How to....outdoor to indoor

Hi

I took in a huge stray male cat almost 2 years ago. He was hanging around
my barn for about 2 years before I befriended him and he adopted me. I've
always had inside cats. This one goes out. I'm a worrier (about my
animals). I worry as soon as I lose sight of him. Is it possible to make
an indoor cat out of a stray who lives to go outside????

Thanks

Joanne

"J.King" wrote in message
...
Hi

I took in a huge stray male cat almost 2 years ago. He was hanging around
my barn for about 2 years before I befriended him and he adopted me. I've
always had inside cats. This one goes out. I'm a worrier (about my
animals). I worry as soon as I lose sight of him. Is it possible to make
an indoor cat out of a stray who lives to go outside????


Yes! Here is how you do it: Keep the door closed.

Just playing. Your cat might yell and complain, but he will get used to it.
Make sure he has good window perches and plenty of play, and hiding
places. If he bothers you at night, keeping you awake telling you he wants
to go out, you may have to confine him to a comfy room with box, food,
water,
and toys at night. If he is really loud and your place is very small you
might need
to get a big Hepa filter and keep that by your bed to drown him out.

I really appreciate your caring enough about your cat to decide to keep him
safe. Outside life for cats is overrated. They spend as much time out there
sleeping as they would inside.

On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:53:51 -0400, cybercat wrote:



"J.King" wrote in message
. ..
Hi

I took in a huge stray male cat almost 2 years ago. He was hanging around
my barn for about 2 years before I befriended him and he adopted me. I've
always had inside cats. This one goes out. I'm a worrier (about my
animals). I worry as soon as I lose sight of him. Is it possible to make
an indoor cat out of a stray who lives to go outside????


Yes! Here is how you do it: Keep the door closed.

Just playing. Your cat might yell and complain, but he will get used to it.
Make sure he has good window perches and plenty of play, and hiding
places. If he bothers you at night, keeping you awake telling you he wants
to go out, you may have to confine him to a comfy room with box, food,
water,
and toys at night. If he is really loud and your place is very small you
might need
to get a big Hepa filter and keep that by your bed to drown him out.

Unless you have a siamese cat. They're worse than nails on a blackboard and
are quite capable for howling for 200 hours uninterupted.

Hate to say it, but all you can do is make sure to never let such a kitty
taste the outdoors.

I've had 7 Siamese over the past 22 years. I'm down to my last one now.
He's 17 and is an inside cat. (They all died of old age.) If he decided he
wanted out there would be no way in hell I could put up with the howling!
LOL

Joanne

Unless you have a siamese cat. They're worse than nails on a blackboard
and
are quite capable for howling for 200 hours uninterupted.

Hate to say it, but all you can do is make sure to never let such a kitty
taste the outdoors.

Hi

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I know I need to practise tough love
here but it's so hard. He will even go out when it's pouring rain or in a
snowstorm if I let him. He really loves it. Right now he usually comes
home in a short amount of time. I'm always afraid that if I don't let him
out,if he gets out accidently he may not come back? In 2 years he has not
spent a night outside. Has anyone ever used one of those underground fences
(for dogs), for cats?

Joanne

"cybercat" wrote in message
...

"J.King" wrote in message
...
Hi

I took in a huge stray male cat almost 2 years ago. He was hanging
around my barn for about 2 years before I befriended him and he adopted
me. I've always had inside cats. This one goes out. I'm a worrier
(about my animals). I worry as soon as I lose sight of him. Is it
possible to make an indoor cat out of a stray who lives to go outside????


Yes! Here is how you do it: Keep the door closed.

Just playing. Your cat might yell and complain, but he will get used to
it.
Make sure he has good window perches and plenty of play, and hiding
places. If he bothers you at night, keeping you awake telling you he wants
to go out, you may have to confine him to a comfy room with box, food,
water,
and toys at night. If he is really loud and your place is very small you
might need
to get a big Hepa filter and keep that by your bed to drown him out.

I really appreciate your caring enough about your cat to decide to keep
him
safe. Outside life for cats is overrated. They spend as much time out
there
sleeping as they would inside.

