Have your inside only kitties ever got outside

and it scared the living be-jesus out of you?

I am sitting here typing away at home and I hear a noise from the window behind me, so I look and it's Kanga sniffing at Tigger OUTSIDE!!! I nearly died of a heart attack right there. I ran outside with my curly hair still messy from sleep, my white with pink flowered short nightdress flapping in the wind and bare footed after this little rascal.

And she has the nerve to hiss at ME when I bring her in. Oh I could have bitten her head off. Instead I buried my face in her fur and told her how scared she made me.

She's still hovering over that window where she got out.

Are some cats meant to be outdoors?

I had something similar happen. I was sitting at my desk doing my homework, the desk is right in front of a window but outside the window is the balcony (I live on the 3rd floor) There is a table with 2 bar chairs sitting on the patio. I heard Dori meowing, but it sounded like it was coming from the living room. I called her name and then happened to look up and she was glaring in at me her face pushed up against the window. I guess when my bf came in from grilling on the patio he had left her out there. I was so freaked out when I saw her. I get so worried with that patio that she would just jump off! I ran out and grabbed her and hugged her and then yelled at Daddy for leaving her outside! She really likes to be out there, but I don't let her unless I am sitting right next to her.
Have you maybe thought of getting an outside enclosure so that Tigger could sit in that outside sometimes?

You're lucky you caught her. If your cats do get outside, no matter how stressed you are, approach them calmly and casually. Otherwise you could scare them into running away farther from you.

Glad you got your kitty!

we rent right now a small 1 bedroom basement suite. We have thought about it here and there about getting something and attaching it to a window so she can go outside into a chicken hen sort of thing. but I'd have to check with my landlords blah blah blah.

Darrell has promised me that when we buy a house he will build me a huge one. We're constantly looking but at out price range, nothing is good enough ya know?

Hissy, that's exactly what I was thinking. I ran outside but when I approached her I tippy toed over to her and gracefully picked her up. I didn't make a sound but she sure did.

Some kittys love being outside. I have found though that if you raise them indoors from when they are born, they will be less interested in going outside, and less likely to make a break for it. Cleo and her sister Marge were born to their feral mother in my vet's backyard. They were only taken indoors when they were 8 weeks old and Cleo is ALWAYS trying to get out. Then there's Tinkles, he was abandoned and lived outside through the thunderstorms in Texas for who knows how long. He has absolutely no desire to go outside, and he still looks for cover whenever he hears thunder or rain, poor baby. I have kept my cats indoors ever since I had one get hit by a car. That did it for me. The closest mine get to going outside is going in the garage! Which doesn't contain any cars anyway, just loads and loads of boxes to play around!

Sarah

Nope, none have gotten out. I'm glad you got found her quickly and easily, but that must have been a shock.

One of mine is afraid and doesn't even like going out on the screened porch.

We don't have kids so it's easy to watch for them. We teach them that the doors leading outside are loud and scary so they stay away from them when we're opening and closing them. A few door slams now and then reinforces the message when they start to forget. (I'll admit we're lucky and don't have the kind of cat that longs for outdoors.)

~Heather

Up to now none of mine have wanted to go out which has surprised because Tara and Pebbles were inside/outdoor cats before they lived with me. It is my biggest dread that one my furbabes gets out.

JC ran out the front door once, but he stopped to sniff something and I scooped him up. He has slipped his harness or broken his lead a few times when I've had him outside on a leash in the backyard, but luckily I've so far always been able to catch him, as he panics once he's outside his yard, and crouches. I panicked the other night when I thought he was sitting outside the living room window - it turned out to be his local "Doppelgängerin", Zsa-Zsa, who's an indoor-outdoor cat.

Stumpy got outside thru the front door once. He ran to the end of the porch and realized it was a big world out there. I opened the door, called him and he hightailed it back into the house.

All of mine originated from outside (strays or ferals). Most have no interest in outside, but some are curious and will slip out once in a while. They stick close by, we call them and they usually come running, and if not, we simply sit down and tempt them with toys and treats. If you panic they run away.

Didn't Tigger get out once before a couple of months ago and a neighbor found her?!

Mittens got out about a month ago, while I was working one afternoon and Zack was home with the furrchildren. I came home and he told me while he was working outside he forgot to shut the door and Mits got out. He said he walked out about an hour later and he found Mittens rolling in the grass! It was a beautiful sunny day! He loved it--now I walk him on a leash...hopefully the weather will clear up soon since it has been raining for 2 weeks now...he just loves it and is very curious!

So far neither of the boys have gotten out...thankfully I would completely freak out, I live on a really busy street.

However I can remember my childhood cat getting out and being missing for three weeks before turning back up. That was a really stressful three weeks. She came back none the worse for wear, I think some else took her into their home and she finally found a way to sneak out.

