Hank is found and safe

Hi all.

Below is the saga of Hank, who was locked in a basement for 31 days
before he was found, alive, but three of nine pounds lighter. We've
done the vet route and all will be fine, but in the meantime, I
really don't want to go through that again, and I'm sure he doesn't
either. So the issue I ask you to help solve is:

+ How do I let him be a cat and go in and out but stay in the yard?

I'm looking at Innotek and PetSafe, and of course am overwhelmed by
the available choices. PetSafe has one version with an "ultralight"
1.5 oz receiver, but how big. Most talk about controlling dogs, what
about cats?

I'm not sure cats are as trainable as dogs, although Hank has been
trained to not leave the boat we lived on for several years by being
dumped in the water whenever he tried to leave. It only took two
such events to convince him.

TIA, Andy

=======================================================================================

He had been locked in the basement of a house a few houses away for over
four weeks. The little miracle is that there was a leaky water pipe
that was dripping. So he was able to stay reasonably hydrated,
albeit unfed, for 31 days.

They had been moving in to the upstairs apartment four weeks ago and had
everything open, but the ground floor apartment was unoccupied. So after
moving in upstairs they locked the basement, with Hank in it. I
don't know
if he yowled, but if he did there was no one to hear him, at least
not on
the ground floor.

Today the owner, a fire department chief, was refinishing the floors
of the
vacant ground floor apartment and opened the door to the basement
and there
was Hank. He called me and I came and called but there was nothing
there, so
he agreed to leave it unlocked. So I went home and got some food and
came
back to put out food and found this very hungry, upset, thirsty, and
skinny
Hank.

So he scarfed up some food, but not too much and off we went to the Vet.

Hank will be fine. His insides feel ok, his gums are nice pink,
although he
is dehydrated and starved. And he certainly hasn't lost his voice.

We had him scanned so we're sure it really is him, not that there
was any
doubt with all the purring and yowling and leg rubbing and head bumping.
This is my buddy, but we just needed to be sure.

No stone unturned.


The vet kept him for the day to hydrate him with IVs, I picked him up
tonight, we'll go back tomorrow at noon for a check of the blood
tests that
are testing for liver and kidney functions. But he seems fine other
than the
obvious hunger and thirst. We just have to get him back to his 9.6
pounds,
instead of his current 6.3 pounds.

And we need a lot of brushing and washing and cleaning. He is very very
dusty. and very clingy. He *will sit in my lap, pay no attention to
whatever
else has to be done. If I don't let him do that, then he climbs up on my
back. Yep, it's Hank alright.

He was very very glad to see me and I am very very glad to have him
back.

Yet another affliction of Satan, and yet another little miracle that he
survived.


The man who found him refused the reward, so I'll make a donation to the
local animal shelter (the Potter League) in his name. And I'll take
several
folks to dinner who went beyond the call of duty, marching through
woods,
chatting up construction workers, walking the railroad tracks ,
searching
the neighborhood, and so much more.

Many others called in response to the advertisements, and the newspaper
people were very kind in placing the ads. Neighbors left their basements
open. Others made suggestions, such as telling me about the pet
detective,
which I followed up.

So there are many many people to thank for their efforts and concern.

You know who you are, thank you.

Thanks to all for the support. One thing I've had reaffirmed with
all this
is how kind most people are, for which I am very very grateful. And
thankful.

As for lessons learned, I don't know. I now have a collar and tag
for him,
but that would not have helped in this case. He's always been a boat
cat,
and not allowed off the boat, until two years ago. But on the boat
he could
be out in the sun. Keeping him inside doesn't let him lie in the
sun, and we
both know how important that is to us both. If I could convince him
to just
stay in the yard that would be perfect, but I don't know how to do
that. So
I've kind of agreed that I needed to take my chances with fate and
let him
be a cat. I don't know, but I'll think about it hard, and, at least
until he
is back to full strength he is definitely grounded.

On 2005-06-18 05:55:51 -0700, "C. Andrews La Varre"
<alavarre.RemoveThis@nospam.ids.net> said:

> Hi all.
>
> Below is the saga of Hank, who was locked in a basement for 31 days
> before he was found, alive, but three of nine pounds lighter. We've
> done the vet route and all will be fine, but in the meantime, I
> really don't want to go through that again, and I'm sure he doesn't
> either. So the issue I ask you to help solve is:
>
> + How do I let him be a cat and go in and out but stay in the yard?
>
> I'm looking at Innotek and PetSafe, and of course am overwhelmed by
> the available choices. PetSafe has one version with an "ultralight"
> 1.5 oz receiver, but how big. Most talk about controlling dogs, what
> about cats?
>
> I'm not sure cats are as trainable as dogs, although Hank has been
> trained to not leave the boat we lived on for several years by being
> dumped in the water whenever he tried to leave. It only took two
> such events to convince him.

Supervision. Lots and lots of supervision. And positive reinforcement.
And consistency.

We have a pair of former ferals who go out in our (very tiny) backyard
to play, but don't go outside the limits we've set for them. They're
not 100% perfectly reliable, and we don't let them go out unless
someone is downstairs and can check on them every 10 to 15 minutes. Our
yard is tiny, but has a 6 foot privacy fence, which makes for a very
visible and easy to identify barrier for them. I don't know if they
would do as well with a chain link or no fence at all.

We've done it by being consistent, reinforcing that they have to come
when we call them and making sure that they don't associate being
called with having to stay inside. Standard positive reinforcement
training techniques. We're at a disadvantage, though, as the kittens
don't like any of your standard cat treats. They like kibble and they
like some kids of wet food, so we have to rely on voice and praise to
reinforce them.

Valeria has wandered off once or twice when we weren't checking
frequently enough. We think she's following her momma (a feral we've
TNR'd and are slowly socializing) off to where ever momma hides. We're
trying to be a bit more pro-active and keep a better eye on her, but
haven't yet sorted out how to convince her this is not acceptable
behaviour.

So if you want him to be able to go outside but stay in the yard, you
can. It's a LOT of work, though, to train them to do so, and you can't
just let them go out and expect them to remember that, say, not getting
on the fence is against the rules.

As I write this, the door has been open for the last 6 hours. Cats (all
three of them) have been in and out, Amelia is currently playing
outside (after taking her morning siesta in her bed inside) and Valeria
is curled up on the chair spending quite a bit of time playing outside
this morning. Last I looked, Momma was curled up down the side of the
house in one of her spots.

As an aside, all the cats are chipped and the kittens (well, they're 2
year old 'kittens') have collars.

I'm glad you found Hank! Sounds like he's a great cat.

bisky