Will my cat go stir crazy??????

Question

My cat is an outdoor cat, she can also be an indoor cat (sleeping and resting,and eating inside) but she has a blast in the outdoors. I am her companion. I've had her for 6 years. And I wodner if she's replaced me with her mom because I got her a few weeks after she was born, since then she's always slept with me, and licks me alot. She's very happy. But we're moving to an apartment complex where she isn't allowed to got outside AT ALL. She's probably going to go stur crazy. How can I prevent this from happening? Should I get rid of her (but we love eachother!), or gradually make her get used to the indoors until we officially move in? Or what?? I'm worried about her!

Answer 1

She won't mind. Our cat lived pretty much outdoors for 7 years and when we moved to a townhouse near a highway, she became strictly indoors and lived another 6 years. You can work on keeping her indoors gradually if you wish but cats don't seem to care as long as she's fed and loved.

Answer 2

Since you've already proven a cat can be safe outdoors don't worry about those who advise indoors for safety.
And she's already lived outdoors for far longer than they would like to think outdoors cats even live, and we indoors/outdoors owners know that they can live every bit as long as indoor cats, and still enjoy outdoors safely.

I agree with Alyeria's post, nothing to stop you from having her have the best of both worlds.

Answer 3

It is actually a lot safer for your cat to be an indoor cat, due to health issues and dangers from other cats and other animals.

You have been your cats family for six years, and should definitely remain so, even though it will take her some time to get used to apartment living and being an indoor cat.

Set up a good sized play area for her in the new apartment, with a climbing structure or kitty condo, and keep lots of toys for her to play with. You may want to think about having your vet give her one of those locator chips in case she does get out, and you have a difficult time finding her in your new surroundings.

If she is totally unhappy in the new surroundings after several months, you can consider putting her up for adoption; but that should only be as an absolute last resort. She sounds as if she is so attached to you, she would be brokenhearted to live with someone else.

Make sure that you spend lots of play time with her after you move, so that she will not be sedentary and bored. If you have friends that you can visit occationally that have a yard she can safely play in that would be a good solution.

Keeping her inside for a couple of weeks before the move may help her adjust to the new living situation. Many cats prefer to be indoor cats, especially as they age, as long as they get lots of attention and play time.

Best of luck to you and your cat in your new home.

Answer 4

Keeping her inside now isn't going to help because you'll be moving soon anyway. I would suggest begging to train her with a leash or a harness so that you can take her outside without having her roam around. The building officials surely can't complain about a leashed animal. You'll need to keep her in the apartment for a month anyway, even if she was allowed outside to get her used to the new place. You will need to buy her plenty of toys and spend as much time playing with her and keeping her occupied as you can when you move in but you should definately harness train her so she knows that when you put the harness on her she's going outside! Start by keeping her indoors overnight and putting the leash on her in the mornings when you let her out for the toilet. Then bring her back inside and give her a good pat and a play with before letting her out again. Just keep doing this every day until you move out. She'll soon adapt it into her routine and when you move into the new place she'll just have to get used to not being let back out after her morning 'walk'. I would suggest talking to your building manager and asking him if having her out on a leash would be okay. If not then you need to have a scout aroud your area to a place you can take her to walk her.

Good luck,

Answer 5

It's much safer that she be an inside cat. You don't have to worry about diseases, getting hit by a car or other unfortunate tragedies that seem to befall outdoor cats. I know someone that let her cats be outdoors until one night she couldn't find one of them. At 2am, he showed up at her door and his legs had been degloved of skin because he fell asleep inside the engine of someone's car. $1500 later, all three of her cats went from being outdoor to indoor cats. So for safety reasons, it's the best thing for her.

As far as her going stir crazy...she is going to have a difficult time with it at first. But she will adjust if you give it time and are patient. She is probably going to try to escape out the door when you open it to leave, so you might have to come up with a solution for that, such as leaving her in another room.

I'm assuming she is spayed? Most female cats don't wander too far or very often after being spayed...and as a result, they adapt very well to being indoor cats. You might want to cut back her food though. She isn't going to be getting as much exercise as she is currently getting...and she will probably put on weight.

Anyway, you don't need to give her up. Try introducing her to less time outside before the move. I think that might help. Also, cats are often freaked out by moves in general. She is probably going to be hiding under the bed or something along those lines until she gets used to a new home. You will be surprised by how scary something as simple as a move can be for her. She is going to be overwhelmed by that to begin with.

Best of luck!

Answer 6

I'm having a similar problem...moving from a large house to a small apartment with my 7month old boy cat; although he is purely an indoor cat my main concerns with him were how would he adjust to alone time away from the dog and the family...but I am also concerned about less space; my final decision about how to deal with the less space thing was this: I got him a leash and a stroller, everyday we walk down to the park and he plays on his leash as much as he likes; he also has window perches to see outside and lots of interactive toys...at least twice a week he goes to petco in his stroller and picks out a new toy (usually one of those $0.50 ones) and once a week he goes to the ball park to see my fiaoncee play-the whole family goes....for you I suggest get her a cat stroller, backpack, or fun carrier and a long leash take her out; get her used to being inside and only going out when she is on a leash with you (even if she won't heal on the leash, she can ride in a carrier until you get somewhere she can roam around at and then put her on the leash so she can't run off where she doesn't belong)---it takes awhile but she'll get used to it and if she is that attached to you then it'd be easier for her to get used to staying in than it would to get used to being without you

Answer 7

Buy her a cat tree......on of those big carpet-covered jungle-gym things that they sell at the pet store. And play with her a lot, pulling a string around for her to chase, etc. As long as she gets plenty of exercise, she'll adapt to the indoors eventually. She'd probably rather give up going outdoors than to have to give up you, her mommy ! :)

Answer 8

wow, i had the same problem but i had two, they kepted each other company, They did go stir crazy after a while, Now I would keep looking for a better place or only sing a year lease and find another place. play with the cat every night with a stick and string and something tied to the end so he can chase it .good luck

Answer 9

she will adjust, keep her inside and pay alot of attention to her
btw, a laser pointer would be a wise investment, you should NEVER give up your cat even if your life depends on it

Answer 10

idk but i know indoor cats live WAYY longer then outdoor cats so in the long run its a good thing