" Is that your cat?"It's the second most popular statement question I am asked when I go out for a walk.
The first being the now irritating " You have your hands full there" when anyone spies four dogs being walking from one hand.
Unfortunately, the "cat" comment is becoming more frequent.
I say unfortunately, as Albert is much bolder for some strange reason and is now trying to accompany us on nearly every walk around the village a fact complicated by the sometimes busy A road which bisects Trelawnyd into two.
Cats possess little to no road sense in my experience.
Yesterday a woman out with a Jack Russel spied Albert as he gently limped his way after us down the lane. As her dog went hysterical at the sight of him and after she had pointed at him, saying to me " Is that your cat?" , Albert quicken his pace and confused the woman and her dog into silence by slinking into the pack next to William and Winnie. It is a ploy he often uses to pull a fast one on a potential enemy but when say, a farm lorry or car appears on the lane often Albert will then panic bolting for the nearest gap in the hedge or driveway as I am forced to wave down the car with friendly " watch my cat is in the road" comment.
On the main road, with often speeding cars wizzing past , a madman with four dogs mouthing " watch my cat" at the incoming traffic is unsurprisingly ineffective, if not purely dangerous !
Of course all Albert wants is to be one of the gang.
But joining gangs can be fraught with danger!
I locked him in the Prof's office this morning before we all trouped off for a walk
Awww lovely kitty.
ReplyDeletebe careful albert!
ReplyDeleteI had a cat in my teens who followed me everywhere and would sit and wait for me outside doors, etc. He was very loyal and surprisingly trusting of everyone/everything considering he was a tom. An unruly dog
ReplyDelete(not mine) killed him in the end. I've never got over it.
Yes there is something said for an animal to be wary. mary is too trusting as is winnie. The dogs william and george and Albert are more stand offish
DeleteMy cat, Didget went on our dog walks with us ...He passed two years ago. I'd give anything if he were walking with us now.
ReplyDelete:-(
DeleteHave you tried a halter and leash for albert. Demon puss has one. He may walk with the pack and accept the restraint since he likes to tag a long.
ReplyDeleteHe would hate that...he is not a cat who likes fuss
DeleteRight, most cats don't like fuss. However, you might give it a try. Some years ago when I had to move to an apt. complex (at least there were grounds and trees around it) I wanted to let my tuxedo cat roam outside (against the rules, of course). So I tried a halter and leash, letting him lead me wherever he wanted to go, to check out the new territory. After just a few excursions, he seemed to have the lay of the land, and from then on he wandered at will outside. I think cats are far more sensible than most humans, and I do miss that lovely boy, who's crossed the rainbow bridge.
DeleteThe sight of all all-black cats like Albert now tug at my heartstrings even more than all cats did before because of (as you might guess) my dearest, lovely, terribly-missed little Blackso of ever-blessed memory.
ReplyDeleteYes , still sorry for your loss raymondo.
DeleteAny luck with changing flats?
Tomorrow makes one month since his goodbye, J.G. It's a wound that will never heal - and, oddly, I don't want it to. I guess you know what I mean.
DeleteMy efforts to find a retirement flat back in Oxford have become MUCH harder than I'd hoped. (Thanks for remembering and asking).
I've now really set my heart on going back there to see out my remaining years. At my age I don't want to have to move only still to be unhappy, knowing that I'll have to move yet again to achieve a degree of contentment. Moving is so stressful anyway every single time. But I'm still trying.
Pussy-envy.
ReplyDeleteTheres a joke in there somewhere
DeleteI love Albert - he is so self assured. I bet he'll bite your ankle later or deposit something on the Profs desk as punishment for locking him up!
ReplyDeleteHe's not a cuddly cat. He prefers the dogs to me and will rub his head again and again on their faces , a habit that confuses all but winnie who seems to understand its a greeting
DeleteI was told that it is also some sort of scent sharing, Albert is running his scent on the dogs ..perhaps marking them as His :)
DeleteRubbing his scent .. I am online posting without my glasses .. dangerous.
DeleteYears ago I lived opposite a dairy farm across a busy rat run much loved by farmers and commuters; everyday my cat would sit in the hole in our hedge and watch the traffic waiting for a break in the cars, she would then trot across to the farm to go hunting. We used to joke she was commuting to work.