2 of our Katkritters are indoor only. The 3rd is indoor/outdoor only in the back yard and too old to climb over the wall so she's safe. The oldest of the younger 2 kept showing up outside. We'd leave and pull back in and she'd be at the front door. So we're going nuts trying to figure out how in the heck she's getting outside. I started calling her Merlin. Finally I caught her in the act. One of the window screen frames was loose at the corner. Not a lot, but enough to let a small kitty squeeze her way out. Of course the screen returned back to its original position after BooBoo went through so there wasn't a trace. Fixed the screen and watched her try for 2 weeks to get that screen to budge. lol

Fortunately she is fairly timid and never ventured far.



Jeff

Lily has no interest in going outside, although she loves open windows and doors. If she sees us going towards an outside door, she'll run away! I think she's scared we're going to make her go outside!

My parents had 2 cats... Sylvester was the older male who was allowed out when he was a kitten with his little "brother" Bandi. Well Bandi got hit by a truck on our street and though we tried to convert Sylvester into an indoor only cat, he wasn't having any part of it. When they got another cat though, her name was Butterscotch, she was an indoor only cat.

One Christmas Eve, our family was having their anual shin-dig at my parents house and someone had opened the basement sliding glass door about 2-3" and left it that way. Well Butterscotch, who normally hides up in mom n dads room for these occassions, somehow snuck downstairs and darted out that door. It was FREEZING that night and Raining cats n dogs and well... we couldn't find her that night. We found her the next day, drenched and very upset. Lets just say, she never wanted to go out again!


My Isabelle used to be an indoor/outdoor cat until I converted her to indoor only... but during her conversion process she got out a couple of times and as luck would have it, it was always on a cold rainy or snowy day. Since I've moved though I think she's gotten out only once and I've always been there when she did and she doesn't really run away from me... She just runs to the asphalt walkway and rolls in the dirt until I pick her up and bring her back inside.

All of mine have gotten out at one time or another. Since we live in a quiet neighborhood, Fred and Georgia are allowed to go out occasionally, but they stay right on the porch or in front of it. When they want to come in, they can slip under the garage door or knock on the front. Usually I just go out with them. Fred was an indoor/outdoor kitty for most of his life and still likes to sun his tummy, or give chase to the occasional squirrel. He is so old he doesn't run around much any more, so I like to let him have his occasional romp outside to get a little exercise. Pepper is still not spayed, so try as she might, she is not allowed out. We are VERY diligent about this. Pearl shows absolutely no interest in outside. She went out once when we lived in the country, walked 30 feet from the house, sat down and screamed until I came for her. She hasn't so much as looked at the door since.

When he was a kitten, Simon got outside and ran under our palm trees. They are dense so I was wandering around the whole neighborhood looking for him and he had never left the yard!

Max slipped out the front door once when my hubby's parents came in. (They are older and a bit slow, so for a fast kitty this was easy!) He was so scared that he sat in a bush like two feet from the front door and was thrilled when my husband opened the door and "found" him.

Sam was likely an indoor kitty. It is possible, but not easy, for him to sneak out the front door. I decided to train him on a harness and leash, so that he would be used to the outdoors if he did escape, and I would know where to find him. It worked really well, he has favourite spots, and one time, he was gone for about 20 minutes before I noticed, and sure enough, I knew exactly where to find him. I also know that if he is scared, he runs straight for the front door.

Bailey was a stray, and is very very timid about outdoors. However, I have a harness and leash for her, and if Sam is outside, she wants to be with him, and will follow. But never out of sight of the front door.

I may be wrong, but it just seemed that if they were familiar with the territory outside the front door, if they did get out, and were scared, they would know safe hiding places, and I would know where to look for them.

This will freak you out, i still get a shudder when i think about it!

Rosie was only 3 months old. I was looking for her to put her in her room because we were nearly ready to leave for work, and i couldn't find her?.

Then as i walked into our bedroom. there she was on the outside of the windowsill, 30' up!!! . She had jumped up to where the window was open and jumped onto the windowsill.( don't ask me how she didn't slip and fall, i still wonder to this day!).

I screamed to my boyfriend who came running upstairs to get the step ladders, but in the mean time i stood on the windowsill where i only had my skirt on and my bra!, and dangled a bit string down to her where she stood on her back paws to play with it, and quickly put my hand around her neck and yanked her up.

At that point i was so relieved that she was ok, that i buried my face in her neck and kissed her all over as well as bawling my eyes out

She was oblivious to everything, but since that day if the windows are open, the doors a shut!. I couldn't go through that again

Cody has tried to "escape" a couple times. It doesn't help to have a roommate who opens the door and says, "Here ya go kitty, want to go outside?"...after I continuely try to train her time and time again not to go outside AT ALL.

She doesn't know what to do when she gets out there...just kinda hunches to the ground and smells things. But I tell you that I nearly have a nervous breakdown trying to get her back in since there are cars nearby. And of course she thinks it's fun to have Mommy chase her! I think we've finally gotten it down now though.

None of my indoor cats have gotten out. THANK GOODNESS! I don't know what I would do if that ever happens.

That's one of my WORST nightmares and that's a big factor why I like to live alone so that way I KNOW my babies are inside SAFE!