The phrase “cat herding” is, as near as I can determine, a
reference to trying to force uncooperative subjects to go where you want them
to go. For example .. trying to get 20
or so 5 year olds to behave in a quiet and orderly manner .. in a toy
store! Cats (like 5 year olds) have a
mind of their own. And they are sneaky,
slippery, and very fast. They can
squeeze into the most amazingly small spaces.
They can even ignore things that terrify them .. like a vacuum cleaner
.. if it’s in their best interest to stay hidden.
However, with help, and a good pan, and a good back-up plan,
it is possible to outsmart a determined cat!
A mama cat dropped a litter of kittens at my house .. and as
soon as they were weaned, mama took off.
I had no problem with this. I’m
the crazy cat lady. I love cats. Even the mean or stubborn ones.
However, a litter of dogs also tried to take up residence in
my yard. I love dogs too, but did not
want this batch of strays. Because I can’t
drive, there was no point trying to catch them; and eventually they got too big
and wary. They never were “friendly”
(many people tried to coax them to come to them to be petted .. dogs having
none of it!). It finally got to the
point that no matter where I tried to feed my cats, the dogs were stealing the
cat food. They even came up on the
porch, only 2 feet away from my door.
So, in desperation, I started feeding the cats in the back hall. It took awhile for them to figure out the
plan … but now, when I open the door, they come running. However, it took me awhile to perfect my
system. I close all the doors, so there’s
only a very small hall area for the cats.
But my mistake was in trying to slip through the den door back into the
rest of the house. One day when doing
that one of the cats darted through the ddoor with me .. and, of course,
vanished. I don’t remember how long ago
that was .. over a week at least! I have
since learned to leave by the back door after letting the cats in, and walk
around to the porch door (and remember to unlock it first! LOL!) to go back in
the house. That way the only door the
cats can go in or out by is the outside door.
However .. I still had the issue of a sneaky cat in the
house. He stayed in hiding most of the
time, and would venture out at night.
But every time he saw me (or even saw movement I think), he darted back
into hiding.
Once, a week or so ago, I decided I just had to try (again)
to get him out. I had a door shut so he
was confined to the kitchen and den area.
I started spraying Fabreeze (well, it was the first spray bottle I got
hold of .. plus the room really needed it!!) under and behind the
furniture. I did, finally, flush him
out. He raced around a bit .. went into
the kitchen, across the counters, but then back into the den. At one point, finally, I was sure I saw him
dart into the back hall, so I quickly closed that door. Then I went around outside and opened the
back door. Multiple cats went in and out
… but once I made sure there were no cats left in the hall before I closed the
back door, I was sure the cat had gone out.
Late that evening, I dropped a plastic tray on the floor ..
Butter likes to lick the bottom of those.
I glaned over the edge of the chair … and there was that cat licking
away on the dish!! He looked up, and I
swear, he laughed at me!!! Then of course
he darted away. He didn’t have to go
more than 2 feet away in the dark for me to no be able to see him. I’m pretty sure he knew that too.
So, we continued to co-exist for another week or so (just can’t
remember exactly when different phases happened).
So, Sunday morning .. I heard a noise at the front door. I got up to see (actually thought it was
Maggie, but wondered what outside might have caught her interest). It was “The Cat”. As soon as he saw me, he darted into the
first place he came to .. the front bedroom.
And, I closed the door!!! Now,
having been through this before I still couldn’t be really sure I had him
trapped. But a short time later Maggie
was very interested in the door, and when I got closer I could hear the cat
scratching at the door from inside.
From that point I just had to wait for help; but I had a good
plan.
When my son and 2 grandchilden got here, we put the plan into
action. First, my grandson held the
front door open from outside (out of sight.
Mostly.) The my son and my
granddaughter got on their knees in the hall entrance (no door there), ready to
“scare” the cat in the other direction (towards the open door). And then, I opened the bedroom door. Well, the cat had other plans. He did not dart out as expected. And of course, I couldn’t find him .. even
though I KNEW he was n there. So finally
my granddaughter came in the help flush out the cat. That’s where the plan started to fall
apart. It took awhile, but once we found
him he finally ran out of the room … and right past my son!! OK, seriously, it was very funny that a
person as large as he is couldn’t contain that small cat. But then, a determined cat isn’t really “containable”.
So, back up plan goes into action. All the other doors were closed (a very wise
precaution on my part!). That meant he
couldn’t run straight into the kitchen, which is where he headed. Then he apparently paniced. I wasn’t close enough to really see what
happened. My son hollered at his son to
hurry up and hold the door open (thankfully none of the other cats were hanging
around trying to come in!). The cat,
when it couldn’t get in the kitchen, seemed to start racing around, bouncing
off walls and furniture, knocking over a lamp .. and managed to jump towards
the glass storm door. He “spring-boarded”
off it, and hit the porch running.
And, with that, the saga ends. The cat is no longer in the house.
A new story begins .. there are 2 tiny baby kittens on the
porch. I put an old laundry basket with
an old towel there for them, and mama cat seems to be OK with that. Ever since the babies were discovered, they’ve
been being handled, cuddled and petted.
My plan is, as soon as they’re old enough, to keep them and catch the
other cats to find homes for them.
Of course, the cat who was so recently a house guest may have
other ideas about this trapping business.
Clearly, cat plans do not necessarily mesh with my plans!
So, we shall see how it goes.
