really need help with this

Hi my name is Sean and i have an almost 2 year old Tabby cat named Zero. Ive had almost 10 cats in the past and they have all passed on sad to say due to somewhat of the question i have. I rescued zero from a humane society and im glad i found him. He is a bundle of joy and full of himself, he thinks he is the king of all in the world and probably always will. He is very curious and never stops being hyper. Anyways he got his name because the design in his fur forms a zero mark and it looks really cool. ok well now to my question. All my other cats were outdoor. They were either cats given to me by friends with farms or just strays that loved cat food from our house. I never worried much before about my cats being outdoors, but my last cat named Luke was my absolute best friend. I was there when he was born and he would follow me anywhere i went and would always sleep next to me. Luke lived to be 4 years old and i found him in my woods after some animal had beat him up in a fight and he was gone. That was the first time i cried over a cat. Now with zero i wanted to try keeping him inside. Well my dad does not care for cats in his house so i kept him in a spare bedroom with his litter box and plenty of food and water and a window he could lay in and have sun and fresh air. Well its not working out, its too much to keep up with. He is neutured and still has his claws and just tears up the room and complains and i feel bad keeping him in there, it feels evil. Im not a bad person believe me i just dont want to lose him like i did luke. Well so i bought this inground electric cat fence from PETSAFE.com I heard great reviews about it and seemed like a good bet. I got the fence package today and he will have 600 ft of a large back yard to run in but yet not be able to roam into the woods. Thing is now here is my real problem. I put the electric collar on him today and he lost it... he started walking backwards to try and get it off and kept hunching over when he walked, he would walk against the wall to try and get the collar off. He walks like im holding his neck everywhere he goes...so really he just hates the collar in all. My dilema is how do i make him comfortable with the collar?? Should i just let him wear it for a full day in the house and just suffer and deal with it until he stops fightint with it? or should i just give up. I want him to stay within the fence and live outside and be safe but he wont wear the collar. Im thinking i should return the fence and get him micro chipped and maybe put a light small collar on him with his name and info and let him run free outside, thing is look what happened to luke. Zero is brave but still he isnt that old and i dont know how well he can fight for himself. I dont want to lose another great cat and best friend. Zero is an amazing cat and i really love him and have become so attached. So should i make him wear the collar? or just take the risk of letting him run on his own, i have a 40 house neighborhood and abbout 6 acres of forest behind me with no bears or anything major but deer, racoons, snakes, other small animals that will fight at any cost lets put it that way. Sorry this was so long and overdrawn i just really dont know what to do about this and wanted some advice if anyone has a cat that didnt want to wear his or her collar and got used to it... Thankyou for anyone who can help me. Hope to hear from someone please!

Thanks

Sean

Hi, I don't blame you for wanting to keep the cat safe after 10 others who should have lived longer! However, as far as the electric fence goes, can you return it and get your money back? They don't work on cats and only sometimes on dogs (if the owners really train the dogs very well and get lucky. Instead, look into a cat enclosure - there are different types (Google cat enclosures), and while your cat won't be roaming the world in one, he will be outdoors, get to interact with bugs and birds, but stay safe, and you could always also try using a harness (collar around the tummy as well as the neck) to walk him - it may take a few tries indoors with just the harness on a few minutes at a time (he'll do backflips and somersaults, but will quickly start ignoring it... collars should both be tight enough for only a finger to slip underneath) til he forgets it, and then you can clip on the leash. Done that with ~ 8 cats over 20+ years and not lost one, not had one 'not' get used to it very quickly, or not appreciate being able to go out and fool around. Keep in touch so we know what happens please!

Electric fences don't work for cats. If you really must let the cat outside - either train to a harness/leash or build/buy a nice cat enclosure.

IMO cats are a lot healthier and safer indoors then being put outside. I know where Conowingo is (used to live in Maryland). I wouldn't let my cats be running around unsupervised

hey guys thankyou so much for the replies. I will look into a cat enclosure but cant he jump a enclosure or fence? My back yard is complicated but ill give it a try. I will try and return the fence,hopefully get most of my money back. ill get back to you all and ask some more questions if i need any help. so stand by ill check back in soon.
THANKS AGAIN!

sean

The cat enclosures are more like a tent or you can build one like a screened in porch enclosure.