On Oct 25, 5:19 pm, "J.King" wrote:
Hi

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I know I need to practise tough love
here but it's so hard. He will even go out when it's pouring rain or in a
snowstorm if I let him. He really loves it. Right now he usually comes
home in a short amount of time. I'm always afraid that if I don't let him
out,if he gets out accidently he may not come back? In 2 years he has not
spent a night outside. Has anyone ever used one of those underground fences
(for dogs), for cats?

Joanne

"cybercat" wrote in message

...





"J.King" wrote in message
. ..
Hi

I took in a huge stray male cat almost 2 years ago. He was hanging
around my barn for about 2 years before I befriended him and he adopted
me. I've always had inside cats. This one goes out. I'm a worrier
(about my animals). I worry as soon as I lose sight of him. Is it
possible to make an indoor cat out of a stray who lives to go outside????

Yes! Here is how you do it: Keep the door closed.

Just playing. Your cat might yell and complain, but he will get used to
it.
Make sure he has good window perches and plenty of play, and hiding
places. If he bothers you at night, keeping you awake telling you he wants
to go out, you may have to confine him to a comfy room with box, food,
water,
and toys at night. If he is really loud and your place is very small you
might need
to get a big Hepa filter and keep that by your bed to drown him out.

I really appreciate your caring enough about your cat to decide to keep
him
safe. Outside life for cats is overrated. They spend as much time out
there
sleeping as they would inside.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Would it be possible for you to build some kind of enclosure for him?
It doesn't have to be fancy. Even a small area gives them some
sunshine,
fresh air, and an interesting view. If he's absolutely inconsolable as
an
indoor cat, that might help.
Sherry

"J.King" wrote:

I took in a huge stray male cat almost 2 years ago. He was
hanging around my barn for about 2 years before I befriended him
and he adopted me. I've always had inside cats. This one goes
out. I'm a worrier (about my animals). I worry as soon as I lose
sight of him. Is it possible to make an indoor cat out of a stray
who lives to go outside????

Exercise is easy to provide with carpeted 1x4s or 2x4s (if you don't
mind the weight). An electric staple gun is the easiest (of course
you want to embed the staples deeply and on the opposite side of
travel). Warming up to the idea might take weeks or longer, so don't
get discouraged if he doesn't climb them immediately.

Good luck and have fun








Thanks

Joanne

This cat weighs 20 lbs already! He's huge! I'd hate to see him gain even
more weight. He also doesn't jump or climb things. He just loves chasing
the mice out around the barn:-/

Joanne

"John Doe" wrote in message
. ..
"J.King" wrote:

I took in a huge stray male cat almost 2 years ago. He was
hanging around my barn for about 2 years before I befriended him
and he adopted me. I've always had inside cats. This one goes
out. I'm a worrier (about my animals). I worry as soon as I lose
sight of him. Is it possible to make an indoor cat out of a stray
who lives to go outside????

Exercise is easy to provide with carpeted 1x4s or 2x4s (if you don't
mind the weight). An electric staple gun is the easiest (of course
you want to embed the staples deeply and on the opposite side of
travel). Warming up to the idea might take weeks or longer, so don't
get discouraged if he doesn't climb them immediately.

Good luck and have fun

On Oct 24, 6:26 pm, "J.King" wrote:
Hi

I took in a huge stray male cat almost 2 years ago. He was hanging around
my barn for about 2 years before I befriended him and he adopted me. I've
always had inside cats. This one goes out. I'm a worrier (about my
animals). I worry as soon as I lose sight of him. Is it possible to make
an indoor cat out of a stray who lives to go outside????

Thanks

Joanne

Can you build an outdoor enclosure for him? That way, he can go
"outside" but you can't lose sight of him.

I have a small one outside a basement window...it's about 6 ft long by 3
feet wide. It's also coming into winter so can't keep the basement window
open. I could look into making a bigger one in the spring with more
interesting things in it though....that might work... Thanks!

Joanne
"Rene S." wrote in message
ups.com...
On Oct 24, 6:26 pm, "J.King" wrote:
Hi

I took in a huge stray male cat almost 2 years ago. He was hanging
around
my barn for about 2 years before I befriended him and he adopted me.
I've
always had inside cats. This one goes out. I'm a worrier (about my
animals). I worry as soon as I lose sight of him. Is it possible to
make
an indoor cat out of a stray who lives to go outside????

Thanks

Joanne

Can you build an outdoor enclosure for him? That way, he can go
"outside" but you can't lose sight of him.