My Cat Meows To Go Outside All Day

[OvidiuHiei]

So I have 3 cats, 2 of them are 4+ years old male and female we have had them since babies from a cat shelter, the third one is only 2 years old we found him on the street at around 6 months old, the other ones never go outside but this one behaves like a dog since he turned 1 year old, we would go with him outside every day with a leash, sometimes he would pee and poop like a dog but most of the time he just wanted to go outside, we thought it was pretty cool, as the time passed he demanded to go outside more and more. 2 weeks ago he did the unthinkable and he atacked my girlfriend's leg, he bit and clawed it pretty badly, we have been living together for years, both of us adopted the cat together and she goes with him outside more than I do, we don't know why he atacked her, but probably some kind of territory deal because there is a field with lots of cat/dog poop etc so maybe that triggered it idk, but fast forward 2 weeks he never atacked or behaved badly again, we don't go with him outside anymore, no more leash after the atack o my gf since we assumed he hated to be leashed.

Instead we now let him go outside by himself, he only likes to go outside at night, at first started with going at around 8 pm and being back at midnight in the neighbourhood and would meow when he was back for us to open the door, but last 2 days he has been going at 8 pm and coming back only in the morning and i dont like that at all, because he basically just comes home to sleep and eat, he no longer feels like my cat anymore. I love him so much i want him to be happy but i feel like he is not happy at home, part of the reason being the other cats don't like him much.

Also i dont like the diea of him being outside for so many hours because he could catch some kind of disease or fight another cat and get some disease, and then infect my other cats. Before letting him go outside i spent 200€ on the vet on stuff to protect him.. did anyone ever had something similar?

 

[5starcathotel]

When I was in my 20's (and much dumber than now), I had an indoor/outdoor male cat. I eventually found out, he used to venture around my apartment complex, and even inside several of my neighbor's apartments, if they left their doors open. *Fortunately*, nothing bad ever happened to him, but today, that would freak me out sooooo much!

So what I can suggest is maybe build an outdoor environment for him? There are lots of products that can let you enclose a yard or balcony, safely, for your cat to let him both enjoy the outside, and still be safe.

You can also combine this with a bit of gardening for catnip or other treats.

 

[LTS3]

Can you build a catio or other outdoor enclosure for the cats? This would only work if you own the home and property as rental homes don't allow such things.

 

[OvidiuHiei]

Can you build a catio or other outdoor enclosure for the cats? This would only work if you own the home and property as rental homes don't allow such things.

I really can't because these are apartments, and not house a with a yard etc, it has a lot of space where there isnt road, it's a huge parking lot so he usually hides underneath the cars but yeah i cant really build anything for him since it's not "my" space