Outdoor to indoor transition

David d

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I live on a farm and have had cats for 45 years. All are rescues, all outside “barn” cats. Many might frown , we have many who lived into they late teens, one 22 and another 25! So to my question. My wife would like an indoor “lapcat” . We have an 8 yr old neutered male who always dashes in the house at any opportunity. How hard would it be to make that transition? Hints on how best to do it?
 

ArtNJ

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Assuming the barn cat is affectionate, you just bring them in, maybe you use the "safe room" concept for a couple days, but the main thing is, you ignore the whining to get out. If all goes well, it stops in a reasonable amount of time. If all doesn't go well, they drive you nuts, it goes on for weeks, and maybe the cat even scratches your bedroom door, just to up the ante. Very very rarely, but too many times to be coincidence, posters have stated that despite ignoring the whining to go out, it never stopped. I haven't had *that* but I can tell you from personal experience that if you allow too many escapes, the cat becomes fearless, clever, and the desire to escape entrenched. My cat doesn't whine. But he does watch like a hawk, always and forever. For the most part though, your looking at a week or two of very annoying transition, if you ignore it and prevent escapes.

The issue perhaps more likely to be vexxing is that a small but real # of rescues don't adapt well to the liter box. You can do the indoor/outdoor thing if you have one of those. An indoor/outdoor *can* also be a lap cat. They are not mutually exclusive. But then there is a big storm or its super cold, or they is a coyote in the area, and you keep the cat in overnight . . . and you have accidents.

Usually things go ok. I've only done this twice, there are folks here that have done it tons of times. There is lots of guidance if you have problems. Just saying that yes, it can cause some frustrations and stress at times.

Oh, and getting a lap cat out of the deal? There are strategies, but you mostly have to be patient. Even if the cat is bold as heck outside, it might be standoffish/skittish inside. It could take a long while.
 

KittyFriday

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My cat is an ex-barn cat. He lived outdoors for at least 8 years (I'm not 100% sure of his exact age) before I brought him to live with me as an indoor cat in town. He adapted surprisingly well for the most part, but even as a barn cat he was pretty lazy, so that worked in his favor. He still does like to go outside, so I have a harness/leash for him as well as a pop up cat tent so he can spend some time outdoors without risking him running away.

Overall, the transition was very smooth and we're both happier with him as an indoor cat.
 

betsygee

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How long does the 8 year old stay inside when he comes in? Does he know how to use a litter box?

We transitioned our indoor/outdoor cats to indoor only when we started seeing bobcats coming through our property several years ago. I made sure to have litter boxes, cat trees with a view to outside, and toys to keep them entertained. We are lucky enough to have space for a catio, so they can safely go outside and get some fresh air but be enclosed. We used to let them out for short supervised times outside now and then, but as they got older we quit doing that and they're completely indoors now.
 

rubysmama

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