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- May 7, 2018
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Our cat was found in a feral cat colony a year and a half ago. When he was trapped and brought in, it was found he was already neutered and passed some behavioral tests, so they decided he was previously owned and adopted him out to us.
It's clear our cat LOVES the outdoors. He is a super hunter and wants to be outside all the time. There's just one problem. He can't.
We live in a suburb of LA, and while it's fairly populated here, there is ample predatory wildlife. We've seen coyotes in our yard multiple times. There's an owl that eats local dogs. And hawks are in the backyard regularly.
Not wanting to deprive our cat of anything, we leash trained him and started taking him outside twice a day, which he LOVED. But frankly, the outside is like an addiction to him. We couldn't bring him back in. He would hiss and growl and bite and attack us (the only time he's ever done so). He does everything in his power to get off the leash. And when we bring him back inside he screams all day to be let out, even when we're on a clear walking schedule. He just seems MORE miserable when we walk him regularly because he has to then return to the house.
We're trying to wean him off walks right now and it feels awful. He just cries at the door all day long and his herpes is flaring as a result of the stress.
I tried getting one of those mesh tents to put him in outside to see if we could do that all day long and he had a panic attack and started hyperventilating because he couldn't get out of it. Multiple tries with that have failed. It seems clear that a small outdoor enclosure will not do.
I sort of feel like I have two possible paths left to me. Never let him outside (which just seems like a cruel fate for the cat who loves it so much) and hope he stops asking at some point, or sink $5k into an awesome catio. I've found a builder and have a quote. But I'm concerned that even the catio will not be sufficient for this little guy who just wants freedom and the ability to hunt. I'm guessing that he'll just meow at the door of the catio all day long to be let out of that.
Anybody have any suggestions? I am stuck between wanting my cat to be happy and wanting my cat to be alive. Thanks peeps.
It's clear our cat LOVES the outdoors. He is a super hunter and wants to be outside all the time. There's just one problem. He can't.
We live in a suburb of LA, and while it's fairly populated here, there is ample predatory wildlife. We've seen coyotes in our yard multiple times. There's an owl that eats local dogs. And hawks are in the backyard regularly.
Not wanting to deprive our cat of anything, we leash trained him and started taking him outside twice a day, which he LOVED. But frankly, the outside is like an addiction to him. We couldn't bring him back in. He would hiss and growl and bite and attack us (the only time he's ever done so). He does everything in his power to get off the leash. And when we bring him back inside he screams all day to be let out, even when we're on a clear walking schedule. He just seems MORE miserable when we walk him regularly because he has to then return to the house.
We're trying to wean him off walks right now and it feels awful. He just cries at the door all day long and his herpes is flaring as a result of the stress.
I tried getting one of those mesh tents to put him in outside to see if we could do that all day long and he had a panic attack and started hyperventilating because he couldn't get out of it. Multiple tries with that have failed. It seems clear that a small outdoor enclosure will not do.
I sort of feel like I have two possible paths left to me. Never let him outside (which just seems like a cruel fate for the cat who loves it so much) and hope he stops asking at some point, or sink $5k into an awesome catio. I've found a builder and have a quote. But I'm concerned that even the catio will not be sufficient for this little guy who just wants freedom and the ability to hunt. I'm guessing that he'll just meow at the door of the catio all day long to be let out of that.
Anybody have any suggestions? I am stuck between wanting my cat to be happy and wanting my cat to be alive. Thanks peeps.