Trying to bring in an outdoor cat

Reba, I never thought of it that way. He probably is just hanging out in his territory. But it must be the woods because I don't see him all day (most days) until 3 to 4 PM. Tonight I am just delighted. I just went out to the vestibule and garage to check on him before I go upstairs to bed. He was in his bed but came alive when he saw me. I reheated his SnuggleSafe warming disks and repositioned them beneath his bedding then played with him for a while. He loves our playtime I can tell. After that I bent over and put some treats down on the mat in front of me. He rushed over to start eating them AND he started to purrrrrrr loudly! I stroked him while he ate and he kept purring and stuck his tail straight up in the air. I read where a tail in the air is a good thing. It was just wonderful to hear him purr. Its the very first time!

Yes, he sounds like a very happy and contented kitty.

The way you and Pi-Pi are progressing, I suspect it won't be long before he is following you back to the house and you have to fight to keep him out!  

I'm wondering how cold is too cold for a cat like Pi. As I have said he stays in the vestibule which is between my kitchen and the garage. Its an attached garage but it is not heated or insulated so it gets rather cold in there. This afternoon at about 3 PM I measured the temperature in there and it was 48 degrees F. But that was in the daytime. Presently it is 43 degrees outside so the garage must be around the same. The vestibule is a bit warmer because it has a storm door to the outside (with pet door) and I step down out the back door from my kitchen into it. So it gets a bit of the house heat i would think. I keep the door into the garage from the vestibule open so Pi can get to his litter box, eat and play with his toys when he wants to. Because the garage is built on a cement slab it holds the cold and drafts from it do get into the vestibule. As I ate dinner tonight I left the kitchen door open just enough for Pi to come in if he wanted to. Just into the area I have blocked off with a gate. Its quite a good space actually and one of the house's heating vents is in the area. He came in for a few minutes and had some treats and glanced at the TV which always fascinates him but then went back to the vestibule and his donut bed which is sitting on 3 SnuggleSafe heated disks. He's there now snuggled in his bed looking out into the night through the closed pet door. He does that every night. Anyway to ME it feels cold out there and the temperature is in the 40s. He doesn't seem to mind at all but I worry about when the temp will go down to freezing this winter. Today I ordered a new bed which I hope will help block the draft from the garage if he uses it. I can put a SnuggleSafe disk under the pillow. See photo.


I have tried to gently close the back door to my home when Pi has come in for a visit but he always runs to it to get into the vestibule from where he can go outside if needed. So, how cold is too cold before I have to worry?

Hi pi were did you get that bed. I would like to order it for my outdoor cat. My out door cat is starting to come in just in the morning. He sits for awhile maybe a little less than an hour .this morning instead of feeding him outside I fed him inside and he started to purr. 7 years and he is just starting to feel safe coming in the house.Winters have been so cold. i am going to try and make him stay in if there is a snowstorm . I also put blankets in the dryer to make them warm for him. He loved sitting on them.

I think as long as he has access to the garage, he should be fine.  If you give him a tote or box filled with straw, he can hunker down and his own body heat will keep him toasty.  The main thing is giving them a place out of the wind and weather.

Hi Linda, I ordered the bed from chewy.com. It is an Armarkat pet bed in burgundy and ivory.

Wow! 7 years! I guess I have been lucky. Pi has been coming into the kitchen for a few weeks now. He often eats his breakfast in the kitchen then leaves for his day of wandering his territory outside. Wherever that is! He first came into my yard this past July.

Thanks Ondine. Good to know.

Here it is a very rainy day but after having his breakfast of kibble and a small bit of wet food (salmon). He's off on his daily rounds wandering the territory he calls his. Can't understand why he feels he must keep to his regular schedule even in pouring rain but then I am not a cat. He is making great progress learning how to use the pet door but sometimes forgets he must put a little elbow grease into pushing it open. I am told it is actually a dog door though called a pet door by the manufacturer. The storm door (an Emco by Anderson) came with pet door in it. Anyway this morning was one of those times when he forgot that a little tap won't do the job. So he actually called to me for assistance. Two loud meows got my attention. I went to the door and showed him how to do it several times making it obvious by my actions and grunts that I was pushing hard. He watched intently and when I moved back went up to the door and pushed with both paw AND head. Bingo he was out the door. I am a proud mom! He now recognizes his name and comes when he's called. Often mewing as he comes. At the very least he understands when he hears that word it most often means, "food's ready."

So happy for you pi. 3 days in a row my cat bell came in to eat this morning and stayed awhile. But I have to always make sure my other cat is in the bathroom. My husband thinks that they will have a big cat fight . I live on Long Island . So I guess that heavy rain is coming soon. At least you have a garage. I don't. Bell stays on my porch. On a heated bench. But I also have a heated igloo for him. But in wind swiped rain she freaks out and stay under the porch. I feel so bad. But I must be doing something right because she is still here after 7 years.

What a sweet story 

@Pi-Pi  !!

How cute is that?! 

Eventually he will figure out that he can bend his old/familiar habits, switch up to the comfort zone, it feels so much better than wet and cold

*Tears of joy!*  Sounds like he's well on the way to coming in from the cold for good!  You're doing wonderful things for him.  Be sure to keep us posted, won't you? And happy holidays to you and yours!

