My cat wants outside...and he's driving me crazy.

KittyFriday

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Bit of background, Friday is an 11 year old domestic shorthair who spent the first 10 years of his life as a barn cat. Last fall, I brought him to live with me as an indoor cat in town. He did about a week where he sought out the doors and wanted out but after that didn't have any interest - in fact, it took him awhile to even want to look out the windows. He'd watch my dog go out the back door and give me a dirty look (probably because of the cold) and dart away.

He has a really nice window seat my dad built him that looks out my front windows, plus another one in my office that looks into the backyard. I've been working from home and it's been nice so I've been opening that office window while I work. He also has cat trees and plenty of toys; he loves his big cat tree but ignores most everything else.

A few days ago I let my dog outside and he darted into the backyard totally unexpected. My yard has a wood privacy fence so I figured I'd just let him walk around and follow him while he did so if he tried to climb the fence I could pull him back. He walked around sniffing things and eating grass.

Now every time I let my dog out he's at that door rushing out to the yard. I feel bad because he clearly wants out there so I let him go out and explore for a bit and then we go back inside.

The problem is that he spends a good amount of time sitting by the back door yowling. Then he'll come into whatever room I'm in and yell at me in there. Then back to the door. Then he may take a nap. Then it's back to the crying again. It's honestly driving me absolutely crazy. This morning he woke me up at 5 am and I couldn't get back to sleep.

Is there anything I can do? I can't really build him any kind of enclosure because we are on a statewide shut down. Getting him a harness is difficult as well unless I can get one of my dog's harnesses to fit him. I just feel so guilty because he obviously wants to go outside since the weather is nice, but I live in a busy neighborhood and it's not safe to have him roaming around.
 

KarenKat

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I had this exact same problem with Olive. She was an abandoned stray and adapted well to an indoor life. But we can’t open windows or let her out because she goes crazy for weeks after. We tried the harness and she yowled for two weeks after.

What works for us is no outside, cold turkey. We unfortunately don’t open windows (she will escape). Every cat is different, though, so maybe your guy would do well on a harness. It does take time, and you might want to order one specifically for a cat (I heard the dog ones are easy to slip out of).
 

DreamerRose

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There are lots of harnesses and leashes for cats - check Chewy for a nice selection. The best in my opinion is the kitty holster. Cats can't wriggle out of it. http://www.kittyholster.com/

Don't expect your cat to walk on the leash the way a dog does, though. The best you can hope for is to follow the cat and keep it from running away.
 

fionasmom

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I am in a similar situation right now with Alice and Elise, two calico ferals who have just transitioned to being house cats. It was a long road with Alice to get her to finally adapt and stop the yelling and howling when she wanted out but finally it is over and both seem very happy to be indoors. Oddly, the are more easily handled than some originally pet cat I have had.

My point is that I know how irritating this is and I have done both of what you mentioned. Cold turkey or a harness and both have worked depending on the personality of the cat. If the cat will allow a harness that is one solution and you do want a secure one like the holster. I found that my three cats who would use one became reliable about using the harness and tie out to move around and relax in various places. I only used it if I was home and watching though. We never walked as they did not seem to want to do that; I know that some do.

For the last few years, I have been using cold turkey. Too many coyotes around now, etc. In the case of Alice and Elise I would not attempt a harness right now, but might in the future.
 

ArtNJ

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You are running in to the give a cat an inch, they want a mile problem. It seems to be a common problem with cats converted to indoor only that get a taste of the outdoors again. You said it has only been a few days since you let him out. If you want him to stop yowling, you have to ignore him for as long as it takes, and make sure he doesn't get out again, with or without permission. Cold turkey as I see fionasmom fionasmom posted.

I have one now that *still* watches the door sometimes even though I haven't let him out voluntarily for months and months. He has learned many tricks to dart out, and learned to disregard my foot stomping. Thats a problem, because if they stop fearing the foot stomps you have to stop doing them, or you are going to step on the cat. So my main tactic was gone. Fortunately, I seem to have outsmarted him by keeping a 3 foot long tube by the door - a yardstick might work just as well. Before I leave I swing it around a bit, bang it on the floor a tad, and he backs way off. When I crack the door to come in, I stick the tub in first and tap it on the ground. I dunno why, but he finds it a lot scarier than my foot stomps.