ReplyDeleteI still do not know where Alberts territory lies
DeleteWherever he lays his hat it sounds like, :-)
DeleteGood old Albert. I share you anguish over cats and traffic. One of our two cats was more cautious than Albert. She'd walk with me (much to my disconcert) to the end of the road but then stop at the corner - watching me till I'd disappeared out of her sight. When returning home in the car she'd run out and sit promptly right in the middle of either the street or where I was trying to park. "Do you have a death wish or something, Fleury?", I'd ask her. In answer to which she'd either purr or emit one her many and varied mious. Needless to say one day she was caught by a car, seemingly unblemished if immobile, died of shock at the vet's an hour later. I suppose we all have a destiny to fulfill.
ReplyDeleteAs to joining "gangs" and "cliques" I'd say certain ones aren't so much dangerous to join, they are closed clubs. I'll stop here as I do not wish to chew through my, for the moment, self imposed muzzle.
Albert greetings,
U
Im glad you stopped when you did .....
DeleteHe is a part of the pack.
ReplyDeleteOh Albert!
ReplyDeleteOur neighbour's pet Goose used to accompany them on walks.
ReplyDeleteOur two cats in Newcastle used to walk to the pub with us, reappear when called two hours later, and then we all walked home.
ReplyDeleteOnly 2 hours in the pub? Thats surprised me Rach
DeleteActually it may have been longer.
Delete" a madman with four dogs mouthing " watch my cat" at the incoming traffic is unsurprisingly ineffective"
ReplyDeleteThis started my day out just right :)
love
C ... proud mama of 3 cats ( it was not my idea!)
We only have quiet lanes around here, but I always have to check I am cat-free when setting out on a walk as Ghengis in particular is inclined to want to come too, and I just cannot relax if he is with me, especially on blind bends.
ReplyDeleteAlbert has made his choice....to be with his buds!
ReplyDeleteWe had a cat, Polo, who did the same thing when we lived in Vancouver......walked with us and Regan, our dog, all around the neighbourhood.....darting through hedges and people's gardens but always keeping an eye on us.
I have had a couple of pets fall victim to the road so I wholeheartedly support locking him in the wardrobe if neccessary.
ReplyDeleteIt must be lovely to have him join the pack, though
The mental image of you walking down the street with four dogs on leashes and one cat stalking up behind is hysterical to me.
ReplyDeleteIts a common sight in this village Harry
DeleteI wish I was there to see it ..
DeleteBetter safe than sorry!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story. It is a great myth cats and dogs don't get along. Great that he walks with you and the gang. Does he ever join the bachelors?
ReplyDeleteIt always surprises me that he never has attacked the boys... After all they are smaller than a half grown rabbit and he kills and eats them all of the time.....Albert has never killed any of my animals although he was keen on the quail when i had them.....as for joinging the bachelors, he will walk past and through them pretending they are not there
DeleteYou'll pay for that. =^..^=
ReplyDeleteThat was a good move,locking him up. I'm sure he's pissed and you'll find out just how pissed Albert is as time goes by. Another suggestion is to get Albert a harness and leash and walk him too. Not that you need another pet to walk, but he get crappy with you locking him up.. and believe me you'll pay for it.
ReplyDeleteThe 6 am walk is the biggest problem with traffic quieter ....
DeleteI am sure that my cat will be the death of me - either by tripping me in the middle of the night, or by overloading my terror meter. He's now taken to trying to slip out of the door, into the wilds. Good move on your part, although I doubt Albert agrees.
ReplyDeleteI had a cat who walked the children with me to school every day. He would get to the end of the block and then begin to meow frantically as if to say, "No! Too far! Too far from safety!" He would not rest until the children returned home in the afternoon. He also used to do perimeter patrols of our property every day, even after he was so very old and blind. I loved that cat.
ReplyDeletePatrolling is such a tom thing
DeleteOh I know that love .. for those old sweet cats ..and dogs.
DeleteThey are so dear to us .. Merlin seems to be in great shape but he is so old, I know he can go anytime but I am hoping he will be one of those freak cases of a cat who lives to be 40 :)
My cats used to accompany me on walks in the fields. I thought it was so sweet. I'd be chasing weenies through the tall grasses and the cats would run up trees. Nice memories.
ReplyDeleteYou could always try to harness and leash train Albert. Of course you might get some looks when he decides to lie down on part of the trip and you have to actually drag him home. Always happened with one of my cats, wanted to be outside and go for walks with the Malamute but hated the whole having walk back to the house.
ReplyDeleteIts not something albert would take to
DeleteLocking him in will only last so long. When he catches on, he'll hide until you leave, haha.
ReplyDeleteI lived in a flat many years ago where our flatmates cat would walk her to work, then park himself under a parked car and wait all day for her shift to be over, then walk her home again.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with a black cat called Andy. He was quite the dude.
