My sister has two cats, Mouser and Minion. Minion is about 5 years old. He was originally adopted by my sister's ex-husband and his them girlfriend.
For the last few months he has been trying to escape outside. Minion has always been a strictly indoor cat. In the last 2 years there's been some upheaval in his life. He moved (along with his family) to my Mom's house for several months, and then to the house he lives at, now. My sister's then husband left for good leaving them all behind. Now my sister loves Minion with all her heart and is happy he's safe with her, so this is just for background information. Oh, he also stopped seeing me as much about the same time because I moved for school.
It was during the summer when he first started doing this (6 months after the walk-out). He's front-declawed (which happened before he was originally adopted), so he obviously shouldn't be outside on his own at all. He never tried to do this before, but now he has this overwhelming desire to go outside. My sister tries to be careful and watch him at the front and back doors, but he escapes a couple times a week. She has friends over sometimes, and I'm not sure they are as careful.
I've suggested that she put a bell on his collar so she has a better chance of hearing him. I think I might suggest that she consider building an enclosure in the future.
Does anybody have any other ideas on how to combat this? Anybody have any ideas on why he suddenly started doing this? Could it be connected to the upheaval he experienced, even though it started 6 months after the last major event?
Tricia
For the last few months he has been trying to escape outside. Minion has always been a strictly indoor cat. In the last 2 years there's been some upheaval in his life. He moved (along with his family) to my Mom's house for several months, and then to the house he lives at, now. My sister's then husband left for good leaving them all behind. Now my sister loves Minion with all her heart and is happy he's safe with her, so this is just for background information. Oh, he also stopped seeing me as much about the same time because I moved for school.
It was during the summer when he first started doing this (6 months after the walk-out). He's front-declawed (which happened before he was originally adopted), so he obviously shouldn't be outside on his own at all. He never tried to do this before, but now he has this overwhelming desire to go outside. My sister tries to be careful and watch him at the front and back doors, but he escapes a couple times a week. She has friends over sometimes, and I'm not sure they are as careful.
I've suggested that she put a bell on his collar so she has a better chance of hearing him. I think I might suggest that she consider building an enclosure in the future.
Does anybody have any other ideas on how to combat this? Anybody have any ideas on why he suddenly started doing this? Could it be connected to the upheaval he experienced, even though it started 6 months after the last major event?
Tricia