Wandering cat

My old cat keeps escaping, she does that only when i leave home, she escapes out from the window, she is smart enough to open a closed windows and run away.
I'm living on the 5th floor (last floor) so i have a roof garden that has a door that leads to the stairs of the building, she opens the window and from my outside garden she goes to the stairs and leave the building (my outside garden-building stairs door is a metal bar door which have enough space for her to go thru). She usually comes back in less than 10 minutes from when i arrive back to home, she enters back from the window and sometimes she comes from the door (keeps meowing untill i open the door for her to come in)..
I've watched her multiple times when she runs away, she does that after i close my car's garage which makes a special noise, i also watched where she goes, she keeps roaming in the area and making trouble with other cats.
her history: She was homeless untill i decided to pet her in july 2015, before that she was living in the streets, maybe she still likes streets as she is used to them?, or maybe she has her own territory outside? (as i know, only male cats does that.. and by the way; she isn't spayed). I just got bored from locking her in when i leave as she keeps finding a way to run, i was afraid the a car steps over her as once she brought a dead cat body to home (died from a car), but i noticed that she is aware from streets and she knows how to deal with them which calmed me down a bit about her behavior..
So for now i still don't know why she leaves, she comes back whenever she see me, and when i spot her when she is trying to run away (by fooling her by operating the garage door), she acts like if she wasn't running away and acts like " hey dude i was looking for you, c'mon lets go back to home and do something".
So any thoughts about why she keeps leaving?

She sounds like a very clever girl.    It's great that you brought her in. 

She'll keep wandering as that's what she's used to, but it's quite feasible to create and indoor space that will satisfy her.  She should get used to it over time, and it's a lot safer for her.

I notice in another thread that your new girl had kittens recently.  And she's absolutely bound to have some again.  The first step to stop her wandering (and getting pregnant) is to get her spayed asap, although she could well be pregnant already.

Why she keeps wandering? There is nothing outside that might make her happy to go out, people here have no love for cats, and children keeps bullying her.
And another annoying thing is that she gets dirty everytime she goes out, and what makes it worst is that she loves hugs.
My apartment space is about 230 square metres, and I'm living alone i also have a minimum amount of furniture so it's a enough space for her and the kittens as every kitten has a empty room waiting, and if she wants more space, she could stay on my outside garden which is nearly as twice the space of my house, she can also go to the roof which is also another big space, so i think space isn't the real problem..
I've noticed that she never leaves the house as long as I'm in, so i thought maybe she just feel lonely so i brought my little sister in to stay with my cat when i leave, but once I'm out she ran away again..

she's adopted you. When she's with you she has no reason to leave. When you're not there, she waits for your return while keeping herself busy running around the neighborhood. I think it's just a cat thing, honestly. And it's in her nature to run around and hunt because it's what she's always done. Your the reason for her to "stay home"
But when she goes back into heat, you'll have to be sure to keep her in some how. Or at least have her altered so she won't have any more kittens.

So is there any thoughts of how to stop her from doing this?
About spaying her: it's a problem for now, it's costly, and i don't have any work till the end of june, they want more than 160USD to spay her, and thats more than my monthly life cost, so till july i can't spay her, but the good thing that I'll be 24/7 at home so she won't leave..
*just a random idea: if i put a piece of tape on her genitalia will that prevent her from getting pregnant (some kind of a condom, it should work?)*

Could you put a screen or barrier on the window so she can't go out? All my windows have screens, and I can leave the windows open without my cats getting out. You'd want it to be pretty secure so she couldnt push through it. Alternatively, it's not ideal, but maybe you could put her in a room without outdoor access when you leave (or the whole time when she's in heat). Cats can lick their genitals easily so I don't think the tape would work.

