Pole And Cleo Stand Guard

For a few months now, we’ve tried out a new way to reduce the “spraying” activity of Cow, Bunny and Indy.  As you know, these three alpha-males sprays in Bunny’s Room and it’s very, very tiring having to clean up their markings many times a day.

So, what we did was to put up a netting on the grille (from the room to the pantry) so that the cats will be confined to the pantry and garden most of the time. Block off access to the room, unless when there is need for them to come in, for eg, when there is heavy rain. In any case, the pantry is totally shaded, so it’s dry even when there is heavy rain.

However, very quickly, Cleo discovered she could actually squeeze through the tiny gap between the netting and the grille, so in just a few hours of the netting being up, Pole and Cleo gained access to the room. We let them since the girls don’t spray.

Pole and Cleo were clearly SO very happy to have the room all to themselves now. No need to put up with the crazy males’ spraying – Hooray!

But it was rather short-lived joy…

Very soon, Indy discovered he could easily climb in. Scaling the netting to come in was a piece of cake for him.

But Indy is smart and he learns fast – he knows that if he doesn’t spray, he gets to stay, so he behaves.

Since he behaves, we let him come in. Hence, Indy comes and goes as he pleases.

Now, there were only three of them in the room. Cow & Bunny were still confined in the pantry and garden. But we let everyone in when it rains.

The problem with Cow and Bunny is not that they don’t have places to pee. They do. There’s a whole sandpit for them to pee and poo. Why, the two are so smart, they even know how to squat at the drainholes in the garden to pee.

They just have to spray in the room to mark their territory and assert their alpha-ness.

Sigh…

Now, after sometime, Cow and Bunny also discovered that they could force their way in through Cleo’s hole. Soon, the tiny hole became bigger and the whole project kind of…failed.

We reinforced the netting again, but this time, someone bit through it, so Cow and Bunny could still come in when they wanted to, though it needs some effort to go through.

But here’s what’s happening now…

Pole comes in and guards the “hole”.

No entry!

No entry, Cow Mau…

We also sometimes open this gap at the window, and here, you can see Cleo guarding it.

Oops…Indy is coming in. But there’s no place to land. Pole is there.

He’ll just have to land diagonally. Can you make it, Indy?

Piece of cake!

With Pole, Cleo and Indy inside, there’s plenty of space for Cow & Bunny to “rule”.

And yet, of course, as always, the forbidden fruit is always sweeter, so they still want to come in…and spray.

Meanwhile, with the netting up, the incidence of spraying by Cow & Bunny has been significantly reduced and this really helps a lot.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2018/06/06/pole-and-cleo-stand-guar..

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AnimalCare is a registered society that promotes caregiving to street animals and helps in their neutering and medical needs. AnimalCare has a Medical Fund, Food Fund and Education Fund.

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