Hello everyone - this is our first post, so please be kind!
We adopted little Ruby from the local RSPCA about a month ago. She is very sweet, little 1-year old black and white. I would say she was quite a shy/nervous little thing, but she has/is become/becomming very relaxed in our house, what with her sleeping with us, waking us up for food, LOTS of purring etc etc.
Here is the problem...
We want to let her explore out little garden outside - the RSPCA said to leave it about a month before you do so. She does seem very comfortable in the house and she seems very settled, so we thing now is the right time to introduce her to the outside world, however, we don't want her to kill our local birds so we got her a collar with a little bell on it. We put this on her this morning, and she has scarcley touched her breakfast, let alone her dinner. It seems to us that she isn't particularly bothered with the collar itself, but rather terrified of the sound the bell makes. She has stayed hidden behind the armchair almost all evening. So..this evening, we took the collar off, as we just couldn't bear to see her so sad and upset. Now she seems fine again - we really want to be able to let her outside, but we REALLY don't want her killing birds - what do we do? Will she eventually get used to the sound of the bell around her neck, or are there other alternatives to the little HELL bell?!?
Help!
- two, young, inexperienced cat parents, Ben and Flo.
We adopted little Ruby from the local RSPCA about a month ago. She is very sweet, little 1-year old black and white. I would say she was quite a shy/nervous little thing, but she has/is become/becomming very relaxed in our house, what with her sleeping with us, waking us up for food, LOTS of purring etc etc.
Here is the problem...
We want to let her explore out little garden outside - the RSPCA said to leave it about a month before you do so. She does seem very comfortable in the house and she seems very settled, so we thing now is the right time to introduce her to the outside world, however, we don't want her to kill our local birds so we got her a collar with a little bell on it. We put this on her this morning, and she has scarcley touched her breakfast, let alone her dinner. It seems to us that she isn't particularly bothered with the collar itself, but rather terrified of the sound the bell makes. She has stayed hidden behind the armchair almost all evening. So..this evening, we took the collar off, as we just couldn't bear to see her so sad and upset. Now she seems fine again - we really want to be able to let her outside, but we REALLY don't want her killing birds - what do we do? Will she eventually get used to the sound of the bell around her neck, or are there other alternatives to the little HELL bell?!?
Help!
- two, young, inexperienced cat parents, Ben and Flo.