All cats have a sense of territory and ownership, both male and female. They're just naturally curious and interested in adventuring. But they're fine inside too, the house is their territory and they explore all the places they can get to.

sprin said:

Could you put a screen or barrier on the window so she can't go out? All my windows have screens, and I can leave the windows open without my cats getting out. You'd want it to be pretty secure so she couldnt push through it. Alternatively, it's not ideal, but maybe you could put her in a room without outdoor access when you leave (or the whole time when she's in heat). Cats can lick their genitals easily so I don't think the tape would work.

All cats have a sense of territory and ownership, both male and female. They're just naturally curious and interested in adventuring. But they're fine inside too, the house is their territory and they explore all the places they can get to.

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There is already a screen, but it's the easiest thing for her to open.
On the heat time I'll stay inside and make sure she is locked in.
Now it's been three days and i haven't left the home, she also didn't go outside at all...
Summer is on the doors and as i know cats don't like hot weather, especially when it's very hot outside (hot as hell always over 45c digree), and as the whole house is air conditioned, she probably won't go outside at all, and the hot weather will also include that i won't need to open the windows so I'll just close them and make them un-openable..
But i want to know if there is anyway to make her love to stay at home even when I'm not at home?

She absolutely needs to stay inside. As discussed, she will get pregnant again any time now. Putting tape on her is not a solution. She will find a way to get tape off, and will not be able to use the bathroom with tape on. Not viable, comfortable, or safe.

How old are the kittens? They are going to become sexually active sooner rather than later, and then you will have a lot of kittens...

Are there any low cost spay/neuter clinics in your area? If you let us know the general area that you live in we could look some up for you.

NewYork1303 said:

 
Are there any low cost spay/neuter clinics in your area? If you let us know the general area that you live in we could look some up for you.

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@Moayad Albluwe, I did find this one...http://www.hcaw-jordan.org/small-animals.html

Do you know of them?  I'm wondering whether they could help.

I'm still searching for affordable vets to spay my cat, especially that male cats are now everywhere in the street, and one mistake will just transform my house to a cats farm, so I'll go for spaying her as soon as i find one.
I've been at a pet care shop today I've ordered some stuff and i've also asked him to talk with cat owners he knows and ask them about where did they spay their cat's, I'm going to get my stuff within this week, and i hope he will have the answer too..
Just a fact that people here isn't seeing the huge cat population a problem, thats why there isn't a lot of low cost spaying centers or free ones.
And for the kittens, they're now on their 5th week (they were born at 11/3/2016), they're not sexually active yet, and they haven't got outside at all. They're 3 females and 1 male, I'll also spay them after their 8th week.

Mani said:

@Moayad Albluwe
, I did find this one...http://www.hcaw-jordan.org/small-animals.html
Do you know of them?  I'm wondering whether they could help.

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Thanks, I just saw their FB page and their last activity was in 2015 so it seems that they might closed, another problem with them is that they're in Western Amman (where rich people live) so it's more likely they're also unaffordable too (i know a lot of vets there but all of them are just expensive). So i just saved their number in case i didn't find anyone else.. but as the pet care shop said to me there are some vets in Eastern Amman as there is a lot of cats as pets there, and the place is affordable in general, so I'm focusing in getting a vet from there..

So till then, I'm at home with my cat insuring that she stays inside, it's been 4 days and she haven't left the house by her own, even with all the open Windows..

It's not a problem if you can get them neutered before they mature, but know that the male kitten can get the female kittens and the mom pregnant if they all reach sexual maturity and are living together.

As far as the wandering cat thing, I'm glad it sounds like you're mostly controlling it. Does she leave when you go to the store and such? Something I'm sort of unclear on is if this is one window she can get out of or multiple windows. And is it that she can open the window, or just that when the window is open she can get past the screen? Also are you sure she isn't able to go out when you're sleeping?

sprin said:

It's not a problem if you can get them neutered before they mature, but know that the male kitten can get the female kittens and the mom pregnant if they all reach sexual maturity and are living together.

As far as the wandering cat thing, I'm glad it sounds like you're mostly controlling it. Does she leave when you go to the store and such? Something I'm sort of unclear on is if this is one window she can get out of or multiple windows. And is it that she can open the window, or just that when the window is open she can get past the screen? Also are you sure she isn't able to go out when you're sleeping?

