OK… so I want to train my cat that is nearly 1 years old to be an outdoor/indoor cat. He LOVES outside and seems like he is miserable inside.. that is why we made the decision fo him to be an indoor/outdoor cat. So here’s the problem… he’s a very mischevious cat and we are afraid he is going to wander off far away and not find his way back… And he LOVES other cats…The other day we let him outside (Once every while we let him outside whil I am out there with him… watching him like a hawk) and another cat came on our lawn. He was a LARGE cat.. while mine is a small one. My cat went right up to the cat (trying to make friends) and the other cat just hissed and we thought he was gonna eat my cat!
So… we don’t want my cat to get hurt when he is outside… is there any way I can train him to not go too far? And what if he forgets our house… is there anything we can do to make him know it?
Thanks so much for the help.. any answers are appreciated!
I Am Going To Let My Cat Be An Ouutdoor Cat… How Can I Train Him To Stay In Boundaries?
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#1 by Mama_Kat - November 6th, 2009 at 09:02
Cats do not have reasoning ability. You cannot tell a cat that you can go on this piece of ground, but not that piece of ground.
Cats will explore…that is part of being a cat. But usually a cat will stay close to home. Unless there is really fur flying and risk of injury, hissing, growling, and slapping are the cat’s way of getting to know each other.
Get your cat used to a collar before you let him run around. Tape your name and phone number on it to be on the safe side. Especially so neighbors won’t say ‘oh what a cute kitty, let’s give him a home’.
All my cats are indoor/outdoor and they love it! If you can, leave your door cracked open when the cat is out. That way if something scares it, he can run back in. Or when he’s tired of being out, he’s able to come back in (and surprisingly,mine really don’t want to be outside a long time).
Be watchful, but don’t be TOO protective. That can diminish his self-preservation instinct for danger. And make sure he knows how to get back in the yard in case he gets out.
#2 by kit_katb - November 6th, 2009 at 11:13
the cat will come and go as it pleases, i have 1 complete outdoors cat and he rarely leaves our yard, while my two indoors/outdoors cats come and go as they please. you can’t control them but they will go home because they know that your house has the food. if you can’t see him while he’s outside, just call his name and he should come to you.
your cat may get scratched up a little from being outside but that’s just normal, catswhere made to be outdoors and if you don’t let him out he can make you miserable. (trust me)
#3 by phil c - November 6th, 2009 at 16:12
The only way you’re gonna protect your cat is to keep it indoors. Outside are fleas,ticks,diseases,cars, and predators. The cat will eventually settle into the indoor routine and live a much longer, happier life. The local birds will also appreciate this arrangement.
#4 by Best Smartphone Software - November 6th, 2009 at 20:37
I don’t think you can, they will roam wherever they please.
#5 by kate<3 - November 6th, 2009 at 21:35
my dad said that his great grandfather did this to his cat and it worked. his great grand father said to dip the cats paws in peanutt butter and put it down in the driveway. it works! the cat wont get lost and itll kno where its home is! and you really cant make sure the cat gets hurt tho. but if anything cats use its claws for defense so do NOT declaw it! if they need to they can scratch its enimy or climb up a tree. good luck!
#6 by ♥Hottie♥ - November 7th, 2009 at 02:47
u really can’t the cat will go where it wants.
#7 by Nell - November 7th, 2009 at 07:49
Okay, so what you want to do is build a fortress…..I’m not kidding. Nothing short of an extremely high unclimbable fence is going to stop that cat from wandering places you don’t want her to go. Cats are not trainable like a dog and they certainly do not understand boundaries like that. If you don’t have any trees or anything that she can climb to get over a fence you could try putting in a tall fence with a large overhang and wire mesh at the top to prevent her getting over it, but even that kind of fence most cats will master escaping from. Another option would be to tether her in the back yard on a line. If you go with this option though you must *never* *ever* *ever* leave her unsupervised for *any* length of time while she is on the tether. I can not stress this enough as it would only take a minute of having your back turned for her to get into trouble and end up strangled by her own collar.
#8 by blue diamond - November 7th, 2009 at 09:32
Number 1: You cat’s will be safest inside. If you let them out they WILL eventually get hurt. There is no way of limiting their wandering. At some point there will be a cat fight, injury, extra trip to the vets, sprayed by a skunk, fleas, coyotees (where i live) or worse. There will always be that sleepless night when he first starts going out that he won’t come home and you’ll be sick to your stomach. That’s the risk you take. Most of the time your cat will be playing with bugs, stalking birds and mice, basking in the sun and living the american dream. If you live in a quiet neighborhood with little traffic away from a main road than he will most likely live a happy kitty life.
I grew up in a quiet area and we had twin males. One was a fighter (Rockky) and the other a lover (Snowflake). Rocky was always wandering in with patches of fur missing. It never stopped him from meowing at the door to go back out though. These friends have since passed. I now have twin females who I keep indoors and boy are they spoiled. I sometimes feel mean not letting them out but they have also stopped trying to get out too. I think they are very happy even though they are in.
