helping an anxious indoor/outdoor kitty become a indoor only kittie!

[jonesy]

Iv been attempting to train my cat Mikey a black burmese who was a outdoor/indoor car for his first 2 years, to a indoor only cat. 3 injurys and a few cat fights, and spotting him in the street i decided to make in indoor only. I started in the fall and he made it through the winter quite well. It was cold wet and gloomy so he didnt seem to even care. Once the weather got warm and nice, hes been a little hyper. In the morning hes fine, but during the peak afternoon hours hes really hyper. Then in the evenings hes usually fine again. But during the afternoons hes Jumping from window to window, with lots of meowing. He also marks (sprays) the back door about once a day. He sprayed a few other spots as well, but after cleaning those up he hasent revisited those, but he hits the back door daily, which isnt so bad i can clean it up easy. But its hard to pin down what hes so "anxious" about during the day. I assumed it was because he wants out, but he never goes to the door too show me he wants out, and never tries for the door when i leave. plus i leave the windows open for him sometimes (with screens in) and he makes no attempt to "break out". Actually he used to meow alot when indoors even when he went outside every day, so its hard to pin down. He eats fine, very playful, i try to play with him heavly for about an hour a day. Which helps for a while but he usually goes back to meowing after a while. I do know that other cats from my neighborhood tend to travel through my back yard often, which he has a full view of from his windows, which may be a reason.  Currently hes on kitty prozac (the cream kind you put in his ear) and i have a fielaway plug in diffuser in the living room (where he spends 90% of his time)..that i just got yesterday so its not really in effect yet. I bought him a really nice cat tree for him to climb on inside. I also built a smaller shelf style one for his main window so he can lay down and look out the window from high up. He has TONS of toys to play with. 4 days a week he is alone for most of the day though, because of my job, i work from 7am - 6pm, so hes at home for 11 hours alone on those. I wonder if that has anything to do with it? On my off days when im home all day is when he whines. My brother who lives upstairs checks on him from time to time to visit him while im working. And says he hears no whining or meowing during the day from downstairs, or when he visits him. 

Any advice to help make my anxious kitty to calm down a bit and enjoy is life?

 

[catspaw66]

Has he been neutered?  I am assuming not, since he is spraying.  Getting him neutered will curb the desire to get out to breed and fight. 

 

[jonesy]

yeah hes been neutered 

 

[vball91]

I tend to think that it's the other cats that are setting him off although I'm not sure why he does it only when you're home. He could be whining for more attention. Cats are most active at dawn and dusk, so that just could be his "zoomie" time.

How long ago was he neutered? I know neutered cats can still be territorial, but all that fighting and spraying from a neutered male seems a little unusual.

 

[jonesy]

he was neutered right after we got him, vet estimates he was about 6 to 8 months old when we found him, so say around 8 months old he was neutered. 

When mikey was going outside i dont think he looked for fights.. Other cats/animals always where invading his yard, and stalking him, so i think he was more defending himself during those.. He would usually run away to his shed first, but sometimes they would follow him in. 

Mikey sleeping hours are kinda strange.. He loves too sleep in late in the morning, i have to wake him up for his breakfast, usually he gets up all sleepy, eats a bit, then back to sleep for a few hours.. Hes wide awake during the afternoon hours (when he meows alot) then during the evenings (around 5pm) he sets down for a nap until around 8pm or so, then hes fine until we go to bed around 11pm..

Now like i said, during the winter he was fine.. Not much whining, but it was cold, wet and crappy out, so i doubt the other cats where outside roaming my yard either.. 

Im no longer sure if he is even worried about going out.. I mean im sure he would if i let him, but he gives no obvious hints that he actually wants out.. Even when he was still going out, it was only for an hour a day. Plus he went through the entire winter without even caring about going out. But like i said, once it got sunny and warm out, he suddenly started getting anxious during the day. Jumping up and down from window to window meowing. Doesnt seem to make a different if  the window is open or closed.. Although he does like it when i open my bedroom window, he will scratch at the window to get me to open it.. But once the sun starts going down, he usually calms right down, and takes a nap.. Just to note that Mikey is naturally very vocal anyway, he loves to talk to you. But during his window hopping, he sounds anxious. 

Not sure what else to do, hes on prozac, and i just started to use the feilaway plug in.. So hopefully that will help him some too.. Hopefully it will get him to stop spraying on the door too. Which isnt a big deal, its usually only a few drops, and i clean it right up with urine-off.. 

Im starting to think based on the times hes anxious (around 11am till about 4pm) and the fact he sprays the back door, is that there are other cats he's seeing, or other animals that are getting him worked up.. I know some of the outside cats will go to the front of the house sometimes and tease my parents cat Joey , who lives upstairs, through the windows and get him worked up. But Joey is a big fat 8 year old tabby, and he just takes most things in stride.. Where Mikey gets pretty excited, but he's still really young too, so im sure with age he will clam down more.. But for the present, i just want him to be able to relax during the day so hes not stressed out.. Plus he drives me a little nuts with the meowing.. Its not horrible, as he doesnt do it directly at me, sometimes he walks over to me while im at the computer and whines and takes me too the window, so ill go look, but never see anything. Of course that doesnt mean nothing is out there.. If he gets too whiney i just shut my bedroom door for a little while and leave him in the living room alone. 