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I'm going to spay the kittens after their 8th week, they're still 5 now.

And about my wandering cat, she leaves whenever i leave the house in front of her or when operating the car's garage door, for the garage thing she leaves the house within 2 minutes.

She leaves from any window in the house except one window(thats because its the only double glass panel window with a child lock, its too heavy for her to move and the child lock also do his job), she prefers to run from her room window, she opens the closed window, and the screen is the easiest part  as she put her claws in it and slide it away. she never leaves the house as long i'm inside even when i'm asleep.

i've watched her leave multiple times by setting some camera and a live stream, i've also tracked her outside when she leaves and saw everything she do. she just roams in the area looking around and attacking some other cats, she keeps passing in front of the house every little while and if she found my car in the garage she just comes back home..

@Moayad Albluwe that is such good news!  Keep us posted!

Perhaps this vet will organise a discount for your kittens.

Moayad Albluwe said:

 
I'm going to spay the kittens after their 8th week, they're still 5 now.

And about my wandering cat, she leaves whenever i leave the house in front of her or when operating the car's garage door, for the garage thing she leaves the house within 2 minutes.

She leaves from any window in the house except one window(thats because its the only double glass panel window with a child lock, its too heavy for her to move and the child lock also do his job), she prefers to run from her room window, she opens the closed window, and the screen is the easiest part  as she put her claws in it and slide it away. she never leaves the house as long i'm inside even when i'm asleep.

i've watched her leave multiple times by setting some camera and a live stream, i've also tracked her outside when she leaves and saw everything she do. she just roams in the area looking around and attacking some other cats, she keeps passing in front of the house every little while and if she found my car in the garage she just comes back home..

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This is so great!  I'm so happy that your gang will be healthy and safe.

If possible, I would also recommend putting child locks on the other windows.  You really don't want her wandering and fighting - that's how nasty and dangerous diseases are spread.

As i took her to the vet on Wednesday to do her some tests before the operation, and her health is excellent without any problems, so they approved her to the operation that was today morning. So i dropped her today to the vet to do the operation this morning, and thankfully they done it quickly. Now it's been 13 hours since the operation, they called me when they finished the operation, and they also called me when she woke up in case if i want to visit her, she's gonna sleep the night there, I'll take her home tomorrow at about 2PM, or maybe earlier.
So is there anything to worry about when she come back? And how long should she stay without touching the stiches, they used the stitches that fade by time. Most of you here have done this operation to your cats, so is there anything that i should know? The vet just told me to not let her touch that area, and they might give me some medicines for her, but that depends on her status in the day she'll spend with the vet...
I'm missing her, the house is slightly quieter.. and I'm confused whether i should visit her or just wait for tomorrow... (it's 10PM now, so i guess the longest time have already passed).
Once she's back, I'll just block all the windows from being opened, the weather just got hotter, and the spring have already finished (spring is just one week here [emoji]128514[/emoji]), as i already started using the air conditions, and i have a ventilation system in my apartment so no need for windows now. and on july im going to replace all these windows to better and heavier ones with child locks and keys for get them locked if wanted, to prevent any of my cats from wandering.
I'll discuss about spaying and neutering my kittens, I'll try to get a discount as they're 4!, and they're about two weeks away from their 8th week.
The spaying operation costed 99USD, it includes the night she is staying with them, and also includes all her medications and any other accessories she need, and free checking for her wound for two weeks. Neutering a male cat is half this number, i guess because it doesn't need to open his belly.

That's a pretty good price, compared to the usual US prices. My vet charges $100 for spays and $60 for neuters so that's pretty similar. Not a low-cost place but well within low-normal pricing. With the kittens, have the females done first. . .males don't usually get to be a problem until at least 8 months, but females can go into heat as early as 4 months. If they won't give a discount for having them all done at once, you could have one done every 2 months, to spread out the expense. One female done at 2 months, one done at 4 months (assuming you don't have more than 2 females! If so, it'll need to be done faster), one male at 6 months, one at 8 months. Like that.

