Indoor Cat help required

catowner123

Hi everyone

I have a 11 month female cat (sprayed, healthy, half tabby/half Bengal) who has been an indoor cat all her life.

She has entire run of the house (4 bed house) with access to many toys, food, water, plenty of windows/blankets/sofas, 2 cat trees and basically her own conservatory type room with a big window and ledge facing the back garden which is quite green with birds to watch. We take her out on a lead now and again or just carry her outside every other day for some air.

Very recently we have noticed she is meowing more and it seems like she is bored or wants to go out. We really don’t want to make her outdoor (we have gone over the pros and cons) and would like to keep her indoor however now starting to think we are making it worse for her. We have been home more recently and hence played more and taken her out more but now back at work so I think she is annoyed it has reduced again.

Do you have any advice?
1. Shall we just be persist and hopefully she gets that she’s indoor and outdoor is only at times with us as much as we can? How do you really know if keeping her indoor is best for the cat?
2. Has anyone used a cat run before and did it work? I don’t want to buy one for her to get bored of it.
3. She is really attached to us (esp me) to the point we feel bad leaving the house, ie to go the gym in the evening or seeing friends on weekends. I feel this is excessively by us but we feel so bad as she gets excited when we return like she really missed us.

Would really appreciate advice/common stories with solutions that worked.

marliepanda

catowner123 wrote: »

Hi everyone

I have a 11 month female cat (sprayed, healthy, half tabby/half Bengal) who has been an indoor cat all her life.

She has entire run of the house (4 bed house) with access to many toys, food, water, plenty of windows/blankets/sofas, 2 cat trees and basically her own conservatory type room with a big window and ledge facing the back garden which is quite green with birds to watch. We take her out on a lead now and again or just carry her outside every other day for some air.

Very recently we have noticed she is meowing more and it seems like she is bored or wants to go out. We really don’t want to make her outdoor (we have gone over the pros and cons) and would like to keep her indoor however now starting to think we are making it worse for her. We have been home more recently and hence played more and taken her out more but now back at work so I think she is annoyed it has reduced again.

Do you have any advice?
1. Shall we just be persist and hopefully she gets that she’s indoor and outdoor is only at times with us as much as we can? How do you really know if keeping her indoor is best for the cat?
2. Has anyone used a cat run before and did it work? I don’t want to buy one for her to get bored of it.
3. She is really attached to us (esp me) to the point we feel bad leaving the house, ie to go the gym in the evening or seeing friends on weekends. I feel this is excessively by us but we feel so bad as she gets excited when we return like she really missed us.

Would really appreciate advice/common stories with solutions that worked.

1. Cats want to be where theyre not allowed. Mine hate a closed door. If Im on the loo, they want in. One of mine even likes to paw the wardrobe door as if something exciting is in there. You cat does not 'want to go outside' it doesnt know what outside is. It wants to go through the door you dont let it out of...

I keep mine indoors because of a few reasons, traffic, nasty things left about in garages etc, fear of them getting stolen/lost. We don't let any other domesticated animals roam so I never understood why people get so hung up on cats staying indoors. We don't let our dogs or rabbits or hamsters roam free because they would in the wild.

2. A cat run would simply extend her space, its a personal choice.

3. I guarantee you 99% of the time you are out shes asleep. She isnt walking around worried youre not there. She is excited when you come in because you mean food, treats, cuddles. She doesnt need that 99% of the time. You are worrying over nothing, and of course you should go out and live as normal. Its not a baby, its a cat My cats go wild when I get home, because they want feeding, nothing more :P

FreeBear

marliepanda wrote: »

1. Cats want to be where they're not allowed. Mine hate a closed door. If Im on the loo, they want in.

Even with the back door wide open, mine refuses to go out - It is her choice to live the life of an indoor cat...

Why is it cats want to be in the bathroom when one is on the loo.?

NeilCr

My cat is an indoor cat because he is FiV. He hangs round the front door and has been known to dive out if I am not quick enough. Once out he looks bemused and sits down.

I have a low window in my front door. After I have shut the door and turn round to lock it he has his paws on this window meowing at me. I have come to the conclusion that a) he just wants to go through the door and b) he wants to be with me.

He turns up when I come home but he comes down the stairs so I think he has been asleep upstairs. I have a cleaner who comes in once a week and she says that is where he normally is.

As said above cats sleep a lot of the time. He does follow me round the house, though! Everywhere...

Trina90

Have you considered another cat? I have 2 housecats. The main decision for them to be indoor being their breed - they're Ragdolls. Ragdolls don't fare well if let out (very dopey, not streetwise.. hence their breed name!). But I would feel real bad for them if they were alone. They keep themselves entertained and amused, and cuddle up together after.

Another thing.. have you seen the cat-proof fences you can get? I think there's a company called Katsecure that do them.

WibblyGirly

Mine chases me into the bathroom on a morning so he doesn't get shut out!

I'd have thought taking her out would make it worse. I'd just stop taking her out on her lead or otherwise. When ours was an indoor cat and we let him have 5 mins in the garden he always complained to get back out so we stopped letting him out at all and he gave up on it. He's allowed out now though so when we move there is no putting that genie back in the bottle.

catowner123

Great replies all.

- fencing: did think about this but just not feasible in our garden
- 2nd cat: again we thought about this but given she is 1yr almost it might be too late to introduce a second cat? I also read high chance a second cat wouldn’t get along with first so actually we just times our issues by 2....
- good point on not letting her out at all: she seems to go through phases of wanting to go out (like now when she enjoyed being out on lead) and not (times when something scared her outside when on lead). I was just hoping she would realise we are trying to help her by giving her outside time but it’s really just making it hard for us to keep her indoor.

NeilCr

I have mostly had two cats from when I started living on my own (before that, with my ex, we had a houseful). It was because I worked and I thought they would be company for each other. And, selfishly I guess, it meant if one died there was still another around.

That went well until I got current cat. He is definitely a one person one cat, cat. I did have another one with him for a while after his previous companion died but he did not like it one bit. For a big bruiser with battered ears he is a wuss and she (lovely cat that she was) pushed him around and he ended up a bit miserable.

I am all for two cats but you do have to be sure of your current cat. As and when he crosses the rainbow bridge I will get a pair who have lived together from the local cat charity

SensibleSarah

I'm not a big fan of taking indoor cats outside on leads personally, as it's a bit like showing them something really exciting and then taking it away again after a few minutes, and in my (fairly limited) experience of indoor cats, it seems to make them less satisfied with living just indoors.

Getting another cat could work, but is is a risky strategy and I've ended up with 4 cats who would probably all rather live without the others!

If you have a spare room, perhaps you could consider fostering kittens for a local rescue when kitten season kicks in shortly, then you'll have a bit of opportunity to see how your existing cat copes with a newbie?

Deep_In_Debt

NeilCr wrote: »

I have mostly had two cats from when I started living on my own (before that, with my ex, we had a houseful). It was because I worked and I thought they would be company for each other. And, selfishly I guess, it meant if one died there was still another around.

That went well until I got current cat. He is definitely a one person one cat, cat. I did have another one with him for a while after his previous companion died but he did not like it one bit. For a big bruiser with battered ears he is a wuss and she (lovely cat that she was) pushed him around and he ended up a bit miserable.

I am all for two cats but you do have to be sure of your current cat. As and when he crosses the rainbow bridge I will get a pair who have lived together from the local cat charity

Oh gosh - so this!

I've always had rescues and always 2 from the same litter or who have lived together. And like you, I work full time so 2 being company for each other.

I lost one of my old ladies suddenly and unexpectedly last year. I decided not to get another cat as it wouldn't be fair on the surviving cat - my old softie. She seems to be enjoying that she is now the only cat and getting all the attention. I don't think she misses her sister at all. If she does, she certainly doesn't show it.

When the old soft one goes, I'll rescue another couple when I'm ready to do so.

jenny-wren

If you've noticed any other changes in behaviour aside from the miaowing it might be worth getting her checked out by a vet. The miaowing could be an indication that there's something wrong, but given that she is so young it's highly unlikely.

We have mostly indoor cat (she has a cat flap in the french doors but has always been too fat and lazy to attempt to get over the six foor fence). She loves to stand by the back door and demand that her slave open it ... only to look outside and go 'nope, I'm not feeling the great outdoors after all'. We tried a harness but you'd think someone had tried to put her in a straight jacket! :eek:

We noticed that she had become more vocal but ignored us when we called her name so we thought we should get her checked out to see if maybe her hearing was failing. She had started to drink more and pee more so we mentioned this to the vet. A few tests later we found out she has kidney disease.

Thankfully the vocalisation has settled down and she no longer ignores us (well, when it suits her not to!). If only I could get her to stop miaowing right in my ear in the middle of the night to get under the duvet. :rotfl:

'Close the bedroom door?' ... she'd scratch at that and wake us anyway. She loves to sleep close to us and it's lovely to wake up to a 'Mommy, you're awake, hug me' miaow!!