What are the odds he'll find his way out of there.....at the very least, he won't speak to you for a week. Sweet little guy.
ReplyDeleteLocked in the Prof's study! You are brave!
ReplyDeleteOnly for 30 minutes!
DeleteI live on a relatively quiet dirt road and my cats are very car wary. They did enjoy accompanying us on dog walks, back when Naddy was still alive, disappearing into the grasses every time a car approached. Every once in a while Jack would, for some unknown reason, run ahead of a car in the road all the way back to our driveway! It was very dramatic...
ReplyDeleteWe have had seven cats but all have been indoor cats, so no walkies. They would however stand in front of our proposed exit as if to say "you lot are not leaving, now piss off." Which would cause total submission in the dogs.
ReplyDeleteStay safe Albert! You're my favorite in the pack! <3
ReplyDeleteLocked him in the office? Ooh, you'll pay for that ... with attitude at least.
ReplyDeleteIve been shutting him in the living room with a doorstop against the door!
DeleteBecause we are quite rural, our two cats have the run of the area. I've often thought it would be neat to have a "cat cam" on our Samson to see where he goes. I love seeing pictures of Albert because he always looks like you've startled him. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteCat cam...now theres an idea
DeleteSeveral of our cats joined the dogs on the morning walk to the "main road." Then we would turn and come back. Half a mile, total. Enough for anyone.
ReplyDeleteCareful Albert!! Too bad he won't wear a leash.
ReplyDeleteLocked in office...let us know how that turns out ;-)
In the past I had a cat that I could walk with a lead. Why not get a collar and lead for Albert?
ReplyDeleteYep our Ginger is one of the canine gang too, luckily though he only joins in on dog walks round our paddock. I bet a few drivers going leisurely past our place must do a double take at a cat romping around with the dogs.
ReplyDeleteHe too has never attacked any of our chickens, even chicks seem to be classed as 'family' to him and are never on the menu ... thank goodness.
Yes they understand the rules much better than dogs
DeleteBlackie often comes on our walks but he tends to walk just in front of me and wind in and out of my legs - all very dangerous.
ReplyDeleteFarm cat puss used to come around the calving cows with me in the dark, I think he thought it was a giant hunting trip. Max belonging to a former colleague lives along my morning walk to a friends for coffee, he stops all traffic cars buses as he very slowly saunters across the road to greet me and apparently most other pedestrians, all he@s lost so far is an ear and that was to skin cancer.Neighbour used to walk up the hill past my window followed 15m later by golden retriever followed 15m later by cat, regular as clockwork and always evenly spaced.
ReplyDeleteI see its not a rare phenomenomen
DeleteMetres not minutes :)
ReplyDeleteEven though we still have one of our black beauties, Albert tugs on my heart strings and reminds me of those I have lost.
ReplyDeleteSome cats DO have road sense - and some believe themselves faster than any car...
I hope Albert stays safe. So much.
He will, he's 8 so hes not done too bad so far
DeleteHe's doing really well, but one of these days....
ReplyDeleteif albert could just learn to ride on winnie's back.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child is right - some cats are smart, and others don't live long around roads. Our neighbour's cats always seem to stick around their house. We live in town so there are streets everywhere but they are smart.
ReplyDeleteWould Albert be willing to wear a leash and harness, so he could come along but stay safe? Some cats happily wear harnesses...
ReplyDeleteNot to give you any weird ideas, but they now make animal strollers that you can zip netting around it to safely let your cat accompany you. Just a thought...
ReplyDeleteMolly my neighbours cat stalks me!.Follows me down to bus stop in the morning, jumps on conservatory roof then bedroom windowsill at night then screams!. I open any door even to go to the bin she flys at the door yowling.No I don,t feed the fat mog, but do adore her!.
ReplyDeleteOur cat likes ot walk with us too. Luckily these days he confines himself to a walk in our own paddocks, but when he was younger we often founds ourselves take great lengths to sneak off out the gate for walks when he couldn't see us.
ReplyDeleteHalf a mile, total. Enough for anyone.
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Do you leash the dogs while walking?
ReplyDeleteHow about a leash for Albert?
Sounds like he wants to be part of the pack!
Dear Albert, it is safer to be shut up safe than to be injured. I once had a white kitty, Vinny, who I had to keep inside the house when I went for my morning walk. I didn't know how far he would try to follow and could not take that risk.
ReplyDeleteUnlucky cats hoping to find a home this International Cat Day. It's International Cat Day today, and Battersea Dogs & Cats Home will be helping the feline ...
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