Our apartment building has beautiful gardens. The HOA are very good at mowing lawns, cleaning paving stones, trimming hedges so it always looks lovely. We also have benches, grilling areas, garbage cans, ping-pong tables, children’s play areas, and lawn furniture we can move around.
I have never really appreciated the garden before, as I love the water side of our apartment so much. But Fluffy, our eleven year old inside cat has recently – for the first time ever – shown interest in going outside. He has been an inside cat all his life and is rather frail now with various health problems. So we decided that he could wobble around outside during his last days. He loves it! He is eating better, sleeping better, walking better and is so much happier!
We have a harness and expanding leash, but we seldom use it because he is so slow and calm. Being outside with him twice a day for an hour a time has given me such an appreciation of the beautiful garden. It is lovely to sit and walk around outside. My husband and I each walk him once or twice a day. He lets us know when he is ready to come inside again.
I have been outside with him so much over the last month that I appeared in a listing brochure for another apartment that was up for sale! Fluffy was in the bushes so you can just see me!
Our other two cats have never shown any interest in going outside, but there are four other cats that take walks in the garden with their owners and they recognise each other and say hello. I will never let Fluffy out alone or without being able to clip him onto the leash at short notice, because we live 18 metres from a working harbour and I am afraid if something spooks him, he could end up in the water.
