Cat's memory of territory?

[overwhelmed2]

Hi, I took in a cat that was a little neglected that had been mainly living in my mums backyard and now that the weather turned so cold I felt sorry for her. She seems very happy at my home but she seems to be itching to get outside and has slipped through the door a couple of times as I am leaving but I have caught her in time and put her back in. I don't want her outside at my house as she has only been with me a couple of weeks - I don't want her to get lost and I don't really have cat friendly neighbours - I don't think they would appreciate a cat in their garden.

So I'm thinking about bringing her for the occasional play visit back to my mums backyard when it's a nicer day weather wise. She was there a long time and all the neighbours know her and won't chase her off and mum will feed her. This would be really convenient for me to be able to leave her there as well when I have to travel for work. So do you think she will remember her territory if she has been away from it for a few weeks? I must add that I generally don't agree with keeping cats outside - I've always had indoor cats - but she seems to be missing it so much, she was quite active outdoors as well and now just seems to sleep all the time.

 

[alyssam]

Would your mom not take her in to live in her house? That way she is still in her known-territory and "happier" as you put it. I wouldn't be too concerned with her sleeping so much (cats typically sleep 17-20 hours a day), but the indoor life might take her some getting used to.

 

[overwhelmed2]

No - mum won't take her in - she is 85 years old and finds it hard to look after herself. She really likes the cat but can't really take her in. The other reason and one of the reasons I took her in is she is always getting under mums feet when mum is in the garden where mum likes to depend a lot of time (the cat loves my mum!) and we are afraid she will cause a fall as mum is so frail and walks with difficulty . If I bring her over mum will need to be careful but is happy to do it for a day or so.