Moving my cat to an apt.

Hullo!

I've got a large (7kg) Maine Coon called Ridley. He's an active, outdoor cat. We live in a terrace house in Sydney, and he's allowed out at weekends and sometimes during the day (he sleeps indoors at night.)

Due to the fact that I'm having a new baby soon, we might have to move to a city apartment.

Do cats adapt to suddenkly becoming 'indoor' cats. Will he freak out?

More importantly, as I expect to put his litter tray on the balcony - I'm terrified that he'll jump onto the rail and fall. What can I do? I'll be renting so some sort of mesh will be a) not allowed b) pretty ugly!

Help!

Andy Flemming.

Having kept cats in an apartment- I would be careful about letting your cat onto the balcony unless supervised- not unheard of for cats to fall off.
Your cat may adapt well to being inside- but best to keep him completely inside for the first few weeks.
I kept my cats in an apartment until I moved to a house recently- I believe my older adopted one was an outside cat in her previous home- she adapted fine to being indoors- watched her when she was outside on the balcony.
My young active cat with no common sense was never allowed on the balcony.
As for litter trays- I kept them in the laundry of my apartment.
The other thing to consider if you are going to be renting an apartment with cats- not only does the landlord have to approve but the body corporate also.
I was an owner but kept very quiet about the fact I had 2 cats- I had permission for only one and a no pet policy was then brought in just when I brought the second one home.
An Australian product similar to the one Hissy posted a link to is Catmax.com-

mayebe you could build an enclosure for her on the balcony.

we have these kind of product here in canada, maybe you can find something similar in australia or make one urself

http://www.thecatsden.net/apartments.html