Frank and Nikki were both on thyroid meds for the last three or four
years of their lives, and Nikki also got Prednisone. Here in town they
were indoor cats, but out on the island they were free to roam at will.
I never had any problem medicating them, because they mostly hung out
near or in our shack. When they were younger, they used to stay out for
longer periods of time, so it might have been harder to get them in on
time for their meds then, but they didn't need any regular medication then.

Amen to that.  Here is an "out of their element" story.
When we were driving from
Los Angeles to Toronto, via Vancouver, we
stopped for breakfast at a little camp site
(apparently empty) at the peak of
the pass through the Rocky Mountains
which we were crossing.  It was 9:00am
and we had been driving 8 hours
from Vancouver and had not passed any cars
the entire time and now
our chance to enjoy one of the
most remote parts of Gaia indeed.
Zildjian & Luthien were in harness,
on a long leash tied to a post, while
I took out camping gear and cooked
and ate breakfast, enjoying the silence.
Cats ate too.

All of a sudden, out of completely nowhere,
came a Garbage Truck, making his monthly
call to pick up the materials from the dumpster
which had been left at this little camping ground.
Both cats freaked.  As they tried to dart in the
opposite direction to get away from this utterly horrid,
municipal, man-made-machine-made sound which was
so intrusive even I choked, suddenly out of the other corner
of the woods from absolutely nowhere came a family
with two screaming kids, and I mean screaming with
echoes coming back from the mountains!  The cats went
ballistic at this point, given Zildjian's fear of all things human
being even more severe than her fear of a noisy motorvehicle.
Zildjian pulled a Houdini act and lost all solid bones
from her body as she dropped through the harness and
ran for the mountainside.  I caught Luthien just in time,
but she had not Zildjian's trick.  I held her tight and just
sat there until all the noise was gone....less than
three minutes I think, really, the truck did his thing and
was gone, the family took longer but got into a car that was
parked around some type of corner where I had not seen it.
Ironically, I have never felt so violated by the city than at
this moment.

There was no point calling for Zildjian before there was
silence, so I waited, and then put Luthien in her carrier,
thinking Zildjian was lost for sure.  But I closed the door, and
sort of looked up in the general direction where Zildjian had gone,
and started calling.  For ages.  No response, and no visible
or audible movement.  So now I was sure I had lost her.
But I couldn't leave without making at least one attempt to walk
up the foothill, which was all Canadian-forested land just below
the snow line.  So I went up a random choice of meandering
through the trees and bushes, climbing steeply, calling Zildjian
all the way until I stopped, more out of hopelessness than anything,
and looked left, and walked about ten paces and there she was
at my feet looking up at me frozen, but somewhat grateful that
I had come to her telepathic signal....
or whatever the hell it was.

I think I was more freaked out by it than even *she* was.

--tension

e man.

Don't bet on it!  The only declawed cat I've ever had is
Cendrillon, and my cats have to be indoor only where we live
now.  However, my SIL had one that had been declawed, and it
managed to climb trees at will.  I didn't approve of her
letting him out, but she did - fortunately he came to no
harm (possibly because he COULD climb trees?) and lived to a
ripe old age.

Aw, they invited her for a little sleepover slumber party!!!

--tension