Help Advice - She wants outside. Screen porch pros and cons

Renee0626

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My 5 month old kitten cries to go outside after she snuck out onto the screened porch one day. She’s been indoors since being rescued at 5 weeks but she is a very active and determined kitten that now constantly whines and claws at the glass door to go outside on our screened in porch. She will jump up to the door handle for an hour straight trying get out there.
I’m worried if I let her out there she will get a taste of it and then try to run out of the front door also. Cooler weather is coming here and I’m afraid when opening windows and sliding glass doors it’s going to get worse with her.
Has anyone had any experience with harness training a cat? Is it possible to only let her on porch with a very long leash and harness. Would she learn not to run out the front door without her harness? Water bottle spraying or smell sprays to deter do not work on her so if she starts running out the front door I have no way to teach her not to. We are not in a location that is safe for her to be an outdoor cat.
What’s your experience with giving a little freedom on a screened porch? Does it make things worse or make them happier.
 

Juniper_Junebug

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I let me kitty out on my deck starting from when she was a kitten. Because it's not screened (and is four floors up), I first only let her out on her harness. It took a while to train her to accept the harness without turning into a zombie cat, and she still doesn't like it, but she likes going outside. I later bought a kitty tent and she's generally pretty good about going straight from the door to the tent.

I live in a condo, so I don't have to worry about her getting directly outside from my front door, but so far, she hasn't even tried getting out my front door (knock wood). I think it helps that it's two different doors so she never learned she could go out the front door. I did worry about my screened windows. She use to like to climb them when she was a kitten, but just to be a menace, not to get outside.
 

tuffsmom

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My cat Tuff loves our screened porch. There are several trees and a bird bath for him to watch. If I were a cat I think this would be more enjoyable than being indoors all day.
 

susanm9006

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I actually added a screen porch in my former home just to keep my hyperactive cat happy. I covered the screen with heavy duty bird netting and she was able to climb up, down and sideways on the mesh. She didn’t try to run out the porch door and seemed content to stay out on the porch all day and sometimes all night.
 
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Renee0626

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Thank you all so much. You have made me more comfortable with having luck with the porch. I think I’ll start working with a harness for an added protection. I agree I think she’ll be happier being able to be outside some.
 

Norachan

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A screened porch is a great idea. Make sure the screens are tough enough to withstand a little kitty scratching. You can get proper cat proof screens that they can't pop out of the frames or tear holes through.

(Really I'm just posting here because our avatar cats look so much alike!)
 
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