My boy Pi exploring the kitchen tonight. Progress!

Yay. Go pi.

That is wonderful.he gave you a Christmas present. Haha merry Christmas . Before you know it he will be in for the winter months.thank god the snow had not come yet.

Thank you Linda and Merry Christmas to you too. Yes, thank God no snow as yet. I see you too are in NY. In this area we got hit hard in January and February of 2014 so I am praying we don't get a repeat in 2015. I could use a little more time to get Pi and Happy to a place where they get along well enough for me to leave them alone in the house together. Right now it just couldn't be done!

Making himself at home, isn't he.

Well, now I have a dilemma. Although Pi has made great strides at coming into my kitchen in the last few weeks, he still has a distance to go. He is perfectly comfortable (and feels safe I know) in my garage and the tiny vestibule between my back (kitchen) door and garage. The pet door opens into that vestibule through a storm door so he can freely come and go. As I have previously mentioned he sleeps in the vestibule in a donut bed atop 3 SnuggleSafe warming disks covered by a soft area rug. I only have a small window of time to work with him each day which is in the evening. I see him to feed him about 6:30 every morning but after he eats what he needs (which isn't a lot) he is anxious to begin his daily travels. He comes home now about 5 PM. Every evening I open up the kitchen to him and he likes to come in and nose around. He eats in the garage and has his play area there complete with scratching post and perch, etc. (see photo below) I also have an introduction period to my dog Happy each evening. We do that through the gate I have set up in an area of the kitchen. Last night they were both excellent boys. Pi didn't run away but stayed near the open back door crouched low. Happy wagged his tail but was otherwise quiet which is good. I do this each night for 3 to 5 minutes then Happy goes in another room so that I can work with Pi. Last night while Pi was exploring the kitchen I gently closed the back door to see how he would react. He immediately ran to the door, put his paw on it and mewed at me obviously anxious to get out. I opened it and he fled to the garage. Apparently he is not yet ready to spend the night in the kitchen.

Here is my dilemma. At the end of January I need to have some medical treatments. I am basically in good health but have to have these treatments every six months for two years. This will be my second year. I will have four treatments, one a week for four weeks. Therefore I will be busy with that the last two weeks in January and first two weeks in February. I have a close friend who comes to stay with me at that time. She has a large SUV which she normally parks in the driveway. However, January and February are the months when we get snow here if we're going to get it. Last year we had lots and lots of it! I will need to have my driveway plowed if we do have snow so we can get to the hospital. My friend will more than likely have to put her car in the garage with mine so the plow can clear the driveway. This will greatly disrupt Pi's living quarters because most of the garage space will be taken up by the two cars. I have another friend (who lives in Florida) who has been advising me through emails how to work with Pi. This friend has been a cat person all her life and knows a great deal about them. She said it's important that I begin the transition into the house now so that when the end of January comes he will already be established in the house. However, because he is presently still so skittish about me closing the back door, I'm not so sure that I can accomplish that in such a short period of time. My preference would to be to park my friend's SUV in the driveway full time and pray we don't have a lot of snow that needs plowing. Do any of you have suggestions? I am truly in a quandary here.

Hmm, this is a challenge.  But you and Pi have overcomes others!

First thing, can your friend visit some between now and then?  This will give Pi time to adjust to her presence.  I would re-arrange his things - they should fit between the wall and where the cars will be parked, right?  One at a time over the course of a week or so.

If you can, park the car in the garage once or twice before the time comes.  If she is willing to leave it in the driveway, that might help.  Of course, the issue of snow is the wild card.  After last winter, I never want to see snow again!

Does she need the RV for a place to sleep/stay?  If not, I'm not sure I'd bother with it at all.  Even if you park the RV in the driveway, you will still need to plow a way out if it snows, so I'd opt to keep both cars in the garage and go from there.

Thanks Ondine. No, my friend can't come before that time. She lives 2 1/2 hours from here and will be here for a month when she does come. I can't ask her to do more as she has her own life and its obligations. She has an SUV not an RV. Fortunately I have a Mini Cooper and so the two cars can fit in the garage together. However, I like your suggestion about starting to rearrange the garage slowly starting now so that he is familiar with the new setup by the time she gets here. I will begin today. A good project!

If we are fortunate and don't have deep snow that needs plowing while she is here she can park in the driveway. Otherwise the garage will be setup better than it is now for her car. Hopefully Pi will accept her car being there. If not, I can close the door from the vestibule into the garage. He will still have his bed in the vestibule and access through the pet door to it. I could bring his scratching post into the kitchen area I have gated off for him should I need to close his access to the garage. The next problem will be to get him used to having my friend in the house. She and I spend a lot of time in the kitchen when she's here. I have already decided to have her enter and leave the house through the front door so as not to disturb Pi's vestibule set up. However, she is a wonderful and friendly person who LOVES animals and loves to display her affection. I am going to have to tactfully find a way to tell her to "soft peddle" it with Pi as he will not doubt be very skittish around her--at first at least. Pi and I have made so much progress together the LAST thing I want to do is frighten him away with the winter months now here.