Feral in my garage

[shadowsrescue]

I am just so happy that he is back. He is looking right at you!! He knows you take care of him and knows where to come home!

I would consider leaving the door open for him to come and go. He obviously does not like being confined and wants the freedom to come and go. He may decide later that he is fine, but for now you don't want him jumping the 9' to escape. I would leave the door ajar and leave the camera going. Obviously you don't want other critters in the space, but you also don't want him hurt.

 

[Bitsy's Mom]

I am just so happy that he is back. He is looking right at you!! He knows you take care of him and knows where to come home!

I would consider leaving the door open for him to come and go. He obviously does not like being confined and wants the freedom to come and go. He may decide later that he is fine, but for now you don't want him jumping the 9' to escape. I would leave the door ajar and leave the camera going. Obviously you don't want other critters in the space, but you also don't want him hurt.

I don’t know if I should leave open at night - kinda encouraging him to leave?

 

[shadowsrescue]

You can try and see if he jumps out again. Right now he still has a way to get out. If the door is closed he then can't get back inside. My guess is when night time comes he wants out to explore. I know this is nowhere near ideal and not what you had in mind. Yet with that large exit he can still get out. Most cats are very nimble, but 9' is a big jump. You don't want him injured.

Just so happy he is back and safe.

 

[rubysmama]

I would consider leaving the door open for him to come and go. He obviously does not like being confined and wants the freedom to come and go.

If it wasn't Oscar, who has proven time and time again that he does not like being confined, I would say leave the door closed. But both when he was in your garage, and also in the room in your house, he got stressed, and eventually didn't eat, and you had to open up the door/window for him to escape. And in the case of the garage, he never went in there again.

So this is HUGE that he's come back to his shed home. He knows it's a safe place, where he'll be fed. And he's communicating with you.

Maybe you need to compromise with him, for now, and give him his safe luxury home, but also the freedom to leave if he wants to. Not ideal, but keeping him feeling safe and stress-free is important too. So maybe leave the shed door open, and see what happens. With your camera, you can spy on him 24/7.

 

[Bitsy's Mom]

I am just so happy that he is back. He is looking right at you!! He knows you take care of him and knows where to come home!

I would consider leaving the door open for him to come and go. He obviously does not like being confined and wants the freedom to come and go. He may decide later that he is fine, but for now you don't want him jumping the 9' to escape. I would leave the door ajar and leave the camera going. Obviously you don't want other critters in the space, but you also don't want him hurt.

I don’t know if I should leave open at night - kinda encouraging him to leave

 

[Bitsy's Mom]

He has the open space. Maybe that’s enough for him to not feel confined? I don’t think he was comfortable outside in an area he doesn’t know - if he was - I think he would’ve eaten the food at the entrance of the shed door. He had to pass it to come in.

it’s tough to know.

 

[rubysmama]

Only you can make the decision on whether or not to leave the shed door open wide enough for him to come and go, but as long as the opening is there at the top, there's a chance he'll risk danger by jumping if he really wants out. And then, if he does successfully get to the ground without hurting himself, unless the shed door is open, he has no way to get back into his home, as he can't climb the side of the shed. So for that reason, I feel leaving shed door open a bit might be the best, and maybe only, solution right now.

 

[tarasgirl06]

He has the open space. Maybe that’s enough for him to not feel confined? I don’t think he was comfortable outside in an area he doesn’t know - if he was - I think he would’ve eaten the food at the entrance of the shed door. He had to pass it to come in.

it’s tough to know.

I googled whether a domestic cat can jump 9 ft. and it said 4-5 ft. So he's jumping onto something to get out.
Is there any way you could install a catflap (cat door)? That would make it possible for you to leave the AC on and for him to be safe(r) as larger animals can't get through a cat door. Of course, he'd need to know it was there and how to use it.
Not an easy call. I guess, for now, leaving the door open has to be the way, until you can get that breach repaired.

 

[Avery]

I just had a thought. I can't quite picture the setting so maybe this wouldn't work, but could you put something under the spot where he escaped so if he wants to jump down, he won't have to jump nine feet? I'm thinking something like a garbage can or a table or anything sturdy that is several feet high. I would only do this if it was very stable and if you thought he could also safely jump back up! Otherwise, leaving the shed door open a little bit might be best for now.

 

[Whenallhellbreakslose]

I was thinking about the cat flap idea as well which would be safer for Oscar than having the door opened. For now, it may be best to leave the door a little open and let him come and go. You don't want Oscar injuring himself jumping down.

You tried your best to confine him to the shed and you gave him a wonderful set up, but he found a way out and if he has no way back in, he may wander around more and get lost. So you want to prevent that from happening.

So glad you found him. That is a relief!

 

[pearl99]

I also go for the idea of the shed door open a bit. He did come back to the shed so I think he would still and has thought to himself that coming and going is okay.
Also, the idea of stacking things up to give access to the escape hole is logical.
But mostly, HE CAME BACK!!! I can't tell you how overjoyed I was to read that!!!!!!!!!!
I did also have a feeling he was around and would come back for food, like at your other house he learned where food was going to be, and that he can come and go. So I have a feeling the shed door open a bit could work for him for now. More learning by him that YOU can be trusted and to stick around!!

 

[Norachan]

Yay!


