I want to turn an indoor cat into an outside cat. Suggestions for doing this?

Question

The cat is about 1 year and 3 months old. She is no lap cat and is not really affectionate. She does some damage to the house, and can be a pest. I have brought her outdoors a few times, but she does not like it. Cleo runs in almost immediately. We live in a neighborhood that has very little traffic, and no dogs running around.

I would be grateful for any suggestions about how to get my cat to live in the great outdoors.

Answer 1

try brining her outside on a leash. It may be hard to train her to be an outdoor cat. And it may be dangerous to her health. Cats who live outside risk injury and illness. They can also run away or be eaten. Try walking them daily outside on a leash, and if the cats are declawed then this might not be a wise decision, because they would not be able to defend themselves.

Answer 2

The destructiveness is usually becuase the pet is bored. As to turning her into an outdoor cat becuase of this problem, may I suggest a slightly different tack? If I were you, and since you say that your neighborhood is relatively safe for cats, I would turn the cat into an indoor-outdoor cat (not a complete outdoor cat - that is dangerous to the cat no matter what). Let her out in the daytime when things are pretty quiet (people at work, kids at school, very little traffic on the streets). She will eventually find things to do out there especially if you have a garden or yard with lots of bushes she can hide under and watch birds and stuff. But at night, you must keep her in becuase night is when other animals prowl - and your cat can get into serious fights and catch some disease.
Introduce her to the outdoors gradually. It is always scary for an indoor cat to cope with the wide open space of the great outdoors. If you can, train her to wear halter and leash so that you can walk her out there at dusk or dawn -when it is a bit dark to make your cat feel less threatened. Allow her to smell things. Just 5 - 10 mins at a time. Once she is convinced that outside is safe, she will be willing to stay out longer. I am sorry but there is no hurrying this process - if you become impatient, you'll end up with an extremely stressed and scared cat who will hide under the bed or something and refuse to budge.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Pets should never be kept outside. Many people would say that is neglect. Look for a better home for this cat. If however you insist on keeping it simply scold the cat the next time it does something in the house you do not like. Then toss it outside for the day/night. You will more than likely find that after several times of this the cat will begin to behave better indoors. The cat will survive outside, homeless and abandoned cats do it every day. You really should try to find it a better home or at least take the time to train it to behave inside. The only way I would consider having a cat that lived outside is to install a pet door to allow it access to inside.

Answer 4

cats like to explore on there own taking her outside isn't the answer as such. You need to shut the door of the room that leads to the outside with her in it and open the door to the outside, go out there yourself maybe call her or offer a treat and let her come to the door and get a feel for the outside world. It will take time for her to get up the courage to go out and you will have to let her take it at her own pace. Even a cat who is used to going out should have a reasonable amount of time getting used to a new area and until they have learned the area immediately around the home they shouldn't be allowed to stray far.

meanwhile do you have a good scratching post and if she is causing damage you need to provide her with other things to occupy her time and energy with.

when she is comfortable going out she will be able to use up a lot of this destructive energy outside so I hope you plan to put in a cat-flap so she can come in when she wants somewhere warm to curl up and sleep.

I also hope that she is neutered you don't want a lot of kittens running around causing mayhem neutering might also help calm her personality a bit especially if she has a manic few days when she is on heat.

make sure you get her vaccinated feline leukemia is a cat killer, also make sure she has a tag and flea collar on as you don't want her to get lost.

Answer 5

Well first of all if she is declawed it would be cruel to put out doors without any defense. How cold is it where you live?
Also she doesn't like outdoors. Maybe you could find a better home for her with somebody else who is looking to take a cat.
Otherwise I guess you could put her out a few hours a day and then keep her in at night. But it seems kind of mean to me.

Answer 6

If the cat doesn't like to be outside, I wouldn't force it to-- and it's probably traumatic for it to be put outside. If you're really not too fond of the cat, why not find it another loving home? Outside cats do not have as high a survival rate as indoor cats do.

Answer 7

It's very hard to acclimate a cat to the outdoors without a protected backyard area. What you might want to do is talk to an animal communicator and see if you and the cat can come to some sort of meeting of the minds. I have one and she is amazing, very helpful and reasonably priced. She works over the phone and I have been very glad to know her on several occasions. http://www.dawnsanimalconnection.addr.com/abtdawn.htm

Peace!

Answer 8

I done that to my cat and she reacted the exact same way....just comfort the cat a little and take it outside....hold it for a while out there to let it look around in the safety of your arms and do that at least once a day til it gets used to going out there....then let it roam around on the ground for a while and keep doing that as well once a day til it finaly is brave enough to go outside....bring in the cat on cold or hot days into your house...if not, its consdered animal cruelty. they can and will get out of an enclosed yard but it will stay near your house and knows its way home....if you want it to come to you.....go outside and call for it...if it doesn't come....its probably getting laid. for the safety of the cat...DO NOT DECLAW ITS BACK FEET!!!!

Answer 9

What i did is put the cat in the garage (closed) and put the nessessities out too (litter box, food, water etc) with a heating pad under a towel in another box for it to sleep in and he stays outside a majority of the time.

Answer 10

why would you want to keep your cat out!! you might as well send it to a good owner who truely loves cats. i'm not saying you're a bad owner, but my cats destroy lots of things too, and i'm still happy to keep them indoors.

it's dangerous outside, they tend to get FIV, flus and diseases very easily. although your area doesn't have much traffic but the chances of getting knocked down are still there. moreover, your cat doesn't like staying outside.