Veterinary School Resident and Feline Friend participate in Hokie Hike 2024

Hi I'm Emily Lisi, and I'm out here hiking with my cat, Jenks, and my dog, Leo. I also have two other dogs. I've got a orgy named Demba and a Doberman named Da vinci. So, our cat used to be a barn cat, and at some point in his life, he is no longer a barn cat, and it is strictly an indoor cat. But we still wanted to give him the same outdoor mental stimulation. And being in Blacksburg, there's so many, like, outdoor friendly places that it was pretty easy to acclimate him to being outside. He also gets along really well a our dogs. So it was just, like, a natural progression to being like, why don't we just take the cat for a hike one day? If you really want a hiking companion, a cat can be a great hiking companion, but definitely not every cat. Just like different people, some of your friends love to go hiking with you, and others don't, it's going to be the same with cats. So when you want to have a cat who is going to go out and do things with you, you want one who is fine nature and outgoing cat. Who is going to enjoy going out, doing new things, smelling new smells, seeing new sites, meeting new people. I think it's also important to monitor, especially when you're just starting out, going places start small, right? You know, go to the park. Right? Somewhere with not a lot of people around, not a lot of noise, where it's going to be a bit easier for them to adjust. Um, monitor them for signs of stress. If your cat's starting to get nervous, ears are kind of coming back, and tail is kind of going down. Hey, maybe that's enough for today, right? So take it slow. You probably want to have a first aid kit, right? And a first aid kit. Alright, pair of tweezers, the bowl, splinters, or stuff like that. Depends on the length of the hike. If we take the cat, we always bring his little hiking backpack along with this. He's not like the dogs and that he doesn't want to walk the whole time. So we'll end up putting him starting him out in the backpack or just being able to put him in the backpack to have the ability to take a break. We usually bring water with us. People will always say the funniest things that we're hiking. First, they notice our little trio, and then they'll be like, Oh, what a cute dog. It's usually Oh, what a cute Corgi. And then it turns into, Oh, my God, there's a cat. Um, we've only ever had positive experiences, which I guess is a good thing, but usually, he's super friendly, so he's always willing to say hi.