# Did I do the right thing? ( a lot of text! )



## Omie (Apr 15, 2012)

I have a cat named Roger. 
I've raised him since he was born and he moved with me when I studied at a university 2 hours away from my parents. He's used to a lot of attention. I've always had a lot of time to give him my full attention. He slept on my tummy during the night and followed me around the house. I moved back to my dads house after I had a break in my studies, and Roger got more used to being outdoors. He was out all day but then came in and slept in my bed during the night.
When I moved in with my boyfriend 3 hours away from my parents I agreed to leave my cat with my dad, instead of bringing him to an apartment on the second floor, meaning he couldn't go outdoors. I've now read up on it, and cats who are used to being outdoors actually don't suffer from being "locked" inside an apartment instead as long as you make sure to stimulate the cats needs to climb and explore.

So anyway when I moved, Roger had a couple of "accidents" for some reason, in my dads couch and my dad wasn't happy, so eventually my dad decided that Roger was going to be an outdoor cat at all time. My dad would feed him and pet him, but he wouldn't let Roger inside which I fully understand.

I visited my dad this week and I got a shock when I met Roger. My dad had a shock too because Roger was soaked in OIL of all things. I know my dad did not do this to Roger, he loves him, he just won't let him inside because of the accidents. And Roger had hurt his leg and tail and seemed to have been startled by something. He was far from the cat I remembered. I'm guessing a neighbour didn't want the cat around or something and did this to him.

I felt bad and decided to bring him with me and my boyfriend so that he could get all the attention he's used to, even though he won't be able to go outdoors. but at least I know he'll be safe and stimulated in our apartment. My boyfriend and I already have two rats and two tortoises, but they're all safe. The rats have extra locks on their cage and the tortoises don't mind cats nor do the cat mind them. Roger doesn't seem too interested in either of them to be honest, but to be sure I keep the rat cage in our bathroom during the night just in case  I'm home all day until this fall when I'm gonna study to become a veterinarian assistent, but until then I can keep an full eye on all the animals  We don't know if we're going to keep Roger or not, but we wanted him to be the cat he used to before and IF we choose to give him away to someone who has all the time in the world to care for him.

Anyway,
my question is did I do the right thing? What would you have done?


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