Inside to Outside during the day !!

Hi All,

I have done the right thing with searching the forum before posting & i know i have seen a post about this before, but i just could not find it..

We have 2 cats and they have been brought up to living inside only as we live in a unit atm.. We are moving this weekend into a 4brm house with a huge backyard.. My fiancee is a little worried about them because they don't know what the outside world is & his scared they will run away if we let them outside, but i believe that they are terratorial & they are cats, so we should not depribe them of learning what it's all about. We know you have to lock them inside for at least a month (that's the easy part) but how do you introduce them to the outside world?? We want to also train them to come inside for dinner as we must my law keep them inside over night & i would be much happier if we did anyway..

They are both desexed, so that isn't a problem & they will have their new shots given to them before they even step outside..

If anyone has any advice, i would really appreciate it!


Thank you

Yikes! If they are happy indoors, why force the outdoors on them? Most of my indoor babies are scared to death if they somehow get outside (it's a big world out there).

I would start them on a harness and leash to see how they react. The last thing you would want is for them to get scared and run away out of fear. My neighbor lost their cat 2 weeks ago when they let her outside to explore - they did not use a harness on her and something spooked her.

Good luck!

Well we have to look at the reality of the situation as well.. Here in the unit they can't run away, & they love the balcony & sit there for hrs, but what happens if they get out the backdoor accidently, what would they do then? I would rather have them prepared in some sense that if they did get out, they wouldn't run..

We do have a harness & lead so i think that's a great idea that you sugguested, thank you

How about providing them an enclosure off the home instead? That way they can get outdoors and still remain safe. It doesn't matter if they are neutered, they will still roam (eventually) and I would be more afraid of the predators in Australia- snakes, spiders etc... then the human aspect if it were me. With an enclosure- framed in chicken wire, your cats can be outside and still be safe.

My cats have the option of indoors/outdoors but they are all previous ferals and I will tell you we have lost some because they were not kept indoors. If I had one or two cats, you bet, I would keep them inside. My dream is to win the lottery and build a huge cat-fenced enclosure around acres of property and start rescuing big time, and have all the cats safe!

My cats were raised indoors like yours. If I open the door, they run the other way. They have a front porch with a big window they can sit in and see the outside world.

Lets face it, there's a lot of things that can happen to an indoor cat introduced to the outside world. Cars, predators, feral cats, not to mention poisonous plants and insects. Indoor cats generally live longer than outdoor cats.

Personally, I would stick with either the enclosure Hissy recommended or the harness training MomofMany recommends. Even tho I've had cats all my life, they're the experts in my eyes.

I leash trained mine, because there is a remote possibility that they might get out by accident. So I wanted to know what they might do, and knowing that cats are territorial, I thought that they would stick closer to home if they know where home was, if that ever happened. And when we are out on a walk aroud the property, if he is spooked, he runs for home, really fast, up the front steps and sits there waiting for me to let him in. (I have a 20 foot retractable leash).

I never never let them out unattended, they are always on the leash. And the one time that Sam escaped (for about 20 minutes) I knew exactly where to find him. So there is some merit I think, in doing that leash training. But I just think that the risks of letting them out intentionally are too great.

I have three cats, apartment cats! And I have funny, and antagonizing stories about there first times outside....!
There isn't enough time, though so I will share with you how they enjoy being inside/outside cats, now. About 2 years ago my husband and I moved into a small 1 bedroom apartment on the ground floor. One summer we decided to let the cats outside, because it was such a beautiful day and all they did was stare and skwake at the birds outside. They loved it....In fact A few times people have knocked on our door because one of cats walked in the front door with them and meowed at our door. I think that cats are much smarter than we ever give them credit for, and once your cats are familiar with the inside of your house they will love being outside as well. Although, I should tell you to be prepared for some dead birds as a thank you for allowing them to play with nature and if you let them out make sure they can get back in. We never lock these 3 cats outside because I fear that if they think that they can't get back in then they will go somewhere else.

This picture was the first snowfall for Tigger

Well we have been living in our new house for 6 weeks now, and the cats have finally adjusted.. They love the fact they have a 4brm house to run around in compared to a 2brm unit..

For about 2 weeks, our little girl was just walking around meowing constantly, and would wake us up at night, but she is settled and loves the place..

In regards to letting them outside, We started walking them on their harness's in the backyard as we have a HUGE backyard.. She now tries to bolt us down just to get outside as she lovesssss it, but our big boy is still a little weary only because he is naturally timid, but instead of trying to run under the house now, he just walks outside and walks around the yard with us in toe, so there is certainly some improvement there.. With him, we are taking it in his stride..

We won't be letting him run outside until we feel he will be able to handle it,.. She doesn't use a harness anymore she just does what she wants and is loving it.. (they had never felt grass before now, so it is great to see them happy, & he loves to roll in it)..

Rosie is nearly Two years old and has been a house cat since i got her at 6 weeks. It frightens her if she's near the back door and i open it.

Now and again i put her harness on and stand in the yard with her while she's having a good sniff around. I do this because someone mentioned if she ever got out she would recognise the smell?, but the minute a car drives up the back lane, she runs straight in the house.

Susan

We live 2 streets away from the train line, & sometimes when we get the big/long interstate trains go past it can get very noisy.. My whole experiment with the harness at first was to see how they handled the noise & other factors.. After the first few trains, it now seems as tho they don't even notice the noise..

They both sit at the back screen door every night for hours, & in the morning until i close the door to go out..They are actually now trying to slip out the door when im trying to get out myself

have you seen this product?

Midnight Walk

Thanks heaps for that Hissy..

The only problem, is that that sort of logical idea's for pets is not really big in Australia, so hardly anywhere has things like that.. I looked into that site and they don't deliver to Australia.. This is where there are problems when it comes to pet accessories etc for me..

In the USA there are millions of sites about pets, yet you google them in Australia & your lucky to get many at all..

BTW i loveeeeeee the kitty strollers & those pet enclosures look great, i wish i could one of each..