We are currently engaged in a battle of wills with cats. Our jet black fuzzy twins are young, vivacious, inquisitive, and stubborn. All of the Finazzo felines have lived a strictly indoor existence. We do this not only for their own health and safety, but also out of concern for the wildlife they would likely hunt if allowed to roam free. I have seen them hunting bugs and they both have the laser focus and cold blooded heart of a serial killer.

An early observation upon moving to Olhão, is that there are hundreds of outdoor cats. Some wear collars and some don’t. Most look thin and scrappy and wary of passing people and dogs (but when we have just Basil on a walk they have charged towards him twice for unknown reasons). You will usually see them on rooftops, especially in the early morning or during dusk. At times they are lurking in alleys or begging for scraps near restaurants. You will also see water, dry food, and seafood (including whole shrimp) set out along the street for them. People construct small cardboard houses and makeshift shelters to offer them shade. At the right time, in the right place, if you glance upward there are so many cats you believe they could take over the city if they were so inclined.

We have an amazing rooftop, it is one of the best features of our house. It is an open living space that mirrors the square footage of our indoor living space. At about 6:00 pm, the rooftop is the perfect place to cool down. In the early evening hours our space is shaded but still bright and there is usually a beautiful sea breeze that reminds you that life is good in the Mediterranean.

The house’s outdoor space came with a large umbrella, a large plastic table and chairs, a sink, prep station, and an open brick grill. That grill saved our lives during the first few weeks when we had neither stove nor oven. We grilled fish, pork, chicken, vegetables, and even boiled water for pasta one evening.

We knew right away that we wanted to maximize our outdoor space and spend as much time as possible outside, especially during good weather. We purchased some outdoor furniture for lounging, and a hose and sturdy broom to aid with clean up. We have visions of adding lighting so we can entertain or play cards and board games after dark and adding a two person hammock for lazy day napping.

The downside to our outdoor space is that loose cats pee on it. We initially found pee on the rooftop tiles, near the grill, and on a tarp that was covering the plastic table. We were careful to keep our new outdoor furniture cushions covered until a new tarp arrived to protect them from the feline beasties. This was a solid move since they have indeed started peeing on the new tarp also.

Windows and doors here have some features that were new to us. You can’t enter the front door without a key. There is no option to leave your front door shut and unlocked. If you forget your key, hopefully there is someone inside that can let you in. The same is true for the sliding door that opens to the base of the stairs for roof access. If you shut the sliding door completely there is no option for opening it from the outside and there is not key access on either side of the sliding door. I have been locked out of the slider once while doing laundry and I was able to attract the attention of the dogs much quicker than Andrew’s attention. It gets warm fast out there in the midday sun and you better wear foot protection because those tiles are HOT. In the living room you can open both windows, a single window, or tilt one window in so that the top is tilted inward and the bottom is still closed. We were initially worried the cats would try to escape through the top of the window. This seemed like an unlikely acrobatic feat, but to be safe Andrew added packing tape to the widest section of the window to discourage cats from any escape attempts. Eventually we removed the tape after several weeks of cat compliance.

Our house in Olhão has no air conditioning. This has been a bit of an adjustment, especially with the heatwave that has raged through Europe and other parts of the world during June and July. Our single set of windows is near the front door and the sliding doors are at the back of the house. There are no screens or bars on any of the windows or doors. We have three large skylights which are great for natural light, but terrible in summer as they heat up the house like an oven. Andrew has covered the skylights with tiles in an effort to minimize the daily indoor temperature. We have purchased two fans to assist with cross ventilation and cooling and have set up makeshift air conditioning by placing frozen water bottles behind our fans. We try to open windows and doors to allow cool night and morning air in, but the cats have complicated our lives immensely in this endeavor.

I have sympathy for our cats, I really do. They have been through a lot. During travel, they were forced to use a tiny travel litter box with clay litter. Our cats are closer in size to baby panthers than petite kittens and in Medford they had a giant litter box with unscented pellets. We knew their old litter box would be way too large to fit in our small Portugal house, so we donated it to the friend of a friend. Our goal was to replace their old litter box with a smaller version once we got here, unfortunately that process took a significant amount of time and they were forced to use their tiny travel litter box much longer than we would have liked. While setting up our home in Portugal, we moved their litter box several times trying to find the best place for it. We finally got a new litter box for them, but had to use pellets that were slightly different from what they were used to in Medford. Change is hard for people and pets.

Our first round of house cooling techniques involved locking the cats in the spare bedroom and opening the windows and the sliding doors. We would move fans around to optimize air flow. Locking the cats in the spare room had some significant drawbacks. This was one of the first places we put their litter and they have good memories. They started using the now clean and empty travel litter box and an open piece of luggage as their bathroom – I really shouldn’t have procrastinated putting that last piece of luggage away. DRAT this is bad, but we can’t really blame them since we did lock them in the room and “when you have to go…” We vowed to be better cat parents.

