Wednesday 22 January 2020

One small step, one giant leap

Yesterday we fitted the Tabcat trackers to their collars and we were surprised at how well they accepted them.  When we put them on Izzy and Wash, many years ago now of course,  both then-kittens decided they couldn't possibly lift their heads or move with a ton weight round their neck.




Shelby and Lewis act as if theyve always had them on.  We tested them out, and rewarded them when they came up to us with their collars beeping.

Today we took the kittens outside with their jackets on( of course!) and this time with leads attached!

DH and I synchronised ceremoniously putting Shelby and Lewis on to the wet grass, and waited to see what happened.

They sniffed the ground for a while, and then gingerly Shelby went one way, Lewis another.  I had expected that Shelby would be the one to try and chase a chicken. I was wrong.    Lewis did.  He also dragged DH round the enormous pampas grass a few times. 

It was easy to see thatLewis was more comfortable in his Jacky than Shelby was. Once he got going, he was marching around.  Shelby was more measured.  She made me laugh as she stuck her head through some trellis and tried to get the rest of her through as well.  I am a mean mum,  I really wanted one of the Girls to come and peck her on the head (not enough to hurt her, but just enough so she knows not to mess with chickens).

Astrid and Sunshine came up to say hello, the other girls kept their distance.  Every so often SHelby decided that she couldn't possibly walk with Jacky on,  and she would fall overm or roll over.  She managed to cover quite a large area of the garden, sniffing non stop.

Both cats seemed to like being outside, ad both seemed to find it a little overwhelming.   Neither cat really wanted to come in though,  and it took a lot of persuading to get Shelby to go home.

Once back inside  we made a huge fuss of them.

We'll do it again tomorrow, weather permitting.  They won't be allowed out without us until after they've been spayed/neutered and recovered.


Followers