There's Got To Be Another Way Out Of Here

This is blind Herbie, who I photographed this morning climbing in the cat house's outdoor enclosure.  Herbie is the original lovebug, but he is also one intrepid little guy.  There is much in the American Kennel Club's description of the breed standard for Dachshunds (of all things!) which would apply to Herbie the cat, including "courageous to the point of rashness" and "any display of shyness is a serious fault."  (For those of you who have met Herbie, you know what I mean about that second attribute.)

As for the courageous part, well, we discovered that not only does Herbie love to climb up the sides of the enclosure, but he also figured out how to get out of the enclosure!  Do you see the mesh wire that goes across the top of the enclosure?  Until recently, there was a two-inch gap between the edge of the mesh and the wall, and for years no cat had ever figured out how to work his or her way through it.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, we found blind Herbie wandering in the yard around our house one day.  He didn't have a care in the world.  It's not like he doesn't know there are 24 dogs milling around out there -- it just doesn't occur to him that he should be afraid of them or anything else.  (The other dogs are over at Widget's House.)  In truth, we don't have any dogs who would ever harm him or any other cat, but still! (Does the expression "courageous to the point of rashness" come to mind?)

No one had seen him get out, so our first thought was that someone had accidentally left the cat house door open.  But, we have some visual cats who would have been out exploring, too, so that didn't seem to make much sense.  Then, a day later, he was out again.  Finally, on his third escape, it was our employee Cindy who saw how he was doing it.  He simply climbed up the enclosure fence, worked his way over to the wall, and then squeezed through that narrow gap at the top ... and climbed all the way down to the ground.  Off he went to explore again. 

Not bad for a cat with no eyes in his head, huh?

Of course, at that point we 're-engineered' the top mesh and moved it over to be flush with the wall.  No more escapes since then ... but he still loves to climb.

And here he is after his climbing expedition this morning:

Comments

[Wendy]

Wow Herbie, look at you go!! I wonder if he'd be afraid of heights if he could actually see how high up he is. Something tells me no!!

[Debbie]

They sure keep you on your toes, don't they??? I am considering a similar enclosure at my house...thanks for letting us know how ingenious (and persistent) they are! We will plan accordingly, lol!

[Vonnie]

I love Herbie!!! What an guy! Give him kudos for trying. By the way, how is Peewee doing? and Bobbie?

[Shirley * James * Portland, OR]

When we were volunteering in May I pointed out to my husband the gap and he said--"oh the cats will never get there or they would have to be Houdini.” Sorry we didn’t tell you Steve---so, this blog really made me smile to think of love bug Herbie being so smart! He’s got PERSONALITY PLUS!!!

[Sabrina]

Who says handicapped animals can't have fun?!?!?!?! The 2008 Animal Hospital of Maple Valley Rolling Dog Ranch Donation Drive (say that 10 times fast) is in full swing!!! Hopefully we do better than last year!!!

[Moon Rani]

Herbie's climbing exploits remind me of my very dear, now deceased blind cat's adventures. He was the most courageous of all my cats, sometimes to the point of rashnesss, just like sweet Herbie.

[Lisa James]

I bet Herbie would tolerate a harness if it meant someone would take him out for walks. I have a red explorer also.

[Nina]

What a handsome acrobat!!! Brave one, too!!