Life of Les

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Do your cats love to look out the windows? I think the answer for most cat owners is yes, of course. But what happens when you open the front door – do they run up to the door, only to retreat back when they realize the outdoors is “big and scary”, when not surrounded by the comfort of the walls of your home? Our cats definitely do this. On the flipside, do you not even let them get close to the door because you know they will dart out if you leave them unattended? In either case, it shows how curious cats are. This is arguably what makes them so cute – their curiosity never ceases to make my husband and I laugh from the silly antics that they like to pull on us! This is why we started to take our cats outside with us.. BUT we keep them protected from the big, scary outside. We’ve used two primary carriers for our cats- a backpack (feels like an ordinary backpack) and a stroller, that can be found here and here, respectively.

The backpack is very lightweight and we’ve had it for a number of years and it has held up well. This habit of ours started in the early days of Covid, just so we could get some fresh air from isolation. At the time, Stella was just a kitten, and since we were hungry for some fresh air, we felt like she would enjoy it as well. We’ve kept up with this since the Spring of 2020 and ended up upgrading to a stroller since then. Like the backpack, the stroller has a mesh covering around it to keep her feeling secure whilst giving her fresh air and good views of everywhere we’re walking. The stroller is also SUPER lightweight, especially in comparison to an actual baby stroller.

Not only did we upgrade the carrier, but we have expanded where we would take our cats. Now, we also like to take them with us to three pet-friendly stores that we go to often: TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Home Depot. All three of these chains allow pets at practically every location (we’ve never been declined). The backpack has been used more often due to it’s logistical practicality (we’ve only done the stroller once in a store, and it was more just a joke for us than anything) for the stores, but we have used the stroller extensively when walking in the neighborhood

Now if you follow my blog, you know that my husband and I welcomed our first child into the world last Fall. Just 2 months before that, we rescued a kitten from the side of the highway. So upgrading from the backpack to the stroller was actually necessary for us because now we need carriers for both of our cats! I’ve taken Elland with me a few times in the cat backpack when I’ve done a TJ Maxx trip while my husband watches our little one at home. She prefers the backpack to the stroller, so the new setup for my husband and I when we go walking is we each push one stroller – one with our baby and the other with Stella, and then my husband carries Elland on his back in her backpack. The stroller is actually big enough for both cats, but as many of you with multiple cats know… just because it’s big enough, doesn’t mean you’re putting two cats in a confined area so close to each other!

In summary, our cats love the family walks that we take them on. They’re curious creatures and they want to see and explore the outdoors, but both of them are also timid and scared of the outdoors. In addition, our cats, like yours probably, have a difficult time saying that they love you.. because they think they’re the God in our dynamic. However, we do think that both cats are appreciative of us when we take them for walks and their faces during walks is the closest that we get to an “I Love You” face! When we get our stroller out from the closet, Stella will always perk up and walk towards it and jump in if the flap is down.. just waiting for us to take her on a trip. This is why house cats don’t have to stay in the house!