Cat Is Exceedingly More Happy When Allowed Outside

[kittykittykittykitty]

So I originally wanted to keep my male cat indoor only for all of his life, I thought when I get him neutered he will be much happier indoors, wrong, Even with long play sessions indoor he would still be meowing afterwards, He gradually got less interested in playing and I could barely hold his attention for a few minutes. He was not very affectionate and couldn't stand being pet for more than a minute (would quickly resort to scratching and biting), and he wouldn't sleep in my bed maybe a couple times a month.

I knew he was miserable so once he got to about a year old, I gradually started allowing him outside from supervised to unsupervised (I have a very big backyard), he seems incredibly happy. He is always purring, LOVES TO BE PET and i mean I could pet him for 10-30 minutes easily and he would be rolling around loving it and never bites or scratches me anymore. He sleeps a bit more but I chalk it up to more activity being outside. He always sleeps in my bed now no matter what and loves to cuddle under the covers. I have a big fenced backyard that is pretty cat proof but sadly there are trees he could climb and get out, and theres not much I can do about it.

The front of my house is where I am worried since there is a very busy road, but as I see it he wont be there often because its busy enough where he wouldn't get much of a gap to cross and its loud. I also try my best to keep him indoors at dark as best as I can. I also give him plenty of food and he is neutered so I would hope he doesn't have much of a reason to. When i go outside through the back I always see him in the backyard and have yet to see him not within the fence.

My 3 questions are; Why is he so affectionate towards me now and happier (not that im complaining!) after giving him outside time? I really was giving him tons of attention indoors. What can I do to minimize the chances of him getting hit by a car? And as he gets older would he want to venture outside the backyard?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - He loves you and loves the extra attention you're giving him ...maybe? .
For the backyard, find a big walk-in cage or build a catio. Age is not a factor, a squirrel or a bird or another cat can much too easily entice him up and over - happened to us, twice.
For the front; Teach him to walk in a harness and leash ONLY. Supervised time out front is your only means of mitigating dogs, cars, other cats and nasty humans.
After months of carefully watching the Big Guys behavior while on the leash out front, I sometimes now will let him out the front door without his leash so he can sniff the border flowers where the sort-of resident feral left a calling card (LOL) BUT I am always right there with him, and keep in mind he's a scaredy cat--the front door is always open for him to dart back inside.
It's a calculated risk that I'm not really comfortable with, quite frankly but he's different - most cats would be in the next county within about 5 minutes, and he's hugging my leg however I can absolutely guarantee to you that if there's a cat that shows up and I don't see it in time to scooch Mr Poppycat back inside, I'll be seen running down the street after the both of them.
Basically, I'm saying don't ever ever let him out front without you, ever.
That's my two cents

 

[orange&white]

Preface: I also have a huge back yard, but I live on a fairly quiet culdesac.

I have a senior who has always been a "door dasher", but like Furballsmom's cat, he really doesn't want to be left outside. He wants to go sit or roll in the grass (or patio concrete) and get some sunshine and sniff the air. I'll go out with him and if I need to be doing other things he comes back inside when I tell him "Come back inside". He's never been harnessed or leashed. When he was young I used to worry about him taking off, but he never has even tried and he's over thirteen years old now.

Last year I adopted a TNR kitten, who I ended of socializing instead of releasing. She has absolutely zero desire to set paw outside ever again (at least so far). She seems to enjoy the cushy indoor life and realizes how lucky she is.

I also took a second wild little feral for TNR a few months after the first one. She was "diagnosed" as too wild to socialize or ever make a good pet. I let her in and out as she pleases to avoid unhappiness and behavior issues. Really she's more like an outside "community cat". Instead of deciding whether to let her out, I decided to let her in (when she chooses). She eats 3 meals a day here and I'll pay any vet care she needs, but I'm just letting her do her own thing...which is primarily outside on nice weather days. She usually comes if I go out and call her, so she is sticking fairly close by.

So three cats; three preferences of inside or outside. I worry the most about the wild little feral cat because there are risks to her health and life which are beyond my control when she's out.

You just have to use your own judgment with your cat. There is nothing you can do to prevent him being hit by a car, or a lot of other awful things that sometimes happen to outdoor cats (unless you do want to leash train him or build him a catio). I do think they are aware of "the good life" you are offering and after being spayed/neutered they tend to stick fairly close to you (and to the guaranteed food source). But every cat is different.

 

[arouetta]

I have no idea on question #1.

Question #2 would be a completely enclosed catio that has absolutely no way to escape. You could have a 20 foot wrought iron fence and a cat will figure out how to get over it. Just keep in mind that cars are not the only danger. Just a few that come to mind are heartworm from mosquitoes, wild predator animals looking for lunch, wild prey animals with a strong desire to live and teeth to back it up, cat hating neighbors who have no problem coming onto your property to "deal" with their problem, cat loving neighbors that mistake him for a stray, accidental chemical spills.

Question #3, my experience he likely will. I adopted a 3 year old cat and he was a darter. To this day that stupid now-15 year old cat will take advantage of a door left open too long. Me taking my bike out is a two person endeavor as he figured out pretty quickly that the door will be open for a long time and I will be physically unable to block him while the bike is in the door. He doesn't always dart now, and when he does make it outside it's easy to catch him and toss him back inside, but going from "always darting and leading us on a long chase" to "occasionally and being easy to catch" happened only about a year ago.