Kitty Wants Out Desperately!

Okay, I am pretty sure that I'm not the only one experiencing this at this
time of year and was hoping more of the great advice of the ng.
My youngest cat, Tucker, age one, was out side so desperately. He's only
escaped twice before, so he's been an indoor kitty virtually all his life.
He loves to sit in windows like all cats, and we have an uninsulated back
porch where he's allowed to *experience* the fresh air and sit in the window
sill there, watching birds and such more up close.
However, lately he's been meowing to get out there tons more (it's okay, he
has me well trained to come at his beck and call G) but he also paces all
over the house, sometimes mewing, sometimes just wanting to go outside.
I know it's spring time so of course he sees more critters he'd like to
hunt, outdoors. I know he's restless. I just don't know how to help him.
Our other cat has no such problems!
We have several kitty scratching posts, one of them a climbing structure and
the cats have free reign of the house, so plenty of room to roam.
What else can we do to make Tucker feel better? ANY advice would be welcome!

TIA,
Hailey

From: "Hailey"

What else can we do to make Tucker feel better? ANY advice would be welcome!

Hi Hailey,
I find that when my cats are feeling restless, if I play with them with their
feather on a stick toy, it really helps a lot. Another thing you might want to
consider is harness training your cat so you could take him outside on a leash
and harness.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: "Hailey"

What else can we do to make Tucker feel better? ANY advice would be welcome!

Hi Hailey,
I find that when my cats are feeling restless, if I play with them with their
feather on a stick toy, it really helps a lot. Another thing you might want to
consider is harness training your cat so you could take him outside on a leash
and harness.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

"Hailey" wrote
Okay, I am pretty sure that I'm not the only one experiencing this at this
time of year and was hoping more of the great advice of the ng.
My youngest cat, Tucker, age one, was out side so desperately. He's only
escaped twice before, so he's been an indoor kitty virtually all his life.
He loves to sit in windows like all cats, and we have an uninsulated back
porch where he's allowed to *experience* the fresh air and sit in the window
sill there, watching birds and such more up close.
However, lately he's been meowing to get out there tons more (it's okay, he
has me well trained to come at his beck and call G) but he also paces all
over the house, sometimes mewing, sometimes just wanting to go outside.
I know it's spring time so of course he sees more critters he'd like to
hunt, outdoors. I know he's restless. I just don't know how to help him.
Our other cat has no such problems!
We have several kitty scratching posts, one of them a climbing structure and
the cats have free reign of the house, so plenty of room to roam.
What else can we do to make Tucker feel better? ANY advice would be welcome!

My cat is sometimes like this in the mornings. The meowing is maddening, but he
is a cat, after all. If he's had plenty of romp time for the morning already,
then lately I have been 'timing him out' in his large travel crate. It only
takes five minutes or so of restricting him. He usually can watch me at whatever
I am doing during this time. (Obviously I don't like caging him.) He settles
down immediately--no meowing or pawing at the bars. After really just five
minutes, he's reclining seemingly contentedly in his crate. I open the door. He
doesn't rush out but just meanders out at will.

Sometimes I think he just likes the attention he gets when I nudge him in...

Anyway, the effectivness of these "time-outs" has surprised me.

Good luck.

"Hailey" wrote
Okay, I am pretty sure that I'm not the only one experiencing this at this
time of year and was hoping more of the great advice of the ng.
My youngest cat, Tucker, age one, was out side so desperately. He's only
escaped twice before, so he's been an indoor kitty virtually all his life.
He loves to sit in windows like all cats, and we have an uninsulated back
porch where he's allowed to *experience* the fresh air and sit in the window
sill there, watching birds and such more up close.
However, lately he's been meowing to get out there tons more (it's okay, he
has me well trained to come at his beck and call G) but he also paces all
over the house, sometimes mewing, sometimes just wanting to go outside.
I know it's spring time so of course he sees more critters he'd like to
hunt, outdoors. I know he's restless. I just don't know how to help him.
Our other cat has no such problems!
We have several kitty scratching posts, one of them a climbing structure and
the cats have free reign of the house, so plenty of room to roam.
What else can we do to make Tucker feel better? ANY advice would be welcome!

My cat is sometimes like this in the mornings. The meowing is maddening, but he
is a cat, after all. If he's had plenty of romp time for the morning already,
then lately I have been 'timing him out' in his large travel crate. It only
takes five minutes or so of restricting him. He usually can watch me at whatever
I am doing during this time. (Obviously I don't like caging him.) He settles
down immediately--no meowing or pawing at the bars. After really just five
minutes, he's reclining seemingly contentedly in his crate. I open the door. He
doesn't rush out but just meanders out at will.

Sometimes I think he just likes the attention he gets when I nudge him in...

Anyway, the effectivness of these "time-outs" has surprised me.

Good luck.

What else can we do to make Tucker feel better? ANY advice would be welcome!

Well, he's making it pretty obvious what he wants. Is there a way to give him
safe outdoor access? Consider leash training, cat-proof fencing or backyard
enclosures.

In my experience a cat that already wants to go outdoors makes a good candidate
for learning to wear a harness and leash. It usually doesn't take them too long
to realize they have to put up with it to get what they want.

What else can we do to make Tucker feel better? ANY advice would be welcome!

Well, he's making it pretty obvious what he wants. Is there a way to give him
safe outdoor access? Consider leash training, cat-proof fencing or backyard
enclosures.

In my experience a cat that already wants to go outdoors makes a good candidate
for learning to wear a harness and leash. It usually doesn't take them too long
to realize they have to put up with it to get what they want.

My cat is sometimes like this in the mornings. The meowing is maddening,
but he
is a cat, after all. If he's had plenty of romp time for the morning
already,
then lately I have been 'timing him out' in his large travel crate. It
only
takes five minutes or so of restricting him. He usually can watch me at
whatever
I am doing during this time. (Obviously I don't like caging him.) He
settles
down immediately--no meowing or pawing at the bars. After really just five
minutes, he's reclining seemingly contentedly in his crate. I open the
door. He
doesn't rush out but just meanders out at will.

Sometimes I think he just likes the attention he gets when I nudge him
in...

Anyway, the effectivness of these "time-outs" has surprised me.

Good luck.

Thank you, Caroline! I never thought of that one.,

Hailey

My cat is sometimes like this in the mornings. The meowing is maddening,
but he
is a cat, after all. If he's had plenty of romp time for the morning
already,
then lately I have been 'timing him out' in his large travel crate. It
only
takes five minutes or so of restricting him. He usually can watch me at
whatever
I am doing during this time. (Obviously I don't like caging him.) He
settles
down immediately--no meowing or pawing at the bars. After really just five
minutes, he's reclining seemingly contentedly in his crate. I open the
door. He
doesn't rush out but just meanders out at will.

Sometimes I think he just likes the attention he gets when I nudge him
in...

Anyway, the effectivness of these "time-outs" has surprised me.

Good luck.

Thank you, Caroline! I never thought of that one.,

Hailey

Hi Hailey,
I find that when my cats are feeling restless, if I play with them with
their
feather on a stick toy, it really helps a lot. Another thing you might
want to
consider is harness training your cat so you could take him outside on a
leash
and harness.

Lauren

Thank you, Lauren. We've tried the harness thing, but it was last year. He
hated it, but I still have it and perhaps should try again. Good idea.
We do play with them all the time. One of us always seems to be entertaining
His Highness

Hailey