If i distract him by just hanging out in the living room, or when we have our play hour hes fine.. But once i leave the room back into my bedroom, within an hour or so he starts meowing again. I dont think its lack of attention, he gets pleanty of that from me when im home, one hour of heavy playtime everyday, and when hes not doing his afternoon window hopping hes usually asleep in my lap while im watching tv or working on the computer.  

 

[catspaw66]

Go to your local hunting store and get some predator urine. Here is a website that has everything.  www.predatorpee.com   I see the peeman suggests wolf urine to keep cats away.  You will see it is very expensive, but there are three bottles in the pack (pun half-way intended)  and you could get a couple of neighbors to split the cost with you.  Would it be worth $30 to each of you to keep stray cats away?

 

[jonesy]

Thats an idea.. But my back yard is quite large.. It would take ALOT of wolf urine to make a "boarder" around my yard.. Plus once it rains, its pretty much money down the drain. 

 

[catspaw66]

That's the problem with using predator urine.  It does wash away.  You wouldn't have to make a solid border, just enough to discourage the cats.  I don't know how strong it is, but I would think just a little close to the house would work.  Oh well, time for more thought.

 

[jonesy]

Well got home from work about two hours ago, and Mikey is definatly acting a bit more mellow than normal.. I wonder if that feilaway diffuser is working? Its only been one day so i doubt it, but he is more mellow today than usual. Still a few whines here and there, but nothing major, and he's still checking his windows, but doesnt seem to be in a panic like usual, He seems a bit more relaxed. My mom came down and played with him for a bit today too, and she even said he seemed more mellow.. So i dunno, maybe the diffuser is helping him feel a bit more relaxed. Time will tell i guess.

Got my Urine off in today at work too.. Came with the urine finder light.. I was a bit nervous when i first got home with it afraid i would find spots all over the place, but only two spots.. The back door like i mentioned before.. And one at the top of the stairs that was an old one from when Joey (parents cat upstairs) would tease from the other side of the door. So i was very happy about that.

On a side note, i do have some cat repellent at work, maybe i should get a bottle of that and spread it around my deck (where mikeys windows over look) maybe just try to keep the neighborhood cats from getting close to the house instead of worrying about the entire yard.

Well just need to give him time and see how he does over the next couple weeks.
 

 

[stephanietx]

Be persistent and committed to not letting him out.  Does he have a cat tree?  Do you play with him in the evenings when you're home?  What kind of routine do you have with him?

 

 

[jonesy]

yeah im being persistant, i dont want too ruin what has already been done. He's been indoors for like 4 months now.

He does have a cat tree.. Two of them actually.. One i bought, its really nice, 8ft tall, 3 tall towers basically all connected with shelves and large platforms on top. He loves it. I also built one out of some old wood and extra carpet i had. Its 3 flat shelves, and it sits in his window. He can lay down on any shelf and get a different height view out the window on each one.

Our routine on my off days is i basically play with him on and off throughout the day, i dont go out much, so on off days im home all day with him.

On days i work get up around 6:00am and he is usually still sleeping, sometimes he gets up with me though and follows me around while i get ready for work. Before i leave, i hang with him for a few minutes (gotta get my morning before work kisses lol) then i give him his breakfast, and leave for work while he eats. at about 6:30. I come home around 6pm, when i get home i play with him for 45 minutes or so, then give him his medication (prozac) and his dinner. When he eats i tend to sit down and relax, im usually really tired after work so ill just eat some dinner then play on the computer or watch tv, usually he just hangs with me in my room, or he chills out in his window on his tower.

My mom or brother usually come down and hang with him a little bit while im at work so hes not alone all day. Plus when my mom is doing laundry and stuff shes down there with him half the day.

He got a little whiny this evening because he wanted me to open the window for him, but i didnt want to let out the Feilaway "fumes" so i kept it closed.. But other than that hes been a good boy tonight.
 

 

[jonesy]

Had another good night last night.. Got home from work, which i figured he would be pretty upset with me because my mom is sick and she didnt get a chance to go down and check on him during the day, so he was alone all day.. But he was fine when i got home. We played for about a half hour then gave him his meds and dinner. He was real mellow.. No window hopping, he just sat in my bedroom window for alot of the evening, no whining.. He was pawing the glass a little, either he saw something or he was trying to get me to open the window, but i just ignored it and he stopped after a few minutes. Pretty much the only peep he made all night was the few times he came over and meowed at me to let him up in my lap while i was working on the computer. Then at about 11pm we crawled into bed, and watched tv together until we fell asleep. He was being extra sweet last night, i was laying on my bed in a fetal position and he crawled up and curled up under my chin, keeping the top of his head pressed up against the bottom of my chin, and just purring away, lol.. 

Then promptly at 5:30am he woke me up for breakfast lol.. But thats normal.. lol. 

It's only been 2 days, but since i put the feilaway plug-in into the living room, hes beem calmer.. Not ready to say its working yet, but if he stays this mellow for the entire month ill be buying a few more for the other rooms. 

 

[jonesy]

Ordered two more Feliaway plugins for the two other main rooms downstairs.. The one in the living room seems to help him. He still gets worked up pretty good when he spots something outside, but thats to be expected. So im gonna go ahead and put one in each of the main rooms downstairs that way he will have it where-ever he goes.