Romeo (and our other cats) used to have free in-and-out privileges when we lived in Kaaawa, with a large 4-acre undeveloped lot next door where they could roam. But since moving into my parents’ former house in Kahala, they have had to become accustomed to being indoor cats. We had prepared for the transition, and they’ve been mostly okay being indoors.

Romeo is the only one showing any interest in the outdoors. He made one break for freedom soon after we moved, and spent a short while under the house before getting scared and coming back inside. That cured him for quite a while, but recently he’s been spending sitting at the door to the back deck from time to time, seemingly very curious about what’s going on out there, even trying to sniff the air coming in from the outside through the tiny crack where the sliding doors come together.

So this afternoon we broke down and drove up to Kahala Petland to buy a harness and leash. If you’re not familiar with Petland, it’s a great store, locally owned and operated, with a wide range of pet products. Highly recommended.

We tried a harness for Romeo once before in Kaaawa, and it was an almost total failure. That time around, whenever the harness went on, he mostly just melted into an unmoving mound of cat.

Today he did a little better. He first spent several minutes on the deck getting used to the feel of the harness. Finally I got him up and walking. We went down the stairs, across past Bonnie’s mango tree and out to the lawn, where he again stopped. After a few more minutes, he got up and walked to the corner of the house, stopping to smell the air coming out from the crawlspace under the house. When I made a move to go under the house, I had to intervene to prevent it. After a few more minutes, we moved back inside.

I’m not quite sure what he made of it all. It seems to have satisfied his outside craving, at least for now. He’s more interested in food right now than in more outside access.

Hopefully he’ll figure out the harness and I’ll be able to give him some regular outside time.

We’ll see.