So my cat (who's 3 and a half) has lived indoors his whole life. I did this because I lived on a busy street and I didn't want him to be endangered. In June I plan on moving to Chapel Hill. The place where I'm moving is in a very secluded, quiet, wooded area. I'd like to make my indoor cat able to be an outdoor cat, but I'm not sure if that's possible. He's got all his claws, shots, and is a big cat, but he's a bit of a pussy (ok, he's a giant wimp), and I'm not sure if he's "grown out" of the capability to learn how to fend for himself outside. Is it like kids, where if they don't learn things by a certain age (like speech) they never will? I tried Googling this, but only got how to make an outdoor into an indoor cat, not vice versa. I'd love for him to be able to roam about at his leisure, but I also don't want a crazy squirrel to maul him to death. Please help!

3/18/2008 1:18:03 PM

I think he'll naturally defend himself if he has to..regardless of being a pussy or not he isn't gonna just lay there while something kills him.

3/18/2008 1:21:57 PM

but to be clear, something should kill him

3/18/2008 1:25:29 PM

Agreed

Cats are fucking evil.

3/18/2008 1:26:11 PM

lol my cat is an indoor cat (she's still a kitten) and every now and then I'll take her outside since her entire world consists of three rooms and a hallway. She FREAKS OUT... she wraps her tail around me and hugs me so tightly that I can feel her tiny little heart beating furiously fast.

3/18/2008 1:26:40 PM

if he has been inside his whole life it may not be a good idea

3/18/2008 1:27:15 PM

What is the reason you are wanting to do this? This in no way can help your cat and at worst, it ends up being killed.

Just leave the thing inside like its used to and you will both be fine.

Or else you are gonna be coming on here in a few months bitching about how your cat died.

3/18/2008 1:44:39 PM

Might not be a good idea, but it still might be ok. We had one cat that was strictly indoors for a long time but we put him outside and he was so freaking happy!!! We had another cat that went outdoors and was never seen again, just terrible. I know my cat, Oscar, would only get out by mistake and I think I would die if he got outside.

I think first you should acclimate him to the outside. Get a collar and leash, (train him on the collar and leash) and then take him around outside so he can get familiar, this may require some pulling. Maybe take his toys or food out there so he wont be scared. Do it for a bit each day-- maybe play with him out there. and then let him have time off the leash and then be alone. I think that's what I would try.

it might be hard to train an older cat with a collar and leash, but they can learn, they aren't stupid- just stubborn!

[Edited on March 18, 2008 at 1:51 PM. Reason : ]

3/18/2008 1:49:33 PM

in my experience there really is no "transition" from going indoor to outdoor...my mom would just let them out at first, then once having gone outside they wanted to go out more and more

3/18/2008 2:00:40 PM

^

most likely he will stay out for a while, but he will still want to come in for food and all. A truely indoors cat will be content going outside, rolling on the ground and enjoying the sun for a few minutes before wanting to come in.

my mom has 4 cats and 3 of them will wander around outside all day within the yard/neighborhood but always come back. the last one has always been indoors (he's older) and likes it that way.

3/18/2008 2:08:28 PM

my parents have a indoor/outdoor cat. As a kitten, it would spend it's time about half and half. When everyone was gone it had to go in the garage, but the door was cracked, so it had an option to go out. At one point he would spend most of it's time outside, now he mostly stays inside 93 percent of the time. He either meows, jumps up at the door knob to make noise, or sits beside the glass doors to let it be known he wants in.

He's 15.

[Edited on March 18, 2008 at 2:20 PM. Reason : He would only go in a 3 yard radius.]

[Edited on March 18, 2008 at 2:21 PM. Reason : ]

3/18/2008 2:19:26 PM

I just made my two cats outdoor cats. They absolutely love it. They do not come in at all. I set up a place on the back porch for their food, and a few places they can go into and chill out if they need it.


they had been indoors their whole lives. They are 3 and 4 I think.

