Cat won't go oustide

My boyfriends cat is extremely difficult. First off, she is in perfect health, spayed, about a year old, and has a lot of behavior issues. She is EXTREMELY vocal, all the time, for no reason. I'm home with her all day so she gets plenty of attention, but its never enough. She meows (howls) all the time, (I'm dealing with that behavior) and will scratch incessantly at the door.
When we assume she wants to go out, we let her out and then she just stands at the door howling land scratching to get back in. When we realized that she wasn't tying to go out we just ignored it, but not only is it unbearable but she hasn't stopped the behavior at all. So I changed my tactic and now I put her outside and have her stay out for at least 5 minutes so that she learns that scratching at the door means wanting to go out.
This isn't working well. So now when I am home in the day I leave the door open so she can get used to the outside, and she its by the door as if she enjoys it but won't go out. I just started taking her outside with me, but she is absolutely petrified. When I bring her out she immediately scurry back towards the door and stares at me howling to get back in even though I'm with her.
She still scratches at to go out at night. What do I do?

My guess is that she doesn't want to really go out; she just wants to sit by the doorway and enjoy the view. My cat is like this... most of the time all he wants is to be able to look out through the partially open door.

If you don't want to leave the door open for any period, I'd suggest not letting her out at all. If you completely ignore her scratching and meowing at the door, she'll stop doing it. It may take a few weeks or months for her to learn, since up to now she's learned that if she makes a commotion you'll get up and let her out.

For the view issue, is there a window sill that she can use to look out from? If not, try putting a chair or stool next to the window. This might be enough for her, and would curb her interest in the doorway.

Some cats just never want to go out, even if they are allowed to. My mother's cat is like that - she will go as far as the step and no further. She is living with me now and shows no sign of even wanting to go that far.

Many people on this site will say that cats are safer indoors anyway, and if you have a cat that does not want to go out then you should be happy. I do like to give cats the opportunity to go out, if the exterior environment is safe for them, but I would not force a cat to do it who does not want to. Is there any reason why you feel she must go out? I assume she has a litter box indoors? It might be best to ignore her scratchings until she simply gets used to life indoors. Or let her go out when you are there, supervised in the garden only.

Cats are weird, but the cat is probably a little smarter. Why make the cat go outside if she doesn't want to go? I'd just keep her inside all the time and get a variety of toys to play with.

Is she an only cat? If so, perhaps adopting a 2nd cat would help her in having someone to play with and leave you alone

I agree with emmylou. You're assuming she is scratching at door because she wants to go out. Maybe she just wants the door open so she can see out.

Is there a window she where she can look out on something interesting?

Does she have a cat tree, or condo to play on? Does she have lots of toys and perches in front of the window? How about a bird/squirrel feeder right outside the window so she can watch it? Can you get her a cat buddy to keep her company? She sounds bored to me.

You say that "she still scratches to go out at night". Do you have another place for her to scratch? Is it possible that she's learned that the door is a great place to scratch her nails, especially now that it's splintered from past scratching?

If another cat has been coming around that may be what she's reacting to, or even a local mouse. I would keep her inside, and try to distract her with other things, but also get one of those citrus-smell sprays from the pet store and spray it around the doorway to change that much... might help!

i agree with goldenkitty45, she sounds bored to me. would getting another cat be an option for you?