I recently brought my cat indoors after my other cat unexpectedly passed away in a car accident two weeks ago.
On day one, she seemed perfectly fine. On days two and three, I took her outside to the backyard in the morning after she woke up. She sniffed around and then came straight back inside on her own. Since then, we haven't let her go outside.
However, two weeks have passed, and it seems like she wants to go outside every night. Our family is not comfortable letting her out anymore, especially since my other cat's tragic accident happened right near our house. Every night, she stands at the back door and cries to go outside. We've gotten her a new cat tree, scratchers, toys, and a food puzzle, but she still doesn't seem happy. I play with her, turn on cat TV, and do other activities, but she doesn’t seem to enjoy them as much as being outside. I'm not sure what to do.
I feel guilty for not letting her out, especially since she has lived outdoors for five years. However, I'm also scared that if she goes out, something might happen like it did with my other cat, or that she will continuously ask to go outside.
I'm worried that if she remains indoors, she might become depressed or stressed. Would she? Am I making her unhappy by keeping her inside?
Also, if I ignore her desire to go outside, will she eventually stop crying and wanting to go out? Please help.
On day one, she seemed perfectly fine. On days two and three, I took her outside to the backyard in the morning after she woke up. She sniffed around and then came straight back inside on her own. Since then, we haven't let her go outside.
However, two weeks have passed, and it seems like she wants to go outside every night. Our family is not comfortable letting her out anymore, especially since my other cat's tragic accident happened right near our house. Every night, she stands at the back door and cries to go outside. We've gotten her a new cat tree, scratchers, toys, and a food puzzle, but she still doesn't seem happy. I play with her, turn on cat TV, and do other activities, but she doesn’t seem to enjoy them as much as being outside. I'm not sure what to do.
I feel guilty for not letting her out, especially since she has lived outdoors for five years. However, I'm also scared that if she goes out, something might happen like it did with my other cat, or that she will continuously ask to go outside.
I'm worried that if she remains indoors, she might become depressed or stressed. Would she? Am I making her unhappy by keeping her inside?
Also, if I ignore her desire to go outside, will she eventually stop crying and wanting to go out? Please help.
Some friends of mine had a cat get outside and was only gone for an hour, but came back in with a huge, deep laceration on the top of his head that required an emergency vet trip and stitches. Thankfully, he's OK, but no one knows exactly what happened. So it's much safer to keep them indoors, or, like you mentioned, harness training which I think is a fantastic idea. It's become very popular in the past several years to do so and I personally know people who have done this, and their cats love being able to go outside and hang out on the deck or in the yard with their people. 
