Transitioning an indoor cat to be an outdoor cat

Have you tried Feliway? I had a cat who went after the others constantly, but she's doing a lot better since we got the plug in.

Yes, Feliway or Rescue Remedy may be needed to relieve the stress in your cats. Has your 10 year old been to the vet recently? Cats can sense illness in other cats which upsets them and causes aggressive behavior. And even the changes in your household (pregnancy, new baby, etc.) can have an effect on them. Turning them into outdoor cats may not be the solution since it will further stress them out and cause more problems.

Do they have CAT furniture? Scratching posts? Cat trees? Shelves? Window Sills? The more Surfaces they have to scratch, the less they will scratch your furniture... The more things they have to do, the less bored they will be, less trouble they will cause... The more vertical space they have, the less confrontational they will be against each other, the less they will attack each other...
Have you taken them to the vet for a full senior panel? Often cats attack sick cats, and the fact that the younger one is attacking the old one raises a red flag...
You say you tried everything - can you please let us know what exactly you tried, so we can see what else you can do?
Putting your cats outside at this point IMHO can be very risky; very dangerous an life threatening to them - I am sorry to say, but I honestly think they wouldn't survive long... Not after being 7 and 10 years inside cats.

Cats are notorious for hiding pain, and they don't act sick until they are very sick... So that doesn't necessarily mean he is healthy...
Make sure to get a full senior panel.

I would just like to say here - I brought home a kitty literally the night before he was going to be euthanized at the shelter. We doubted he had ever lived outdoors, but I was at least giving him a chance. Anyways, he was 10+ years old (vet thinks like 15-18 is a better age guess). He has not survived well outdoors in the past 2 years - to the point he has almost been killed on several occaisons. He doesn't have the skills to survive. I built him an outdoor enclosure, attached to a shed - but if let loose he will be rapidly killed.

At your cats ages, they will not likely adapt well, nor survive long. I'm sorry to be so negative, but that is my honest opinion. I would get them both vet checked, do bloodwork, ensure their is no physical reason for the behavior. Can you allow them to live out their lives while separated in your home? I have cats who live upstairs & cats who live downstairs, as they do not get along.

I agree with this post. Please do not banish your senior cats to live outside. They'll be devastated to lose the only home they've ever known and you'll be devastated when something happens to them

Cats can be trained to use their own furniture for scratching. Cats can coexist when they don't like each other.

You say you have tried feliway and kitty prozac, but don't give details. How much feliway have you tried? Perhaps you did not have enough plug ins.

There are other medications besides "kitty prozac". Amitriptyline, and clomicalm are two that come to mind. Which cat was being medicated?

There are reintroduction methods. Separating them, then treating it as a new introduction, very slowly, using feliway, rescue remedy, the vanilla trick, too. (put cooking vanilla on the nose or chin and root of tail of each cat so they smell the same)

Since apparently everything was fine until 2 years ago, there must be some reason this has begun. It could be the younger cat is having displaced aggression toward the older cat.

Something scared younger cat, or some change was made that affected younger cat negatively and somehow young cat has associated the scare with the older cat. The original scare may be forgotten but the association hasn't been.

It could have been anything. A strange cat or other animal seen from a window. A car back firing just as young cat leaned in to kiss older cat, a change in the household, even someone using a new perfume could be a possible cause. You have to dig deep, with cats.

I do agree with thorough check ups for both, also. Cats are the masters of hiding illness. By the time they show symptoms it is often too late, or almost too late to do much for them.


How many litter boxes do you have? How many cat trees do you have?

Please let us help you solve this problem in a way that will keep your beloved kitties (what are their names?) safe in their home where they belong.

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man, I have to say, I myself would seriously advise not trying to make one an outside cat at all. First off, 10 years in, they have very set ways. They will be extremely vulnerable outside and since they weren't raised that way, they will not have the instincts they might need, or knowledge of things to fear.

I might be wrong, and I hope I am, but i think it would be very dangerous

I am so sorry to tell you this but last week I saw a squashed cat on the roadway. Hopefully somebody will give you a solution but I am strongly opposed to cats outside. The city I live in now will pick up any cat it sees and impound it. I know, I work for the shelter. Don't make your cats outdoor cats, I trust one of our members will give you the info you need.

i can understand your frustration. ButI would no more put my indoor cats outside to live than I would a 3 year old child.

Please rethink. This is probably a death sentence.

If you absolutely cannot be swayed from putting them out, do build an enclosure as white cat lover mentioned. If you have a fenced backyard it could even be converted into being cat proofed. Who knows, maybe giving them the option of going in and out in a situation like that would help. Just don't let them run loose. Outside skills or not, pets shouldn't be allowed to run loose.