[Edited on March 18, 2008 at 2:36 PM. Reason : ]

3/18/2008 2:36:16 PM

[WORDS]

i have a strictly indoor cat (monkey) who became an outdoor cat when i moved out of raleigh and bought a house. he lived 2 years indoors (from 8wks to 2+yrs old) until we moved. he ALWAYS wanted to go out when we were in an apt. he's very skittish indoors so i was a little hesitant. i carried him around outside at first, let him chew on the leaves, smell everything. then i started letting him out for a couple hours at a time. then i just let him come and go as he pleases and he turned into a completely different cat. much more happy, friendly, approaches visitors, greets me in the driveway when i come home.

but now lily, who has always been an outdoor cat, is missing. she's been gone since march 8th. she was on a schedule, coming home every morning at 730 and evening around 830 to eat inside. she left that saturday night like any other night but never came back on sunday morning.

now monkey is once again an indoor only cat. i don't want to lose him. i don't think lily got hit by a car or anything (i would have seen her and i've looked), but she isn't with me anymore.

as far as defending themselves, lily always did a great job and i never worried about her being hurt by another animal. i've seen her take down rabbits bigger than she. i worried about monkey at first being so scared of everything, but he manned up and ran off/fought with another big cat in the neighborhood. he's really fast and has big claws (he's a big kitty).

so now that monkey has to stay inside (zoe always has...occasionally when out for 15-20 mins to sit in the sun, but not anymore), i'm going to screen in a portion of my deck that's got a roof over it and let them hang out there. maybe move the litterbox out there too. i can put a cat door in the laundry room door so they could come and go. we'll see.

3/18/2008 2:36:42 PM

So I guess the question is does your cat show a desire to go outside? If it has been wanting to go outside, but you just werent letting it because of the busy area then when ya move just let him go outside. If it is one of those cats that will fight you to the death before it goes outside, then no need to force them. My cat will scratch my face off before she goes outside and therefore I have no plans on her becoming an outdoor cat anytime soon. Plus then you have to deal with things like fleas, ticks, being eaten/killed, eating something stupid and getting sick, etc etc.

3/18/2008 2:43:36 PM

Well, I bought one of those harnesses when I got him in the hopes that we could enjoy outdoor time together. He goes completely catatonic when I put it on him (and I've tried MANY times). However, the few times he's ventured outside alone (only when the door was open for a long time and my eye wasn't on him) he seemed to love it and went galloping around the house. I had to chase his ass to cathc him. I think he'd love being an outdoor cat even though he's a pussy, but I'm just not sure how to make it work.

3/18/2008 3:02:07 PM

^Two puns in one post. Nice.

3/18/2008 3:04:49 PM

I can understand why people want to let their cats out. But in my opinion, I think it can be annoying to others in your neighborhood sometimes. I've had people's pet cats try and get in my front door. I don't like when they walk on my car. And how can people not be concerned that they can be hit by a car at any time? That's upsetting for the driver if the cat gets hit because it darted into the road.

3/18/2008 3:08:22 PM

Most cats catch on to the look/listen before you cross. Some even go a step further and use the storm drains to cross.

There are 5 other partial outdoor cats around them. They all get together and hang out. They also tag team bunnies, birds, squirrels.

3/18/2008 3:14:34 PM

^^I've thought about all that. The only people living nearby are pretty far away and the community has a very strict 10 mph speed limit. It is also very pet friendly, so I'm not concerned about bothering neighbors.

[Edited on March 18, 2008 at 3:15 PM. Reason : ]

3/18/2008 3:14:55 PM

if he wants go out, let him out. if he's not asking, don't force him.

3/18/2008 3:16:30 PM

^^Yeah, my remarks were just in general, I don't know about your particular neighborhood.

My neighbor lets her cat out, and usually I don't care, but sometimes it likes to hang out on my front porch, and there are 2 dogs in my house that go crazy from it, which is pretty annoying.

[Edited on March 18, 2008 at 3:18 PM. Reason : gh]

3/18/2008 3:18:09 PM

Thats what BB guns are for

3/18/2008 4:30:08 PM

Quote :

"i have a strictly indoor cat (monkey) who became an outdoor cat when i moved out of raleigh and bought a house. he lived 2 years indoors (from 8wks to 2+yrs old) until we moved. he ALWAYS wanted to go out when we were in an apt. he's very skittish indoors so i was a little hesitant. i carried him around outside at first, let him chew on the leaves, smell everything. then i started letting him out for a couple hours at a time. then i just let him come and go as he pleases and he turned into a completely different cat. much more happy, friendly, approaches visitors, greets me in the driveway when i come home. "

Exactly why I think cats need outdoor time. I think it is unhealthy for them to be inside all the time just as it is unhealthy for a human to never leave the house.

