Taking Mellow (the cat) for a walk

Rachelsne · May 21, 2008

Mellow is an indoor cat, which is fairly common over here in the US, Mellow was adopted from a shelter, so I don't know much about his history,all we know is he was very underweight and had to be nursed to health by the shelter. we have had him for 6 months and he is about 2 years old. Oh and he isn't Mellow at all, he is CRAZY

I recently borrowed a harness from a friend who takes her cat for walks. Mellow wasnt sure what to think at first, he refuses to walk on the grass or dirt and sticks to the path near our apartment. He quite enjoys going out though, this was his third time exploring and he even pounced on a bug. Its not very easy holding him on his leash and taking pics, but here they are any way....

oh yeah canon 50mm 1.8 and my 30d

My fave shot of the afternoon

Contemplating climbing the stairs to my neighbours house (he did this last time we went out)

Relaxing in the sun

Looking confused about what the brown stuff is (dirt) I think he is frowning in this picture!

Even though this is in just for fun please feel free to C+c these pics...

Hobbes · May 22, 2008

hmm he doesn't look crazy at all in the pics and he actually looks mellow in some of them ^^ but maybe he was too tired to do anything when you took these photos

no offense but I actually believe it is cruel to keep cats inside the house all the time because they are all full of life and love to explore and catch stuff. But of course there is an increased risk that they get injured or worse. Our cat was an outdoor cat or at least we let her outside whenever she wanted and she has been missing for two years now but I guess everything has a price right?

MACollum · May 23, 2008

Rachel, your pictures are all so very sharp. How in the hell do you do it? Are you doing a lot of sharpening in PP? I've got a few cat pictures but none this sharp. Of course, I don't use my 50mm as much as I probably should. I hate to "zoom with my feet" because I'm such a clutz!

Rachelsne · May 23, 2008

Hobbes said:
hmm he doesn't look crazy at all in the pics and he actually looks mellow in some of them ^^ but maybe he was too tired to do anything when you took these photos no offense but I actually believe it is cruel to keep cats inside the house all the time because they are all full of life and love to explore and catch stuff. But of course there is an increased risk that they get injured or worse. Our cat was an outdoor cat or at least we let her outside whenever she wanted and she has been missing for two years now but I guess everything has a price right?

I used to agree with you, I am originally from England and all the cats I have had have been out door cats, out of the 4 cats I grew up with 2 were hit by cars, and we didn't live in a busy area. In the US it is very common to have indoor cats only, and I dont mind your comments.

I actually volunteer at a cat shelter, and there are so many strays that are brought in its heart breaking, also the amount of people phoning looking for a lost cat, its so sad. Mellow has lots of toys and is spoilt rotten, he gets plenty of exercise inside.

He does have his crazy moments, like he wakes me up by hiting me in the face with his claws until I get up LOL, he also runs around the house playing peek-a boo with my husband-its funny to watch!

He still isnt sure what to think about the outside, he likes to just lay on the pavement, I think he likes the feel of it.

MACollum said:
Rachel, your pictures are all so very sharp. How in the hell do you do it? Are you doing a lot of sharpening in PP? I've got a few cat pictures but none this sharp. Of course, I don't use my 50mm as much as I probably should. I hate to "zoom with my feet" because I'm such a clutz!

I actually didn't sharpen these-with most DSLR's you find you need to sharpen, I guess I was lucky it was bright so I had a fast shutter speed and he was being fairly still. I love my 50mm 1.8 its the lens I use when I am at the cat shelter too, it works nicely.

Hobbes · May 23, 2008

Rachelsne said:
I used to agree with you, I am originally from England and all the cats I have had have been out door cats, out of the 4 cats I grew up with 2 were hit by cars, and we didn't live in a busy area. In the US it is very common to have indoor cats only, and I dont mind your comments.

I actually volunteer at a cat shelter, and there are so many strays that are brought in its heart breaking, also the amount of people phoning looking for a lost cat, its so sad. Mellow has lots of toys and is spoilt rotten, he gets plenty of exercise inside.

He does have his crazy moments, like he wakes me up by hiting me in the face with his claws until I get up LOL, he also runs around the house playing peek-a boo with my husband-its funny to watch!

He still isnt sure what to think about the outside, he likes to just lay on the pavement, I think he likes the feel of it.

yeah I know what you mean. The cat my family used to have got injured twice, once hit by a car when she was only six months old but she managed to survive and then one or two years later she came home with a wound on her belly with a quite large piece of wood inside. I had been trying to convince my mom to give the cat an ID tag so if she gone missing there would be a chance to find her again but I guess my mother had a different opinion or something. Anyway it is really heartbreaking to lose a cat especially after we have had it for almost four years and really considered her as a part of our family but I guess nothing last forever... So I guess it is even worse in North America eh? I am thinking about to move to either the US or Canada in the future and I will most likely to get a cat once I settled down and I guess keeping the cat inside will be the only solution

btw I have to agree with mr Macollum, your pics are indeed very sharp. I rarely managed to take a clear shot of my familys cat but again she was a complete black cat too ^^

Rachelsne · May 23, 2008

I always struggle taking pictures of black cats at the shelter, its hard to get enough detail in them.

My cat Mellow has 2 micro chips one that will work with American scanners and one that works with European scanners, as they use different ones, and we may end up back in England, so if he ever gets lost he can be identified.