Round two was locking the cats in our bedroom with us and the dogs and cooling the rest of the house. This usually happened during very early morning hours (between 3 and 5). The house would cool down pretty quickly, but any closed room heats up quickly to an unbearable sauna temperature and that heat dissipates into the rest of the house as soon you open the door. This method was also a horrible sleep disruptor. We would go back to sleep after a couple of hours and then wake up by about 10:00 am when the internal house temperature became uncomfortable again. The cats initially resisted being locked in with us and scratched at the door and complained. We dissuaded them with a small water bottle. Eventually they resigned themselves to accepting this as a new reality, but it didn’t seem like a very efficient way to cool down the whole house and the poor dogs would pant like crazy as the temperature in our closed off bedroom rose.

Round three attempt was each posting up at an end of the house and opening everything. One of us would watch the open window, and one of us would watch the sliding glass door. Our powers of observation failed us completely. Much like minding a two year old, if you break concentration and stray from guard duty for even a moment – running to the restroom, throwing something away, turning your back, our cats would make a break for freedom. Thursday (see previous travel escapades) was the worst offender.

Escape #1 started by finding Morse sitting on the open window sill looking outside (he is a big scaredy cat) at Thursday who was on the sidewalk in front of our house. This was especially scary because our Portuguese street is a tiny one way and people in cars and scooters drive pretty fast. Cobblestone sidewalks in our city range from 2 feet to 6 inches in width and it is often difficult for 2 people to walk shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalk. Fortunately when Andrew opened the front door, Thursday ran right back inside.

Escape #2 was much worse. Andrew woke in the wee hours of the morning to a cat yowling outside. Although there are a lot of outdoor cats, they usually don’t make any noise. Andrew made his way up to our rooftop and saw Thursday’s black bushy tail jumping down to a roof two houses away. Long haired outdoor cats are also rare here, so Andrew’s spidey sense was activated. The timing of this observation was critical because if he arrived on the roof a second or two later he would have missed her completely. Two neighbor cats were observing Thursday from their roof and she seemed too intimidated to jump back up and make her way home. Andrew was not comfortable trespassing on neighbor’s rooftops, so he sat on our roof for hours waiting for her. Eventually the two cats jumped down to pursue her and she took advantage of the opening. With a bit of coaxing she returned home and was recovered. We realized that she must have slipped out of the sliding door just before we closed it and had spent several hours outside. Her escape agitated the neighbor cats and the rooftop peeing increased significantly.

When we first moved here, the Finazzo cats would exit the sliding glass door and stay at the bottom of the stairs while we were grilling or spending time on the roof. Keeping the sliding door open while we were both outside was unavoidable. If the cats tried climbing the stairs, we would use the hose to spray them and they would return inside. Although they would exit the house, they didn’t try to leave. Over time, the escape attempts have become much more aggressive. If the sliding door is cracked, they will open it. They can also open the heavy front door if it is cracked. Thursday has escalated to amazing acrobatic attempts through the top of the tilted window. She has been unsuccessful at getting out completely and I have had to extricate her head and neck from the window crevice on two occasions. She seems hell bent on getting outside. A small spray bottle of water is no longer effective, she gives a defiant glare and makes a calculated run for an open door or window.

The solution to this dilemma is currently our biggest challenge. We have significant safety concerns about allowing them to transition to outdoor cats in a city environment. We could purchase an air conditioning unit, but have concerns about electricity use and overall efficiency. We would like to use natural airflow to cool the house as much as possible and this seems reasonable when the temperature drops to 60’s and 70’s at night. Initial research into magnetic screen systems for windows and doors seem suitable for allowing airflow, but are not strong enough to keep cats in. Our first quote for installing permanent screens was €1300. We are not opposed to spending money for things we consider essential (we have already purchased a bed, stove, oven, refrigerator, washing machine, and TV) but we aren’t sure how long we will stay in this particular rental. Longevity in this rental also comes into play when we consider replacing doors and windows. Some of our neighbors have doors that have a barred insert which they keep open for cooling and ventilation and this would work for us, but it is another investment and improvement for a home that is not our own. We may try a combination of a more permanent screen for the window and a bar for the sliding door that will allow the door to be cracked, but would prevent cats from opening it enough to exit.

As for the peeing outdoor cats, we have put purchasing additional items like a hammock on hold. First we need to find an effective cat deterrent that discourages unwanted visitors. At this point we aren’t spending much time on the roof because of Finazzo cat escape concerns. We can’t trust that the twins will limit themselves to the base of the stairs anymore. If they make it to our rooftop, they can go quite a distance in multiple directions by hopping from one rooftop to the next.

Although this is definitely an unforeseen challenge, we are brainstorming a solution that keeps us comfortable, our furry kids safe, and our outdoor furniture urine free. Cold showers are my new favorite thing, but that only gets you so far. We would still like to make the most of our rooftop on warm, toasty summer days and cool summer nights while they last.