P.S. Don't feel guilty about not being able to build a catio. I don't believe they work for this. A nice thing for a cat, but a cat that has been outside will still want the freedom of actually being outside and free to do what it likes.
 
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KittyFriday

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Thanks, all. I honestly feel a little guilty because I'm sure he wants the fresh air and he's jealous that the dog and I get to go outside. I wish I had access to a catio because I really do think he'd enjoy that - he seems to just want to sit outside and get some sun and roll in the grass (which is really all he did as a barn cat anyway).

So, I'm torn on if I'm going to go cold turkey or try to find a way to let him out safely. My yard is privacy fenced so I've just been following him around out there so I can grab him if he tries to climb it and otherwise just let him do his thing but darn if the wailing doesn't get to me.
 

ArtNJ

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If you are going to let him out into the fenced yard, try making a ritual of it, so he understands when he does and doesn't get to go out. Set a timer on your iphone for the same time every day, and let him out at only that time. If you can't do it on a particular day, turn the timer off. Something like that. Might help. YMMV.
 

Lillyenn

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Cats are creatures of routine. My boy also wants to go out at 5 am (or 4 am) in every morning, if you can close him out of your room, ignore the meowing and go back to sleep, you won. And if you keep doing that, he will eventually catch on to it and accept the fact that it's not outside time (but he will be quite annoying for a while). It's hard not feeling bad, but if you would wake up later and you wouldn't be able to find him, that would be even worse, so hold your ground on him not getting out when you are not awake.
I think that going completely cold turkey with a barn cat that had the freedom of going outside for so many years will not going to work. You can try out stuff to block the door, but one little mistake and he is out. And it will be much harder to catch an energetic cat who knows that this is a rare chance, compared to one who is allowed outside for a fixed amount of time everyday with you. As others wrote before me, you just need to get him used to only being outside when it's a certain time of the day.
You could also try to enrich his inside place with new stuff, so he can be more occupied inside. You know your cat, is he a climber? Or does he likes getting into dark places? How much of an explorer he is? Etc. Just look up some stuff and decide for yourself, what would he enjoy that you can relatively easily give him.
Also one more thing, my cat pretty much ignored his cat tree until I changed it's location. If you feel like Friday already has enough stuff to entertain himself with and he is just not intrested, maybe try to move some stuff around to areas he seems to like more. Best of luck to you. Don't feel bad about this I only allow my cats outside unattended, because I live in a country with no coyotes or other significant predators + my neighborhood is also safe for cats. And even then I have different outside rules for all of them because of their different personalities. Sure Friday might be happier outside for a long amount of time everyday, but if anything bad would happen (and it easily could because he is not at his old familiar location), his happiness would be quite sort lived.
 

Jen Condit

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Hi, I'm curious if you have any updates on this thread (the original poster). I have run into the same issue with my recently adopted cat and don't know what to do. Has anything worked in the past month?!
 
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KittyFriday

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Hi Jen,

Unfortunately no. :( He's still loud. I can usually distract him with food or by playing with him, but then I think sometimes he's just wanting attention anyway and not specifically to go outside, although he's happy and quiet when we do supervised outside time. I really, really wish I could build him a catio.

My boy has always been pretty vocal, but it's gotten intense. He does have his annual checkup in a couple of weeks and I plan to mention it to them in case it's relevant to anything.
 

Jen Condit

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Hi Jen,

Unfortunately no. :( He's still loud. I can usually distract him with food or by playing with him, but then I think sometimes he's just wanting attention anyway and not specifically to go outside, although he's happy and quiet when we do supervised outside time. I really, really wish I could build him a catio.

My boy has always been pretty vocal, but it's gotten intense. He does have his annual checkup in a couple of weeks and I plan to mention it to them in case it's relevant to anything.
Awww, you sounds like a wonderful kitty parent! I am thinking it's best to not start the harness and try ignoring my girl when she whines. I Best of luck with the vet visit :)
 
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