Tips
On Turning Outdoor Cats Into Indoor Cats
by
Leda Beth Gray
We
have three indoor cats. No, they don't drive us nuts. At least no
more than before, when they went outside. Since we've successfully
turned them all into indoor cats, I would like to share some of
what I've learned with other cat owners who want to try keeping
their cats indoors.
Of
the three cats that we have, one was very devoted to going outside.
Black Bunbuns was on her own when we found her, and had only gradually
become used to staying inside for extended periods of time. We had
cut all the cats back to only a few hours of outside time each evening
after dark, mostly because of Sta-Puft or Black Bunbuns bringing
home an occasional bird. After Sta-Puft had been in his two big
fights (see part 1), the last straw came when he began coming home
with finches - at night!! That was it, all the cats were grounded..
Yes, they drove us nuts!! Luckily, Sta-Puft and our third cat, Uncle
Chuck, only pestered us for a week or two. They were fairly easily
diverted with games of superballs, string and catnip mice. And after
all, Sta-Puft's favorite thing is eating. The main problem with
him is to keep him from getting too heavy. Black Bunbuns was another
story, though. She was periodically insistent for weeks. It did
lessen fairly steadily, yet gradually, until she gave up altogether
after about 6 or 8 weeks. It wasn't as if she was continually in
torture from not going outside. She seemed fairly satisfied when
she wasn't meowing to go out, consequently giving us a break. She
did finally take more of an interest in playing with string and
romping with Uncle Chuck.
Following
are a number of things which I think have made it easier for our
cats to become established as indoor cats. When I say "easier",
I mean both for them and for us:
.....Have your cat spayed or neutered!!! As
well as helping to address a cat overpopulation problem that results
in thousands of unclaimed cats every year in our county, spaying
and neutering cause cats to be more sociable, and less inclined
to roam.
.....Having
toys around for them to entertain themselves. Catnip mice are
a favorite in our household. I grow catnip outside, and to keep
the "ratty mice" alluring, every once in a while I rub
catnip leaves on the corduroy hides of the ratty-mice. This very
successfully renews the cats' interest in playing with the mice
(and entertains us greatly).
.....Making
places available for them to sit by the window. Cats love to
bask in the morning sun, as well as watch wildlife and human activities
outside. Sta-Puft is beside himself with excitement every time the
squirrels run down the window sill in front of his favorite spot.
.....Isolate
the cat box(es) so that periodic odors are not disruptive to the
human inhabitants of the household. Many people choose the bathroom.
I chose the garage and installed a cat door in the door between
the house and the garage, to minimize odors even further. We rent,
so we actually bought a new door so we could leave the landlord's
door intact.
.....Offset
increased cat box use (and litter purchases) with litter conservation
techniques. There are ways to reduce cat litter usage, but (sorry!!)
they all involve "sieving". I haven't yet reached a decision
as to which method is more efficient. Recently I've started using
the "clumping" cat litter, and find that it reduces cat
litter usage. Before that I developed a cat box setup that involved
a section of newspaper and a larger-than-cat box sized piece of
some fine mesh flexible screen (like that used for screen doors)
The newspaper was placed in the bottom of the cat box and the screen
was placed over the newspaper, fitted to the inside of the box,
and clipped to the sides of the cat box with clothespins. The litter
was then poured on to the screen. One could then periodically change
the newspaper by lifting the cat litter out by gathering up the
screen. Sieving cat litter and changing out the newspaper every
few days extended the life of the litter considerably, as the urine
would mostly soak into the newspaper instead of fouling the cat
litter.
.....Find
a way to allow each cat to have a favorite (and secure!) place to
which it can retreat. For Black Bunbuns it is a little cat bed
with washable cover. For Sta-Puft it is numerous throw-rugs of which
he is king, plus a number of other places that he alternately claims
for extended periods. For Uncle Chuck, it is the loft in the garage,
to which he is the only cat athletic enough to leap.
.....Same
number of cat boxes as cats. I don't know if this keeps them
from fighting over the boxes, but it is a reasonable formula for
not having to maintain the boxes overly frequently.
.....Have
carpeted posts, or some other place for them to scratch. These
must be made of materials that the cats prefer to your furniture.
Our cats all love the carpeted posts, and I find that I can use
carpet scraps to recover them when they wear out. The scratching
issue can be a tough one, and can make or break the whole effort.
If you have furniture or rugs, etc., that are precious to you, by
all means protect them until the cat settles into an acceptable
routine and it is safe to allow them access.
.....Make
the bedrooms of allergy sufferers off limits to cats. This will
go a long way toward reducing allergy irritations, especially if
they tend to be cumulative. Bare, uncarpeted floors with washable
throw-rugs are also easier to keep clean.
Some cats pose a serious challenge to any attempts
to keep them indoors. It may just not be possible in some cases
without really going crazy. In cases like these one might consider
a caged run for the cat, connected to the house with a cat door.
Don't give up too easily, though. It seems to be a
matter of negotiating a workable agreement with your cat. We figure
that our cats think they've relegated all the hunting to us, that
we are the servants that go out and capture all the food, and they
just lie around like kings and queens and play as much as they want.
Now that I think of it, maybe they're right!!
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