I.Dup. Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Is it normal for indoor cats to CONSTANTLY try to get out? He escaped 3 times already this morning. :glare: He was an outdoor cat, and for the first 6 weeks or so we had him inside (we had him neutered), he never tried to get out. Now he's trying to get out every chance he gets. My dd accidentally slammed his head in the door earlier when she was trying to hurry up and shut it before he bolted out again. He saw another cat who has lived in our yard last night (I think it might be his dad) and he has been even more weird about getting out since then. Next time he gets out, he might just voluntarily become an OUTdoor cat. :glare: We enjoy him being our indoor cat, and I don't want him coming in and out because of the risk of worms and fleas. But I'm tired of him escaping out of every hole or halfway open door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Keep a spray bottle with water in it near the door. Every time he goes near the door, spray him. That might work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samiam Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 (edited) Not sure if that is normal, but every cat we have had in the last 14 years (4 total, never at the same time.), have always tried to get out, and at a while, we just had to let them go. With three boys, and a dog needing to go out, we just were not quick enough to stop the cats. BTW, they were all fixed, so it wasn't a "in heat" issue. They were all females though (we only get females). Sadly, the reason why we have had 4 cats is because the prior three eventually did not come home. I hate that, but truly, we just could not keep them in the house. Our current cat used to leave in FL all the time. Once we moved to NC, she got out once, and then never tried again...not sure why. Now that we have moved to SC, she is again trying to get out...she's made it a few times :(. btw: All of our cats were from the human society, and gotten as kittens, so don't think their background had much to do with it. Edited May 20, 2011 by Samiam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 (edited) We have a cat that matched this description exactly. She was of barn cat stock, but we didn't want to let her out when we lived in town. But she was often waiting/trying (she's fixed, by the way). She'd get out from time to time and we'd worry about her. When indoors, she was a feisty cat: scratching people, jumpy. Wwe'd warn people not to try to pet her when they came over, we didn't want them to get hurt. Our dd has some scars from her, you get the picture. The best thing we ever did for her was to let her become an indoor/outdoor cat. Probably not what you want to hear, but I really think her frustration with not getting out was what made her mean/feisty. She's a completely different cat, now! She'll let us pick her up and even comes and lays in my lap in the evening. THIS is the cat I pictured when I said I wanted a cat! Now, what caused the difference for us was that we moved to two acres just outside of town. People don't seem to mind cats roaming around here. She loves, loves, loves being outside. She spends a good portion of the day outside, and comes in sometimes. I let her in every night when I go to bed at 11 or so. You would have to weigh whether or not where you live would be conducive to this. By the way, since letting her become an outdoor cat a year ago, we haven't had any problems with fleas or worms. We do realize that chances are higher we'll "lose" her sooner than we would if we didn't let her out -- but we, and she, are happier in the present. The pros outweigh that con. Edited May 20, 2011 by milovaný Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2cents Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 One of our cats tries to get out but we found that she just wants to eat grass. We bought some 'cat grass' at the pet store (didn't want her eating the lawn grass because of treatments and potential bugs) and keep that on the lanai for her to munch on. It helps a little but not completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 What about getting a harness and leash and taking him for walks? That might help him to satisfy his urge to be out, and he may just want a quick family reunion. :) Once he's out and on the leash, if he were to get really scared outside :001_huh:, he might be scared enough to lose interest in going out. :D (This works best when the person doing the scaring is unseen by the scaree, and should not be the person holding the leash. The person holding the leash should then come to kitty's rescue and bring him back into the safety of his home and family where he gets lots of treats and love.) :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 We found out why our cat wanted out when she finally succeeded and left us a dead bunny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 This was very common for our male for a few years. His first 3 years he was always running to get out and then coming back at 4am and meowing all around the house. :001_huh: He doesn't try that hard anymore, but he does love to sniff the outside air. We'll let him or the female out on the porch with one of the boys sometimes. We just make sure they have collars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Cats are very curious, and the instinct to hunt and explore is there even if they've always lived indoors. Sometimes as they get older, they're quite happy just hanging out, but not always.....:auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejadragna Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 we have always let our cats out. they just look so serene laying in the sun, sniffing the grass, and chasing bugs. like its where they "live" i think animals should be allowed to be roamers and enjoy Gods earth and nature as we do. not everyone agrees, but we have had declawed cats and handicapped cats and they all went out and we just took precautions (shots, frontline, in at night, mostly), and sometimes they came home with scrapes, but not enough to discourage me from letting them be free to explore the outdoors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.Dup. Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 Thanks all. The main reason I don't want him in/out is because of fleas and worms and because I don't want to have to maintain a litter box anymore if he's outside. I know there are meds/collars for fleas, but if he gets worms from an animal he eats, he could come in and spread that around :ack2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Many years ago, I adopted a stray who had been an outdoor cat and attempted to make him an indoor cat. He cried and cried and was miserable inside. I had to take him to my parents' house to live outdoors, where he was very happy. (I was in a second floor apartment at the time.) He just wouldn't be happy indoors after having the freedom of an outdoors cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sputterduck Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Well, he is an animal after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vettechmomof2 Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 We have 3 cats. All are indoor. 1 was an adult that was abandoned and we took her in as an indoor only cat. We do not have problems with any of the cats trying to get out. However we do have a big problem with the neighbors cats trying to constantly get in. We have many different cat areas in the house(scratching posts/stands that we built and placed in front of windows for heat and viewing? We play different games with our cats frequently and my daughter trains her cats daily. You might try to redirect his attention away from the doorways of the home with some good kitty focuses areas. a little catnip, comfy sleeping area and a good scratching area that he can mark and make his own. Cats are highly territorial and will fight to defend their property so if he is seeing other cats outdoors he might be very unhappy that they are in his area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Thanks all. The main reason I don't want him in/out is because of fleas and worms and because I don't want to have to maintain a litter box anymore if he's outside. You probably won't have to. We haven't had a litter box indoors for a couple of months. Our cat goes out first thing in the morning, is in and out during the day, and comes in at about 10 or 11 at night. She knows to do her business when she's outside. In the beginning we set her litterbox outside by the backdoor so she still had it available (and she used it a little bit), but then we took it completely away and it's not been a problem at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewellsmommy Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 I don't know how well they work for cats, but you could get a scat mat. It lightly "shocks" them when they approach the door. Of course it will also lightly shock any bare feet, so beware. My mother uses one because when she gets rescued dogs in, some try to bolt for the door at first. She has had hers for quite a while and no escapees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virg Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 My cat was an outdoor cat for ten years way out in the country on tons of property. When we moved to the city I was worried she would get run over since she wasn't used to cars. I bought some natural "Off" type of spray at our exotic, organic pet store and sprayed all the doors. I haven't had a problem with her trying to get out since. Don't know if that would work for yours or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 (edited) Is it possible to have some sort of outdoor enclosure for him? There are many different types, and can be as elaborate or as simple and small as you want. Even just a cat flap in a window to a mesh box where he can catch the sun and feel the wind. All my cats have been, since I was little indoor cats, but we usually have some outdoor area for them, our last one for our foster cat was a shadecloth enclosed verandah, he used to spend 95% of the time out there. Our new place we are renting till we purchase it, so all we have is the sunroom and a cat tree, once we purchase we plan to enclose the side area outside our bedroom add a catflap to the window, and possibly a upwards tunnel leading upto the roof with a dome lookout. Theres an Aussie cat forum called Cat World, if you go there and look at there enclosure section theres many ideas. That way the cat can be safe but still have an outside area he can stretch. Hope that helps xxx Oh, and they are expensive but there are cat litters that don't require touching much of the remains. Theres one than cleans the litter itself, like a re-usable toilet bowl, and a robot dome/ball litter one that revolves the circle around. Edited May 21, 2011 by Ecclecticmum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asta Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Well, he is an animal after all. That's what I was going to say. They have preventative deworming pills you can give every three months - that's what I do for my hunter. And... a "scat mat"? Good lord. Why bother having an animal at all if all one is going to do is shock them into submission. Who invented that? My dog wasn't even trained with negative reinforcement & she is completely "off leash" able! I'm not aiming this post at a specific person - I'm just appalled at the pet industry I guess. We humans can be real tools towards other creatures. a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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