TheCatSite.com › Forums › Our Feline Companions › Behavior › Odd Cat Behavior, new cat owner
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Odd Cat Behavior, new cat owner

post #1 of 10
9/8/11 at 12:51pm
Thread Starter 
Hi, I am a new cat owner. We recently took in a cat from our neighbors house. We dont believe that they took very good care of them and was going to give them up so we decided to take one.

We have had the cat for a little over 2 weeks and everytime we let it out, she tries to go over to the neighbors house again. We dont know how to take care of this and would really like for her to know this is her new home.. When the neighbors had her she, and her two sisters, were out all the time during the day so i dont know if that has anything to do with it or not..

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Reply
post #2 of 10
9/8/11 at 1:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kitkat1 View Post
Hi, I am a new cat owner. We recently took in a cat from our neighbors house. We dont believe that they took very good care of them and was going to give them up so we decided to take one.

We have had the cat for a little over 2 weeks and everytime we let it out, she tries to go over to the neighbors house again. We dont know how to take care of this and would really like for her to know this is her new home.. When the neighbors had her she, and her two sisters, were out all the time during the day so i dont know if that has anything to do with it or not..

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
In my experience this is VERY normal cat behavior, since cats are territorial and creature's of habit. Especially if the cats old location/territory is so close to the cats new location/territory .

Now I do not have many suggestions for you, sorry about that . Other then to say continue to feed the cat in its new location/territory or " new home". The cat will eventually with time learn that you are its new location/territory or "new home".

Is the place the cat came from vacant or does it have occupants? If it has occupants they might possibly be letting the cat inside or feeding it. If this is the case please tell them to stop.

Hope that made sense and if you need any clarification let me know.
Reply
post #3 of 10
9/8/11 at 1:55pm
Any chance you could just convert her to an indoor-only cat?
Reply
post #4 of 10
9/9/11 at 12:13pm
Thread Starter 
yes people still live next door.. I don't know that they feed her but I know they still have her two sisters.. we have been letting her out and just catching her before she wonders off into their yard. I appreciate the replies. as for converting her to an indoor cat.. I don't really want to do that really. I think they deserve to be able to go outside and play/hunt whatever they want to do. I guess we will just continue to do what we are doing
Reply
post #5 of 10
9/9/11 at 12:21pm
Well, I think with her previous home being right next door and with her going in and out its going to be next to impossible to keep her from going over there.
Reply
post #6 of 10
9/9/11 at 5:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kitkat1 View Post
yes people still live next door.. I don't know that they feed her but I know they still have her two sisters.. we have been letting her out and just catching her before she wonders off into their yard.
That is great that you have the patience to do that . Another thing you can do is buy a canned food like Fancy Feast or something along those lines and feed her that around your house. She will learn much faster to hang around your yard perhaps .

Quote:
Originally Posted by kitkat1 View Post
I appreciate the replies. as for converting her to an indoor cat.. I don't really want to do that really. I think they deserve to be able to go outside and play/hunt whatever they want to do. I guess we will just continue to do what we are doing
I completely agree with you ! I have two indoor/outdoor cats and one that is indoor by her own choosing. The other runs down the middle of the busy road so he has no choice, but to live inside. I agree that if your cat is normal, healthy, fixed, and wants to go outside that is the way to go.
Reply
post #7 of 10
9/9/11 at 7:27pm
Given a choice, virtually all cats will go outside. But they have no comprehension of the dangers of the outdoors, ranging from diseases and parasites you can't see, to cruel humans, cars, and other animals that you probably are aware of. Just as we don't let our children play outdoors unsupervised, many cat owners have decided that making the decision to keep their cat indoors is the kind and wise decision.

I would suggest you read through our "Crossing the Bridge" forum section if you need to see what heartbreak not making that decision can cause.
Reply
post #8 of 10
9/12/11 at 1:53pm
"Given a choice, virtually all cats will go outside..."

That is very true! But I have my doubts. I wish I could let my cats out with no stress, Right now I have a 4 yr old spayed female that I grabbed from the park across my house. She loves the balcony, but does not go further. I have a 2 yr old male, I got as a tiny tiny kitten, who proved that he will not go beyond the balcony (one day I came one and notice the balcony doors open - I had forgotten to close them but he was still there) , and Chiquita, just rescued from the same park I found Dusky.... she doesn't seem to have much interest in the outside for now. But the statement above is very true. Do not let your cats outside unless they are used to it and have all their shots!
Reply
post #9 of 10
9/12/11 at 5:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrblanche View Post
Given a choice, virtually all cats will go outside. But they have no comprehension of the dangers of the outdoors, ranging from diseases and parasites you can't see, to cruel humans, cars, and other animals that you probably are aware of. Just as we don't let our children play outdoors unsupervised, many cat owners have decided that making the decision to keep their cat indoors is the kind and wise decision.

I would suggest you read through our "Crossing the Bridge" forum section if you need to see what heartbreak not making that decision can cause.
Quote:
Originally Posted by temperpolk View Post
"Given a choice, virtually all cats will go outside..."

That is very true! But I have my doubts. I wish I could let my cats out with no stress, Right now I have a 4 yr old spayed female that I grabbed from the park across my house. She loves the balcony, but does not go further. I have a 2 yr old male, I got as a tiny tiny kitten, who proved that he will not go beyond the balcony (one day I came one and notice the balcony doors open - I had forgotten to close them but he was still there) , and Chiquita, just rescued from the same park I found Dusky.... she doesn't seem to have much interest in the outside for now. But the statement above is very true. Do not let your cats outside unless they are used to it and have all their shots!
I have to agree with Temperpolk. Panda my DLH was an outside cat before she was taken to a veterinarians office. I acquired her around four months old.

Well after about a month in my home I figured she would want to be a indoor/outdoor cat like Momma cat and Shadow my DSH. Well after many failed attempts taking her outside, I learned she was going to be an indoor cat .

It has been almost two years and she has never gone outside again. I do not mind cause she never dashes the door. So she decided to make herself an indoor cat and that is fine with me too :.

But I still feel if you have a normal, healthy (physically and mentally), fixed, and most importantly a cat that wants to go outside it is fine to let them outside.
Reply
post #10 of 10
9/13/11 at 4:27am
I said "virtually all," and that's correct, in my experience.

Snoopy loved to go outside and would come running when he heard the bell on this harness. He didn't go out much; he scared us the first night we had him. Came out from under a car with burned paws and grease on him.

We can't drag Ella outside, the Sterling will dash out any chance he gets.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Behavior
TheCatSite.com › Forums › Our Feline Companions › Behavior › Odd Cat Behavior, new cat owner