A lanai that has no floor, only mulch? Looks kinda strange

Coyotes have a preference for Thai food.

:undecided: I'm thinking you might be right. Here's a 2010 post by su2009


Managing cats outside
#20 Report Post
Old 07-30-2010, 01:24 PM
su2009 su2009 is offline
Junior Member

Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 17
Default Managing cats outside
I walk my cats outside in our own yard. It was a lot of work to train them. I did it starting with the head cat - the older, braver one: stand and hold him for three minutes on the back patio slab, then walk back into the lanai. Repeat several times a day for several days while the other cat watches from inside the sliding doors. Prevent struggling by holding a front leg firmly out and away from the cat (you must be reasonably strong and his claws must be clipped). Tell him: "stay with me!" repeatedly and praise him. Then the other cat: stand and hold on the patio slab, back into the lanai.

Move up through stages, one cat at a time while the other watches: cat sitting on patio slab next to you sitting on the slab, with your hand holding him down, then cat walking slowly in garden next to lanai with you walking next to him, then cat on side of house. If the the cat runs, yell "No! Stay with me, [his name]!" Talk to him sternly if he moves away from you, praise him if he walks slowly with you next to him. Cats like big flower beds, dislike being exposed, so keep a big flower bed in the front and back or side and wear old shoes to walk around with the cats in it. (Bark it instead of using rock, as cats will not walk on rock. Keep your plants tall and fluffy so cats can stay mostly hidden (abelia and lorapetalum are good choices), no spikey roses or spikey holly or juniper bushes.) Eventually you will be able to walk each cat around the house. Then you take them out together in stages - back flowerbed for five minutes, etc. Constantly tell them "Stay with me!" and praise them when they do. Always keep the lanai door propped open while they are out so they can rush inside if they become frightened, rather than running away from you.

If you see a dog anywhere in the vicinity, yell "Oh no! Dogs!" Scoop a cat up, point to the dog and run inside, acting panicked. The other cat will follow. Once inside, act frightened and run into the bedroom with the cats. Tell them you are glad you all are safe and you are proud of them for not getting caught by a dog. Eventually, you can yell "Oh no! Dogs!" and the cats will rush back into the lanai whenever there is, for example, a large truck barelling down the street, or a neighbor stopping by -- anything that might otherwise cause a cat to bolt. When they hear "Oh no! Dogs!" they will run back inside.

When you are out with the cats, always act wary. Make it clear that it is very dangerous outside and you are watching out for them. Caution them constantly. Eventually, they will not go outside without you, even if the door is open for furniture delivery, or to bring in groceries, or whatever.

Never take a cat out when it is getting dark because you just can't monitor them closely enough. If you take them out and they both stay beside you, stay out for longer and then praise them lavishly when you come back in.

Then, be prepared for your cats to meow from morning until dark, for the rest of your life, in the hopes they will persuade you to take them out not just twice a day, but 1,000 times a day. They will be relentless. You will need nerves of steel. You will wonder why you ever started this foolish cat-walking project instead of taking the advice of all the nice people who told you the cats would eventually be happy on the lanai.

Sorry, taking this thread with a great big grain of salt. I assume the coyote took the cat, then brought it back to take it again. :ohdear:

But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, we thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.

Two different cats, people.

You're a poet
and don't know it

This thread is destined to be featured on an upcoming episode of the twilight zone. It has all the necessary components----alien highly intelligent cats that can be trained to obey commands and understand English, ghost cats returning from beyond, time travel, good Samaritan coyotes, and deja vu, similar to "Groundhog Day"----to quote the Monkees--I'm a daydream believer

I'm really having a hard time buying this. Between last night and this morning, every question I had was brought up by posters, even the one about a lanai with mulch on the inside.

If one lost a cat to being on a "lanai" all night, don't allow the remaining one... oh, but everything's already been said. Rinse and repeat.

our torn screen
 

We noticed yesterday that our lanai screen was torn and shredded. Our kitty loves the lanai and doesn't have claws. We will have the screen repaired but we are more concerned with how to protect Molly yet let her out there. I even thought about ugly chicken wire.

I am a nervous wreck about this coyote/cat thing! I am so afraid to let the cats on the lanai unless one of us is out there with them. It seems most of you are skeptical of this post, and I get some of the reasons, but what I don't get is WHY would someone post this if it's NOT true? What do they gain? I'm serious...just confused and petrified for my kitties. I would just die if something I did caused them harm. I am ready to get bars on my screens!!

Screens do get old and need to be replaced. Get several estimates. You will be glad you did. It is quite inexpensive.

I thought about chicken wire too and I may just do that, but I'm waiting for a contractor that's installing a cage for us to see if he can run some of those screen wires across the bottom.

Villagetinker had a fence (of a sort) on the inside of his porch. He also had screen designed for critters on his birdcage. Search his posts or PM him.

I would certainly keep an eye on your cats, but don't be a nervous wreck over it. You ask why someone would post such a thing. There is a group of folks who are of the mindset that the Coyotes should be killed.....or trapped and removed. Killing them is just plain wrong. Trapping them would be an ever ending chore, because they would continue to flourish here. Folks just have to keep the cats indoors and always leash their dogs and watch them carefully. Every time the subject dries up for a week or two, it is resurrected by a false claim of a cat being taken. As far as I have seen....there was one dog taken that was let out at midnight without a leash. An incident of a cat being taken was two women who said their cat went missing and they "assume" it was a coyote. It may have just run off. There have been incidents of sightings for sure. But, don't over worry about this, just keep a close watch on your animals. We are in mid Florida and there are many threats out there.