Outdoor to Indoor Cat??

Hi Everyone,

Loooong time, no see! :)
I've been busy with this, that, and the other and haven't been here in months!

I have a question and I'm sure one of you can help me. I have 4 cats. 3 of them are indoor cats and have no interest in going outside. The 4th cat has always been an indoor/outdoor cat. She just likes to go out, roam around, and then come back. She's never gone for more than a couple of hours.

Well, we may be moving soon. The management company of the new place says we can have cats but they cannot be outside at all. Of course, they're worried that cats will only beget more cats and attract other cats, etc (all mine are fixed). I can understand that as having a million cats roaming around the property could be a problem.

Sooooooo.... my question is, can an indoor/outdoor cat adapt to being a strictly indoor cat? Is there a way to train her to just want to be indoors? The place we may be getting has an enclosed porch and I figure she can hang out there and it's kind of like being outside. I would even get her one of those floor-to-ceiling scratching posts/kitty condo/treehouse thingys so she can climb and play.

What do you all think?

Thank you!!! :)

I had that trouble with Scrappy 2 as she was an outside Cat , and wanted to stay that way.
It took a while to keep her from rushing to the door and she still would if I didnt stop her.You just have to be patient and careful that she does sneak out and become lost in hher new neighborhood.
Good Luck with that conversion.

It can be done. All of my cats are/were feral and they got used to staying indoors. As Gary says, though, you have to watch that they don't bolt for the door and then get lost in their new neighborhood. Good luck.

Thanks, Catmandu! Thanks, Mary!

I think I can get her accustomed to staying inside eventually, especially if she has things to climb on to keep her busy. Also, the enclosed porch will kind of be like being outside (sort of).

The move isn't definite yet (I'm hoping it will be soon!). I'll let you know how it works out!

Thanks again!

My Mr. Amber Cat was an outdoor feral that I brought in. He was NOT a happy camper being inside all the time. I bought a harness and leash and we would walk around the building. Amber insisted we walk daily, sun, rain, sleet, snow, ice, it didn't matter to him. AND we had to go around the building twice. Not once, not three times. TWICE. While we were out walking, he was at the end of the lead. I was "supposed" to keep my distance and keep quiet. If my sneakers shshed on the gravel, he would turn and give me a look of disgust. I always said he was doing his "TIGER IN THE WILD" routine. And well, no self respecting tiger has someone at the end of a leash, he he. That was our compromise. Did that for the entire 8 years he lived with me.

My apartment was on the 3rd floor, I had a balcony and he LOVED to sit out there and watch the world go by.

Oh, and the walks had to be when HE said. Maybe it was 9 AM, maybe it was 2 PM. But once he decided it was walk time, there was no keeping him quiet.

So, did I "train" him to be an indoor cat? Or did he train me? :D

It is so much better for cats to be indoors, BUT Mr. Peach would rather be outdoors and will sneak out the door any chance he gets. I'm away from home this week and the day before I left he managed to get outdoors in the afternoon. I didn't find him until that night and he was so dirty. I gave him a quick bath, but didn't get him totally clean. The next morning, when I got up I found him in the litter box - he had evidently slept there all night and did not smell very good. I gave him another quick bath, but he was acting so tired that I was worried about him. I had to get ready to leave though, so I told my neighbor who was going to watch them (Peach, Mollie, Maggie & the babies) to keep an eye on him. She said though that he must have just had an extra fun time outdoors and wore himself out. By the time I was ready to leave, he seemed to be back to his regular self. The babies are doing fine & a few of them had their eyes open when I left the other day. I can't wait to get home to see them! I've named them Scooter, Jill, Janie, Stripe & Butter. That last name comes from my son.