catlife

We’ve been bringing Pea Pea and Dodo on walks pretty much as soon as they can fit comfortably into harnesses. In a previous post we mentioned why we wanted to bring them out and how we started with their training. Along the way, we learned a few tips and tricks that we found to have worked on our cats in helping them enjoy their outdoor experiences more. In this post, we will be sharing some of them with you. Again, these were what we have found to work for us, if you decide to try them on your cats, do practice some precaution as different cats may react differently in such situations.

For the most part, we only bring them out in the evening or when the sun is setting. We found that to be the best condition for them to be out in terms of outdoor temperatures. In the past we have tried bringing them out early in the morning and we’ve noticed that they are not in the mood to walk or are simply feeling too hot to walk. As both of them have rather thick and long fur, the night time weather suits them well enough, keeping them cool and allowing them to kill off some energy after a perfectly timed dinner. When we go home, they’re usually nicely drained and ready to sleep for the night.

Things to Bring

Harness, leash, ~~shoes~~
Carriers
Ice/cooling packs, portable fans
Treats

When pet parents think of walking their pets, the essentials that comes to mind are usually harnesses, leashes, and shoes. In fact, we first got exposed to the idea of walking our cats from YouTube videos of adventurous cats hiking with their owners. These cats were wearing special harnesses attached to leashes. Some of them were even wearing little windbreaker jackets or tiny life vests. As for shoes, we got them because we didn’t want them to injure their paws by stepping on sharp objects or rough surfaces.

However, our experiences with our cats have taught us that they are not walkable cats. They cannot be attached to a leash and walked, like how dog owners walk their dogs. Most of the time, once the harnesses and leashes are on, they lay flat on the ground refusing to budge and we’d have to drag them across the floor in order to get them to move. We thought that would only happen in the comfort of our home but we were so wrong. Believe me, you wouldn’t want your cat lying on the ground outside. Owners who share their beds with their cats, you feel my pain. Don’t even get me started on the shoes. For the most part, the shoes stay on Dodo and she actually walks quite well with them on. But Pea Pea has what we termed “Shadowless Paws”. As soon as the shoes go up, his paws start to spin and go into a blur and before you know it, you have shoes flying off in all directions. No matter how tightly we secured them, they ALWAYS come off.

And so, we wanted to think of ways to make their experience better and to actually see them WALK instead of being carried around. We realized that the number one cause of discomfort for them was probably the shoes. So we started letting them walk around the void deck bare-pawed and they immediately walked so much better. Both Pea Pea and Dodo do not have much stamina – meaning even if they start running, they don’t go far. With that knowledge, we decided to remove their leashes and let them walk completely unrestricted. Of course we were always within a few feet distance of them just in case they do decide to start running or if they were approaching potential danger. As soon as all that came off, they began to walk less awkwardly and they also started to express more curiosity towards their surroundings. At the end of the walk, we would simply wipe them down with wet wipes or a damp towel and they will be good to go. Even though they technically do not use the harnesses and leashes to walk, we still like to bring them along as they helped us hold onto the cats when the situation calls for it.

For easy transportation to and from the park, we have individual carriers for them.

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These are the ones we’re currently using but we use a different front cover that provides more ventilation when they are in the bags. With these cute bags, Pea Pea and Dodo always receive a lot of attention every time we bring them out!

If it is a particularly warm day, we would bring frozen ice packs in their carriers to keep them cool. We found that they tend to not pant at all with the cooling packs. We also have portable mini fans, but those are mostly for us humans. Bringing along some kind of treat helps too! Although when we first started bringing them out, they were too nervous about being out to enjoy the treats. As most pet trainers would suggest, we wanted to let Pea Pea and Dodo associate being outdoors with yummy treat treats so that they would be more at ease and enjoy being outdoors, and we’re glad that they did eventually calm down enough to eat the treats.

Location

Quiet, less people, away from roads
Large empty spaces, flat ground
Away from grass/trees, water bodies, drains

Pea Pea and Dodo are indoor cats and do not have a lot of interactions with humans other than family members living in the same household. As such, we made sure to bring them to places with less traffic, as far away from noisy roads as possible. We did encounter some problems when finding a good location for them to roam. Most of the reservoir parks in Singapore have wonderful facilities for kids, some even have water features and splash parks in them. However, these places were not pet friendly, or at least we cannot go anywhere near the water features, which is where the shade is usually at.

We did eventually manage to find a park that has quite a nice environment and Pea Pea and Dodo seemed to quite like it as well. It’s the Waterfront Park at Woodlands! There is a huge open-air play area near the entrance where we let them roam freely. The rubber flooring of the area does not affect their paw paws as much, although there was once their white paw paws stained blue after a particularly foggy and wet day 😂. The big open space is good for them to explore, it’s cooling enough for them to lay there and watch the other park-goers as well. We also did not have to worry much about them going into the grassy areas where insects might be found. The playground is quite a distance from the sea and jetty, so we did not need to worry about them going for a swim.

