Keeping an inside cat inside

J.huff23

Arachnoking
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Jun 23, 2007
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Well my black kitten is growing fast, and he's gettting more curious. When I let the dogs out, he hears the door open and comes sprinting from nowhere trying to get out. I know that cats pretty much do their own thing, but I have seen people with cats that dont even try to get out. I would like to keep him as an inside cat because every cat I have ever had has turned out to be an outside cat.

Any advice on keeping him an inside cat?

-Jake
 

spydrhunter1

Arachnolord
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Mar 16, 2005
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Ours is two years old and we're still fighting the battle, although she isn't as bad as she used to be.
 

blacktara

Arachnobaron
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Jan 23, 2005
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Lamont, my black and white buddy who is now five, used to do this when he was a kitten.

So it's one afternoon in early winter and I open the door for whatever reason (I think to take trash out) and here he comes like greased lightning for the open door and he got out (onto the second story landing of my condo).

Like two steps outside he froze, looked around quickly, turned around and bolted back inside and hid for an hour.

Not necessarily suggesting you try this, but it was really like he suddenly realized - Yikes, it's cold out here and oh crap nothing looks familiar, the heck with THIS.
 

J.huff23

Arachnoking
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The part that really has me worried is that he is pure black, and there have been a few times that I let the dogs out in the middle of the night and let them back in. I woke up to find up standing by the door crying to get in.

Plus, my outside cat (who comes in at night and is very spoiled) absolutley hates Oliver. I had to change his name because when I called him Eddy, my dog named Teddy got confused, lol.
 

Jaymz Bedell

Arachnoknight
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I have 2 cats, a 6.5 to 7 pound color point american short hair (looks siamese but is not) and a 32ish pound maine coon. the color point just turned 13, the maine coon is soon to be 3. the short hair does not like other cats, and let the maine coon know who was boss big time for the first week, and reminds him on a regular basis, especially if he tries to play with her. they both occasionally try to get out, neither has gone more than 2 or 3 feet out the door before dropping onto their belly, looking around, and turning around and heading back in. kittens are a lot more fearless. but you now know the behavior to expect when you open the door, expect it every time and be prepared. you can give a loud sharp clap or no when you see him bolting for the door. or a couple of pennies in an empty coffee can, shaken - not stirred, also works well. a squirt bottle, set to a stream, and a small blast of water works well too, a lot of cats respond to just the bottle of water being shaken. it won't take long for the kitten to get that doing A means B happens, and if he doesn't like be he will be less likely to do A. you can also try distracting him with a tasty morsel. just so long as you expect him to make a break for the door when he hears it open you can prevent a lot of outdoor adventure attempts.

toys, cat trees, scratching posts...lots of enrichment in general. cats sleep a lot. but they get bored easily too. so their indoor environment needs to be fun and exciting for them. rotate toys too, to prevent boredom. I find both of my cats like watching the birds outdoors, in my old apartment the window sills were pathetically narrow. in my new house i have very cat friendly sills. the maine coon will sit and watch birds, making the occasional attempt to go through the window to get to them. hes also a skilled bug hunter, I've watched him jump 3 feet straight up and catch a flying moth. good luck, and keep us updated.
 

Teal

Arachnoemperor
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My last cat, Sneekee, was terrified of the outdoors... she wanted to go out there SO badly, but like blacktara's cat... the one time she got out, she froze just a few feet away from the door before bolting back inside and never trying that again!

Our current cats don't try to get outside, thankfully... though that might be because one of them is too young to really walk anywhere (we're bottle feeding him). But if possible, I would just try to grab the cat before you let the dogs out. Or, you can get him a kitty harness and leash and take him outside for some play time... though with some cats, that just makes them want to be outside EVEN more, whereas others are satisfied with just that.
 

Laceface

Arachnoknight
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My aunt had a horrible method for this. Her cat wanted out, so she put him a crate and let him watch it rain on the porch for a few minutes. She let him out once (again when it was raining) and he had no interest at all. I think he figured it was always nasty outside!

My kittens are about 5 months now, and always try to get out, usually when we are coming in. We usually don't have a hard time intercepting them though..and if we do, the dog gets them!
 

pitbulllady

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My cat really doesn't have any interest in going outside. Fortunately, we have a fully-enclosed back porch through which you have to walk to get to the actual door to the outside, so it's easy to catch him if he goes out onto the porch before he can get to the door. He's apparently always been an inside cat, even before I got him, and he just really hasn't made much of an effort to get out, probably because he really has no idea that "outside" even exists.

pitbulllady
 

J.huff23

Arachnoking
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Well hopefully he will be a littleless keen to go out when he gets older. I just got him a cat play cube today and he has been sleeping in it since I set it up for him.
 

Jaymz Bedell

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we are planning to enclose the front porch with screen next year, mostly for human comfort while enjoying time on the deck. it will allow me to let the cats get a little more room and gaze are the great outdoors through more than a window. it will probably lead to even more multiple hours long sun naps. both of my cats love napping in the sun. the maine coon, in all his giant glory, is jet black so heats up quite a bit in the sun, but refuses to get up, until he gets thirsty. the screened deck will also prevent the rare dart out the door into the wide open outdoors.

and boxes...oh boxes. my short hair will adopt any box/cube shaped item as her own. she will tire herself out trying to get all 4 paws into a box barely big enough for one paw. the maine coon just likes to play in boxes...going on 3 and he's still very much a kitten.
 

