Why does my cat keep doing that?

Question

My cat is a major out door cat. He goes away for days at a time.But 7 months ago I moved. Now he keeps going back to my old house. Sometimes I can't find him for days, I lost him one time for about 2 months! He's a smart cat, and knows how to survive(I caught him eating a rabbit at my old house.) I'm worried that he'll get ran over, or something like that. I let him go outside for a little while yesterday, but he is going nuts and wants to go outside. How do I get him to come back to my new house? Or get him to stay with out locking him in?

He is fixed.

Answer 1

Getting him fixed if he's not already will help tremendously. the reason he keeps going back to your old house is he see's that as his home. He hasn't put it together yet that he has a new house. Another thing you can do is invest in one of those invisible pet fences. they are not very expensive(depending on the size of your yard) and are very effective. They come with a wire that you bury in the ground around your yard and they also come with flags that you can put up along the same border to teach your pet the visible boundary. There is a collar that comes with it for your pet that when they get close to the boundary, it gives them an audible signal to warn them that they are getting close to the boundary, and if they continue towards the boundary will give them a mild shock to correct them. Over the course of a week or more, he will learn what his boundaries are and will not cross the line for fear of being shocked. Once he has learned, you can remove the collar or keep it on to make sure he's safe in his yard. these systems can come with multiple collars or additional collars can be purchased for any other pets.

Answer 2

You could try to keep him indoors for a few weeks or months. Let him out on a leash during the day so he can become familiar and comfortable with the new home and he can put his own smells in the yard. Feed him outside by the door so he knows where he can get his meals (just like when you feed strays, they come back to the homes that feed them).

Answer 3

This is one of those cats I call "territory cats" as opposed to the "Person cats." The latter tend to be attached to their primary care giver but the former is the truly independent type who is attached to his territory-hunting grounds rather than to any single given person. The only way I can think of to keep this particular cat in your new home is to confine him in your yard with special cat fence containment system (NOT electric fences mind you) or a big outdoor cat enclosure. This type of cat will never ever be happy to be indoors 24/7, but he may adjust to a limited outdoor roaming-play area. If your backyard or front yard is fenced, you can make it cat-proof with some bars, netting and nails. You may be able to see some of these ingenious systems on the internet. Just type in "Cat containment systems" or "cat enclosure." I have an outdoor enclosure for my cats. It is really a chainlink kennel with a top and door that I bought from Petsmart for $220.00 - great investment in my opinion. Both my cats like to enjoy the outdoors and if I don't let them out for a hour or so each day, they will go nuts on me. Now, I put them in their 13ft x 7ft x 7ft high outdoor enclosure and they have a blast!

Answer 4

First off, is he fixed? If he isnt, he should be!

When I moved, my cat returned to my old house once. My grandma tol dme to cut off some of his hair and put it outside beside my front porch. I tried that, just a little hair off of his tail and put it close to the porch, and he didnt run off anymore. Im not sure if thats what worked, but anything is worth a shot.

If hes not fixed, that would be first on my list of things to do. Getting him fixed will calm him down some.

Good luck!

Answer 5

cats have great memories but mainly through smell. Try putting familiar objects like cat toys out in the yard so it can get used to the surroundings of your new home.