Becoming an outdoor cat. How??

Originally Posted by arcadian girl

What she said. Isn't it obvious to you that going outdoors is dangerous, since your cats keep getting killed? Cats can live very happily indoors, you just need to give them toys and things to do, play with them, and be patient with them while they make the transition. Also, as Aussie_Dog said, you don't know for a fact that the cat can't get pregnant, and what are you going to do with more kittens? Perhaps you should delay pet ownership until you are able to pay for basic things like spay/neuter? What do you plan to do if one of your animals gets sick, if you don't even have 30 dollars to get them fixed?

Click to expand...

I know hot to take care of my pets, and if one gets sick, my parents would do the best they can, but getting sick and getting neutered, is looked at different in my family. and anythin you say will not change that.

okay, honestly, I asked for adivce on how to make sure my cat came home, not for people to tell me, I should get rid of my cats, thats the last thing i'm going to do, in fact I won't do it at all. As for my female cat, I will find a way to get her neutered, but only because, I know for a fact, if she has another litter, they will not survive, and its not good for her, as for my males, it will have to wait, also they're not just my cats to give away, they are the families.

Hi there, I've been reading through your posts and I understand that you are looking for advice and help. Do you need advice on how to let your cats to go outdoors safely or how to bring your cats inside? As someone posted above, cats are really never safe outside because of cars, animals, and disease but if you can not keep them indoors, your first step should be to start calling your local SPCA, Humane Society's, animal groups, etc. in your area as they may offer no to low-cost spay and neutering. This is the first step...is to not having any more cats then you can handle right now. You can look on the internet, talk to your vet and try to educate your parents on this important issue. Second step, is to provide protection for them outside such as a small doghouse or someplace warm to protect them from weather, environment and also provide proper food and water. You will never be able to keep outside cats from running away, that's a given, cats go where they please...so if your only option is to keep them outside, just make to get them fixed so they stop multiplying, provide food, water and shelter and also yearly vet visits for their proper shots and health checks. Do you have any other questions?

At the moment, I don't have any questions, but thankyou for the advice, also, when i said outdoor cats, I did not mean, they never come inside, my cats spend just as much time inside, as they do outside, and in bad weather cases, they tend to stick around inside, which the two are doing now, since colder weather is coming, as foor food when their outdoors, I put food out sometimes, but i'm very lucky to have a very considerate neighbour, who leaves foor out from time to time, its like my oldest cats second home, i feel bad sometimes, but he really doesn't mind, he loves spynx.

That's nice of your neighbor. And that's good that they do come inside half of the time. With winter coming, maybe you can make it a project to make them a house or some kind of shelter to keep them warm and safe, you can put their food and water inside. Also, if you can talk to your parents, tell them the importance of getting all of your cats neutered and spayed, not just the females but all of them...as they'll stop having more babies, they'll live longer and much happier lives. That should be your number one priority. Like I said before, if they go outside, there is no way to make sure they'll come home but atleast you can make them stop having more kittens so you can concentrate on giving the ones you have now the best life possible. Sound good?

Making a little outdoor home, sounds fun!, and yes, getting them neutered, is what i'm going to be working on, i'm going to be looking for a good place, thats not going to be to expensive.

Good luck to you and your kitties! Please let us know how everything goes. Can you talk to your parents/relatives/friends and try to get them to help you?

Yes, I will talk to my mom, try and convince her, that I WILL pay her back, and I will keep you updated for sure. Thankyou, for being kind, and for all the help.

You're welcome, please let me know if you need more help/advice.
Good luck! It will be all worth your effort, I promise you!

I'm sorry to tell you, but no cat will remain indoors if they arent spayed or neutered!
I have had many cats my self and previous to these two none of them were S&N, they just kept on multiplicating and it was impossible to keep them inside.
Many of them got injured and they will keep on getting injured if you let them out.

Hope it all works out soon

Originally Posted by tinyone21

okay, honestly, I asked for adivce on how to make sure my cat came home, not for people to tell me, I should get rid of my cats, thats the last thing i'm going to do, in fact I won't do it at all. As for my female cat, I will find a way to get her neutered, but only because, I know for a fact, if she has another litter, they will not survive, and its not good for her, as for my males, it will have to wait, also they're not just my cats to give away, they are the families.

Click to expand...

Ah, oops, sorry if I came off like that, or anyone else. You asked how you can make sure you cat would come home if you decided to let him out, and although it's not a definite, neutering was one of the most obvious solutions. Basically a male cat's priorities in the order of importance is mating, then food and water, and then shelter. Neutering gets rid of mating, so food and water become the most important, and they'll stay wherever they know they can get food and water. Also, people get into pretty heated arguements about neutering/spaying when people don't do it, so you'll just have to forgive us for that.

I would worry boots first though rather than the females (though all of them are equally important). It's just that if you're having money problems, neutering is cheaper than spay (simpler procedure) and males cause more problems than females when left intact (aggression, mulitply per female rather than per litter, spraying, running away, getting into fights, etc).

okay, thankyou, is there a difference in price between male and females, and does the price rise with age, i have two male cats, oldest being, 2 years[spynx], and youngest 6 months[boots]. and my female[mischeif] is about 1 year.

please try to keep them indoors! I try my best to keep my boys indoors, but I have parents that I live with that let them out. and I keep them inside as best as I can and when my parents let them out I bring them back in.

Originally Posted by tinyone21

That was probably the problem, the only thing is, getting my cats nuetered, is not an option for me, at the moment, seeing as I don't have a job, and my parents won't pay for it, because they have me and 3 other siblings to spend their money on.

Click to expand...

can you look for low-cost spay and neuter clinics in your area so your parents can pay for it? if you tell me where you live, and if you're not comfortable saying on here..PM me and I'll see what I can do.

Originally Posted by tinyone21

okay, thankyou, is there a difference in price between male and females, and does the price rise with age, i have two male cats, oldest being, 2 years[spynx], and youngest 6 months[boots]. and my female[mischeif] is about 1 year.

Click to expand...

There no price difference with age, but females cost like $30, and males I think are like $16 where I live (mid-Ohio). Other places can be more epensive (in Michigan where I lived last the cheapest place I could find was $30 for neuter and $60 for spay). So just ask around. If ANYONE knows the cheapest places for neutering/spaying it'll be the humane society (they have to do tons of them).

I'll look into calling them real soon!, as in today or tomorrow. thankyou!

I don't think any of us were trying to be harsh, we all just see way too many kittens born every day with no place to go and many with sad horrible endings. Primarily because people don't spay or neuter. Since for many of us keeping the population down and our cats safe is a huge deal - we just worried about the safety of your cats and also of so many potential new kittens outside with no homes. So you may have jumpstarted many of us. I also will continue to be very concerned. There are many places out there that give financial assistance (even free) under the right circumstances to spay or neuter. People in your area may be able to help find these places.
Also, just a side note - if your cats are not fixed, that is most likely the primary reason they are insistant at being outside. They are looking for a mate. In otherwords if you save up the money to get them fixed, you probably won't have as much trouble keeping them in.

You really need to have them fixed. Unaltered cats outside are the biggest reason that so many cats are euthanized each year...there aren't enough homes to go around. 3-4 million companion animals ar eput down each year...the majority of them are cats. Many of which are perfectly adoptable.

http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html

Also, I'd hate to see another cat die outside. We have stories on this site all the time of owners who lose cats that they let outside to things like being hit by a car, being eaten by coyotes, being poisoned...my future MIL's cat may be dying because of a gunshot wound. It's really not uncommon for outside cats to die horrible and painful deaths...or to sustain horrible injuries and brining in diseases....anything from fleas to feline Leukemia. To me, there is no acceptable choice other than to keep my kitties inside unless on a leash and harness.

I also wasn't trying to come off as harsh!!! I was trying to offer some suggestions about how to encourage them to come back/stick around.
As I said,Blaze is an inside/outside cat.I started by letting her out with us ONLY on the deck and then slowly she was allowed in the yard.She does not stray and you will find her asleep or playing on the deck...........which is right in front of my computer.
I'm sorry your cats neck got broken.How horrific for you and your cat!!
Are your cats micro chipped?Do you have tags and collars on them?If not, then I would suggest you do the collars and tags.
As for spay and neuter prices,my females are $35 to be spayed and the males are $22 for neutering.Plus, you can pay $10.00 for a pain shot........which I DO!!!
Maybe offer them tasty treats and that will keep them around.
Good luck.