I'm so happy to hear he is back. It's obvious that he considers the shed his home and his safe place.

Yes, he will be able to jump down from there if he wants to. My cats are able to jump down from the roof of my house. I think 5ft is a safe jump for a cat if they are jumping down into open space, but he can probably use the wall of the shed to walk down and make it easier for him.

I'm going to disagree with some other poster and suggest that you don't leave a door or window open. Other animals might come in and scare him. Do you have a step ladder you can leave propped against the wall under the hole he got out of? It's very easy to make cats a climbing post out of a plank of wood with some rope wrapped around it. You just need to make sure it's secure at the bottom. Either dig a hole and sink it into the earth or put the bottom of the plank into a bucket and fill it up with rocks or earth.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I have a little story about when I first left home. I was living in a converted garage that had a trapdoor up to the roof. Well, I was hoping that my fiancee would somehow let us adopt a cat for my birthday. He loved cats, too. And lo and behold, right about the time of the big day, here comes the most beautiful cat through that trapdoor! She looked at least part Abyssinian and we never knew where she came from, but back then I was not as educated in Cat as I became, so the trapdoor was open, at least part of the time, as I recall, and she came and went. After all, we knew she wasn't "our" cat and that someone was probably missing her. I loved her visits! And I'm not sure how she accessed, because we had very little furniture and nothing tall, that I recall. But she would visit us.

 

[tabbytom]

UPDATE AGAIN: So I set up the camera at 10 am and left. Got back in the house and the motion went off! I looked and there was Oscar, up in the loft/rafter and crouched near the hole from the fallen soffit. I rushed out and ran around the back and looked up. He was perched there - staring back at me!!!! He was in there!!! I was SO HAPPY TO SEE HIM.

That's great to hear!

 

[Avery]

Hmmm... Norachan makes a good point about other animals coming in and scaring Oscar if the door is left open. I like her idea of propping a step ladder or a plank of wood against the wall under his escape hole. Maybe the camera will help you decide what to do once you see how it goes. In any case, Oscar is back and he knows he has a safe place with good food!

 

[Jcatbird]

Yay!!!!! I am so happy for you and Oscar. This is wonderful and does tell you that he knows you are his human. I’m so grateful you did not give up. Bravo! Job well done. I am hoping he stays right there now. Maybe he’ll stop wandering since he saw that outside his house is not as good as inside. That would be my greatest hope and his safest choice.

 

[tabbytom]

Bitsy's Mom ,

This is just an idea. Can you get crates like this and stack up like a cascading shelf and place it by the side below the hole? This way Oscar can use it to get up and down without hurting himself instead of jumping down 9'?

If you do, you can get 'C' clamps to secure them together to make it more sturdy and at the same time, the hollows of the crates can be use to store things or put some cat safe plants in them as decorations.

 

[Jcatbird]

I bought some crates like that at a Michaels craft store. They were inexpensive and very solid. Even if you just fastened a few to the wall in the studs they could serve as steps down.

 

[Bitsy's Mom]

Good morning,

I usually don't trust my instincts, but last night, my instincts were to keep the shed door closed. I say that because I wanted to reinforce the routine we had before he fell when the soffit gave way. Also, I wanted him to feel safe and cats know doors, and leaving the door open where a human or animal could enter anytime did not seem safe.

I watched the video and will attach a pic of when he came down to drink. I have water 3 places in the shed, and put one up near the loft so he didn't have to come all the way down to drink. Anyway, he drank a ton and then went back up to the loft. Then, about one hour later, he came down, ate his dinner and used the litter. Then, he head straight back up to the loft. I was hoping he would explore or walk around, but no, just right back up.

I don't think he left last night . so will put on the air conditioner today and watch the video tonight around 8-9 pm. If I don't see any movement - then I will open the door in case he left last night. I don't think so . . but do think the more time that passes, the more risky it is. I am trying hard to find someone to put a board up in the hole. And if not, I will be buying a ladder, a saw, and doing it myself.

I am also going to check out putting some kind of ramp or crates up to the hole. I am a bit hesitant since I don't want to enable an exit but I also don't want him getting hurt jumping. It's a tough balance. I wish I could open the window for the catio . . .it would be a safe alternative to the hole up top! But, the air conditioner is there and will be for the next month.

Check out the photo of him drinking. I love that boy so much!

 

[tabbytom]

I watched the video and will attach a pic of when he came down to drink. I have water 3 places in the shed, and put one up near the loft so he didn't have to come all the way down to drink. Anyway, he drank a ton and then went back up to the loft. Then, about one hour later, he came down, ate his dinner and used the litter. Then, he head straight back up to the loft. I was hoping he would explore or walk around, but no, just right back up.

Wow! That's great to see and hear that he is drinking, eating and using the litterbox. I guess he's getting use to the routine and he definitely needs more time to gain confidence to walk around.

I'm not sure if you could hang a mirror on the left slanting beam of the roof and angle it so that you can see the loft. This way, you don't have to guess if he went out or not. Hopefully, after repairing the hole, he won't find another hole. So a mirror will help you see him OR have another camera set up there, which is better coz the camera can see in the dark as the mirror can't. Or if the current camera have pan and tilt function, it can be mounted higher at the current position so that you can view the loft as well as the whole catio. This is just a suggestion.