Meet Youkie

Hi, I am Youkie’s owner!  Youkie is female blue point Siamese who loves exploring outdoors as much as she enjoys naps on the bed! She’s currently 1 years old and I created her an Instagram and TikTok account (@youkie_cutie) to share her daily adventures!

I always wanted to get a rescue cat but I needed a hypoallergenic breed since we are slightly allergic to cats, so I got her from a breeder when she was about 12 weeks old.

She is very curious and enjoys discovering new things even if she can be cautious around it the first times. She can be very vocal when she wants something and is a very smart kitty that already knows 6 commands (sit, paw, high five, up, turn around, lay down) and is learning more! She is very expressive and knows how to communicate us her needs which is an amazing thing!

I always believed that cats enjoyed outdoors and that it should be normalized for them to go on adventures, but I never really dared to go further than my backyard. However, when I became a part of the cat community of Instagram, I saw all the cat adventurers and it really inspired me into doing the same for Youkie. I learned a lot about cat adventuring and i felt more confident so I started to train Youkie slowly into exploring and she really enjoyed it! She is still not completely comfortable outside but it’s a process we are willing to follow!

The training with Youkie is still not done as I said, but I’d say that we need to go step by step and respect our cat’s pace. Positive reinforcement is what we used: we go with creamy treats when she is discovering something new or feeling a bit scared. Youkie is mostly scared of the noises outside (cars, people, etc.) so that’s what we mostly try to work on. Cat adventurers also really helped us and still are! They share a lot of amazing tips that can be very useful.

We would really love travelling with Youkie. We are considering camping but we would also love her to get a chance to experience a plane travel! It’s a lot of work and it needs a lot of planning and preparation considering the changes of environment, the hotels, the vet and everything that goes with it so we are still thinking about it but it would be amazing to travel with Youkie .

I usually go to parks. I try to go somewhere that isn’t full of people and pretty calm to not stress Youkie out. My favourite parks are the one full of trees and that almost look like a forest. It’s pretty hard in Montreal but we manage to find some good spots !

Before staring cat adventuring, some material is necessary so we made an essential list to help some people out :
– A bag (It provides your cat a safe place during adventures but also a good place to rest if they are tired)
– A good harness (Go for the H ones! I already explained why on our Instagram account so check it out!)
– A retractable leash (It allows your cat some freedom and you can still control the length)
– Collapsible Water-bowl and creamy treats (It’s important for your cat to stay hydrated and the treats are for positive reinforcement)
– Poop bags (These are often forgotten but it’s important to clean up after your cat if they ever decide to do their business outside)
– Clothes (It depends on the weather but for example here in Canada, it can be quite cold for a cat so clothes are very important)

I hope you enjoyed learning more about us and that some of our tips were helpful! Don’t forget to check out our Instagram account @youkie_cutie for more!