3/18/2008 5:05:43 PM

Just leave the door open when its nice out and if he wants to adventure out he will. Once he gets used to going outside regularly you can get rid of the litter box which is what I think you are working toward.

Cats actually prefer shitting and pissing outside to this works out better for the both of you.

3/18/2008 5:08:43 PM

Cats should never be let outdoors. There's too many of them and it's endangering other species of animals mainly birds. Don't get me wrong, i love cats too, but people are incredibly irresponsible when it comes to domestic cats. I guess the least you can do is spay or neuter your cat.

general info:
http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/rouge_river/cats.html

Quote :

"Free-roaming cats clearly have an impact on wildlife! If each outdoor cat only killed one bird per year, it would equal over 60 million birds annually. In fact, the University of Wisconsin's Dr. Stanley Temple estimates that rural cats kill 39 million birds every year in Wisconsin alone! "

Many of which are endangered or threatened birds.

Good paper on it:
http://conservation.law.ufl.edu/pdf/feralcat.pdf

Quote :

" Fluctuations of bird abundances have been attributed to such factors as supplemental feeding, landscape change, and habitat fragmentation. Notably absent from consideration, however, is the role of private landowners and their actions, such as owning free-ranging domestic cats (Felis catus; cats allowed free access to the outdoors). To understand the impacts of cat predation on birds, we surveyed all 1694 private landowners living on three breeding bird survey (BBS) routes (~120 km) that represent a continuum of rural-to-urban landscapes in Southeastern Michigan, where the majority (>90%) of land is privately owned. Our data indicate that among the 58.5% of landowners that responded, one quarter of them owned outdoor cats. On average a cat depredated between 0.7 and 1.4 birds per week. A total of 23+ species (12.5% of breeding species) were on the list of being killed, including two species of conservation concern (Eastern Bluebirds and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds). Across the three landscapes there were ~800 to ~3100 cats, which kill between ~16,000 and ~47,000 birds during the breeding season, resulting in a minimum of ~1 bird killed/km/day. While the number and density (no./ha) of free-ranging cats per landowner differed across the rural to urban landscapes, depredation rates were similar. Landowner participation in bird feeding showed no relationship with the number of free-ranging cats owned. Similarly, selected demographic characteristics of landowners were not significantly related to the number of free-ranging cats owned. Our results, even taken conservatively, indicate that catpredation most likely plays an important role in fluctuations of bird populations and should receive more attention in wildlife conservation and landscape studies. "

Good Audubon Society info page:
http://www.ctaudubon.org/conserv/nature/cats.htm

But yeah, i just learned a bunch of this from a friend and thought i'd share it. I love cats, but it's kinda rediculous how much harm they do, considering there aren't supposed to be this many outside cats.

[Edited on March 18, 2008 at 5:31 PM. Reason : .]

3/18/2008 5:25:06 PM

blah blah blah

shut up

3/18/2008 5:44:38 PM

Quote :

"considering there aren't supposed to be this many outside cats."

Before man invented the house

All cats were outdoor cats

And before man invented spaying and neutering

They could breed as they pleased



[Edited on March 18, 2008 at 5:51 PM. Reason : .]

3/18/2008 5:51:02 PM

^you're being sarcastic right? Man domesticated the cat and raised the population of them crazy amounts. The only reason why there are this many cats is because we feed, and support them. If man didn't domesticate cats there would have never been this many cats around. The only reason cats are overpopulated is because man has them as pets. This is simple biology.

more people=more waste food products=more food for outside cats + more rodents for the cats to feed on. humans artificially inflate the cat population in a variety of ways. Just to name a couple.

Quote :

"Before man invented the house All cats were outdoor cats And before man invented spaying and neutering They could breed as they pleased "

Exactly, and there were A LOT LESS cats. This isn't some hard to find fact. Read up on domestic cats and you'll find that cats are WAAAAAY overpopulated due to humans, and before humans domesticated them, the cat population was no where as big as it is today. I know i keep repeating myself to make a point.

[Edited on March 18, 2008 at 6:08 PM. Reason : .]

