A ? for those with indoor cats

Opal is a blue somali,long haired and a perfect show cat,she is beautiful looking and I know she is at risk of getting stolen,not to be bigheaded but you do not see many pretty cats like her around this area and she would make a great show cat so Im always paranoid she will get stolen

She is in for the most part,escaped once and got pregnant and got out again the other day but thankfully I caught her so she would not miss getting spayed the next day,but she is a handful to keep in

My other cat Blue had a bad abcsess from fighting so I want to keep him in,Im having a hard job keeping the kitten Bono in as when the window is open she now tries to jump out

I live in a small house,my garden is directly by a road so I cant fence them in anyway but I also cant keep my windows open,if I open the door all three of them scaper.Opal isnt to bad because she doesnt move fast and is easy to catch lol

So how do you manage to keep your indoors? I also have three small children who are good at opening doors all the time

I have a cat room for my indoor cats with those things on the window that let them only open so far enough. Mine were brought up being inside so they are used to it.

So are all your babies desexed?

Opal was done today,Blue is going in next week

Bono is only 2 mths old,but she is a tiny kitten so I am going to wait a bit longer until we get her done

I'll move this to Care and Grooming so the others can have a look


If for some reason the front or back doors have to be left open which isn't often, Rosie and Sophie are put up into their room which is the guest room with their food, water, litterboxes and toys.

They have to stay up there during the day while i'm at work as well because i set the house alarm for downstairs.

I leave the windows open when i'm at home, but just small enough to let some fresh air in.

screens on the window are your friend. can keep the windows open and no fear at all that the kitties will get out. If you can't install some, you can buy the ones that slide to fit the window and won't fall out.

My kitties are curious, but none of my indoor cats have ever run out. they're raised inside, the big bad world outside is kinda scary. enough to make them hesitate.

With one of my parents cats it's quite the fight to keep him in. He was originally a country stray, and we brough him to the city and he's been indoor ever since (other than a few escapes that resulted in us chasing him around the neighbourhood). He pushed the screen out of our front window once, now we only leave them open 2 inches at night so he can't get to the screen. We stick our foot through the door before entering the house, (pushing any prowling kitties away), make sure they're away from the doors as we leave the house, and ignore his incessant crying in the springtime to go out. This is for his safety as we live in a busy area, and also there is a by-law against roaming cats (he would be captured, detained and possibly euthanised if allowed to roam free).

My own cats aren't nearly such a hassle. They were both city strays (Buddy for only 5 weeks of his life, but no matter). Nya has absolutley no interest in being outdoors anymore, infact she's only sauntered towards the open front door once, (while bringing groceries in) and I simply had to scold her and she returned to the livingroom. Buddy is absolutley TERRIFIED of the outdoors, and I'd like it to stay that way. If I have him in my arms and go to answer the door, he'll claw me up trying to get away from the evil fresh air

Oliver was a stray and sometimes it seems that he wants back out (he's entirely indoor now), but anytime I try to take him out (harnessed of course) he freezes up and gets really scared... I tried a few times by holding him out on my parents deck at home, but I think he thought I was gonna let him go again... anyhow, he got out once from my apartment (it's not a high rise building, so my door opens right to the outside) but Jim and I corralled him back inside and I think us being upset kinda got him scared of trying to get out - I can tell he's still curious and loves to paw the window at squirrels and such, but I dont think he'll be trying to escape again.... I also hang his harness and leash on the door knob - since he apparnetly associates them with going outside (which he doesnt like).... I know places like Drs Foster and Smith sell outdoor play-yards (essentially) for kitties... they're fully enclosed walkways and playpens, so they can enjoy the outdoors safely - of course you'd wanna keep an eye on them

Cat Walks

Mine never try to escape. In fact, they are scared of the outdoor. I tried to take one on the balcony and he run off (back inside) because he is terrified.
So, I donl't have any problems of keeping them inside, they wouldn't go out.

With small kids, that's a big problem in keeping the cats from escaping. Hope she's spayed real soon to eliminate that problem.

