my cat wants to go outside all the time!

iceangel

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hi everyone! my cat charli is a year and a half old and she ALWAYS wants to go outside!! she and her brother are both indoor cats and have always been indoors. shes spayed so i don't think she wants to go out and find a mate or anything! its really annoying because she will sit at the back door meowing and meowing to let her out, and sometimes when someone opens the front or back door she will try to dart out !!

i've let her out the back yard before for a few hours a day to shut her up before, but once she jumped the fence, and i had to knock on my neighbours door to fetch her - they have dogs !! i've also let her out the front on the harness but now she tries even harder to run out the front door when its opened!!ARGH

i feel bad for her because she REALLY wants to go out and she acts so depressed around the house, but i don't really want to let her out cuz i'm scared somethign will happen to her! i don't have a problem with her brother mickey, hes happy to stay inside, and its not like they don't have anything to do inside, i buy them so many toys and i play with them almost every day!

does anyone have any suggestions what to do? should i continue to let her out a few times a week (or is that encouraging her?) or should i just keep her inside all the time and hopfully she will give up..?


 

dragonlady

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You are right to want to keep her safe. I would spray a lemon scented air freshener around the door to repell her. I would get a cat tree for her to climb and maybe some live cat grass or cat nip to nibble.You could gather up a few leaves from trees to let her smell and play with. Make sure these are given in a room away from doors leading to the outside.
Good luck!
 

deb25

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Have you thought about maybe some kind of cat window seat so she can look outside? There are some that attach to the window sill easily.
 

sammie5

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Does she eat grass when she is outside? Sam is an indoor kitty, and I started taking him outside on a leash last summer. Normally, he doesn't bother with the front door at all, but if he has an upset tummy, he'll cry at the door, and try to escape, because he knows there is grass out there to eat. So I grow cat grass for him inside, and that solved the problem.

Bailey, on the other hand, clings to me for dear life with her little paws wrapped around my neck when we go outside, and when she is brave enough to leave me, she runs to the front door and cries to be let in.
 

angelzoo

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There are many things you can do, the suggestions above are good ones. I have had indoor and outdoor cats with this behavoir, and I can say just be lucky that your cat isn't ruining doors, screens, and scalling the walls (litterally!)

I also vote to KEEP her inside, if you let her out and something happened to her, you would deeply regret it.
Try walking her on her harness and leash EVERY day. Consider her a dog. Let her roam first thing in the morning for a little while.
And then take a nice, longer, calmer walk at night.
 

gurlpower

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My first thought after reading your posting was: how about finding out what is intriguing her? Daisy gets intrigued by birdies outside, and she takes delight in bird watching. Knowing what intrigues her, i would amuse her by teasing her with feathers (look like birds, right? Hehe).. She loves it! She has a blast playing together.

Also, i was thinking if you could provide her with a tree (for elevation and exercise?)

It is NOT easy being inside the house 24/7. Kitties need to be entertained as well. Can you imagine being cooped up day in, day out?

i was thinking perhaps you could bring your kitty for car rides, etc.? i bring my kitties out all the time. i bring them almost everywhere, actually. Hehe..! Even to the pet stores! It is nice for them to get a breather, isn't?

My baby girls behave very well while they are out. i think it is interesting for them to get out to "see the world."



Cheers!
 

maui

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Originally posted by Iceangel
should i continue to let her out a few times a week (or is that encouraging her?)
In my experience, letting my indoor-only kitty out on a leash just encouraged that darting out business. The more familiar she was with the outside, the more daring she would get.

I recommend not letting kitty out at all. It stopped my kitty from darting out. If you do decide to let kitty out, only on a leash and carry her outside in her cat carrier across the threshold so that she associates going outside only with you carrying her — not on her own volition by darting through the door.

As far as satisfying the urge, maybe grow kitty grass, get her a good cat tree with nice bark to scratch on.

Good luck!
 

shell

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Are these cats neutered or spayed? If they are not, PLEASE keep them inside. It is kitty season now and they might be smelling another stray cat outside. If your kitties are not fixed, I suggest getting them fix ASAP. You will be prolonging their life by doing so. Plus, when cats are in heat or they smell a female in heat, they will do what ever it takes to get outside.

Just my thoughts on this...Hope this helps you in some way!

Good luck!
 
