Indoors vs Outdoors

From Outdoors to Indoors
by Karen Commings
Originally printed in Cat Fancy Magazine, September 1993

If you want to convert your outdoor cat into an indoor pet, follow these helpful tips.

Four-year-old Ralph, a large neutered tabby, had a reputation in his neighborhood as a great hunter. He spent most of his time outdoors and frequently brought home prey to show his owners.

Then one day, the tables turned – a mockingbird moved into the neighborhood. When the bird tired of squawking at Ralph from the power lines, it began swooping down on the cat, pulling chunks of fur from his back. The bird followed Ralph wherever he went, tormenting him as he moved from one spot to another. Finally Ralph's owner decided to make him an indoor cat. The transition, however, was not easy.

1,001 Reasons

Harming wildlife and being harmed by it are only two reasons that may convince you to keep your cat indoors. Of course, every cat owner must make this decision based on individual circumstances. When trying to decide what is best for your cat, you must consider many factors about the area in which you live.

Outdoor cats in all environments are at greater risk for contracting contagious diseases, including feline infectious peritonitis, feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus. Such cats often are hosts for parasites, too, such as fleas and ear mites.

In urban settings, outdoor cats face many hazards, including traffic, pet theft, unfriendly neighbors and poisons. Cats also face danger from free-roaming animals such as dogs and rats. In addition, unaltered feral cats, inclined to fight for mates or to defend territories, can bring harm to your pet cat.

Suburbs and rural areas are not totally safe, either. Poisonous insects, leg-hold traps, wildlife and free-roaming domestic animals are dangers an outdoor cat faces in rural settings. Cats allowed outdoors in these areas also may cause problems for neighbors by destroying property, digging in plant beds and harming other pets.

An indoor lifestyle is not without potential hazards, but as a responsible cat owner, you can control and eliminate those dangers. When a cat is allowed outdoors, its contact with danger is left to chance once you decide that an indoor lifestyle is best for your pet. However, your cat may show varying degrees of resistance.

Making the Transition

While many cats seem grateful to be brought indoors, some remain obstinate in their desire to go out. Stubborn cats can make life miserable for their owners by howling, scratching on doors and windows, and even finding ways to open the doors themselves. The cats may become destructive in their efforts to get out. If you own a cat that shows this kind of calculated resistance, you must help the cat make the transition through determination, patience and planning. You also may need to modify your environment and lifestyle.

One method that may help your cat make the transition to an indoor lifestyle is to bring the cat indoors gradually. If the cat remains outdoors most of the time, bring it inside for increasingly longer stays. Over time, the cat may adjust to longer periods indoors.

If the cat remains committed to life outdoors, however, you can help it adjust by providing an outdoor enclosure or run that the cat can access through a window or pet door. Such a facility gives the cat some of the advantages of being outside while minimizing the dangers. In an outdoor enclosure, a cat will come in contact with fleas, mites and perhaps small wildlife, but it will avoid most of the other hazards associated with the outdoors.

You can make the outdoor enclosure interesting and appealing by adding objects for the cat to explore. Some fun items include tree limbs with multilevel platforms on which the cat can perch, toys hanging from branches, tires, and boxes in which the cat can hide or curl up.

If you cannot or prefer not to offer your cat a run or enclosure, consider leash-training the cat so you can supervise its time outside. Do not attach the leash to the cat's collar; instead, attach it to a figure-eight or figure-H-style harness which the cat cannot escape. Your cat may resist leash training at first, but its love for the outdoors will soon outweigh its dislike for the leash.

Do not leave a cat outdoors unsupervised while it is on the leash or a lead. The cat could fall prey to free-roaming animals and be unable to defend itself. Also, if the cat you are trying to leash-train is feral, wearing a leash may frighten it, so accustom the cat to the harness and leash indoors before taking it outside.

If, after trying the above steps, your cat still tries to dash outside at every opportunity, you may have to "just say no" to going outdoors. "For particularly persistent cats, it's better to go cold-turkey than to occasionally let the cat outside," said Suzanne Hetts, behavior consultant for the Denver Dumb Friends League. "Letting the cat out when it wants out reinforces the pestering behavior."

Bringing the Outdoors In

Whether it spends its time indoors or out, a cat must have good nutrition, fresh air and sunshine, and regular exercise. To help an outdoor cat adjust to life indoors, you must bring some of the benefits of the great outdoors into your home before, during and after the transition.

"The continuity of the change to an indoor environment is important," said Warren Eckstein, animal behaviorist consultant and author of How to Get Your Cat to Do What You Want (Village Books, 1990).

To prevent your cat from feeling confined, you can increase the space the cat can explore by providing it with a kitty condo or climbing tree. Many larger models extend from floor to ceiling, making use of vertical space in your home and adding to a cat's sense of adventure.

