Yesterday I came home 8:30PM to find that my 11 year old Vinny scratched/ate a softball size hole in my screen door and got out. Luckily my husband and I found him 2 houses away, but he is a strictly indoor cat and in the 4 years we've had him has NEVER wanted to go outside, even when we left the door open. I have a 4 year old that we've had almost as long as we've had Vinny, and a 10 month old that we got a few weeks before Christmas. My husband thinks Vinny is stressed out by the other two cats and that's why he went outside. I think if that was the case, he would have acted strangely MUCH earlier than just now. He and my middle cat are very cuddly and lovable toward each other, but he just seems to co-exists with my kitten. He's never, ever hissed at him, but doesn't go out of his way to groom or cuddle. They'll sit next to each other but that's about it, and that's rare.
Also, I've recently begun taking him out on a harness and leash, and my husband also thinks because I gave him a "taste" of being outside that it could be that he's just interested in being out -- and that if we stop taking him out and make it seem like being out is bad (IE - knocking on the glass on the screen door to scare him from the door, shaking a can of pennies before we walk out to make him run away from the door etc), that he will no longer want to go out. But, what if he chews into a window screen???
My question is -- why did Vinny do this? He was just at the vet for his checkup on Monday so I know he's perfectly healthy, and he just got his round of shots then so I'm not worried about diseases he may have got while outside -- I just can't understand why he would want outside so badly and how we can make sure it doesn't happen again.
FYI - My other 2 just sat and stared at the hole in the screen and had no interest in going outside.
Any help is MUCH appreciated!
Also, I've recently begun taking him out on a harness and leash, and my husband also thinks because I gave him a "taste" of being outside that it could be that he's just interested in being out -- and that if we stop taking him out and make it seem like being out is bad (IE - knocking on the glass on the screen door to scare him from the door, shaking a can of pennies before we walk out to make him run away from the door etc), that he will no longer want to go out. But, what if he chews into a window screen???
My question is -- why did Vinny do this? He was just at the vet for his checkup on Monday so I know he's perfectly healthy, and he just got his round of shots then so I'm not worried about diseases he may have got while outside -- I just can't understand why he would want outside so badly and how we can make sure it doesn't happen again.
FYI - My other 2 just sat and stared at the hole in the screen and had no interest in going outside.
Any help is MUCH appreciated!