How old are your kids? Can you keep the cat in a room if the kids are playing in and outside for awhile?

Try a squirt gun when the cat is near the door - scare the heck out of them and make them thing the door is a bad place to be. I did that with a household pet and he got to the point where you could open the door and he made NO attempt to run out.

You could also hook up a cat door and have an enclosed run attached to it.

We just push the cats lightly with our foot if they are near the door when we're coming or going. We use spray bottles just in case they try to claw through the screen. Limerick is scared to go outside so we don't have to wrry too much about him, but Able was a stray so it can be tricky. Tell them to back up and they do. It's not hard. Spaying and neutering should help releive the desire to wonder.

I keep Zoey in an enclosed back yard...

Thanks,she was spayed yesterday,Im going to see if I can get some screens

Our cats have their own room when we're not home too. If they were ever to get outside we would have a hard time preventing them from running out the door when we were coming in, so the cat room is the next best option. Plus, they're very mischievous when we're not looking. Even when they are in their room, and one of us goes in there they slip out when we don't want them to. They are ninjas when it comes to slipping out the door and running downstairs before we can scoop them up or push them back in with a light foot nudge.

mine don't try to get out anymore. we had one apartment when we just had raven and nabu, that had a backyard. we took them out on harnesses then. but that was in 2000.

the other thing is we live in a third floor apartment, so they wouldn't be able to go out anyway. they are perfectly happy indoors. we have a good view of the parking lot, a big tree in front of the bedroom window, lots of cat forts and other perches.

Once you get the screens, you may be able to get away with just opening the tops of the windows (I don't know if you can even do that, but it's a thought). We do this at our house b/c our screens are rickety and we can just see a kitty falling from the second floor... it definitely helps put our minds at ease. That way, we can even leave the 2nd floor windows open a crack on top when we are gone.

We hope there aren't too many kitty thieves out here in nowheresville! Or at least ones that are willing to scale the house!

Originally Posted by pepsi

Opal is a blue somali,long haired and a perfect show cat,she is beautiful looking and I know she is at risk of getting stolen,not to be bigheaded but you do not see many pretty cats like her around this area and she would make a great show cat so Im always paranoid she will get stolen

She is in for the most part,escaped once and got pregnant and got out again the other day but thankfully I caught her so she would not miss getting spayed the next day,but she is a handful to keep in

My other cat Blue had a bad abcsess from fighting so I want to keep him in,Im having a hard job keeping the kitten Bono in as when the window is open she now tries to jump out

I live in a small house,my garden is directly by a road so I cant fence them in anyway but I also cant keep my windows open,if I open the door all three of them scaper.Opal isnt to bad because she doesnt move fast and is easy to catch lol

So how do you manage to keep your indoors? I also have three small children who are good at opening doors all the time

Click to expand...

Getting screens for the windows will help...but I have also read of cats tearing through screens to get outside...so make sure you get very durable screens. One way to allow your cats to enjoy the scents and sounds of the outdoors without endangering their lives is to add an screened in porch or even a outside cat enclosure to your house. I've seen some fantastic handmade enclosures made from chicken wire and ingenuity. The cats can come inside and outside...but cannot leave the confines of the enclosure.

Katie

Cupid's a little curious about outside. He's gotten close to the door twice, both when I opened the door to get packages and he came running (maybe they knew they were for him? ). I put him in his room when I leave and my roommate uses the back door to come in & go out.

I don't know what I'd do if I had kids that like to open doors! You have your hands full, don't you? Maybe you could build some type of enclosure on the inside or outside that you have to go in before you get to the door. That way you can easily make sure there aren't any cats in it before you open the outside door. If you have a back door, you could put it there, and put a lock up higher on the other door to keep the kids from being able to reach it.

Good luck! I know how worrisome it is.

We live in an upstairs apartment, so Luna never really sees the outside world. I will take her out on the balcony, but I have to hold her now, otherwise she heads straight for the edge.
When I first got her though, she would try to follow me out the door. I would grab a ball or mouse and throw it in the opposite direction of the opening door. Now she doesn't try to follow me out.