Cats going outside - supervised

[boscibo]

Hi everyone, long time, no post. All three of my babies are doing great, sorry I haven't posted in a long time.

My concern is with Hanna. She has just passed her third birthday and has been with me for almost all those three years. In all that time her desire to go outdoors has not wavered. Abby and Bo never want to go out, so I thought maybe she'd grow out of it or let it go...but she hasn't.

I have not allowed her to go out except the time I tried to train her to a harness and leash - that didn't turn out very well, she fought the harness tooth and claw and I ended up getting clawed pretty badly when she was out on it and spooked from a loud truck.

She still door dashes and it is hard since we have two dogs that can go out in our fenced back yard. She has managed to get out while i was letting the dogs out a few times, but has not made it far.

The other day she finally wore me down and I let her out in the backyard while I closely watched her. I was a paranoid, nervous wreck the whole time. Hanna, of course, had a great time.

What I am posting about is how many allow your cats to be out, supervised? Our yard is fenced with 6' privacy fence, but the gates and stuff are not cat-secure. Do you cats ever spook and run off? I am so afraid of her climbing a tree and me not being able to get her down.

How do you deal with the fact the cat wants to go out all the time? Hanna is camped out by the door all the time now. Why can't she go out with me, come back in and be happy?

I will never allow her to go out without me. If anything happened to her I don't even want to think of it.

Why are some cats, like Abby and Bo, perfectly content to stay indoors, and others like Hanna not content to stay in?

Any other tips or tricks for supervised cats outdoors?

[Barbara]

Glad to see you are here and to hear about Hanna.

We have a new neighbor and he has fenced in his garden with an electrical fence for his cats. It is not very high and is designed for small animals (so not the voltage for cows ;) - I am sure somewhat like that must exist in the US as well.

He turns it on when he lets the cats out so no other animal (like hedgehogs or other cats) can be caught in it. The cats Nemo and Minka learned in no time not to touch it and even stay away from it.

They have so much fun in the garden- he even constructed a cat gym for them from some old tree trunks. :)

I am thinking of getting something like this myself- however it would be a problem because we have some really big rosebushes at the side (about 8 feet high) of our garden. The fence would have to be inside them and then it would be difficult to mow the grass under them....

But apart from that I thought it is a great idea:)

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Maybe you could construct something like what I have.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid176/p53a23f11842026614a1ca6e160ba1a6b/f3673293.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid176/p693b3d3c437af90ccba4b7da90d3b278/f367328f.jpg

I don't have any good pics of the "cage" itself, but you can see it's just made out of small PVC pipe and connections with some fencing wrapped around it. The one I have is only 4' x 6', but that's really all the room I have for it anyway. Since it's made out of PVC pipe and the fencing is attached with removable wire ties, I can take it down and move it or store it whenever I want. It also has a top which isn't shown in these pics because neither T or P could jump out. I do put the top on now with CJ though.

I got this through http://www.catplaypens.com but unfortunately the site doesn't work for me anymore so I don't know if they are still selling them or not. It was less than $100.00 for the 4 x 6 pen including all the PVC and fittings that were needed, the side fencing, some top fencing, some fake grass for the bottom which I haven't used yet, a tarp for the top to provide some shade and a bag to carry it all in.

I know others have built bigger "cat runs" using regular 2 x 4's and chicken wire type stuff, so maybe this would be an option to let Hannah out without you being overly paranoid.

[jenluckenbach]

I would say that it depends on how easily she can be lured back in or come when called. If you can feel confident that she would be able to be rounded up to return to the house, I say go for it.

I do not have a safe area, so I would never drean of it.

My parents, on the other hand, allowed the cat out at will and back in on command. That was a bit too lenient for my taste, but it worked for 14 years. They had a good amount of property on a not so busy road, but it was not fenced.

Good luck with whatever you decide, and welcome back!

[skneisel74]

My three kids have been allowed to go out in their crate's. Then my husband found what they call a exercise pen. It is 4 foot tall and 8 foot around but it is hinged so that you can make it what ever shape you want it. We put a top on it that opens so that we can put them in and latch it while they are out. They enjoy it very much. All of my kids were once farrel kittens that I have tamed and I feel allowing them outside some helps them to remain free spirits. You can see it at PETsMart.com go to dog click on dog houses and kennels select kennels 6 its at the bottom of the page. Good Luck!!!!!!

[catmandu]

SOON,THE FRONT,AND BACK PORCHES,WILL BE ENCLOSED,AND,THE FOUND CATS,WILL AT LONG LAST,BE ABLE,TO HAVE TASTE,OF THE GREAT OUTDOORS,AND THAT WILL MAKE THEM HAPPY.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/catmandu/Picture153.jpg

THIS,IS FROM,THE OLD DAYS,BEFORE MICHAEL,DISAPPEARRED,FOR THREE DAYS.

[DJFyrewolf36]

My Spook is a door dasher too. Remus couldn't care less about going outside but Spook is ready to go before I am lol. I am on a second floor apartment and the only time I let Spook out is on a lead out on the back balcony. She doesn't like the lead much but I don't want her jumping down off the balcony (she has attempted escape a time or two)! I think safety is the key, take as many precautions as necicary to make YOU feel safe! Chances are, you're a lot more level headed about the outdoors than the kitty butts are. Know your cats and know their tendacies is the best advice I have.

Someday when I get a house, I plan on building an outdoor enclosure with a kitty door so the cats can enjoy the outdoors whenever they want to (I also plan to have a few more kities lol ;) )

Glad to see you back!

[boscibo]

Thanks for all the replies! I follow her around like a hawk when we're out.

The enclosures look cool. Jeff is going to cat-proof the gates so I probably won't need an enclosure. The fence is 6' board to board privacy fence, except in a few places (up on the hill, where I probably won't let her go just yet) - so except for the gates, she can't get past. We do have trees along the fence line, and I'd really prefer it if she didn't get any ideas about climbing them. We live on a quiet street.

So far things have been going OK, except our dog Rocky growled and chased her a little when Jeff and I were both out with her. She poofed up (I have never seen her afraid before!) and she ran to the back door. We scolded Rocky and won't let him out again when she is out.

My other problem is she doesn't always want to go in when I want to. She comes when I call her name indoors, but outdoors she ignores me; rather like an unruly child. I wanted her to come in this AM, we had been out for about 15 minutes. I picked her up and she struggled and mewed all the way in. :rolleyes:

[catnapper]

Sounds just like my Allen. He insists on being outside (he;s 4 now) and I let him when I'm out with Nicki. He never wanders far (if he wanders 5 feet from the door I'm shocked). I am actually GLAD I let him out because a few times, the others have gotten out and he's kept them herded together til I came to save them. But, Allen gets out daily for rubs on the concrete steps and patio :rolleyes: He grazes on grass and comes back in all happy and content. He KNOWS the word "In" and if he ignores me (which is often the case) I lightly nudge his tail - they hate that - and he goes running to the door.

NONE of my other cats get to have this luxury. Then again, none of them are door dashers either.