#9 by Bozema - November 7th, 2009 at 12:29
There is no way to get a cat to respect boundaries outside (my grandmother did train a cat to avoid a certain room in the house though). They are going to go where they wish. A lot of people will say that keeping a cat indoors is safest and I generally agree (though I also have an indoor/outdoor cat presently – long story). When you make this decision, you have to assess your cat’s inclination to wander, his tendency to get into fights, the relative safety of your location from traffic and other animals (wild or domestic) and other considerations (he absolutely must be neutered if he is outside or he is guaranteed to wander). In our situation, we have no traffic nearby, our cat tends to stay close to home and we have had no problems with wild animals during the day since we are next to a school and we have dogs that are usually outside most of the day. Also, your cat absolutely must be inside at night and access to a safe indoor locations at all times, no exceptions. Even with all that, he will not be 100% safe.
#10 by damnyank - November 7th, 2009 at 12:32
Do yourself and your cat a favor, keep him inside. It will save on veterinary bills because your cat won’t be getting cut up in fights, hit by cars, catching rabies or catching a host of other diseases stray cats spread. You can’t control where a cat will roam.
#11 by KathyS - November 7th, 2009 at 13:19
You cant train him. Outdoors, he is highly likely to be killed by a car, attacked and injured or killed by other animals, get parasites and diseases etc.
#12 by make your own website - November 7th, 2009 at 17:51
There is nothing you can do to actually make sure he will find your house. He might not come back just because he doesn’t want to! I would say to make sure he Number 1 and 2’s on one side of your house so other cats will stay away and so if he wants to he can sniff his way back. When my grandma decided to put her cat outside, she was old enough to know to stay because she knew the food was there! Best of luck!
#13 by ♪ Peace Ninja ♪ - November 7th, 2009 at 23:00
i’ve got a couple ideas , but first ,i’d just like to point out that STATISTICALLY cats that stay INDOORS live longer ,healthier lives.
And this isn’t just due to traffic accidents. pet owners ,thinking about allowing their cat outside , need to consider everything from the fact that outdoor cats tend to continually contract worms(comes from hunting and eating raw meat), to the fact that fighting with another outdoor cat can put your cat at risk of contracting feline HIV/AIDS and leukemia(both being ‘catchy’ ), to the threat of rabies.
and Geez, call me paranoid,but who knows? someone could even steal you cat.
now that said, and what with you saying He was a larger cat. .. i wonder (but OMG! dbl check with your vet) if you could use one of those invisible fences,like they do for dogs?i’ve seen some pretty tiny dogs up behind those fences. abig cat might be able to handle a small dog’s Invi-Fence collar. it’s Worth looking into,anyway…
The only other thing i would WHOLEHEARTEDLY suggest… Get Him Fixed. A fixed cat has MUCH LESS reason to want to wander. not to mention, studies show that fixed cats tend to live longer than their fertile counterparts. (disease succeptablity issues..I’m not real clear on it all , but my vet was Quite Sure,and i trust ‘im. ; )
… besides. We have entirely too many kittens out there already.and there aren’t enough homes for all of them,now. no sense in allowing anymore to be created at the moment, if we can help it now, is there?
PS.. the leash idea omeone already wrote about? .. i’m all for that. My MarinaKitty loves the outside. She has her own Kitty Harness and leash – one of those retractable ones, so she has a nice reign lenght and i can usually just sit there or do my weeding or whathaveyou ,but then,if she gets ACTIVE” i get a clue from the noise it makes when it extends out, and can keep her safe .
My Cat Loves it. She still wishes I’d take her out more often, but tough noogies. I wish i could go to the beach more often, too. but all that SUn isn’t good for me .
All that freedom isn’t nessecarily all that good for our cats ,either, if we’d just paws to think about it.
~Laurie < ‘Mom’ to 13Cats and A Cody-Dog. : )
#14 by Bella - November 8th, 2009 at 00:01
this might sound stupid, but what i did was have my cat on a harnest and leash and hooked it up to a pole in my front yard and sat out there with her. I did this for several days just so she could smell the yard and remember the scent. And when she was back in the house i would love on her so much and feed her, so when she was outside she would remember how good i am to her and want to come back. and it worked, so you might want to try that. and also, i kind of created a call for her. For about a week before i let her go, when it was feeding time i would shake her box of hard cat food so she would know, and so when i finally did let her outside, when i wanted her to come home i just shake the box of cat food, and she comes almost everytime. Well, i hope this helped. Good Luck!
#15 by brian t - November 8th, 2009 at 02:44
Your cat is going to wander around and there is nothing you can really do to stop it. And outside cats are territorial so your cat might be entering some other cats territory so watch it. The bottom of the line is that your cat will probably get into a few beefs with other cats but it will ultimately learn it’s lesson and stay away from danger. I think you’ll be alright. And also if your cat is not a scary cat then it is not going to run away, so i don’t think you have to worry about your cat running away.
#16 by Teresa V - November 8th, 2009 at 03:57
Be sure to neuter your cat if he is not before letting him go outside if he is not neutered he will wander over to any house that has a cat in heat inside. I think the best way to let your cat go outside is to put a harness on him and put him on a leash. There are a ton of cats who get run over every day and especially if you live in town you stand a good chance of the cat getting taken by someone who thinks he is a stray or getting run over. I wouldn’t let him wander freely there are too many dangers out there. You can also get a outdoor kennel for cats the top of the fence curves in so the cats can climb the fence but can’t get out.