Hey Pet Parents & Pet Lovers,
As you may already know I am currently in England visiting my big sister and her little one Avery. Avery was one of the first cats I had the extended opportunity to interact with. My sister actually found him wandering the streets of her neighbourhood about four years ago and he’s actually what lead to the adoption of my little one Beau! (He actually also got the ball rolling when I pitched the adoption of Walker, but I’ll talk more about that another day.)
Avery is a pretty “to himself” kind of cat and shows signs of “stranger danger” every time I’m around him, so this visit was my chance to get him to at least tolerate me (as my sister says).
If you are the owner of multiple cats you already know that each kitty has their own personality and not one of them is the same. For example: Beau became attached to me almost immediately as he is a very quiet and affectionate lap kitty, however Walker is what I’d like to call a “Chatty Cathy” who doesn’t actually like being held, but loves the company of humans. Avery is not like either of them.
Avery is pretty much a “lone ranger” type of kitty. He likes spending his time sitting by windows or hiding in closets. He’s also not much of a lap kitty (even considering the picture above shows him happily sitting in my sister’s lap). He’s just not a fan of quick movement and likes to sleep on completely still areas.
One of the first things my sister said to me before I even got to England was: Avery will not sit on your lap unless you stay completely still. Any movement will bother him. If you move he will give you a few seconds to adjust, but if you haven’t adjusted he will leave.
And it’s true! Shortly after this picture was snapped Avery ran away from my sister and hid in his favourite spot: the closet. My sister has a pretty rad set up for Avery in the closet. He can jump from a step-stool to a dresser that leads to the top part of the shelving unit. (I wish I could take better pictures, however it’s a tight squeeze for us humans.)
I really like the way she has this set up and it’s definitely more cost effective than a regular cat tree. (Although, I still want to get Beau a kitty condo when we have the money.)
Thing is: this has really got me thinking about what I can do for Beau at our place (especially as Beau is a huge climber).
Back when we lived in a house we had a setup for Beau where he would jump from my bed to a ledge onto a dresser. Unfortunately we can’t have that setup anymore as Beau would jump from the dresser to the floor causing a lot of noise… and you know how it is in apartments… Noise complaints are rampant!
Kenny and I were also debating whether or not we would want to buy a wall set up like the Trixie Wall-Mounted Cat Lounging Set and Cat Hammock & Climbing Activity Center, but again we’re going to have to wait until we have a house! Why does it always have to come to this?
So pet parents, here’s when I ask you… What kind of set ups do you have for your little ones? Do they have little hiding spots / places to climb? Any of you have any ideas for the apartment dwellers?
Avery hides in the closet because he’s unsure, so I recommend getting him out of the closet with climby things where he can go up but still be near the family. It will help his confidence. At our place, we have chairs and tables under most windows so Angel and Chuck can look outside. Plus, we’ve built a ‘halo’ around our dining room, with a staircase. The cats climb up and walk around near the ceiling, and have several ways down via bookcases or staircase. We added a really tall cat scratcher too, so Chuck can really stretch his long body out.
For sure! I know over the past few days Avery has come out a lot more and is actually sitting by my feet right now. It’s a bit hard in their flat (as it’s a small one room studio) so there isn’t much place to put anything right now!
I need to check out pictures of this halo! It sounds really awesome.
Amazon has some really reasonable kitty condo/trees. I have purchased two through them.
I’ll look into them. I’ve been checking .ca for the past year or so and I can’t seem to find one that’s in the price range we need. But it doesn’t mean it’s not out there waiting for me! 😉
waves two ewe avery; itz verree nice two meet ewe; for what itz werth; dai$y who just terned 14; has onlee a loud three peepul two haz contact with her N may bee two mor ta act shoo a lee “see” her…..in her hole life time….. 🙂 🙂 ♥♥♥
Aww, we may get along Dai$y! 🙂 – Avery
Avery is a cutie.
That he is! It was sooo good to see him again 🙂
I am sure your sister loves the cat hair on the clothes from having a closet cat! (I have a hid in the closet sometimes dog and she leaves extra hair!)
Ahaha! I’m sure she absolutely loves it. He doesn’t really go around her clothes surprisingly though! Just that one little corner !
The most popular hiding spot is under the bed(UTB).
There are small cat shelves on a wall next to a filing cabinet.(Julie is the biggest user)
There is also a small cat tree(a gift) in front of a window that is reasonably popular.
Julie is the youngest at 8. Georgia is 14 and JJ is 20
The older cats tend to sleep on the bed 😉
Purrs Georgia,Julie and JJ
Beau is definitely a window sleeper or a “in your lap” sleeper. He’s never been much of an enclosed space sleeper. Walker loves sleeping under tables (especially if there is a table cloth to keep it warm and toasty). It’s always fun to see what spot they will pick!
With some cat sitters, our Sophie hides in the closet. We have so many places for them to hide and just snooze that I have to leave a list of where to find them. 🙂
Avery likes things very calm and quiet. If they aren’t then he gets a bit spooked. Although the last day I was in England he was mewing around!
Pipo is a out in the open snoozer…and wants to be nearby but not really on your lap…except he will ge ton pawpy when he takes a recliner nap:)
Petcretary wiggles too much, MOL!
Angel-Minko was a hider, and he had tons of spots which petcretary spent hurs sometimes trying to find him…and when she did, he would make a new one. Clevfur kitty.
Neither one has been inclined to climb, though we have places they could. Our first kitty would get up on top of anything and evfurrything.
We have places to observe the outdoor goings on several of the windows here. Pipo makes good use of them to watch the burd and rodent channel.
I actually wonder if Beau is a real climber or not. He does like to jump (when we play with him), but we don’t have many places for him to jump!