Tweet
We now have an outdoor cat in addition to our indoor cat. This poor cat showed up in our yard on the verge of death. He not only was starving, but had been in a fight and had infected wounds. He was so bad off, the vet would not neuter him until he was better. He stayed at the vet's office for one week solid to be nursed back to health, and then we had to keep him in our garage for a few more weeks just to heal.
It's 2 years later, and "Smokey" is a very fat, happy, gentle, lovable and loving cat. He does not leave our yard. He generally prefers to sleep on our patio, but he will go to other places in our yard as part of his overall territory. Rusty, another cat that lives a block away, stays in our yard during the day. Now the two cats are friends (they'll nap 1' away from each other). Rusty only goes home for food. We keep Smokey's food in our garage to keep raccoons from eating it which means Rusty can't get to it either.
Before Smokey, we had another cat claim our yard. She was a feral cat that we never could touch. She had 6 kittens the first time around, and I don't know how many the second time. It was clear that her preference for our yard was for the protection our landscaping offered. She could protect her kittens better by hiding them in the bushes.
Two female cats from her first litter ended up living on our patio. We fed them in hopes of acclimating them to humans so we could try to save them (or at least get them spayed). But they would never allow us to touch them. They'd nap at our feet as long as no physical touch was allowed. They lived on our patio for a year, but then both cats disappeared one day, never to be seen again.
Before the feral cats, yet another neighbor's cat selected our patio and yard as his home. He was a problem because he left his fur in our seats and tried to eat the birds. I had to stop feeding the birds because he was too good at catching them. The neighbor moved away so I found a new home for him.
And before that...
I could go on and on. In the 16 years we've lived here, the cats have preferred our yard. I believe that's because I'm an avid gardener and have planted a zillion trees, shrubs and flowers of all kinds all over my yard. I think the cats just like the landscaping. We've had too many cats adopt our yard over the years for it to be just a matter of coincidence.
Cats just go where they want to be. If they're in your yard, then they just like something about your particular yard.
It's 2 years later, and "Smokey" is a very fat, happy, gentle, lovable and loving cat. He does not leave our yard. He generally prefers to sleep on our patio, but he will go to other places in our yard as part of his overall territory. Rusty, another cat that lives a block away, stays in our yard during the day. Now the two cats are friends (they'll nap 1' away from each other). Rusty only goes home for food. We keep Smokey's food in our garage to keep raccoons from eating it which means Rusty can't get to it either.
Before Smokey, we had another cat claim our yard. She was a feral cat that we never could touch. She had 6 kittens the first time around, and I don't know how many the second time. It was clear that her preference for our yard was for the protection our landscaping offered. She could protect her kittens better by hiding them in the bushes.
Two female cats from her first litter ended up living on our patio. We fed them in hopes of acclimating them to humans so we could try to save them (or at least get them spayed). But they would never allow us to touch them. They'd nap at our feet as long as no physical touch was allowed. They lived on our patio for a year, but then both cats disappeared one day, never to be seen again.
Before the feral cats, yet another neighbor's cat selected our patio and yard as his home. He was a problem because he left his fur in our seats and tried to eat the birds. I had to stop feeding the birds because he was too good at catching them. The neighbor moved away so I found a new home for him.
And before that...
I could go on and on. In the 16 years we've lived here, the cats have preferred our yard. I believe that's because I'm an avid gardener and have planted a zillion trees, shrubs and flowers of all kinds all over my yard. I think the cats just like the landscaping. We've had too many cats adopt our yard over the years for it to be just a matter of coincidence.
Cats just go where they want to be. If they're in your yard, then they just like something about your particular yard.
It's so bad we don't touch them except in the fall my dad will trim the tops of the tallest bushes. The lawn is well cared for but the jungle is neglected. We've even had people knock on the door and ask if they could de-weed the bushes for a 20. And we decline every time. I'm surprised the neighbors haven't complained. Supposedly the plan is to dig it all up and replace it with new bushes once we remodel the house. And supposedly we are going to start work on the house this fall. 
Well, maybe. Oh and I can't remember the last time the trees were trimmed. The largest one hangs over the street a few feet. So yeah, I guess, our yard is a cat forest. 
Comment