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- May 7, 2018
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We have two cats, both prior strays. One loves their lot as an indoor cat and despises the outside. But the other...the other yearns for it.
We live in an area that has a very high coyote, owl and falcon population. Cats and small dogs disappear every day. A coyote climbed our neighbor's 7' fence two weeks ago into their backyard and gutted their goldendoodle. So unsupervised outdoor access is not an option.
Our cat is clearly unhappy indoors however. He tries to make a break for it outside whenever he can. When he succeeds in his jailbreak (even if we catch him in a matter of seconds), he'll spend the next few weeks meowling loudly at the door and refusing to play. He's screaming at the front door right now.
We have tried walking him. He absolutely LOVES it, but he loves it so much it introduces three problems. The first problem is that he refuses to come home. He will scratch and bite and act like we're killing him when we try to bring him back into the house. The second problem is that he does everything he can to slip the leash. The third problem is that once he's back in the house, even when he's on a walking schedule, he will yowl at the door and act depressed until it's time to walk again. So we've discontinued walks for the last few months.
We are considering building a large catio for him that is secure from coyotes. But we have a big mesh tent I've tried putting him in in the backyard (6' ceilings) and all he did was try to claw the walls and escape the entire time. I'm concerned that the catio will be just one more expensive 'cage' for him that he doesn't enjoy.
He has a tremendous amount of indoor stimulation and endless toys/play time/bird watching options. He gets bored so quickly. Getting him a friend has helped a little but not as much as we'd hoped.
I feel guilt as a pet owner that I can't give him the life that he clearly wants and that it seems to be robbing his enjoyment of everything else he could enjoy as a cat.
Anybody have any thoughts on this?
We live in an area that has a very high coyote, owl and falcon population. Cats and small dogs disappear every day. A coyote climbed our neighbor's 7' fence two weeks ago into their backyard and gutted their goldendoodle. So unsupervised outdoor access is not an option.
Our cat is clearly unhappy indoors however. He tries to make a break for it outside whenever he can. When he succeeds in his jailbreak (even if we catch him in a matter of seconds), he'll spend the next few weeks meowling loudly at the door and refusing to play. He's screaming at the front door right now.
We have tried walking him. He absolutely LOVES it, but he loves it so much it introduces three problems. The first problem is that he refuses to come home. He will scratch and bite and act like we're killing him when we try to bring him back into the house. The second problem is that he does everything he can to slip the leash. The third problem is that once he's back in the house, even when he's on a walking schedule, he will yowl at the door and act depressed until it's time to walk again. So we've discontinued walks for the last few months.
We are considering building a large catio for him that is secure from coyotes. But we have a big mesh tent I've tried putting him in in the backyard (6' ceilings) and all he did was try to claw the walls and escape the entire time. I'm concerned that the catio will be just one more expensive 'cage' for him that he doesn't enjoy.
He has a tremendous amount of indoor stimulation and endless toys/play time/bird watching options. He gets bored so quickly. Getting him a friend has helped a little but not as much as we'd hoped.
I feel guilt as a pet owner that I can't give him the life that he clearly wants and that it seems to be robbing his enjoyment of everything else he could enjoy as a cat.
Anybody have any thoughts on this?