Can cats get agrophobia?

Strikes me that I've not written much about what living in Holmes Chapel is like, and the contrast with Dundee is rather marked.

I was reminded of that yesterday, while wondering why t-dahl hadn't left her basket all day. That led me to question whether cats can get seasonal affective disorder (SAD for short). It has been pretty grey/grim these last few days, and as the heating pipe that runs under said basket was cold, I couldn't figure out why she didn't want to move. Mind you, I didn't either she could just have been cosy.

Just after we arrived I took the cats to the V.E.T to get their boosters. The new vet was very nice, seemed like a normal human being, until I mentioned that they hadn't really been outside much for the last 7 years. They've been house cats, apart from the odd sojourn on the lead which only worked for sag aloo. T-dahl had far too much sense to let that happen. Leads are for daft dogs, after all.

When I mentioned this, he piped up:

'Well, they could be argrophobic'.

I did my best not to laugh, mostly because I was flabbergasted.

Flabber my gast, whoever heard of an agrophobic cat? Really that has to be rubbish. Not to mention that whenever we open the door we have to shout 'incoming' as one of them tries to fly through it to reach the joys of - erm - the lawn. Well overgrown, weedy lawns are the stuff of joy if you're a house cat. Obviously.

This is the place that offers hydro therapy for dogs. And probably therapy sessions for depressed gerbils for all I know. But before I write this off as another 'cha-cha-cha-Cheshire' experience, I was wondering, can cats get agrophobia? Or SAD??

Answers on a postcard please,

Lucy