New Apartment, Cat wanting the Outside

sourcucumbers

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Hey all!

So recently (about 2 months now) I moved into a new apartment and my Kirby has been acting up! In my old apartment, we had a balcony and he was able to have supervised outside time and essentially a catio where he was able to lounge outside. A new change in life led us to have to move to a more densely city area where there is no balcony and lots of cars so he cannot go outside.

Because of this, he's been really acting up. Crying by the door, scratching, biting, you name it. I've tried to catify my apartment more, added a new cat tower, bought another tunnel, installed a bookshelf for him and started playing with him while I'm doing my readings for school. None of these things worked. I also tried leash training him for the past month, but he hates the harness, so we had to stop.

The crying won't stop and I'm not sure what else to do. I feel like I've exhausted my options of trying to catify my home and there's no way I can let him outside because he doesn't like the leash and there are too many cars out so I don't want him to get hurt. Does anyone have any solutions or have dealt with this before? I have no clue what else to do and I don't want to stress him out further, so I would really appreciate advice and loving words right now.
 

ArtNJ

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What about building a perch so he can look out one of your windows more easily? I believe they sell products to make this easy.

Beyond that, not sure what to say. Its super rare that they dont stop scratching to go out if they are never allowed out, but super rare does happen to some poor sod now and then and unfortunately thats you. I recall one poster that claimed he never gave in and it kept up for 5 months.
 
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sourcucumbers

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What about building a perch so he can look out one of your windows more easily? I believe they sell products to make this easy.

Beyond that, not sure what to say. Its super rare that they dont stop scratching to go out if they are never allowed out, but super rare does happen to some poor sod now and then and unfortunately thats you. I recall one poster that claimed he never gave in and it kept up for 5 months.
Lol, yes I'm unfortunately the poor sod, but he's been "out" on the balcony/catio and since my parents live in the countryside when I visit we let him "out" on our patio with supervision (it's outside but fenced off super well). I'm probably going to look into building a window perch and just being persistent on not letting him go outside. He's also been really persistent with his cries too, but oh well it's just a waiting game of willpower i guess.
 

ArtNJ

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Hmm, could be that he thinks all windows open to balconies if he keeps asking, and allowing him out at your parents is therefore counting against you by reinforcing this belief. Ordinarily, I wouldn't think so, but two months is a longgg time to keep it up with zero reinforcement, so I think I agree not to allow him out even when you take him to your parents. We definitely have some posters that can recommend a specific product for window ledges, I've seen the products linked, hopefully one of them will stop in and help further. If not you could do a post with that in the title or try your luck with searching the forum (or amazon).

Good luck!
 

LTS3

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I don't suppose something like this would be allowed in your apartment?




Try a pet stroller to take your cat outside. I'd still put a harness and leash on the cat so you can hold onto the leash in case the cats tries to bolt from the stroller if it's open.
 
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sourcucumbers

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I don't suppose something like this would be allowed in your apartment?




Try a pet stroller to take your cat outside. I'd still put a harness and leash on the cat so you can hold onto the leash in case the cats tries to bolt from the stroller if it's open.
I'm not sure if that is allowed since I do live on the second floor of my building, which is a hard to reach place. I will look into a pet stroller though, but I'm not sure how that would work since he has an aversion to his harness.
 

LTS3

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These don't require any attachment to the side of the building:


You may need approval from the landlord before putting something like that in the window.

You can use a pet stroller without a harness and leash. Just make sure the part where the cat sits is securely closed (maybe add luggage locks to the zipper?) and always check for any clawed holes and tears before using.
 
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sourcucumbers

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These don't require any attachment to the side of the building:

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You may need approval from the landlord before putting something like that in the window.

You can use a pet stroller without a harness and leash. Just make sure the part where the cat sits is securely closed (maybe add luggage locks to the zipper?) and always check for any clawed holes and tears before using.
Thank you so much! These are wonderful solutions and I'll get in contact with my landlord. Hopefully something works out in my favor lol
 
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