Kitten's sudden obsession with the outdoors

[BeccaT]

Hi! This is a recent development and I'm worried if we've made a mistake.

When we adopted our Annie, we had (and still have) full intentions of making her an indoor cat. We play with her frequently and she has a tower in front of the living room window to watch the cars go by (no birds in the front, sadly) and overall we believe she's a content cat indoors, although we do plan on adopting a second cat when we can afford it for her sake.

Yesterday, me and my husband decided to sit outside for a bit as it was a pleasantly warm night and we brought our 6 month old kitten out with us. We have a small garden with a tall fence and a bit of grass. We've brought her outside before but never for long and she never had much interest until now. We wanted to be able to bring her outside, supervised, for days or nights when we want to sit outside when the weather is nice. All she does is sniff around, play with leaves and tries to catch flies, and there's always at least one of us stood close by to her just in case we need to grab her. She's maybe been outside a total of 4 or 5 times? Only for 5 minutes at most and always with our supervision.

We're worried we've made a mistake, though. Today when we were making dinner, she was sat by the backdoor squeaking and meowing and she clearly wanted to go out. When we opened the door to take her out, she stuck her head in the doorway but didn't go out right away, but after a few seconds she happily went to trot around the garden. I was following her around but I was constantly on edge in case she decided to jump the fence. She's still quite small and the fences are high but I still think she could do it if she really tried.

This is a problem because we have an elderly relative that lives with us who frequently goes out the back for a cigarette, and they've told us that a few times over the past few days (even before yesterday) that she's gotten out but never made it far, and thankfully they were able to grab her and bring her back in, but I'm worried that one day she'll be too fast for them and she may jump the fence. She sleeps outside of our bedroom at night (for a few reasons, I wish she didn't have to though) and said relative is awake at random hours and so it's not like she's safe when we go to bed at night. She only seems to whine at the door when we're in the area of the backdoor though, she's content enough when she's in our bedroom and we're homebodies so we're home pretty much all the time.

Did we make a mistake? Is there a way to "change" her behavior and not want to go outside anymore?

A few notes I thought might be worth mentioning: we did try to harness train her a few months ago but sadly we weren't able to keep up with it, and we're unsure if it's too late to get back into it. Either way, we don't really live in an area where we could safely walk her on a leash without fear of dogs or anything like that. We also sadly don't really have space for a catio, but we do have a playpen/tent kind of thing that we used to put her in at night when she was really tiny, but we imagine she wouldn't like being in there anymore.

 

[ArtNJ]

Give a cat an inch, it wants a mile. Outside, sometimes, only when you chose & supervised, is just really really hard and a recipe for whining of this type. Stop letting the cat outside and it will stop whining. Eventually HOWEVER if the cat is able to keep escaping, its interest and skill at escaping will only increase. Allow too many escapes and the desire will last a longgg time.

Additionally, I strongly recommend a change to your retrieval strategy. Almost all cats past the kitten stage are capable of "breaking ankles" -- ie making even coordinated humans look fat slow and clumsy. Once the cat really decides to evade, then forget about the elderly relative -- YOU won't be catching it either. This will start happening eventually. So the correct strategy is to sit outside, act like nothing problematic is happening, pet the cat when it comes over, and only once its totally chill, pick it up and take it back inside. Well, thats what has worked best for me, YMMV. But at 6 months, won't be long before the kitten realizes he doesn't actually need to be caught, if he doesn't want to be -- so if you "teach" him he needs to evade by chasing, he will.

 

[susanm9006]

Best to end any outdoor visits and escapes. Find a couple motion activated toys that move or shriek and set the right outside the door, or even a motion activated sprinkler. It usually only takes a few scares before he figure out that outside is too scary for him.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

Maybe try the tent! I'm far from an expert and don't even have a yard. But I do have a roof deck, and because I can't let my kitty out there without some sort of restraint (it's on the fourth floor), I bought a cat tent, which I moved close enough to the door that I could catch her if she tried to run somewhere else. Funny thing: although it took a little practice, she goes straight into the tent now when I open the door to the deck. Even when I put her harness and leash on and intend to let her have the run of the deck, she goes straight for the tent. I guess it's her territory now. If you set up a tent (the one you have or a bigger one, if needed) right outside the door, I wonder if she would get outdoor time and also get used to running into her tent whenever your relative opened the door.

 

[fionasmom]

Jackson Galaxy uses those spray cans of air which are set up near areas where you don't want the cat to go.

PetSafe SSSCat Spray Deterrent

I would go back to the harness training, but allow her only into the back yard area with the harness. I did this for three of my cats, including Fiona. Yes, it meant I was with them or they were on a tie out with me still present in the yard.

 

[BeccaT]

Jackson Galaxy uses those spray cans of air which are set up near areas where you don't want the cat to go.

PetSafe SSSCat Spray Deterrent

I would go back to the harness training, but allow her only into the back yard area with the harness. I did this for three of my cats, including Fiona. Yes, it meant I was with them or they were on a tie out with me still present in the yard.

Putting the harness on only outside isn't a bad idea actually! Sadly I'm not sure any of the deterrent things suggested would work in our house (I feel like the relative would complain about it) but it's something I'm willing to look into.

 

[FeebysOwner]

She sleeps outside of our bedroom at night (for a few reasons, I wish she didn't have to though) and said relative is awake at random hours and so it's not like she's safe when we go to bed at night.

If whatever is going on can't be resolved so that she can be in your room at night, then perhaps a barricade that blocks her from the same path your relative uses, you could at least stop the nighttime dashes for outside. That all depends on the layout of your house. I would think hard and long about this one to see if you can find a way to make some sort of 'moveable' barricade to work. I've included a pic of a DIY barricade should that help you come up with a version that would work in your home.

Putting the harness on only outside isn't a bad idea actually!

If you choose to go this route, your cat should also never be allowed to walk across a threshold to the outside - always carried in your arms, so that she learns the only 'real' way to go outside (and back in) is by being carried.

Maybe this TCS article will provoke you to come up with some other ideas of things to try?
How To Prevent Your Cat From Darting Out The Door – TheCatSite Articles

 

[BeccaT]

If whatever is going on can't be resolved so that she can be in your room at night, then perhaps a barricade that blocks her from the same path your relative uses, you could at least stop the nighttime dashes for outside. That all depends on the layout of your house. I would think hard and long about this one to see if you can find a way to make some sort of 'moveable' barricade to work. I've included a pic of a DIY barricade should that help you come up with a version that would work in your home.

If you choose to go this route, your cat should also never be allowed to walk across a threshold to the outside - always carried in your arms, so that she learns the only 'real' way to go outside (and back in) is by being carried.

Maybe this TCS article will provoke you to come up with some other ideas of things to try?
How To Prevent Your Cat From Darting Out The Door – TheCatSite Articles

Thank you for all this information!

The image you provided is actually something I looked into before we even adopted her. I initially wanted this as the layout of our house is weird, there's basically only 2 rooms in the house which is both mine and my husband's bedroom and his relative's bedroom, so there's really no way to isolate her to just one room, but my husband was against it (the shelving that is, but also I'm unsure if it'd even work as it's not even really a doorway and might be too big). But it might have to be something to actually consider if we can't stop her from dashing out of the back door.

Carrying her is a good idea also, and I'll take a look at that article, thank you!

 

[FeebysOwner]

the shelving that is, but also I'm unsure if it'd even work as it's not even really a doorway and might be too big

The type of blockade I gave a pic of can actually be made as wide as you want it (as well as tall), so it can be made to fit areas much larger than doorways. With the zip tie connections, it actually become an accordion door of sorts that can be folded out of the way when not needed.