Making an Indoor Cat an Outdoor Cat?

Incredulous Joe | 9 July 2011 | Incredulous Joe

[incredulous joe]

I have two cats; one, Guinness, is a four year old female, the other, Finnegan, is a two year old male. They have always lived indoors.

We also have an outdoor cat, Thatcher, who lives in our barn and has a pretty good life. She walked onto our farm 3 years ago and seemed to have been dumped. She smelled of powders and domestication when she came onto the scene. We gave her some space in our barn and she seems to enjoy herself.

We have a small house. In my opinion, as the guy who cleans out the litter box, our indoor cats have become too big for our home. They are both pretty large; Guinness is overweight and Finnegan is simply a big "no-neck" pounder, who is also the biggest sissy the world has known. He thinks that he is a lap dog.

Guinness has made numerous attempts at escaping our house and even made good on her efforts on a few occasions ~ never traveling farther than a few feet. Finnegan does not seem to have an interest in living outside. We live in central Maryland and it gets pretty chilly in the winters, but we provide and care for our outdoor critters as may be needed when the weather is extreme.

I'd like to see how our cat will do outside, but once they go out and live out there, it is my opinion that they should stay.

Any FRiends with experience, positive or negative in turning an indoor cat into an outdoor.

Thanks for any feedback that you may have.

[pbmaltzman]

OMG!! That’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen! ROFLMAO!

[Mjaye]

I have 4 cats, 2 indoor and 2 garage cats. The indoor cats are boys I rescued at 3 weeks, and they are NOT allowed out.
The other two are females, older than the boys, who became impossible to keep in the house. They would not use the litter box reliably, tried everything to fix that to no avail. The boys are meticulous about using the litter box, etc.

The only reason I would let the girl cats outside was because they stay in the garage most of the time, or sit under the motorhome where they can run into the garage easily through a small opening in the door. They are happy, and after an extensive remodel, we could not have them having accidents-on-purpose throughout the house.

I would not be comfortable if they roamed, however, but I’ve never caught them doing so.

[gcraig]

Yep, they were indoor / outdoor for about 5 years then they stopped coming inside. I just figured that cats have a mind of their own and they would do what they prefer..

[LSAggie]

Our inside/outside cat would come in to use the litter box if the ground outside was too wet for his sensibilities. Do his business and then go right back out. Dang, we loved that little guy, he always made us laugh.

[Bryanw92]

That makes sense. I knew that there was no way that two indoor cats (as you said in your post) would suddenly decide to become outdoor cats without some “assistance” in their decision-making process.

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

Spooky is a beautiful kitty!

We have an enclosed courtyard at the front of our house, which is where we take Apple when she wants some outside time. However, we have to keep a close eye on her; there are two shelves on the wall of the house and she can get out of the courtyard from one of them. She always returns home when she's ready to eat, but my wife is concerned she might get run over or into an altercation with one of the neighborhood strays. There's a gray tom who hangs around our house quite a bit (and actually tried to come in once); Apple's already been in a minor scuffle with him.

Here's our little tigress in the flowerbed. For some reason Mrs. Tweezers doesn't like her going potty in there...

[Fawn]

My neighbor did that. She let her cat out because it wanted to go out and for almost 6 months she never left their yard. They also brought her in at night. Then one day, she wanted to look around and check out the neighborhood. She got hit by a car.
Cats will wander after being familiar with an area....so even though it is ideal for a cat to be indoor/outdoor...it is a big risk depending on your neighborhood...and of course normal/sane neighbors.

[Fawn]

Can you buy a cat tree or two.... tall ones? Like 7 or 8 feet? Ebay has them cheap...I have several. I also have a cat door for the screened in porch....with a cat tree and seats...and this is where my inside cats spend most of their day.... 2 of them I had found OUTSIDE (I mean...they found me--one ran right in front of my moving car to get me to stop..lol)....they were strays that someone dumped or they got lost.
They do not even try to go outside.....they are content with their cat trees and big screened in porch with a ceiling fan. Happy cats. I have had several ferals behind my house. Started with maybe 15 when I moved in and I'm down to 3. But these 3 are almost 10 years old now....but they get injured and one gets ringworm so bad every year. On the the other hand, I lost 2 of my 14 yr old angels the last 14 months ....always indoor kitties that got an infection from something that could not be cured. I do not use bug spray or chemicals in my house...so there are dangers inside too.

[Fawn]

Save yourself, your house and make your kitties content and happy. Get 2 TALL Trees and put them by your windows. Make sure you get some of the posts with the 'sisal rope'. Cats favorites for scratching....

[Fawn]

Look. For $100 delivered to your door...you get this cat loving fun 7 foot tree....

[Fawn]

For $40 more, you get each post loaded with sisal rope!

[pbmaltzman]

Fawn, thanks for posting those e-bay cat trees. I am in need of one, and those prices are very good!

[pbmaltzman]

Fawn, thanks for posting those e-bay cat trees. I am in need of one, and those prices are very good!

[US_MilitaryRules]

We did that. The cat ended up dead in our driveway. : (

[US_MilitaryRules]

Got hit by a car and dragged itself to our driveway and died.

[Fawn]

You’re welcome. In addition to the 4 flakeboard ones and 2 wood ones I bought, I also bought 2 of the flakeboards for friends because they were so cheap.... There are 2 types. Flake board/felt and Wood with Rug. The wood with rug are twice the price....and of course heavier. But, if you have a cat with claws....get the flakeboard with lots of sisal. The cats love them....no clawing problems for me.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

Apple looks like a sweetie! I agree with Mrs. Tweezers ... there is nothing worse than finding kittie lumps while doing some leisurely work in the flower garden!

[pbmaltzman]

Hmmm. I'll probably get the heavier one. But let me see how my next 2 paychecks go.

Question: Do these items come already put together, or do they need to be assembled?

[pbmaltzman]

Hmmm. I'll probably get the heavier one. But let me see how my next 2 paychecks go.

Question: Do these items come already put together, or do they need to be assembled?

[Fawn]

They just screw together...it’s like 6 pieces for most of them. Easy breezy with picture and color coded directions.