Pets and winter

[Leonis]

Memnoch, I believe animals are instinctive, even domestic pets. Go slow with her and you'll quickly understand her limitations. Like us humans, animals are amazing beings. We all can survive a certain level of extreme weather before we need out. Take her just outside the door, see how she handles it. Basically if she starts shivering - that's enough. I'm sure she'll let you know before it gets beyond her. They're not stupid...

[Bungleau]

My wife takes her dog for walks during the winter, and provided that you're not walking in wet slushy stuff, she'll probably be fine. Cold is one thing; wet cold is another.

No answers on the grass, though. Just don't let the word get around that you grow your own grass in a small room in your apartment...

[Ivelliis]

*disregards*

My huskie(or y?) loves the snow.

[Aelia Jusa]

You can buy cat grass at pet stores and grow it in a pot. It grows lovely and long so it's easier to eat than normal mown grass. Tuppy loves hers. Anyway you could probably grow some indoors if you could put it near a window so it gets some sun. If you can't find proper cat grass you could try planting bird seed (don't laugh, I have done this and it works a treat) or wheat seeds. If you do it inside it should be warm enough to come up?

Dunno about the cold, Brisbane doesn't get all that chilly and Tuppy has a double coat anyway so she'd probably manage pretty well with snow.

[Iron Greasel]

I'd say that unless you forget your cat outside for a long cold winter night of below -20 C, you'll both be fine. And even then you'll probably be fine.

[Dragonshadow]

I used to unintentionally walk my cat Pixie - she followed me around. We never got taht much snow, but she'd go out in it for a while, and let me know when she wanted in. Not so much when she was older. But a little while shouldn't hurt at all.

[Zebodog]

Smaller dogs and especially cats are prone to snow sticking to their hair/fur and turning into little ice balls when walking (jumping) through deep snow.
If your pet has never been in a colder environment with snow, I would introduce them to it slowly but if they don't like it they'll just head back to the door. [img]smile.gif[/img] They usually let you know if something is bothering them.

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by SpiritWarrior: Why are you walking the cat anyways as opposed to letting it roam for awhile? Fear of it getting lost?

My cat's an indoor cat - she only learned about the outside world (ie the nature world) when I moved to Boston. Before that I lived in the heart of the city in Sydney. She's part Ragdoll and they're not meant to be outdoor cats because they don't really know how to look after themselves and they let anyone pick them up (unafraid of people). I trained her to walk on a leash and harness and she enjoys it!

Here's a pic of her. She's got pretty long hair and I think she should be alright.



I just wasn't sure how long she should stay out when the temperature is low and there's snow on the ground. I took her out a little bit early this year (she arrived in Boston in Jan) but never for more than 5 mins. I wanted to know how long the rest of you take your pets out.

As for the grass, it's not a major problem - she'll eat potted grass from PETCO if she needs to, but lately she's gotten used to the real thing. I suppose she'll just have to get used to potted stuff again.

I'll video me walking her tomorrow and post it on Youtube.

[ 11-16-2006, 12:40 AM: Message edited by: Memnoch ]

[SpiritWarrior]

She's beautiful. I guess since she's part ragdoll that allows the walks outdoors as the full breeds can't be out at all they say. My aunt had one when I was young.

[Thinking out loud] I have always had a hard time accepting that any animal can't be in it's natural state and free to roam. Not that I dispute the fact that this breed has a hard time outdoors and displays particular common traits, it just makes me wonder what happend to this line of cats to make them domesticized to the point that they cannot survive alone. My theory would be that the cats instinct is to hunt and no animal can deny or surpress this instinct. So I wonder, who got the first Ragdoll and somehow took these instincts from them? [/Thinking out loud]

[Memnoch]

You can read the history of the Ragdoll breed on Wikipedia. I think it was more an accident than anything - but the breed that emerged was one that was really gentle, sweet and inoffensive. Generally you can pick up a Ragdoll and it goes all limp and floppy in your arms, even if it doesn't know you (like a rag doll). Obviously this depends on each individual cat, but it's a generally accepted trait. They're very un-catlike - they don't generally climb much as they're pretty big, and they follow people around like dogs, like having their tummies scratched, and sleep on their backs like humans (or my one does anyway). And they're very playful and sociable and like being petted and around people.

Here's another pic of Mikka: