Making an outside cat an inside cat?

poohnpglet

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I just posted my story over on the pregnant cat/newborn kitten side, but I have a question about the mother cat that is not "new babies" related.

My new cat Gracie has been an outside cat from birth. She is about 10 months old now and now that I have her, I will be keeping her indoors. Any suggestion on helping her make the transition?

Thanks!
 

goldenkitty45

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Time and patience. However you might consider a semi-outside cat. Train her for a harness or buy one of the cat enclosures.

I'm assuming she is spayed
 

graciecat

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Elliott was an outside cat his whole life.
He showed up as a tiny kitten, from what I've been told he was no more than 2 months old.
In November we decided to make him an indoor cat, by that time he was 18 months old.

This may be a rare occurance, but Elliott screamed for the first 10 or 15 minutes he was in the house and that was it.
He has no desire at all to go back outside, in fact he runs a mile from an open door.
Elliott was and still is a big baby.
He was bullied by the other strays in the neighborhood, if they would get within two feet of him he would run screaming at the top of his lungs to either our back porch or my neighbors back porch where he felt safe.
Maybe it was so easy for us because of the fear Elliott had outside.
I agree with GoldenKitty, time and patience is the key.
I wasn't sure that Elliott would adapt to being inside, but he adapted so fast even my Vet was shocked.

We had three other cats at that time...one has since passed away...they're all females.
We kept Elliott in our spare bathroom with toys, litterbox, bed, food and water.
We left him out to be with the girls a little bit each day...the first day (after he was tested, had his shots and was neutered ) he was out with them for about an hour.
We just kept adding a little time each day to his time with the girls.
About a month after we took him in he was out with the girls all the time and had free run of the house like they do.
I don't know, but maybe that also helped him adapt so quickly.
 

beandip

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Momma was born outside and lived outside exclusively until she was over a year old..about 15 months IIRC. Much like Graciecat's cat, she "lived" in the spare bathroom for awhile when I first brought her inside. She dealt with it very well. Never cried or howled or caused any problems. She moved into a bedroom a few weeks later and then on to the rest of the house after another few weeks. She never seemed to miss being outside and used the litterbox from day 1. Only problem was the first time, she removed ALL of the litter from the box, then used the litter.
It was too funny to be upset about. She caught on after that.

I think a small room to get settled in is good. Bathrooms are good IMO because it's hard for them to mess up when it comes to the litterbox...nothing absorbent around to "go" on. As long as the box is their only choice, they'll get it right away usually. Confinement seems mean but it actually gives them some security. Freedom to roam the whole house could be overwhelming at first.
 

graciecat

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Originally Posted by beandip

She never seemed to miss being outside and used the litterbox from day 1. Only problem was the first time, she removed ALL of the litter from the box, then used the litter.
It was too funny to be upset about. She caught on after that.
Elliott also used the litterbox right away, in fact he used it within the first half hour...guess he REALLY had to pee

He also threw most of the litter out of the box the first couple of times.
He doesn't do that any more, but he still has the need to dig to China before he goes, but he won't cover anything up.
It's all good though, Gracie goes in after him and does "Clean-up" duty
 

buzbyjlc10

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I got Oliver right off the streets... he was very friendly and approached me first, so I don't know if he was owned before or not and was estimated to be almost 3 when I got him.... he's made a sweet transition to basically inside only (I do take him in the backyard on his harness occasionally - so I've got him on flea/tick and heartworm meds... something to keep in mind)... basically once they realize how good they've got it inside, they tend to want to stay there, but Oliver does love his times outside... I just had him out there a bit ago and he "walked" me all over the yard, eating grass, watching bugs, exploring, etc.... so if you can get your cat used to that, she probably won't have a problem living mostly indoors.... basically, my advice is spoil her to death so she doesn't want to leave, hahaha... but seriously, it may or may not take a little time, depends on the cat's personality - Oliver took to it right away....
 
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poohnpglet

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Thank you guys!

She is already isolated in the big guest bathroom right now with her kittens for two reasons.

1) My cat Pudders is not quite sure about her yet and I wanted to give him a chance to meet her slowly and more on his own terms.

2) The babies all have URIs and I do not want Pudders getting sick as well. I forgot to ask the vet how long they are contagious. I will have to call and ask about that too.

So it seems as if you all recommend a certain period of isolation for her. Does it change anything when you throw in her babies? They are about 4 weeks old right now.
 

graciecat

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I've never had a cat with kittens so I'm not sure if you should keep her isolated longer because of them or not.
I'm sure someone who has more experiance with that will be able to answer your question.
Maybe you should ask that over in the "Pregnant Cats and Kittens" forum.
I'm sure someone over there can help you.

Good luck.
 

beandip

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When I brought Momma in, she was pregnant. She had the babies in the bathroom and I moved the whole family to the bedroom when the babies were ready to move around more, exploring. I think they were almost 3 weeks old then. It all worked out real well for her and the babies. They did fine.
 

littleraven7726

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My Mom adopted a 4-5 yr old barn cat. She lived outside her whole life. Now you couldn't get her near the door if you tried.
We had a similar experience with a stray we adopted when I was growing up. Once he had a taste of indoor life, he had no desire to go back out.

My own Raven and Nabu were kept outdoors for 3 months before I adopted them. They also have no desire to go back out. They know where the good life is.


I've never fostered kittens, so I can't be of much help with that.
 
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