3/18/2008 6:00:34 PM

blah blah blah

birds are lower on the food chain than cats, so they get eaten

birds also have wings, which cats don't

3/18/2008 6:13:49 PM

You mean a population that breeds in litters has grown by leaps and bounds over the course of time?

Color me shocked.

3/18/2008 6:14:48 PM

^well only because humans give them the oppurtunity. In nature a system is usually at equilibrium so a species won't grow in population no matter how they breed, unless messed with from an outside source.

i'm just making the point that humans caused the cat population to grow enormously by domesticating them and then letting them roam free. This causes an inbalance because the cats kill other species of animals, mainly birds and kinda screw up the whole equilibrium and endanger many species that wouldn't normally be endangered.

I mean i'm kinda stating the obvious. Cat overpopulation has been a known issue for quite some time. I think like 3-4 million cats and dogs are put to sleep each year in the US alone.
http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/pet_overpopulation_and_ownership_statistics/hsus_pet_overpopulation_estimates.html

3/18/2008 6:31:30 PM

The guy I live with actually has an outdoor and an indoor cat. He's got this special cage outside that he occasionally puts the indoor cat in.

The indoor cat seems to enjoy being outside for random spurts of time, but also don't really show much interest to go any further. And usually, outside cat and inside cat will just chill, both on different sides of the bars.

You should probably try something like that in order to get some sort of a transition, versus "okay cat, here you go outside!"

3/18/2008 6:51:10 PM

What's so complicated? You have doors. I assume you have enough money to purchase golf clubs, boots and/or water guns. Open door, apply supplies. Profit.

3/18/2008 7:03:46 PM

if your cat has been declawed then it shouldn't be allowed outside unsupervised.

I dont think transitioning is a bad idea. I let my indoor cat outside from time to time, and just keep an eye on him. He likes it

3/18/2008 8:12:28 PM

Cats have instincts and they will eventually catch on outdoors. If not, oh well. Get another one and play the odds. Besides, it'll be happier outside anyway.

3/18/2008 10:34:38 PM

what they lack in opposable thumbs, they more than make up for in hunting abilities

3/18/2008 11:56:03 PM

I've had like 8-9 cats in my lifetime. They were all outdoor cats. I tend to find that indoor cats are less playful and way fatter. It's definitely beneficial in terms of health (physical and probably mental too) for them to go outside. If you want it to go outside I would suggest letting it out and watching it and seeing what it does. If it runs around and seems to enjoy being outside then it will likely be fine. Cats can defend themselves from most things you'll find in a neighborhood and if it comes across an aggressive dog it will have no problem chilling in a tree for a couple hours until it's safe (don't worry about whether he can climb or not, all cats that aren't fat as shit can climb).

The only thing with letting them outside is they can do whatever they want. If for some reason they choose to not return one day, there is nothing stopping them. If you're at all worried about losing him or having something bad happen to him, then don't let him outside. I'd say that over a normal cats lifespan of about 16-17 years, there is a 30-40% chance that something will happen to them to make them disappear and not return. Sometimes, however, they can disappear for weeks or even months and return as if nothing ever happened. If the cat isn't opposed to wearing a collar, make sure they wear one because some people take them in because they think they're strays. Some cats can't stand collars though so that adds to the risk of them not returning.

Basically, if you want your cat to be happier let it outside. But you always run the risk of something unfortunate happening. If you don't want to risk losing it, don't let it outside. But it should have no problem transitioning. 99% of cats aren't domesticated enough that they've lost they're natural survival instincts.

3/19/2008 3:25:34 AM

both my cats are indoor cats and live in a tiny apartment and both are under a year old.

One day a mouse was in the apartment and one of my cats went ape shit and killed it and dragged it around before I stole it from him. Cats are insane and unless they're completely worthless will do fine outdoors.

3/19/2008 7:29:59 AM

we had a cat we kept indoors for a few years before it kept pissing on our nice afgan rugs...we shoveled it outside and it's been fine for like 6 years now...all claws gone...it never strays far as long as you leave food outside, we also have a small cat house for the winter she sleeps in...more or less she sleeps all day on our patio furniture and still kills the occasional mole/mouse/bird by beating it to death

3/19/2008 4:15:25 PM