Cat Is Suddenly Desperate To Be Outside?

[aneonmoose]

Hi All,

I joined this forum because I'm at the end of my rope.

My 9yo cat, Huncfot, has always been a lazy, cuddly kitten. When he was younger, he used to go outside quite a bit, sometimes stay out for days at a time. Neutering him had no effect on that. However, as he aged, he's been going outside less and less. He has a litterbox which he used to use regularly, until recently.

A week ago, he had an ear canal ablation procedure. The vet gave him a clean bill of health after it and he's healing fine. However, since he came home and the sedatives wore off, he's been absolutely desperate to go outside. He still cuddles but if he sees a shot to go out, He'll take it. He doesn't want to pee in his litterbox anymore, and he doesn't want to come up to eat ny himself. He will eat if he is brought some food.

I'm really worried because he used to be the laziest, cuddliest cat ever and now, he stays out all day (he escaped twice) with no indication that he's going to stop making a run for it.

I've ordered a feliway diffuser and I'm giving him l-tryptophan.

Any ideas? Does he hate me now? I love this cat so much, I wish he'd be himself again. I'm trying to give him space and quiet at home but nothing I do is enough.

Thanks guys.

 

[catlover73]

I do not think Huncfot hates you at all. My husband's aunt and uncle had issues with their 10 year old indoor only kitty suddenly wanting to be outside. Their solution was to harness train her and take her out for walks throughout the day. She also has a mesh kitty tent on their deck within view of their living room. She loves hanging out in her tent watching the birds. They have bird feeders on their deck. Perhaps this is something that you could try as a compromise. Their cat has stopped trying to sneak out completely. I do not have any personal experience with harness training I know there are other members who do. Hopefully one of them can offer advice. I know his aunt and uncle were very lucky because their cat took to the harness with very little training time. I have seen other threads where this is a bit of a process.

 

[ArtNJ]

Occam's Razor suggests your cat wants to go outside more now because the weather is finally consistently beautiful, at least here. Its like it can be a nice day, but if its been lousy for 3x in a row, they would rather imitate Garfield then get up and check. But when its been beautiful for 3x in a row? They all like, I almost got that stinking chipmunk yesterday, let me out! Took a while because the weather was whacky inconsistent, but my cats are in full summer mode now. Don't see my little one for 18 hours sometimes...dunno what he does, but he is way too skinny to have a second family.

 

[aneonmoose]

You really think it could be that simple? It's not ridiculously sunny here but temps have been high. I'm probably reading into it way too much, aren't I? Thanks for replying, I seriously appreciate it <3

 

[Timmer]

I don't think your cat hates you either. Not sure where you live but I do think once it's nice outside that's it for some cats. Maybe he's feeling good now and wants to go out. I wouldn't let him, of course. Too many dangers out there.
I never had any luck with Feliway diffusers.

 

[ArtNJ]

You really think it could be that simple? It's not ridiculously sunny here but temps have been high. I'm probably reading into it way too much, aren't I? Thanks for replying, I seriously appreciate it <3

On re-read, since your cat is indoor only now, its probably the taste of freedom effect. Having escaped once, heard a bird, seen a chipmunk and smelled a bunny, he wants to go again. If you give a cat an inch, or he takes it when you aren't looking, he wants a mile. Very common for a cat that gets outside once, whether by naive owner thinking it will be a once in a while treat (ha!) or by escape, to be very very over-eager to go again.