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iceangel

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well i've decided i'm just going to keep her inside from now on as i think when i let her outside its ecouraging her even though i carry her ourside. i have a plain 3 tierd cat tree which she can play on and plenty of toys, even ones with feathers! i started growing cat grass, which she likes to eat, but she still sits at the door to be let out..

i've taken her in triped in the car in a carrier which i don't think she likes cuz she gets all distrssed. if i do let her out it will be on a lead and i don't know if i'm game enough to take her to a local park (or even down the street!) as there might be a dog there who will scare her. i also had a bad embarassing experiance walking her outside my bfs house on a lead and this guy slowed his car to watch me walk the cat, he laughed at me then drove off!!lol
 

angelzoo

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Iceangel: I'm sorry about your experience with leash training, some people just have nothing better to do, and it's not as easy if you don't have a calm quiet and secluded area to walk your pets.
I noticed in northern Virginia where I used to live, a very populated area and people LOVED their dogs, so there was MANY of those every where.
A lady who lived near me would walk her cat around 12am (I guess she was able to stay up that late) and had disturbances except for when I would walk one of my past dogs that late as well! lol.
But the cat wasn't phased by the dog, it might be something they get used to in time, if they realize that dog is contained and can not come after them.

I'm sooo glad you have decided to keep them indoors, good luck! And yes it is true if you let them go out it can encourage them to want to go out more and more... this can sometimes happen, but sometimes not.
When Asim and Isha go for walks in the summer, they like to go out now and then and will ask. But once winter comes and I don't feel like taking them out as much, they settle in and forget they ever even used to go outside and never try to.
 

gert452000

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I have a cat (Dawn) who also acts like she wants out. She paces between the door and a window. What is cat grass? Where do you get it? Seeds or plants? Thanks
 

sammie5

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Cat grass is a mixture (usually) of grass that is healthy for cats to eat. Its often oat grass, wheat grass, flax, and healthy stuff like that. I have a pet store that sells post of grass already sprouted, and seeds. PetsMart sells kits - with the seeds and growing medium, which I think is unnecessary, as you can just grow it in a flower pot.

Sam loves it, he starts to nibble on the new shoots just as they are big enough to turn green. I prefer seeds then I can grow a small "crop" at a time. And you need to know that the reason pets eat grass is partly to make themselves throw up - it helps Sam deal with his hairballs.

You can find many many retailers on the internet but tying cat grass into the google search engine.
 

hissy

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Your other alternative is to make her an enclosed area outside where she can hang out and be safe. (If you are in an unsafe area) There are a lot of companies that sell the blueprints to these plans, or if you are handy, you can build one yourself. Of course this is only if you own your home, and don't live in an apartment.

Enclosures
 

jan reseigh

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I am new to this board - actually this is my first post!! But I was reading your dilemma, and I can identify. I rescued a stray male blue persian, six and a half months ago, while my husband and I were on vacation. When we brought him home he would just sit in the windows and look outside. But then he started acting like he really wanted to be out there. It made us feel bad, so we would take him outside once in a while - like trips to our mailbox (which he was always in our arms), and one time I took him for a car ride. Although he was curious about the outside, he was afraid of it(which surprised us, considering he was a stray and all). But it wasn't until one night that we let him actually walk on the ground outside, that he started acting like he really wanted to be out there, than with us. He started meowing at the door after that, and if it was left open just a bit, he was there trying to get out. We didn't know what to do after that. I knew we made a BIG mistake, and I didn't know what to do now to stop it - after we provoked it after all. Now this is one thing that I haven't seen posted here as a solution. But I think we found one, as strange as it is. One day, about two months ago, my husband brought home this plastic rat toy (as a joke)- one of those ones, you squeeze it and it makes a squeaky sound. It's this big ugly rat with red eyes and this long tail. It was a joke, but I hated it. It turns out that our persian Shadow is afaid of this rat!!! And he's even more afraid if you squeeze it and make the sound!!! My other cat is not fazed by it, she rubs up on it, and is not afraid at all!! But Shadow don't like it. So - we put the rat in front of the door and he hasn't meowed since, by it. And if he does something wrong, we squeeze the rat at him, and he knows that he did something he wasn't supposed to be doing. But he associates this rat with doing something wrong. And it has worked!!! I would have never believed it myself, but I witnessed it. So, there sits the rat still, in front of our door, and we haven't heard any mewling since. Who knows, maybe something like this will work for you. It was weird though, right off the bat, Shadow did not like this rat - even before we squeezed it. Just a fluke? I don't know. But I hope it helps....
 

gert452000

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Thanks for the info about cat grass. I didn't know it was to make them throw up. I guess I will pass on this becasue all of my cats tend to do that without any help at all. But thanks anyway.
 

hissy

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Actually it aids their digestive system. Just like we take antacids when we have a tummy ache, cats eat grass when they do. It adds fiber to their diet, and if they have eaten something unpleasant, they will vomit.
 
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