Lessons Learned from Adventure Cats

I could not be more excited to share this story with you today about a family in England and their adventure cats! Yes, you read that correctly…cats! When you think of outdoor adventuring with animals, man’s best friend (the dog) usually comes to mind. However, this post goes to show that cats make wonderful adventure companions for kids and families. Cats can teach us all kinds of lessons about being curious, cautious and patient. They make us more aware of our surroundings and force us to slow down and take in the beauty of our natural world. Plus, they’re pretty funny!

Meet the family

Hi! My name is Lynda and my family and I love the great outdoors. I live with my husband and son in a beautiful location called Devon in England. We are so lucky to call Devon home, as we’re surrounded by natural beauty. We enjoy going off exploring the wonderful scenery and countryside that is all around us, but we also enjoy spending time outdoors close to home.

When we’re exploring around our home, we have two very sociable cats that love to join us on our outdoor adventures. They especially enjoy joining us on nature walks.

Meet the adventure cats

Spike is the black and white cat with the enormous fluffy tail. He is very high energy (and quite high maintenance)! He seems to think he is a dog as he comes with us on a walk almost every day. If we aren’t available to take him on walks, he will go for a walk with our neighbor! He is also quite protective of us. He once attempted to defend us from a dog over twice his size that approached us and was being over-friendly!

Blossom is our little tabby cat and is more of a home bird. She loves the fire and spends most of the day sleeping by it. She will come for a walk with us if she is out and about, but often ends up hitching a lift back with one of us or making her way home early at her own pace.

Both of the cats are very vocal and love their cuddles.

Cat walks

My son Toby loves it when the cats take walks with us. Spike and Blossom have such wonderful personalities. Plus, it is great for Toby to have the extra company while out adventuring. Our cats are such curious and gentle souls, but of course, they can be quite funny too! We love it when they play chase with each other and run up trees after squirrels. Spike will climb just about anything, so the hay bales in the fields are a favorite location. Toby and the cats have great fun climbing and jumping from them, too.

The cats also love to chase Toby and he chases them! They have great fun (I think). They join in with games too, chasing sticks, battling leaves and pouncing on pieces of grass. And if Toby is “fishing” in the stream, they will sit and wait for his “catch” or they will investigate the stream. However, once water starts splashing around, they are out of there!

Safe and slow

The cats are very curious and love investigating with Toby. They help us all slow down and notice more around us, which is a wonderful lesson to learn in our fast-paced society. I’ve noticed that we pay more attention to our surroundings, the noises, animals, smells, and details of our environment when the cats are with us. They keep us curious by finding little things we may not have noticed, like a flower or animal track.

Sometimes the cats like to stop and just sit and admire the view. And that’s a great activity for us to do as well. They will sit with us during our picnic breaks, especially if it means they get a little bit of sandwich (cheese for Blossom and cucumber for Spike).

The cats also help teach Toby about the dangers of traffic. Occasionally, we walk a small distance on a quiet lane to the fields. Sometimes there are vehicles on the road and it makes Toby very aware of the dangers of traffic and mindful that he and the cats need to move in out of the way. 

Cats and kids

Spike and Blossom’s relationship with Toby changes all the time. We’ve had the cats longer than Toby, so having a baby was an adjustment for all of us together. At first, the cats were a little scared of the noise and paraphernalia that appeared when he did (so were we at times!).

But, they quickly accepted him. They’ve taught him about love, patience, gentleness and caring for others. Although they are still a little wary (as he can be very excitable and loud…he is a kid after all), they love him as part of the family and he loves them back. I love watching their friendship grow and look forward to many more adventures together.