For the mama cat, congrats on getting her spayed before more kittens arrive! Sometimes it's not easy :lol3:. The vet should give you some post-op instructions. Basically, try to keep her from jumping and running around for at least a week. Some cats don't care very much and are very active. . .I've never tried to stop a cat from doing whatever she wants to do, but don't encourage it. She still needs to keep the surgery site clean, so don't try to stop her from licking completely. But if she licks too much (enough to cause a sore) or starts trying to pull out the stitches you'll have to put something on her to prevent trouble. Most cats do fine though. Make sure she doesn't get outside for at least 2 weeks, because you don't want her wound to get dirty, or for the males to accost her before she's fully healed.

If they check her incision for free, that's great! If you can, take her in once a week, or more often if you think it looks bad. That way they can tell you what to look for and make sure it's healing properly.

ETA: oh, just saw that you have 3 girls and 1 boy. Haha, don't they always do that to us to make us pay more? :lol3: So every 2 months won't work. . .maybe one a month? Ask the vet clinic what age they prefer.

When she gets spayed she probably won't wander as much. Don't forget that she can still get pregnant even if she isn't showing that she's in heat-the yowling and raising the bottom and rubbing on everything.

OPPS-didn't read your latest update a few minutes ago-ignore the above BUT glad she is getting spayed=maybe you can use a piece of wood to block the window from being pushed open? Maybe saw off a piece of a broom handle and stick it in the window where the bottom part sits so it blocks it from being pushed open.  here we do this to deter burglars so they cant jimmy the window open-

That's a good price for spay-they will do a basic profile of her blood to make sure her red/white cells and organ function is normal-anesthesia can put some strain on compromised organs but there are ways around it but for now=its a good idea to ask for a paper copy of bloodwork after the surgery=then put it into a plastic folder/binder to keep for future records incase down the road something happens and you need to take her to another vet=even if you don't forsee using another vet later=this information is invaluable incase theres a health crisis down the road. And a good idea to keep another copy of these records inside the cat carrier underneath the blanket/towel you use to put her on-this also can save headaches later on if there is an emergency.

I don't know how you put up with the heat.

And If I was a cat I would want to stay INSIDE on hot days..

And of course you got lots of great advice earlier.

So it's been 3 days since the operation, everything sounds good, today i took her to the vet to do a fast check up over her, everything is going as supposed, and we removed the cone that we've put over her(it's not a cone, it's a ballon that prevents her from rolling over her self and reaching the operation area).
At home she is doing good, she is eating and moving like normal, she is not messing with the operation area, but her kittens wants to mess with their mothers operation site which is annoying me...
I've discussed with the vet about spaying the kittens, and we've got a deal to do all of them at once for 280USD (i guess no new phone this year..), same package as their mother, we will do it when they reach their 10th week as the vet says it's a good age for this operation.
The mother cat still wants to wander but she can't open the windows as i closed them permanently and screwed the frame to the wall and closed the edges with tape and hard glue (to reduce their air leakage and increase the air conditioning efficiency).
foxxycat I already have a copy of her blood test before the operation, do i need to make another test for her after the operation. I've hidden that blood test in my important papers briefcase, as i might need it someday..
And for the cats and the weather here: at summers it be impossible seeing any cat at the day time as it's always over 113f at summer and it reaches 133f as it did last summer (most air conditions don't work at such temperatures), my cat started wandering when summer finished and temperature dropped under 95f, for now weather is swinging between 90f and 72f, so it's still a good weather for cats to be outside.
Thanks everyone for your help, i hope that after spaying her she won't try to wander again..

Everything sounds great! Keep an eye on the kittens bothering the spay site. She may need some space from them if they get too rough. I'm so glad you figured this out for all of them. Will the vet also vaccinate and deworm the kittens? I guess mom should have that too since she was a stray.