H. laoticus

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When we had a cat he was kept outside. The conditions weren't great outside so he became an inside cat because of it- similar to Blacktara's story.
 

pouchedrat

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THIRTY TWO POUNDS? That's a small horse, not a housecat!!!
It's a maine coon, ever see those things?? They can average up to 20 lbs for a male, and be considered normal weight! My best friend actually had a 30 lbs. cat that was a normal tabby female. This thing was HUGE!!!!!!!!!! She looked like she swallowed a beach ball, and had tiny little legs and tail sticking out!

Anyway, We adopted an all white cat (who has a cool blue eye, and gold eye) from a local rescue two years ago, named Casper. The adoption papers of course strictly forbid us from letting him outside (which our other cat was indoor only anyway) and no declawing, of course. Anyway, the first day, he BOLTED outside. Mind you, it was also right after he walked over to our rat cage, and promptly got bitten on the nose by one of the rats! I chased that cat down into the woods and managed to catch him, but it didn't stop him from doing it two more times after that. We have a cat tree, tons of toys, and of course our other pets which are almost like entertainment for the cats as it is (he sleeps on top of one of the snake tanks, and plays with the prairie dogs whenever they're out).

He still has an interest in getting outside, and I've found him next to the door every so often, ready to run. But one way we worked with it, we'd open the door a crack and he'd come running to the door, but then we'd close it without opening it all the way. We kept doing that randomly throughout the day, and eventually he didn't come bolting every second he heard the door open.
 

Toirtis

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Mine, despite an apparently very strong hunting instinct, and having come from barn-cat stock, has spent most of her 5 years scared of the outside (in part, thanks to sticking her nose out three times on frigid winter days, and once to a dog scare at the door.). Unfortunately, just last week I was heading out the back to BBQ, and she began casually strolling behind me, apparently planning on following me out. I stopped her quickly, but it has become apparent that I will have to keep an eye on her now.
 

Jaymz Bedell

Arachnoknight
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yes my maine coon is a huge beast of a cat. he is at the larger end of his breeds size range. but by no means a rare thing. he is literally the size of a bobcat. hes not overweight either. hes just a big, loving, beast of a cat. I'm not really much of a cat person, despite having 2. both were adopted, the short hair as a kitten, she and the rest of her litter were going to be drowned, I managed to talk the old lady out of it, and found homes for all 7 kittens. I adopted the maine coon when my best friend passed away a couple of years ago. he was her baby, in a big way. at 4 weeks he developed a severe bacterial infection that paralyzed his back legs, so he had to be bottle fed, and it took 4 weeks of physical therapy for him to be able to walk....he still swaggers. occasionally he still makes a break for the door when it gets opened, but for all of his size, ends up flat against the deck, scared for his life. then promptly pulls a 180 and runs back into the house, and onto his chair. for the first month he was with me he followed me like a puppy, and still demands affection and attention at 4 am while im dead asleep. coincidentally hes also got the second weakest meow I've ever heard, he's only slightly louder than a cougar when he lets out a good meow. and cougars do not meow loudly at all. in all hes a good cat, very loving, playful, and a great bug hunter, moths of the world beware! my short hair will still, after 13 years, make the occasional dart for an open door, but once she see the wide open space heads right back in. once the desk is screened in it will be nice to give them that extra space to creature gaze when we're out there.
 

thumpersalley

Roach Lovers Mom
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Jan 27, 2008
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I had show cats growing up so they were all inside cats. But we had them all leash trained, they had scratching posts & an outside kennel. Chain link fencing attached to the house with another chain link panel on the top for a lid. Spray bottle at the door to anticipate them coming to the door when it opened. Kim
 

J.huff23

Arachnoking
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Yea I think I may try the spray bottle. I need to get him neuterd too once he is old enough. I dont think my neighbors would like it if he got out and knocked up all of their outside cats.
 

Kirsten

Arachnoknight
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Jan 9, 2010
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It's a maine coon, ever see those things?? They can average up to 20 lbs for a male, and be considered normal weight! My best friend actually had a 30 lbs. cat that was a normal tabby female. This thing was HUGE!!!!!!!!!! She looked like she swallowed a beach ball, and had tiny little legs and tail sticking out!

Anyway, We adopted an all white cat (who has a cool blue eye, and gold eye) from a local rescue two years ago, named Casper. The adoption papers of course strictly forbid us from letting him outside (which our other cat was indoor only anyway) and no declawing, of course. Anyway, the first day, he BOLTED outside. Mind you, it was also right after he walked over to our rat cage, and promptly got bitten on the nose by one of the rats! I chased that cat down into the woods and managed to catch him, but it didn't stop him from doing it two more times after that. We have a cat tree, tons of toys, and of course our other pets which are almost like entertainment for the cats as it is (he sleeps on top of one of the snake tanks, and plays with the prairie dogs whenever they're out).

He still has an interest in getting outside, and I've found him next to the door every so often, ready to run. But one way we worked with it, we'd open the door a crack and he'd come running to the door, but then we'd close it without opening it all the way. We kept doing that randomly throughout the day, and eventually he didn't come bolting every second he heard the door open.
We presently have an all white male cat with one blue and one yellow/gold eye. Wanna know his name? Yeah-Casper:D
 
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