We had the bedroom open for the first time this spring last night. So of course Shadow decided my stomach was the best springboard in the world to get up to the shelf next to the window. I knew better than to go completely back to sleep before he came back down, and he courteously gave me time to protect my squishy bits before he jumped back down.

My cats are allowed outside, but I have a ladder ramp that leads from my dining room window to the hill outside and I took the old railroad ties left behind my apartment and crisscrossed them up and down the hillside so they wouldn't keep tripping in the honeysuckle vines. I'm trying to think how I can modify the uprooted tree next to the patio into a kitty cave.

You guys, I'm about to order food online. I now live in a place with a Chipotle, and I will send them some pixels and they will have food ready for me when I arrive! My brain can't even cope with this.

My roommate tried to take her cat outside. The first time he bolted back indoors. The second time she shut the door, so he belly flipped on the ground and refused to move. I think he is an indoor cat.

he belly flipped on the ground and refused to move

Also known as "grab the planet and refuse to let go."

The time I tired to take my cat for a walk was the time he tried to kill me (does anyone remember that?)

Not selected for a jury, whew.

I suppose I should go on in to work. Bother.

Mycroft is leash-trained, and it wasn't a huge deal with him. I've had other cats who absolutely wouldn't go for it, and I suspect the individual cat's temperament makes a much bigger difference than it does with dogs. The best tips I have are to let them get totally used to the leash and harness indoors first, in a few sessions of no more than a couple of minutes, and without even touching the leash except to keep it from getting caught anywhere. After that, move on to picking up the leash, but not trying to "walk" them anywhere, then to getting them to go your way by calling/bribery/strategic use of the dot/whatev rather than trying to pull or drag them. By now, he's totally happy to have his gear strapped on and head out the door -- we don't exactly go anywhere, but spending 15 minutes at lunchtime a couple of times a week sniffing around the yard and chewing grass and stalking bugs makes him happier. We go where he wants, and the leash is basically there to stop him bolting out of reach if something goes pear-shaped.

I believe Calli also walks Liefur; at least, she was one of my "this is totally possible" guides when M. was a wee thing, so if she doesn't, delusion-Calli and imaginary-Liefur were an inspiration.

I suspect that a lot of the cat-walking freakouts you can find on YouTube are down to the fact that a cat who has never had a chance to get used to the gear gets that AND a whole new environment AND a human alternately laughing loudly and trying to physically drag them in one direction or another, and cats are Really Not Good With Change.

(Temperament: M is mostly a big mellow boy-cat bum, but when he gets freaked by something he goes super-reactive and fight or flight without much warning. As an ex-feral, he'd looooooove to be allowed to hang outside whenever he wants, but as a very reactive ex-feral, he'd be way too likely to skedaddle off out of sight at the first thunderclap or car backfire; we live a block from the interstate; ain't gonna happen no matter how adorably you chirp out the windows, boyo.)

For Pumpkin, the halter and leash are one gigantic toy (this is the cat who will remove her collar to play with it) and thus the whole purpose is defeated. Unless the purpose was to watch her writhe and attack, which she can do without the harness on (she drags it all over the house.) Though I suppose I could probably keep her from bolting in random directions outdoors by dangling it....

Sorry, Consuela, about the craptastic, sleep-free night, and ~t, I hope the insomnia fairies bugger off tonight and let you sleep as well.

I've done a bit of groceries and tutored at the kids' school, but it feels like I haven't done anything yet. I think it'll take a bit before I adjust back into a summer schedule. oops.