My story, in a nutshell:
I have six cats that live with me, in my two-bedroom apartment.
I have two others that I pay "kitty support" for that reside with the family that lives in my rental property.
One of these kitties is named Chance; I've written about him before on here. Thought I'd lost him once. He is very dear to me, and a very sweet boy.
This is him:
Here's my dilemma: Chance loves to be outside. Chance also loves to be inside...when he feels like it...which usually isn't for very long. He also has a volatile relationship with the two other cats residing in the house. He likes to use his big mitts to swat at my other stray, Fritz, who is geriatric and doesn't need the grief.
The fact that Chance is let out most days and then comes home at night is a constant source of stress, for obvious reasons. It's a subdivision where many don't observe speed limits, there are kids around I don't trust, and Chance on occasion has been known to wander a bit too far from home.
Not to mention the fact that he's been through 3 collars/tags in the last month. He's just come home without them. I don't know if someone is messing with him or not, but I'm starting to take it as a sign that something needs to change. Granted, they are breakaway collars, but he's been fine for months with them, without incident.
My first thought is to keep him indoors (at the house), but try to get him to walk with a harness, so he can get his outdoor fix. There's still no guarantee he's going to ever mesh with the other kitties, though.
I can't monitor Chance and what's going on at the house 24/7. I don't have the power to just do whatever in terms of indoctrinating him into someone else's home (though I've certainly tried). I just want him to be happy. I'd transport him to an outdoor sanctuary of some sort, if I knew he would be safe. Every day for the past year or so, I live with the fact that I might get a call that something happened to Chance, and that I could/should have done something to set him up with a better way of life. But I don't know what that is. I recently came upon the realization that my most recent kitty adoption - my 6th - is my personal limit for my own residence. I say that with more than a bit of sadness.
I'm open for any suggestions.
I have six cats that live with me, in my two-bedroom apartment.
I have two others that I pay "kitty support" for that reside with the family that lives in my rental property.
One of these kitties is named Chance; I've written about him before on here. Thought I'd lost him once. He is very dear to me, and a very sweet boy.
This is him:
Here's my dilemma: Chance loves to be outside. Chance also loves to be inside...when he feels like it...which usually isn't for very long. He also has a volatile relationship with the two other cats residing in the house. He likes to use his big mitts to swat at my other stray, Fritz, who is geriatric and doesn't need the grief.
The fact that Chance is let out most days and then comes home at night is a constant source of stress, for obvious reasons. It's a subdivision where many don't observe speed limits, there are kids around I don't trust, and Chance on occasion has been known to wander a bit too far from home.
Not to mention the fact that he's been through 3 collars/tags in the last month. He's just come home without them. I don't know if someone is messing with him or not, but I'm starting to take it as a sign that something needs to change. Granted, they are breakaway collars, but he's been fine for months with them, without incident.
My first thought is to keep him indoors (at the house), but try to get him to walk with a harness, so he can get his outdoor fix. There's still no guarantee he's going to ever mesh with the other kitties, though.
I can't monitor Chance and what's going on at the house 24/7. I don't have the power to just do whatever in terms of indoctrinating him into someone else's home (though I've certainly tried). I just want him to be happy. I'd transport him to an outdoor sanctuary of some sort, if I knew he would be safe. Every day for the past year or so, I live with the fact that I might get a call that something happened to Chance, and that I could/should have done something to set him up with a better way of life. But I don't know what that is. I recently came upon the realization that my most recent kitty adoption - my 6th - is my personal limit for my own residence. I say that with more than a bit of sadness.
I'm open for any suggestions.