An Indoor Cat.

Our cat is sad.

Our cat is over weight.

Our cat isn't allowed outside.

It's summer in Dubai and with temps in the mid 40's during the day and not dropping below 30c at night, we've been keeping out cat and dog indoors. We've reintroduced the litter day, which the cat is using, we don't want the cat or dog suffering with heat stroke as the cat did last year, when it was outside for too long.

The dog of course gets to go outside for a pee and poo and a walk when the humidity isn't too high and the pavements are cool enough to walk on, but the dog can be contained in a walled garden, the cat of course can jump the wall and wander off.

Another reason for keeping the cat in is that it is over weight, weighing in at almost 6kg, nearly double it's ideal weight and this is due to the increase in people leaving out food for the stray cats, which of course our cat has enjoyed tucking into and gaining weight.

But the cat is sad, the cat wants to be outside, roaming the streets and eating the food that has been put out. We want to keep our cat healthy and safe, but we can't explain this to the cat, make the cat understand, despite our constant conversations with the cat, when it sits all day looking at the door, looking at us and meowing to get out attention to open the door.

Summer is coming to an end, as in temps will drop below 35c and it will be cool enough for the cat to be outside at night time, but the cat doesn't understand us, the cat  doesn't understand why we have reduced it's food intake.

The cat just thinks we're being mean.

Taking care of pets during Summer in Dubai

I spent 3 weeks in Canada, which meant I left hubby with the cat and dog for 3 weeks.

Hubby was working everyday which meant the cat and dog were on their own in the house on their own from 7am till 5pm, Sunday till Thursday.

They bonded, this is a photo hubby sent me in the first week of the pair of them.

The cat hasn't had a good week, it started with a poorly eye, it must have been irritating her as she would come to me for it to be wiped. It cleared up in around 3 days and there seems to be no lasting effect.

It's also the middle of summer and during daylight hours it is far too hot to let them outside without supervision, so our once outdoor pets have now adapted to be indoors all day and they seem to be coping very well.

Pushkins sneaked out the door on Saturday when I put the shopping away, it was 2 hours later before I realised she wasn't in the house. I felt so guilty and I nearly passed out from the heat looking for her.

The Cat suffered with heat exhaustion on friday. We keep her inside during the day but sometimes she sneaks out and has been outside for 2 hours she has been licking her self to keep cool. Cats sweat through their paws. She was too exhausted when I found her to walk and I've brought her back and she let me put her in a bowl of luke warm water to cool her down and I wrapped her in a damp towel. I've never seen a cat pant like this before. She made a full recovery and is still trying to sneak out in the midday sun.

We do of course take Bob out for walks every evening and do early morning trips to the lakes in the desert.

He is getting braver with the water now, up till now he's relied on another dog bringing his ball back to him as you can see from the first video he just won't go out of his depth.

This is Bob the day after in the desert, he seems to have overcome his fear very quickly.

They also like to spend early evenings on the doorstep, getting some fresh air.

Every time I see this stray I wonder how she is managing to live in this heat. There are mice in the garden I assume she eats and I leave water out for her and the birds, but I can't take her in, she's too wild.