wants to go out

Hi all,
6 months ago we took in a 2 yr old deaf white cat(George),we live close to a road so we don't ever let him out.He flits from one window to the other watching everything going on outside,which until now he has been happy to do.Recently however,with the onset of spring he has pined after me when I have gone to the greenhouse and even tried to squash thru a partly open window to get out.We have no room to build him a run and I sometimes feel we are doing him an injustice by keeping him locked up all and everyday.We had thought about teaching him to walk on a lead,but wonder if this would unsettle him more.We love the little guy to bits,and would dearly wish to find a happy solution to this problem,so any advice would be welcome....Alan

Some questions, is this cat declawed, is this cat neutured, and was this cat ever an outdoor cat, or outdoor/indoor?

Having lost many cats to being outdoors of various reasons, I'm pretty dead set against letting cats free roam outside, specially if you live by a busy road.
Cats do not suffer inside, they can live a longer, happier, healthier life indoors, then out. If you open the windows for the kitty make sure you have secure screens on them. Some cats do get a growing intrest to go outside, specially in this season if there are other cats around females inheat, birds on the ground, anything that would draw extra attention to the outdoors.

About the leash training, some of us have done it here, including myself. And yes some cats will then demand to go outside all the time (on leash of course), but others will be perfectly happy with their daily romp outside and spend the rest of the day indoors as happy and calm as could be. You really can't tell which way the cat will go until you try it.

It's up to you really, if this cat is declawed or un altered, I would not let him out, and make sure he is up to date on all his shots.

Many cats do very well on a lead. Make sure you use a harness rather than hooking the lead to George's collar. You will look very sporty taking your cat on a walk every day!

lotso! Good point lol. *trys to envision walking a cat with a collar* scarey thought!

Yes get a harness, they come in different shapes, some say ones fit better then others. If you want to do leash trainign we have some helpfull information for that process as well!

I take Sam out on a harness and leash. He loves it, and just had his first walk of the spring this week. He visited all of his favourite bushes, rubbed against them all, and tested me to see if I had forgotten the places he is not allowed to go.

He asks to go out at exactly the same time every day. Other times, the door could be wide open, and he ignores it. Before I started taking him for "walks" (slow meanders), he was trying to get out all the time.

If you want to take George out, a harness and lead is definitely the way to go, especially since he is deaf. Obviously he wouldn't be able to hear you calling him if he was let out on his own, and the real danger would be that he wouldn't hear potential danger coming at him (like cars, dogs, other cats, wildlife, etc.).

Many thanks everyone for your advice,we borrowed a harness and tried him with it only in the house tho,he didn't like it much,he plonked himself down and refused to move,so this disappointed us a bit.We will persevere with him a little longer tho.Most days he doesn't bother too much,only if he sees me heading for the greenhouse does he get frustrated.We try to play with him as much as possible,but we feel that perhaps we should get him the type of toys that he can amuse himself with when we have to go out.Ideas on this would be welcome.Thanks again....Alan