Kittens & Catflaps...

As the title of the post suggests, this is going to be another post about the exploits of my two kittens. If you're uninterested in kittens, and usually read this blog for the Catholic bits or the blonde jokes, then try again another day - this post will not interest you in the slightest.

Since Wednesday, I have been trying to encourage my kittens to use the catflap. It's more complicated than you'd think, mostly because the catflap is actually in the kitchen window, and so there's a bit more involved than just sticking a bowl of food one side of the flap and letting nature take its course...

My next door neighbour (the one who cat-sits for me) has been helping me, shoving the kittens out one way and acting as "fielder" to prevent straying kittens from discovering the hole in the fence.

Yesterday's weather was horrible - very cold and windy - so I didn't go out with the kittens.

Today my neighbour was unavailable, but it was sunny this afternoon, so, using a chopstick as a prop, I wedged the catflap open and proceeded to walk round the garden to the kitchen window. By the time I got there, Furretti was looking out at me...

Without my neighbour to prod her in the behind, Furretti took her time to study the outside world from the safety of the window sill. I stood outside in the cold (this section is in shadow, and there was quite a breeze blowing!), calling her name and trying to encourage her to step over the threshold. In retrospect, I think that the cat had more sense than me...

Of course, the younger kitten, being far more inquisitive than Furretti, (so far, Miaowrini's fallen in the toilet, the bath and the swing bin because of her general nosiness) just had to have a look to see what was going on...

Eventually, Furretti made it through the flap. She knocked the chopstick over, but was far enough out for it not to matter...

I waited for Furretti to jump down on her own, and let her explore the bushes...

Meanwhile, I propped open the catflap again, and allowed Miaowrini to have a look through. At one point I thought she was going to take the plunge...

...but she decided against it, and shot back inside.

After a short while, I called Furretti and she ran back to me, allowing me to pick her up and put her back on the ledge below the window. She seemed pretty happy to be going back inside, though I had to open the catflap for her. On Friday afternoon I'd started to walk away, thinking I could return to the flat and call her in from inside the kitchen, but she got very anxious and ran after me, so I guess she's not quite ready to be alone outside.

A week or so more, and I think the two kittens will be able to go out, at least during the day (they're a bit small to be let out at night, as we have lots of foxes in the area) and I'm definitely looking forward to them using the garden rather than the litter box!