Polydactyl Maine coon becomes brave outdoor cat

Tootsie's first outdoor adventure. She is sitting just outside the threshold between inside and outside, all but her tail and back end hidden by the curtain across the door.

My rescue cat, Tootsie is a Maine coon polydactyl.

Tootsie becomes the bravest cat in the world. These events transpired about 6 months ago, but I have not updated blog of late, due to real life demands (I mean other than Tootsie).

When I got her, she was scared of almost everything. Loud noises, sudden moves. But, especially of "outdoors". If I'd even open the patio door, she would run her fluffy pants away as fast as possible.

I wasn't and am not trying to make her an outdoor cat or an indoor outdoor cat. But, photo lighting is so tough indoors, I thought that if I could occasionally coax her into the outdoor sunlight for a "photo op", that would be nice (for me!).

So, today, I had the French door to the patio open- nice warm day. I got up from the computer, and walked into the next room. And, she heard me, and came thundering in from "the big outdoors"! Wow!

I went outside, and tried to coax her out again, even using the "treats" maneuver, invariably reliable in other venues. No go.

Then I pretended to be invisible, and lo and behold, I caught her sneaking out the door again. What a brave kitty!

Rest assured, I'm not going to let her roam the neighborhood. And, she's not a "sneaky" cat who does bad stuff while my back is turned. But, I was pretty intrigued by this new bit of cat behavior!

Tootsie is a rescue cat, Maine coon.

When I got her, she was scared of almost everything. Loud noises, sudden moves. But, especially of "outdoors". If I'd even open the patio door, she would run her fluffy pants away as fast as possible.

I wasn't and am not trying to make her an outdoor cat or an indoor outdoor cat. But, photo lighting is so tough indoors, I thought that if I could occasionally coax her into the outdoor sunlight for a "photo op", that would be nice (for me!).

So, today, I had the French door to the patio open- nice warm day. I got up from the computer, and walked into the next room. And, she heard me, and came thundering in from "the big outdoors"! Wow!

I went outside, and tried to coax her out again, even using the "treats" maneuver, invariably reliable in other venues. No go.

Then I pretended to be invisible, and lo and behold, I caught her sneaking out the door again. What a brave kitty!

Rest assured, I'm not going to let her roam the neighborhood. And, she's not a "sneaky" cat who does bad stuff while my back is turned. But, I was pretty intrigued by this new bit of cat behavior!