This is a rather long story but i think all the details are necessary.
I moved from an apartment to a town house 18 months ago. I have 3 cats, all spayed, all happy well adjusted cats. When we first got here everything was fine, my cats adjusted to the change really well.
I used to walk them around the back yard a few times a week.
They are strictly in door cats other wise.
Anyway, the problems began when Mimi started wanting to go out. ALL the time. It's gotten to the point when every time i get up she will rac to the door and just wait there... and the last few weeks she has started digging against the door. It's almost as though she's onsessed with going out side and nothing is enough for her.
I let her out now in the morning for a few hours. I put her in her harness and let her roam around outside in the front of the drive way. There's a small patch of garden and i leave the laundry room door open for her and she usually sits in there when she's had enough of the outside. There's a bird feeder and water and some food....
She's just so different now. She used to be really enthusiastic about things but it seems as if she's just a shadow of the cat she used to be. I can't understand what has gone wrong... She is cranky. Short tempered. Most afternoons she just lays for hours on a chair and just stares blankly.
Any attempt i make to play with her she immeadiately thinks she is going outside....
She still sleeps next to me at night on her sheepskin... and she gets along really well with the little kitten we just adopted/rescued but she just seems unhappy and vacant.
We have loads of toys and it's not as if there's nothing to do around here... there's always something going on. We have 4 foster cats so ... some where in the house you can bet a game of catch is in progress at any given time of the day.
It's just emotionally draining when everytime we get up to do anything she races to the door and whines to go out... and the worst thing is the urgency to go out seems to be getting more intense everyday....
My husband made a comment the other day that perhaps she's driving herself nutts ... what should i do? i can't let her out here because its a communal garden and she could so easily go missing, and we've had a few cases of strangulation around here.... so i just don't dare....
and to make matters worse next month i'm moving back to the apartment and she won't have any access to an outside at all! I do intend to take her to my mums place a lot because she lives near by and has a nice high walled garden with a lovely fish pond.... i just am really concerned for her mental health as she just seems really different from how she was a year ago.
any suggestions?
I moved from an apartment to a town house 18 months ago. I have 3 cats, all spayed, all happy well adjusted cats. When we first got here everything was fine, my cats adjusted to the change really well.
I used to walk them around the back yard a few times a week.
They are strictly in door cats other wise.
Anyway, the problems began when Mimi started wanting to go out. ALL the time. It's gotten to the point when every time i get up she will rac to the door and just wait there... and the last few weeks she has started digging against the door. It's almost as though she's onsessed with going out side and nothing is enough for her.
I let her out now in the morning for a few hours. I put her in her harness and let her roam around outside in the front of the drive way. There's a small patch of garden and i leave the laundry room door open for her and she usually sits in there when she's had enough of the outside. There's a bird feeder and water and some food....
She's just so different now. She used to be really enthusiastic about things but it seems as if she's just a shadow of the cat she used to be. I can't understand what has gone wrong... She is cranky. Short tempered. Most afternoons she just lays for hours on a chair and just stares blankly.
Any attempt i make to play with her she immeadiately thinks she is going outside....
She still sleeps next to me at night on her sheepskin... and she gets along really well with the little kitten we just adopted/rescued but she just seems unhappy and vacant.
We have loads of toys and it's not as if there's nothing to do around here... there's always something going on. We have 4 foster cats so ... some where in the house you can bet a game of catch is in progress at any given time of the day.
It's just emotionally draining when everytime we get up to do anything she races to the door and whines to go out... and the worst thing is the urgency to go out seems to be getting more intense everyday....
My husband made a comment the other day that perhaps she's driving herself nutts ... what should i do? i can't let her out here because its a communal garden and she could so easily go missing, and we've had a few cases of strangulation around here.... so i just don't dare....
and to make matters worse next month i'm moving back to the apartment and she won't have any access to an outside at all! I do intend to take her to my mums place a lot because she lives near by and has a nice high walled garden with a lovely fish pond.... i just am really concerned for her mental health as she just seems really different from how she was a year ago.
any suggestions?