When we got our new little cat, Gwen, late last summer, we were determined to keep her indoors. Of the four cats we’ve lost since moving into this house, three of them were hit by cars, and those are nervous-making odds to say the least. We’ve had one indoor cat for ten years, and it’s so nice not to have to worry about all the dangers that lurk out-of-doors. Of course, it bears mentioning that the primary reason he is an indoor cat is that he’s pathologically afraid of the outside world. He’s also the weirdest cat, bar none, that I’ve ever met and as such, he is seized once or twice a year by a bizarre compulsion to dash outside, and then all hell breaks loose. Once out, he realizes immediately, Oh, no! I’m outside!, and is consumed with regret. Instead of turning right back around and coming in the house, however, he panics and hides under the porch or in the ditch next to our house and mewls pitifully for as long as it takes us to catch him. That’s right, we have to physically capture him, rather than just to open the door and invite him inside. It’s a giant pain in the ass.
Anyway …
We had hoped that Gwen would learn from his example and be content to stay indoors, but weren’t so lucky. Almost since she came home with us, she has been positively desperate to get out. We tried letting her out on the balcony as a sort of middle ground, but she figured out early on that she could jump from the railing to the roof, and that’s not a good thing. Otherwise, we have managed, somehow, to keep her in, but it was obvious that she was unhappy about it, and even though I wanted to keep her safe, I was thinking a lot about her quality of life. If she was so clearly miserable, it was hard to feel like I was doing her any favors by keeping her in. So, last week when it was nice and sunny, I pushed down my misgivings and let her out. And you know what? It wasn’t all she thought it would be.
She does still express a mild interest in going out, but when we let her out she mostly hangs around on or under the porch for an hour or so before dashing back inside at the first opportunity. I had thought that she’d be much more adventurous and I was certain she’d be a hunter, but so far she doesn’t seem too keen. I suppose it’s possible that she’ll venture out more when she gets more comfortable, but I’d be perfectly happy if she’d continue to be content just nipping out for a bit of fresh air now and then.
