Previously Outdoor Cat, Stuck Indoors And Unhappy.

[jen]

Nora is 15, healthy as can be (senior bloodwork/blood pressure/urine/xray/etc) all checked within the last 6 months. She has gone outdoors her whole life, hunting, playing, roaming and loved it.

Now she is old, deaf, and I moved to LA and there are a MILLION mean strays, raccoons, opossoms, and coyotes outside, not to mention ridiculous people around me who have no regard for animals. I have 1 single ground floor window and it opens to a long narrow alleyway with stones and a cement wall. So no way to have a catio or something. I do walk her on a leash occasionally, play with the laser pointer, she even has a tie out and I will hook her harness on it and have my front door open so I can watch her.

But she is BORED out of her mind. She paces the house like a lion in a cage that is too small. She "hunts" any and every mouse toy she can find. I mean this cat used to bring me critters daily and ate all of them. I know she is just dying to roam the neighborhood and hunt but I can't bring myself to let her. I almost feel like she is unhappy. It is hard to settle her down. While pacing the room, she will also literally destroy anything from the dresser or end table that is in her way. She keeps me up at night, but honestly, I manage fine and I don't care, this cat is my little kitty soulmate and I don't know what else I can do to keep her happy.

Thoughts?

 

[susanm9006]

I think you are doing the right thing by keeping her in. It is just not safe for her to be outside. You might try setting up more things inside for her to hunt, like leaving treats under plastic cups or hiding treat in various places in the house. Or try some of those interactive puzzle feeders where the cat needs to nudge a lever to get at the treat. She might even find a slow feeder, where each piece of kibble needs to be fished out before it can be eaten.

 

[jen]

Not to contradict your awesome suggestions, but this cat has barely eaten a single treat in her life. She is not food motivated at all but high prey/hunt motivated. My boyfriend is about to buy a feeder mouse from the pet store and release it in the house to make her happy. She is not a big eater. She is a tiny petite black cat who has lived on wild critters and the occasional bit of dry food her whole life.

 

[susanm9006]

Maybe she would eat 100 % dried chicken or fish treats?

 

[jen]

Hmm I could try dried chicken she might like that. She loves raw steak lol. I could maybe get one of those chiller bowls and hide a little raw food for her to sniff out. She turns her nose up at those freeze dried shrimp that smell godawful. lol

 

[danteshuman]

Clicker training with baby food (meat only) might be a good thing for her. You can clicker train her through obstacle courses. Since she is deaf you may need to use hand signals or a special tap on the ground or a special flashlight signal?

Can you set up a couple of bird feeders & a water fountain near her window? In time you can get a small flock of daily bird visitors. We have 3 bird feeders & a large fountain. (2 feeders always have food... the last only gets so much food because we hate feeding pigeons.) We get 40-60 sparrows & finches (along with those flying rats.) We also get the occasional falcon, humming birds daily, occasional crows and a few other rare visitors. It may take you 6 months for the birds to learn there will be food here every day. Once they do, more will come. If you go this route you may want to look for pigeon proof bird feeders & a humming bird feeder. Our hummingbirds prefer my fushia plants, garden flowers over the feeder. They love our water fountains. In the past I used to cheat & make my hummingbird food extra sweet. Since I live in Ventura County I'm near you, you can get the same types of birds

Can you buy her a small cricket habitat?

Can you harness train her to give her outside time or a catio?

 

[jen]

Oh I like the birdfeeder idea. It is so noisy here but there are tons of birds, and a flock of big green parrots too! By cricket habitat to do you mean one of these?

I fear she would have that thing dumped on the floor and crickets everywhere in the matter of minutes.
No catio room here, but I do harness walk her often, and she has a tie out when I can sit in the doorway and watch her. But she doesn't want a 10 foot radius of the door, she just looks bored and comes back inside lol. Poor girl.

 

[danteshuman]

I meant a small container like that with some small plants & a twig or two plus crickets. Since crickets move around so much it creates exciting cat TV if her vision is still good? Making the Perfect Cricket Habitat « *shrugs* I saw it recommended for bringing an outdoor cat inside, on My Cat From Hell. If it works will you tell us? I think to start I might put a couple crickets in a empty clear 2 liter container of soda.(With holes poked in so they can breathe.) If she is interested then create a cricket habitat? Then put it somewhere with bricks or heavy books around it so she can't knock it down?

 

[Dacatchair]

In your situation the only thing that really makes sense is keeping your cat indoors ... But I really sympathize with the stress of having an unhappy cat. I have a 7 month old kitten that has never been outside except on a leash, he has a catio on 3 sides of the house, lots of birds to watch and gets at least 2 hours a day of dedicated play time, but he also would clearly prefer his freedom... One possible solution I am considering, but have not yet tried, is getting some crickets sold as pet food and releasing these into my basement or some other container for him to hunt... (maybe release them into a series of taped together cardboard boxes filled with paper bags?) he does love hunting bugs. He also loves catching flies, so I am also considering trying to intentionally raise some nice big juicy flies in clean surroundings... and then letting them loose in the house.

Someone could probably make some money by creating bug farms so unhappy indoor only cats had something to hunt...

 

[Dacatchair]

I found an online discussion about getting bugs for a cat to hunt that has some helpful tips!

 

[Kieka]

A good size aquarium with some gold fish might be a fun thing for her to watch during the day. You'd have to get one big enough she can't tip and with a good lid. You could keep feeder goldfish for a cheap and easy version. We have an couple small fish that need warm water (I am horrible and don't know what they are called). But it can keep my girl entertained for hours just watching the fish swim around. You could also get fancy and do a turtle (more care and a bigger than is needed).

 

[danteshuman]

I tried a goldfish tank and my cats really were not entertained by it. Fish move slower than wild erratic crickets. I suggested crickets as entertainment not for food. My boys hunt moths/flies/spiders and get ?1? out of 10. After a couple of hours I just kill it. So be careful with the cricket idea. You may end up with a cricket infestation.

*One of my cats was interested when he kept getting on top of the tank, so I moved it so he couldn't get on the tank again. After it was moved he lost interest. He was interested in my suicidal beta ... after it jumped out of it's bowl that was filled to top. Unforgently this happened during the night and I found the beta in the morning. I think the poor fish jumped.

 

[abyeb]

Here’s some helpful articles:

Beating Boredom - What Indoor Cat Owners Need To Know

The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside

I have a fish tank for Charlie to watch. He’s fairly interested in it, it’s not like he spends hours watching the fish, but he stops by on his rounds to watch them. A bird feeder in the backyard is also great, Charlie loves watching the birds (and the squirrels who eat the bird food) through the window.

 

[danteshuman]

Ahah that's my problem! Why would my boys care about a beta fish or some goldfish when they get birds every day?

 

[kitty chew]

My two cats have a really nice catio and cat run, and still arn't happy to be inside. But they do love bugs. I never kill flies or other pests now, as they love to chase them. Bird watching is a winner. I feed the wild birds. The cats know when they are outside when I defrost the meat for the birds, and run out to the catio to watch. You can get tv shows of birds and fish for cats to watch.