The Story Of The Catio

 

For a long time now I've felt guilty. I rescued my cat, Emily, over three years ago - she was an adolescent kitty, pregnant and crying outside my house. Since then, she has led a relatively happy life with me and Von Spears, but she hates that she's not allowed to go outside. I spend a lot of time on my back porch, drinking coffee or eating breakfast or hanging with my friends. And Emily will sit next to the window, staring at me and howling the entire time. And every time I or someone else opens the door she at least considers darting past our legs and outside.

I'd love to let her play in the yard, but she hops the fence and wanders when she goes out. Outdoor cats live significantly shorter lives than indoor cats and, more importantly, there are coyotes in my neighborhood who have torn up cats in the past.

That's when my friend Nathan Fillion gave me the idea to put a cat enclosure on the back of my house so Emily could hang outside with us and enjoy the sun and still be safe. So while I was in Colombia a company called MyPet Enclosures (I think I found their page, but it's not letting me link) put a cat enclosure on my kitchen window. It has lots of places to climb or lie in the sun or shade.

Needless to say, she is the happiest she's ever been, rolling around and squealing with joy (she is a very talky cat, and seems to have a need to let me constantly be aware of her emotional state). She seems completely satisfied hanging outside now and has largely stopped trying to dart out doors when I open them.

Anyway, this is probably way too many pics of a cat in a cat enclosure, but I thought I'd share a little bit of her bliss with you.

James Gunn.