For a roly poly little cat, she sure is maneuverable. We replaced the gaping hardware cloth with 1/2” hardware cloth to remove the exit Sophie has been utilizing. So she just took another way. This escape route is the same spot she gets in if we aren’t attentive enough to open a door for her. So I screwed in a piece of scrap board to see if that foils her. We’ll keep the camera set up to see where she finds to escape next. Despite all her protest otherwise, our other cat Izzy does not have the same burning desire to be outside the catio by herself, as she has not squeezed out anywhere.

Our now mostly indoor, but sometimes outdoor cat Sophie has figured out how to let herself in and out from the catio.

We discovered how she let herself in using the trail cam, but couldn’t capture how she was escaping. So I borrowed one of the video monitors from the chicken coop and set it up in the catio. We thought she was getting out at the far end, but it turns out the exit was nearer, through a gap we didn’t even think it was possible to get to! Here is the video. Now it is time to rework that corner so my city-girl indoor cat Izzy doesn’t figure out the same escape and get caught out with the local country cats. She talks a good talk, but she is not a scrapper. I’m going to leave the return slot, though, so Sophie has a bolt hole to safety.

This little black cat has been trying to move in on Sophie’s territory, coming in the meadow, around the coop, even up to the front door! Not people friendly, though. Or at least not friendly to Sophie’s people.