patio. Sometimes I even put him in the house, but he would get out as soon as someone went inside to use the bathroom. He would then be completely outside when that person came back out. I sometimes feel like I have a two-year old child again.

It was a great party but it was also a long, exhausting day. I thought for sure Chris would be tired and let us sleep through the night. I thought wrong.

The Bitter Taste of Freedom

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I had the day off from work today because it has been very slow. Since I was planning on riding my bike to work I decided instead to take the bike out for a fun ride this morning.

I keep my bikes on the patio and we normally keep the patio door locked so nobody can let the cats out but I left it unlocked this time. There is no way to lock it or unlock it from the outside and I wanted to be able to put my bike back without having to walk around to the front door.

I was gone for about an hour and a half. When I returned, it was almost 11:00 and it was already pretty hot. As I walked the bike around to the back, I heard Chris crying on the patio. At least I thought he was on the patio but when I looked closer, I noticed I was looking at him through two screens.

The far side of our patio was built with a small space for the air conditioner. Chris was outside in that space, probably trying to figure out how to get back in. He was crying and panting and for one second, I thought about taking his picture, but it seemed cruel to make him wait. I walked around to where he was and when I got there he cried some more and indicated he wanted me to pick him up. So up he went onto my shoulders and we walked into the house together.

This picture my help visualize where Chris was when I found him.

I was concerned Puck got out too. I didn’t see him on the patio or anywhere nearby. I also didn’t see him when I walked into the house. After a quick search, I found him in the back bedroom looking out the window.

I don’t know how Chris got out. He is a master at opening doors, perhaps he figured the screen door out. It is also possible that it did not latch when I closed it or someone opened it after I left. I don’t know. I just hope this experience makes him less likely to want to go off on his own again. I know I will be locking that door before my next ride.

The Call of the Great Outdoors

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When we moved to our current home and Chris was able to go out on the patio again, we thought he would be happy. Unfortunately, it is like that old saying, “Give someone an inch and they will take a mile.” Chris was not happy with his inch. Being partly exposed to the outside just made him want it even more.

Every time one of us came home or left while the cat door was open, we had to figure out how to get through the door without Chris getting out. I use the past tense but it is still true today. Sometimes I would just let him out because it was easier than fighting with him. At first, just like at our last place, Chris would just roll around on the sidewalk, but soon he started making a beeline for the front yard.

Bad Cat Chris in bushes

He did not go far. He just ran around the front yard, investigating every movement. For awhile we thought it was a little cute. We would let him out after listening to him cry for a while, then I would try to catch him after four or five minutes. Of course, this wasn’t easy. He would usually wait until I got close and then bolt away. I would then have to walk across the yard to get him and he would run back. I think this game of “Catch me if you can” was fun for Chris but I got little enjoyment from it.It wasn’t long, however, before he discovered that the outside world had an ample supply of lizards. The first thing he did when he got outside was look for lizards. Sometimes he would catch one as soon as he got out. If he didn’t find one right away, the lizards would hide. It was funny watching him sometimes because he would be searching through the bushes while several lizards hung very still on trees opposite of Chris’s field of vision.

When he did catch one, I would have to get it out of his mouth before he killed it. This usually resulted in some resistance along with some growling. We soon decided that, for the sake of the lizard population, we would try to resist giving in to his begging to go outside.

: You can see what a great strategic position he is in when he waits under the cat perch.

Chris is a very smart cat and can easily adapt, so when we stopped letting him out, he changed his strategy. He started laying under the cat perch, especially when he knew someone was leaving. It is the perfect spot because we can’t pick him up from there and we also can’t hold him down without blocking the door from opening.

As usual, we change our strategy, Chris changes his, we change ours to counter and it goes on and on. It is like playing chess with a cat. When he started hiding under the perch, I started opening the door slightly to lure him out. When he went for the opening I would quickly shut the door and grab him.

Chris countered by waiting under the perch. He is too smart to let himself be fooled more than once or twice so he held his ground until he had a clear shot out the door.

My next move was to give the cats treats when someone had to come in or go out. All the cats would come running for treats which was my chance to close the cat door. This actually worked for a while. I think the lure of treats was too great, even for Chris. Eventually though, he stopped falling for it.

Even when it did work, it was not foolproof because he would sometime sneak out the main door when we tried to leave and park himself under the perch. If I wasn’t in a hurry, I would just let him out because catching him outside was easier than getting him out from his little fortress.

Chris soon stopped looking for lizards and started eating grass. I know it is natural for cats to eat grass so I would give him a few minutes before bringing him in.

Even today Chris is still getting outside. On Halloween I was very carefull to open the door just a crack to give candy out but that was all it took. Aren’t cats supposed to be afraid of strangers wearing masks?