Shorty, our young, wild black cat has been having some problems lately. It’s a mixture of several things. She has extremely high energy - tearing through the house at all hours of the day and night - but that’s tolerable, Slinky prepared us. The next thing is that she doesn’t always get along with the other animals. Lucy, for instance, will growl and leave the area as soon as Shorty walks in the room. But the biggest problem at all has been her disregard for the litter box the past few months. I’ve done research and found some great articles about cleanliness (check - we clean it often), litterbox placement (been in the same place her own life) and overall comfort (this one is questionable, but I did get a new super soft litter mat just in case). Even with all this, I continue to find Shorty poop in the shower. It’s incredibly frustrating. So far, she’s been pooping in a convenient place for us, but yesterday I found some by the front door. NOT COOL.

We finally decided that maybe Shorty would be a good indoor/outdoor cat. My dad actually has a theory that black cats are genetically predispositioned to be outdoor cats. I don’t know if I’d go that far, but thinking back to my childhood, ALL our black cats ended up outside because they just didn’t work out inside. Maybe he’s on to something.

Anyway. We’re going to take it very slow with Shorty to see if this is the right plan. Today was her first big trip to the great outdoors. Here are a few pics.

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Wide-Eyed, Her First Trip Outside




“Buster, What is this place called ‘The Patio’? Can you show me around?”




Buster and Lucy are wondering what Shorty is doing outside in THEIR domain.




Lucy is no longer interested in Shorty. She’d rather play fetch.




Buster is watching out for Shorty. They are buddies, and he seems very concerned about her being outside.




Seriously. Anyone wanna play fetch?




Shorty continues to explore




Buster finally gives in and decides to play with Lucy