Tag Archives: apartment living

Not So Wild Cats in the Neighborhood

At the cats-only boarding facility, we keep an eye out for abandoned or feral cats. Leftover food from the guests is set out twice a day for our “regulars”. We even do our best to catch, spay or neuter, and find homes for the feral cats who hang out behind the building. But those aren’t the only abandoned kitties I deal with. There’s a sizable abandoned cat population at the apartment complex where I live. There are two in particular who live and hang out right by my door: a pair of mostly black kitties. One is extremely friendly; the … Continue reading →

Dogs and Cats Living Together: Gate Jumpers

In my six month update, I mentioned one of my worst fears: that one of my roommates’ cats will jump the gate and encounter the dogs. Well, it’s happened. Twice. A quick background for new readers: in January, I moved in with roommates. Roommates who have cats. I have two dogs who are known cat chasers, at least when we’re outside. The cats and dogs are kept separate thanks to a baby gate. I wasn’t home for the first gate jumping experience, but here’s the story: Kachiko hopped the gate and wandered into the office, looking for roommate M., her … Continue reading →

Do You Know Your Leash Laws?

Quick — do you know the leash laws in your neighborhood or town? If you live in an apartment complex, do you know their pet rules? More importantly… do you obey the leash laws of your community? It’s a problem I’ve run into WAY too often in my apartment complex. I have at least two neighbors who just open their doors and let their dogs out to run around the parking lot unsupervised. There are so many things wrong with this — the dog could get hit by a car in the parking lot, the dog could get stolen, the … Continue reading →

Dogs and Cats Living Together: Six Month Update

Wow, has it been six months already? By my calendar, it has. Back in January, the dogs and I moved in with roommates who have two cats. Want to catch up on the story? Introducing the roommates’ kitties, Shiro and Kachiko The first meeting (before we actually moved in) Dogs in residence! Animal body language translates between cats and dogs How each of the animals reacted to the stress of living together Animal behavior isn’t what we expected. I don’t know if the dogs and cats are ever going to be friends — as we’d hoped. Moose and Lally still … Continue reading →

Dogs and Cats Living Together: the Advantage of Height

Little by little, my dogs and my roommates’ cats are getting used to each other. The dogs are mostly polite when the door to the cats’ room is open — they don’t bark or whine TOO much, unless I’m in with the cats. One of my roommates found an online forum for cat lovers, and asked for advice about introducing cats to dogs. She got one piece of advice that I think is really valuable: give the cats the advantage of height. Think of it this way: the cats weigh between ten and twenty pounds. The dogs weigh five to … Continue reading →

Dogs and Cats Living Together: Not What We Expected

Before my dogs met my roommates’ cats, we had lots of talks about how we thought it would go. We discussed the best ways to introduce them, what to do if things went wrong, and our dreams of animal harmony. I thought Lally, my boxer/shar-pei mix, would be the problem child. When we’re out walking, she can be quite a cat chaser. If she saw cats inside the apartment, I figured she’d be trying to run them down. (I’m not sure what she’d do with a cat if she ever caught one, but that doesn’t stop her from trying.) My … Continue reading →

Dogs and Cats Living Together: Body Language

Dogs and cats may not always get along, but it seems they CAN learn to understand each other. Researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel took a good long look at canines and felines who share a household. Taken individually, canine and feline body language often has opposite meanings. For example, a dog with his ears back or stretching out on his back is relaxed and even submissive. In cat speak, those behaviors are actually signs of aggression. But when the two species take up residence together, researchers have seen cats and dogs adapting their language. Dogs often greet other … Continue reading →

Introducing the New Members of the Household

A while back, I mentioned that I would be moving soon. Same complex, just a bigger apartment because I’m joining forces with some roommates. Those roommates have cats. We talked a lot about how to introduce my dogs, Moose and Lally, to their cats. We came up with plans to give the cats a safe space, and give them time to roam the apartment without dogs around. (More on this to come, I promise!) For now, I wanted to introduce the new members of the household. Kachiko is an eight year old snowshoe Siamese cat. She’s a sweet, mischievous little … Continue reading →

My Dog is a Better Man than Most Humans

Just about every night before I go to bed, I take my dogs for a last walk. Sometimes it’s just a short run outside; sometimes it’s a longer stroll through the apartment complex or around the block. Since I’d been out of the house a lot today, I figured the pups deserved a longer walk tonight. I decided we’d walk around the outside of the apartment complex — lately I’ve been avoiding the paths inside the complex since my dog Lally can be skittish around kids. We were halfway around when a large white SUV came roaring by. Someone was … Continue reading →

No Bones about It

I have an ongoing beef with residents of this apartment complex who don’t treat it like a home. The people who don’t pick up after their dogs are a big part of my irritation; people who are irresponsible with garbage are another. I’ve lost count of how many time Moose has found some kind of vaguely edible treat on the ground — bread, fast food wrappers, bones, and more. I hope the litter is accidental, but when I think of how often Moose has crunched down on a chicken bone in the parking lot, I fear that it’s not. I’ll … Continue reading →