Hello from Thailand!

Hi!
My name is Gene, I'm from Russia but have lived in Thailand for the last 4 years. A year ago we adopted a 4-5 month kitty from our neighbor's house. They have cows, dogs and cats, freely moving around their land. We named our cat Yin. She's over a year now, freely walks around outside (it's safe here because there's no traffic on our dead-end street, and no predators). Hunts all kinds of geckos and sometimes small birds. She loves us a lot and always comes to cuddle, follows us around when we take a walk (like a dog!), comes to our bedroom through the window to sleep together with us. She's a short hair calico (mostly white) of Thai origins, weighs about 3.5 kg, is lean and agile. We've neutered and vaccinated her, and recently implanted a microchip.
A week later we will be moving back to Russia, cat will fly with us in the cabin (confirmed with airline).
I'm really wondering how the cat gonna feel moving from a big house in the tropical countryside to a big city apartment in the middle of winter. What can we do to make her adapt better? Is she gonna miss the outdoor, is it advisable to take a walk with her? So far we've bought a harness and she seems to not mind wearing it at all.
Would appreciate all advice!

Welcome Gene and Yin!   Yin is a beautiful girl and your great photographs really show her off.  She sounds like a very special kitty.  It's hard to predict how a cat will adapt to life indoors after a having free access to the outdoors.  I had a cat who made that transition with no problems whatsoever but not everyone is that lucky.  The fact that she doesn't mind the harness is very promising and I would definitely recommend taking her on walks. 

There are lots of things you can do to make your apartment more interesting for her.  Cat trees are a great way of adding vertical space - judging from Yin's picture in a real tree, she will appreciate having at least one!  Also play with her a lot.  She is still pretty young and will need a lot of exercise.  Try wand toys like Da Bird - most cats can't resist Da Bird and will play with it until either you or she are exhausted.  Many cats also love to chase the red dot of a laser pen. 

Here are a couple articles that might help.  Good luck! 
[article="22426"]Beating Boredom What Indoor Cat Owners Need To Know  [/article][article="22537"]Keeping Indoor Only Kitties Happy  [/article]

Margd,

Thanks for your thoughtful and detailed reply. We will try taking her on walks, short time at first, and see how she feels. I wonder if there are any cat boots for winter.

We'll look into getting a cat tree and definitely get a feather kind of toy (not sure we can find Da Bird specifically), and a laser pointer.

Thanks for the links, these are good articles. I also want to get a clicker and read some books about cat training. That way we both can have some fun together.

Have a great day!

You're very welcome!  Let us know how it goes!  There are cat booties available - hopefully you can find some for Yin.

You have a beautiful cat! Welcome! [emoji]9786[/emoji][emoji]9786[/emoji][emoji]9786[/emoji]

Thank you!

Today I went to the nearest veterinary hospital which can provide an international health certificate, about 60 km round trip.

It was a somewhat typical scene for Thailand - a man, a woman with a baby (in a sling), and a cat (in a bag-type carrier) - all on a single motorbike (125cc motor scooter).

Poor Yin was a little nervous, alternating between periods of lying down quietly and meowing frantically. But for the most part she took it pretty well.

We got the health certificate, next step is visiting the airport in Bangkok to get an animal export permit. For some reason it should be done 24 to 72 hours before flight, so I'll have to bring Yin to the airport and come back (500 km round trip, this time by bus), and we'll go there all together again next day for our flight.

Our entire family at the pet hospital:

Beautiful family picture. Yin seems to fit right in. She seems to be smiling. 

Kat0121 said:

 
Beautiful family picture. Yin seems to fit right in. She seems to be smiling. 

Click to expand...

Thank you. Actually she was a bit nervous, she spent most of the time there hiding under a shelf in the pet hospital's pet shop (while the paperwork was arranged).

heilong said:

 
Thank you. Actually she was a bit nervous, she spent most of the time there hiding under a shelf in the pet hospital's pet shop (while the paperwork was arranged).

Click to expand...

Aw. poor little girl. Maybe that's why she looked happy when you were holding her. She felt safe. She's a beautiful cat. 

What a beautiful family portrait!  Everyone looks so happy. You have a very cute baby, btw!

Yin likes when I'm holding her.  She's my first cat, I don't know much about cat behavior, but according to my wife, Yin's behavior is quite unusual. She likes to follow us around when we take a walk, also she is always licking my face and head and fingers, like a dog would. We call her dogcat sometimes.

Thanks for complimenting our baby cuteness, we talk about that every day but we think is this because of our parents goggles? Her name is Alisa Belka (Belka means squirrel in Russian), she was born 6 months ago in a small hospital here in Thailand - natural birth, no doctor (just nurses), no painkillers. Heji (my wife) was howling like a wolf but the whole birth took only 2.5 hours.

And now it's bedtime!

Awwww, what a lovely family! Love the pic![emoji]9786[/emoji]

What a lovely family you have, both the two footed and the four footed ones.  And what a good person, to take such pains to move your cat back home with you!  There are several grasses as well as catnip that can be grown in your house for Yin that will  help her feel more like she isn't housebound.  I know that wheat and rye grasses are good for kitty digestions, and there may be others.  And on the topic of houseplants, NO LILIES!  They are very toxic to cats.  Anyone have any other cat-safe plants to help make an outdoor cat feel more at home indoors?

Thanks! I'm not that good person, just selfish - I just want to stay together with my cute sleeping/cuddling mate! And hopefully train her to take care of baby while I'm doing something else

Wheat and rye shouldn't be a problem to find seeds and grow. We'll have to safety check which plants my mom has (she has a lot of stuff), heard there are many that are toxic or not good for cats.