All good habits should start at a young age. From our experience with bringing the cats out thus far, we have learned that it might have been better to start bringing them out when they were younger. We started bringing Dodo out in her little carrier pretty much as soon as we brought her home. But Pea Pea lived most of his kittenhood in the safety of our home. We feel that that could have led to the difference in their reactions towards the outdoors and strangers. Dodo, although cautious, is definitely more calm while Pea Pea often froze up. Perhaps bringing them out at an earlier age would help them get used to being outside.

Nonetheless, we’re constantly trying out new routines and things that might help Pea Pea and Dodo enjoy the outdoors. Maybe one day we’ll be able to bring along their toys and let them run around! If you are also a cat owner or have experience with pets, please let us know if you have any tips that worked for you! We would greatly appreciate them! 😁

A little fact about us – we live in a ~~too~~ sunny and ~~too~~ warm tropical island of Singapore. Cat Mom and Cat Dad were born and raised here, so were Dodo and Pea Pea. We thought it would be interesting to share some of our experiences as first time cat parents.

Before we start off, we would like to throw in a disclaimer. Having pets (in any shape or size) is a huge responsibility. From the day you decide to bring home your pet, they are dependent on you for the rest of their lives, which is why you have to be financially, mentally, and physically prepared for the commitment before jumping in.

Also, the content of these post is solely based only on our experiences so far, we’re not generalizing or making any assumptions about anybody. These are what we found to have worked with our cats and they may not work for everybody. We are no Jackson Galaxy. We are constantly learning and trying to be the best parents we can be to Dodo and Pea pea.

Researching

Dodo was our first cat. The original plan was to adopt one from the local SPCA but we eventually found Dodo on an adoption ad posting on the internet (more on that in a later post).

Our experience and knowledge about these ads are that the animals put up for adoption on these sites are usually from existing pet owners whose pets have just given birth and they are not able to care for all the babies, so they put them up for adoption with a fee, which could include the cost of their first vaccinations/vet visits, as well as basic supplies up to the point of adoption. However, you do have to be careful of shady pet owners, which we will talk about in a later post, but do try to be more observant about the animal you are adopting, how they interact with their current owner, as well as the body language and nonverbal cues of the owners when you interact with them.

We also feel that it’s better to have visits in the owner’s home before adopting because,

A picture tells a thousand words but a moving, breathing (purring, running around, and probably scratching) cat can tell a million;
The cat would be more at ease in the familiar environment and you can see them interacting with other cats and humans, which helps to determine whether their personalities are in line with what you are looking for and;
You will be able to observe their current living space and kinda tell if the owners are genuine animal lovers or are breeding for financial gains.

So far, the owners whom we met with were very kind and helpful. They even gave us recommendations on what supplies to get and where to get them. We were very fortunate as our experiences with adopting Dodo and Pea pea were mostly pleasant.

Preparation Work

As first time cat parents, we needed to get the necessary supplies and so… *cue the cat supplies shopping spree*

Where we live, pet necessities and supplies from mainstream stores can get quite costly. We got most of our supplies from online pet stores both locally and abroad. Consumables are mainly from local stores which we managed to find pretty good deals thanks to Cat Dad’s exceptional researching abilities and patience.

Over the years, the amount of cat stuff we have snowballed, but here is a list that we think are the basics:

1. Food, treats, as well as food and water bowls- we give a mixed diet of dried and wet food daily. Dodo was not a water drinker, so we added a bit of water into her food and we eventually managed to get her to drink. Treats are not mandatory but they are good for training and bonding.

2. Litter box and cat litter

Although whether or not your cat might actually make use of it is a different story. Someone was CLEARLY trying to make a statement here. 🙄

3. Carrier- for transportation purposes

4. Toys and scratching post/small cat condo

CAUTIONARY WARNING: your cat MAY or MAY NOT use the cat condo as a place to poo poo and wee wee. DON’T ask how we know.

5. Bed

6. Grooming necessities- claw clippers and brushing tools are the essentials. We subsequently went on to include cat shampoos, toothbrushes, and toothpastes for hygiene purposes.

Coming Home

After all the preparation work, it’s time to bring the fur babies home!

Dodo and Pea Pea are now completely free roaming in our home but as most cat owners would suggest, we limited their space to within a room the first few days of bringing them home. Allowing them to roam freely right off the bat might be too overwhelming for them. We also had food, water, and their litter box in the room so they basically lived in confinement for awhile. Both Dodo and Pea Pea acclimated quite quickly and they, thankfully, got along well with our family members as well. Throughout the initial few days, we also made sure to be at home for the most part, periodically checking in on them to ensure that they are settling in well.

As pet parents (or human parents for that matter), there’s only so much you can do for your children. Ultimately, they decide for themselves the path they want to choose, the place they want to poo, or the bed the want to snooze. They might sleep in the bed you specially ordered for them, or they might sleep on their siblings, they might also end up in your bed. But most definitely, they will end up in your heart. ♥️