Tinkerbells desire to be outdoors..

[lastajianguyen]

I am a proud owner of a beautiful female kittycat. She loves to be outdoors. We just moved to a new house, and my boyfriend will not be joining me for several more months, and until then there is not outdoor cage for her to play in. I am afraid to let her out because she is a female. Does anyone have any ideas or tip on how to make her stay indoors a bit more enjoyable for her?

 

[turtlecat]

Have you thought about harness training your cat so she can go outside with you for a little bit each day?

 

[lastajianguyen]

Thank you for your reply!

She despises being on a leash, and just plops down and refuses to move when she is placed on one. I even tried an extending leash which gave her freedom, but she wants no part of it. Any other suggestions?

 

[cirque]

Make the leash and harness something associated with FUN an FOOD! Let her get a little bit hungry and give her some YUMMY Treats with the harness in sight perhaps making a very slight show that your getting it and putting it next to you. Small treats eaten fast are the best. Less time eating and more time focused on that next treat and how good they are. Next, put the harness on her but no leash and let her get used to wearing it. Offer her treats and loving and praise her for being so pretty. Before she has had to much of the harness and starts to dislike the situation, remove it nicely and give her more little treats. Repeat the harness process long enough for her to enjoy it, expect it to be a good thing and not mind wearing it. When that is done, bring the leash into the story and again give her treats while having the leash hooked up to her and while she tolerates it. If it goes well after a few times try walking her around the room encourageing her with treats so she enjoys being walked in her new harness and leash. Be sure to take those treats with you when you go outdoors.. and keep in mind this is not a one hour or one day project, this is going to take small steps on your part. If the cat gets stressed after a few minutes, or even looks like it might be getting to that point, stop sooner instead of later. Keep it as good of an experience as possible. Behaviors take a lot of effort to adjust, but it is possible.

These are just My thoughts on what you can try that I feel would work. I have never trained a cat to wear a harness myself.

 

[lastajianguyen]

Thank you! I will be glad to try it. You said you have never trained a cat to wear a harness, how do you go about letting yout cats outside?

 

[ranger]

Hi

My two boys love being outside and while Ragdolls aren't the best climbers and jumpers in the world I still wasn't sure, but there's a company in the UK that 'catproof' gardens and I had that done to mine. There's a wire guard all the way around the top of the fences that stop my cats finding their way over and other cats finding their way into the garden. We've tested this hard for four months now and it's been great, I can let them have free access to a cat flap. There's a description of the pack at: http://www.woodycoon.com/html/cat-proof_fencing.html

Best wishes
Ranger

 

[lastajianguyen]

Thank you! I will check into that right away!!! I am sure Tinkerbelle would thank you to.

 

[gailc]

I would try letting her outside when you are outside and stay right by her. If its a new place she might just smell around outside and not go to far???