I know :-(   If would all be so different if he was a d*g!  I have a special
area fenced 6 feet high, to make a safe near- the- house toilet, about 20 x
30 feet, with soil (dirt), gravel, and paving slabs.
If any of the d*gs asked to go out more times that I thought was reasonable,
I could go outside myself and watch them.  I would soon be able to see if
they actually "needed" to keep going out, e.g. they had diarrhoea, or
whether they saw a cat or a rat earlier and kept hoping to see it again ;-)
If so, I would fetch them in with a flea in their ear and they'd settle
down.

It isn't like this with cats <sob>   A 6ft fence doesn't keep mine near the
house, they can just leap on the top and over to explore all the rest of the
garden.  So when BF keeps asking to go out, I really daren't refuse just in
case he "needs" to.  I suspect not.  But I can't be sure, can I?
The fact is, let's face it, he's discovered I'm a soft touch.
There he is again, in the kitchen at the back door after being on my chair
for more than a whole hour!!  Next thing he'll be shaking his head to make
the bell ring on his collar.  Oh, yes, that's a new if-you-didn't
happen-to-notice-what-I said; obey me now thing too...
I think he might have rat business to take care or, or mousies, he brought
one in last night.

I need to re-establish my authority.  I do *not* feel like jumping up from
whatever I'm doing to answer his every whim.  So I'm not going to.  I think
I'm not, anyway.
I can feel his eyes boring into me while I am typing.  He is staring and
willing me to do what he wants.  No.  I shan't.  He can stay in for an hour
or two. That is *not* too much to ask, is it?

Tweed
oh, three more rpca cards today.  Wonderful.

It might be because he has recently discovered hunting, and is quite
successful at it.  A new hobby. There is lots to catch here, rats, mousies,
voles, birdies (discouraged)
I have been thinking about a cat door for some time, whether it would work
or not.  There are two things that stop me.  The first (and it's shallow, I
know) is that the door was very expensive, solid oak, very thick, opens top
and bottom like a stable door and it took me two years to save up for it and
to have it installed.
The other thing is that it sits right on the edge of a high step, and I'm
not even sure the cats could get up to a kitty door in it anyway.

It will all be academic soon, anyway.  My adaptations for work are starting
to come together and I doubt that it will be much more than a month that I
am back.
Both the cats will then have access to the conservatory only, they both have
a bed there, and can get outside.  While I'm at work, that is.
I used to get a welcoming committee every evening as I drew up in my car.
It's nearly a year now since I worked, and I wonder if the cats will
remember how they used to meet me in the front garden?  They've got a bit
spoiled recently.  Kitty spends nearly her whole life snoozing in front of
the fire, and only going outside when nature calls, and it has to be
desperate before she'll tear herself away from her comfy sheepskin.
Poor Kitty is in for a bit of a shock.  She'll be okay, her winter coat is
impressive at the moment, she'll be fine in the conservatory while I'm at
work.

Tweed