Can Animal Communication Help a Curious Cat Stay Safe Outdoors? Meet Captain Marmalade

Sometimes I just get a good feeling that an animal I’m about to connect with is going to have mischief on their agenda. I wasn’t wrong! Captain Marmalade had been adopted from a shelter and lived with his one careful owner. He had absolutely no complaints about “mom,” he felt very affectionate towards her. One other thing he feels affection for? The great outdoors! At mom’s flat he’s happy enough watching birds from the windows, but when he gets to go visit his grandpawents, he gets to go out on their enclosed deck to get a breath of fresh air. His human family think the deck is enclosed and perfectly safe, but guess what? Captain Marmalade thinks the deck is more like a jetty - just a starting port to set sail from, and he manages to find his way out and go exploring all around the neighbourhood. He even showed me how he does it - he squeezes between bars that the humans think are too narrow for him, and sets sail along the alleyway by side of the house so that he won’t be seen!

Unfortunately for Captain Marmalade, he lacks any real sense of the fear that is needed for self-preservation. He is oblivious to neighbourhood guard dogs and wild predators (he lives in America), and fearless in general. His human wanted to ask me if I could get him to stay in the garden, but as always, convincing an animal not to do something that they love to do, isn’t something that I have a lot of success with. As far as they’re concerned, they’re doing it for good reason! And as far as Captain Marmalade was concerned, the dangers I was describing just were not real. We compromised by discussing the type of harness and lead that he could tolerate wearing in return for being allowed out to climb the trees and explore the things that he wants to see without feeling too restricted. The back up plan? The food he told me that he most adores: tinned mackerel!

His human had adopted him from a shelter, and wanted to know what his life was like before he came to her. I saw a lot of lace and what I can only describe as a chinzy feeling to the home he had previously lived in. It seemed to me that he had come from a multi-cat household and he had a distinct opinion that he had never quite fit the mould. There was a sense of being the “orange sheep” of the family - too curious, and ever so slightly misunderstood. There had been a tabby cat there who he had got along with well, who he missed.

We can’t track down the tabby for Captain Marmalade, nor can I take the explorer out of him, but with his input we have discovered what is important to him and, I really hope, found a way in which he can still enjoy his exploring hobby whilst staying safe.

If you’ve ever wondered what your own animal might say that they want to prioritise, I offer one-to-one sessions via Zoom. You can find out more or book a session using the button in the header.

Or just pop by and tell me about your little explorer. I never get tired of stories!

With love,