Offer your cat opportunities to look outside by installing perches and shelves near windows. If possible, place bird feeders near windows to attract wildlife that your cat will enjoy watching. Place the perches near sunny windows, and if the weather allows, leave the windows open so your cat can enjoy plenty of fresh air.

A word of caution about open windows, however: Make sure all screens are fastened securely. Some screens that seem secure can be opened by a particularly clever or determined cat. Securely fastened windows and screens are especially important if you live higher than the ground floor of a building.

Potential Toys

One of the most frustrating things an owner can experience is a cat that scratches furniture. To avoid this problem with your recent indoor convert, you must offer the cat an item it can scratch.

Available at pet stores, scratching posts come in all sizes and designs. Some models are combinations of kitty condos and posts, while others are free-standing units. Other scratching surfaces hang from doorknobs on ropes or lie flat in cardboard containers. Some posts have carpet as the scratching surface, while others are covered with sisal rope. "Scratch and sniff" scratching posts are laced with catnip to attract cats.

You may want to experiment with several different scratch posts to determine which type your cat prefers. Though buying several scratch posts may seem expensive, the posts cost much less than replacing furniture damaged by the cat's claws. If you are handy with tools, you can make a post yourself with carpet scraps, sisal rope and pieces of wood.

To keep your cat interested in its scratch post, replace the scratching surface periodically, and offer new posts from time to time. "Many cat owners buy one scratching post and believe that is enough," Eckstein said, "but the bottom line is that to the cat, it's the same old scratching post."

Not only does a post offer the cat a place to scratch, but it gives the cat an opportunity to exercise. Exercise for indoor cats is a must. Outdoor cats find plenty of ways to exercise, but providing the same type of exercise for an indoor cat takes some effort.

To encourage your ex-outdoor cat to exercise, offer the cat interesting toys, and spend time each day playing with it. A good way to help your cat exercise indoors is to use an interactive, wandlike toy. One feline favorite, the Galkie Kitty Tease, consists of a long pole similar to a fishing rod that has a line with a fabric swatch attached to the end. Similar toys, such as the Cat Dancer and Meow! The Fishing Fame for Cats and People, also are popular with cats. Another interactive toy, the Feline Flyer, uses feathers as a lure. The feathers connect to an unbreakable plastic rod by means of a long line. When you swing the rod, the feathers swirl in a motion that greatly appeals to cats.

Some cats enjoy searching for their toys. If your cat likes to explore the house looking for "prey," hide its toys at various places in the house so it can find them throughout the day. With a little creativity, you can come up with many ways to provide fun and entertainment for your cat.

Suzanne Hetts suggests that you keep a supply of interesting toys on hand and rotate the toys periodically. "A cat needs new things to smell and investigate," she said.

Toys need not be expensive. Cats enjoy playing with many items you already may have in your home, such as empty sacks, cardboard boxes and laundry baskets. Another fun item is an empty cardboard flat from a case of canned cat food. Many cats enjoy sliding these boxes around the floor.

Look for other potential toys throughout the house. Given the opportunity, most cats will select their own toys from items we consider trash: plastic milk jug rings, crumpled paper balls and pipe cleaners. You may want to give your cat an occasional feather or offer it a treat of catnip, either fresh, dried or as fill in a fabric toy.

Another treat you should offer your indoor cat is fresh greens. You can buy kits that include containers and seeds to grow, or you can purchase the seeds and plant them yourself. Look for kits or seeds in a pet store. Your cat will love you for it.

A Last Resort

Despite their owners' best efforts, some cats resist all attempts at being kept indoors. If your former outdoor cat appears unusually stressed at staying indoors, you may want to consider trying short-term drug therapy during the transition period.

Mild tranquilizers may calm a hyperactive cat that insists on going outdoors. Under no circumstances, however, should you try to administer such medications on your own. If you decide to tranquilize your cat, do so only under the supervision and care of a veterinarian, Hetts said.

If you prefer an alternative to drug therapy, homeopathic remedies may help your cat adjust to its new living conditions. "Cats that prefer open spaces and large rooms often are helped by Pulsatilla and Argentum Nitricum," said C. Edgar Shaeffer, V.M.D., who is trained in homeopathic techniques. Rhus tox, a remedy used for animals that are subject to dramatic changes, such as being quarantined, may help a cat make the transition from outdoors to indoors.

To find a homeopathic therapy for your stressed cat, consult a licensed veterinarian trained in homeopathic techniques. He or she can recommend the appropriate treatment for your cat based on its individual needs. For a list of homeopathic veterinarians, write to the American Holistic Veterinary Association, Dept. CF, 2214 Old Emmerton Road, Bel Air, MD 21014.

A Final Word

Converting an outdoor cat to life indoors may be stressful for you and your cat, but allowing a cat to go outdoors is stressful, too. If you are trying to convert a street cat into an indoor pet, you must have patience and dedication. You also must be willing to make the cat's new lifestyle stimulating and enjoyable. The effort will be well worth it for both you and your cat.