I got Sophie from a Bengal Rescue group when she was three. She had been used for breeding and kept in a run. When I got her she was very nervous and frightened of her own shadow. She even had extremely bad earmites which must have felt awful.
7 years later she was Queen of the castle and spoilt to death. She would sit in the flat and watch the birds from the windows as they swooped past, usually yelling at them too! She'd get an occasional treat of a spider or fly and would be delirious when that happened. One day, bizarrely, and I have no idea how it happened, a cricket was blown in through the window. Needless to say Sophie played with it for ages, then was a bit rough and that was the end of the cricket.
Even though I was constantly assured that Sophie would be happy living indoors I did want her to experience the sun on her back and sniff the outdoors as she would do when there was a small crack open in a window (I couldn't risk more than that as we lived on the 11th floor!).
After being at Bramblewood for a couple of weeks I had my first sighting of a fox, also there is a main road not far away and quite a few cars nearby so I didn't want to let Sophie roam about by herself. She had no street smarts having never been outside before so she'd either get lost, have someone steal her or worse. The other problem was she's a Bengal and still has a very strong urge to hunt so there'd be no wildlife left in the area!
Not daunted by the task ahead I decided that she was very smart I would train her to walk on a leash. I'd started this when we were in the flat but when I put the harness on Sophie would lie on the floor and refuse to walk. Still it was worth one more try.
On the first warm sunny day I put her harness on (complete with the words security on the sides, the thought of a 'security cat' totally amused me, and opened the door.
Sophie very gingerly put her nose outside and using her little 'meh' noise, that she makes when she's unsure, she stepped out for the first time ever. She was walking on the leash! Obviously she just needed the motivation of somewhere exciting to walk!
Off she went happy as Larry, still calling out and not straying far from me as it was a huge open space with very new noises and smells. Birds flew by and various strange noises emanated from the woods, her little tail was bushing up and down (as cats do when startled) the whole time.
She has now been out several times, in the recent heatwave she was more interested in actually lying down rather than walking anywhere - and who can blame her? She now sits happily on my knee watching everything with the sun on her back just as I had envisaged. It was worth all the aggravation of moving house just to see her little face happily taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of the countryside.
I have to say I can't wait to see what she makes of rain and snow - as a Bengal water doesn't really bother her, so I will have to introduce her to all the seasons.
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