Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire

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The mighty huntress, how she shakes the earth.

Lilly caught her first mouse tonight. (This despite being almost four years old. My home-grown mighty huntress really isn't very good at her job.) I went into my room during a commercial break and found her half-under the dresser, chittering gleefully and shifting my portfolio all over the place. I got down on the floor to peer, and hey-presto, field mouse!

The poor thing was terrified, and quite tidily penned in by the collusion of 'closet door' and 'inexplicable old window screen' that lean up against the corner of my dresser. Lilly had herself a field day smacking at it and chittering before I was able to scoop it into a plastic container and dispatch my roommate to put it outdoors.

(I didn't spare the mouse because I have a soft heart. I understand that the whole 'circle of life' gig very much applies to mice stupid enough to enter cat-infested households. That said, Lilly is an indoor-only cat, and I'd really like to restrict her consumption of California's native wildlife to, I don't know, bugs and arachnids. Things that don't have warm blood and are thus less likely to give her interesting diseases. I know, I know, I'm a lousy excuse for a cat owner. I like my cats alive.)

Because Lilly is one of the most good-natured cats I've ever met, she's already completely over the fact that I took her mouse away, and is now devoting the bulk of her attention to loafing atop my open suitcase and giving me suspicious looks. Methinks the young miss has managed to figure out that I've packed a bit more heavily than is entirely essential for an overnight stay at Kate's.

Ah, cats. They remind us of the important things in life. And, when they're cats like Lilly, they remind me why I don't have children.
Tags: animals rock, in the wild, lilly
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  • 51 comments
Oh thank gods. I am a huge advocate of indoor kitties, but so many of my friends (even the ones that live smack in the middle of the city) let their cats outside that I can't really express my feelings without upsetting someone.

So I'll just say that it makes me very happy that the wondrous Lilly is indoors and safe. Have a Dean icon in thanks!
We have pretty much given up the battle and let our cat outdoors during the day, mostly because we have not managed to come up with a way to let the dog in and out, but not the cat. Or rather, we have come up with one way, but it's expensive and time consuming, since it involves swapping out the dog door we currently have for and electronic one which only opens when approached by a collar broadcasting the right frequency. And even with that, we're worried that the cat will learn to slip out whenever the dog goes out and then get stuck outside.

Our compromise is to let her wander around outside during the day, then try our best to keep her inside from early evening to morning. (By getting her and the dog inside and closing the dog door when it begins to get dark, leaving the dog door in while we're up, and then closing her in her bathroom and opening the dog door when we go to bed.) She is not overly pleased with this arrangement (She pretty much objects generally to being confined or held for long periods.) Still, we think it reduces the likelihood of her being eaten by a coyote, minimizes the dog peeing in the house (because she was locked in and couldn't get out) or running away (because she was locked out and couldn't get in), and generally seems like the best compromize we're going to manage.
Coyotes say: "NOM!"