One of the finest felines that ever shared my living space had a terrible case of wanderlust. When we lived in town, we tried confining him to the house but he was miserable. he sneaked out regularly and would roam over a mile until someone called the number on his collar and we picked him up again. I finally built a little screened porch for him by stapling chicken wire to a part of the pergola. He wasn’t completely mollified, but did seem happier, and it had the benefit that I didn’t have to have the cat box in the house.
Then we moved to five rural acres and my Ramblin’ Boy was FREE! He was the happiest cat ever for three years – until he was about one foot shy of the fence that confined the neighbor’s pit bull. I was only about 20 feet away, but the dog killed him before I could get there.
Watching that dog break my little guy’s neck was one of the worst things in my life, but gosh, if I had to do it over, I still would have let him roam. It was the only time he was really happy: he’d sleep inside, walk down to the barn with me, and then move on to enjoy his day. I guess there are animal equivalents of Evel Knievel or Thor Heyerdahl, who’ve just got to be on the move.
I’ve had 8 cats since then, all indoor/outdoor, who are all still alive or succumbed to elderly cat diseases. The pit bull has since died as well, but we have raptors, coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions in residence. My other felines seem to be more risk averse.
So @Johnny L.A. I don’t know if this helps. It’s a quality vs quantity of life decision.
Four hours doesn’t seem like a huge time for an indoor/outdoor cat. IME. We would only be worried if the Fuzzcat didn’t come home for food (which did happen once - she was out all night, we were scouring the neighborhood for her … then she appeared suddenly early morning at juuuust about the time I’d expect the janitor of the school over our back fence to be unlocking the classrooms for the morning. Hmmmm…)
Perhaps you could sit down with your wife and make a list of all the different things you can think of to try and make Tonka a happier boy. It’s fair if “let him outside” is somewhere on the list, but your wife would probably be happier if it wasn’t first on the list.
There are definitely some risks associated with the indoor/outdoor life - but they do seem like more if it’s not what you grew up with, or are used to
I grew up with cats who could not come inside because my mom was allergic. After my third cat got run over (on a farm road without much traffic, which made things worse I think as the cats forgot it was dangerous) I stopped having cats until I could have them in my own home indoors.
I do agree that if your cat is miserable indoors then you need to find some kind of compromise, as quality of life is important. Maybe build them a screen room? I am grateful that my cats are afraid of the outdoors (they were feral kitties whose mother was killed when they were babies, and they consider outdoors as “the place with no food”.)
It came to a head last night. Mrs. L.A. is fed up with Tonka’s yowling. She was on the patio, and Tonka and Goo were chasing each other around. When Goo jumped up on the cat tree, Tonka yowled. Mrs. L.A. cam in and scruffed him, then held him and scolded him for five minutes. She went out back. When I went out, she launched into me for saying we should let him out. Apparently, I’m a jerk because I don’t care for the neighbour’s feral cats – after Tonka’s one incident. She said fine, she’d let him out today – and she did. He was gone for about three hours. I walked up the block to make sure he wasn’t getting into it with the feral cats (he wasn’t). Now he’s out on the patio, sleeping.
Mrs. L.A. has been up for over seven hours, and she hasn’t said a word to me all day.
Well, I’m sorry Mrs. L.A. doesn’t understand that scolding a cat for yowling (or anything else) is futile and does absolutely no good. Also, I wonder what makes both of you think he’s miserable inside. Sounds to me like maybe he just doesn’t like Goo being on his cat tree or something.
Tonka’s a man of adventure. I’ve had numerous cats over the years, and some just aren’t happy being house cats. This is more a male cat issue, IME. So I’d let him roam, but put a bell on him so he doesn’t kill birds.
And I’m unclear why the Mrs thinks this is all your fault.
Oh, Johnny. Maybe you and Tonka should go find Mrs. L.A. a flower or a pint of Icecream. She’s pouting. Reassure her that you worry about Tonka and Goo just as much as she does.
Good-luck.
Collaring a cat who goes outside is risky. If the collar catches on a tree branch, they can hang themselves. Collars with a stretch or breakaway portion are less risky, but there’s still some risk.
Cat collars should not be too tight; you should be able to slide a couple of fingers underneath, but no looser than that, either. It should have a breakaway safety buckle- test it first to make sure it actually comes loose when you pull. Watch the cat at first after you put it on, to make sure everything looks all right. Not sure you want a bell on it, more like a tag with your telephone number.
Oh – When I was checking on Tonka when he went out this morning, I saw a black cat on the corner of a deck of a vacant house. I could only see its head, so I thought I’d go and make sure it wasn’t Tonka. I got about three steps into the yard when the guy in the house next door comes charging out, saying ‘That’s a good way to get shot, buddy!’
wait … what? a guy from a different house than the one you were checking talked about shooting you for going into a yard that isn’t his? If I’m reading that correctly.
Disclaimer: I didn’t read the whole thread. Just wanted to make a point about cats peeing inappropriately. Sometimes it’s the sign of a urinary infection. When the cat goes in the box, it hurts to pee, so he associates the box with the pain. Feline logic says “if I pee someplace else it won’t hurt.” I don’t give any credence to the idea that the cat just wants attention. I’ve had **many **cats over the last 35 years. My 2 cents. I’m outta here.
As far as keeping cats in the yard: I did this did along my entire fence. It’s a small yard (condo), so I only needed about 50 feet of paneling; I think it cost me about $100. It’s not terribly pretty, but it does the job.
I know, you said you’re tight on money, but this is a much cheaper solution that those specialty cat-proof fence-kit-thingies.
I made my own cat-proof fence using 7’ T posts, the same mesh netting as Purrfect fence uses (with large enough squares that birds can get out), large shelf brackets, some rabbit wire for the bottom of the fence, snake clamps, and a humptybillion zip ties. My herd now has a 100’ x 40’ safe outdoor space and it’s been a godsend. I have a cat door in my office window and they can all come and go as they please. The whole thing cost me about $300 I think, and most of that was the mesh.
