More advice needed for jinglecat!

[Jinglebellsarenearlyhere]

So jinglecat will not go outside. How can we encourage him? He stares with a forlorn look on his face at the garden through the cat flap but just won't go outside. He knows how to use the flap. He will venture out if we are in the garden but only a few feet and runs straight in if we go in.

It was not in my plan to have a house cat cos I hate litter trays and jinglecat is going a bit bonkers - he is a young male cat and in my head needs to go outside to terrorise the local mice etc etc.

Any ideas?

You'll always need a tray. Would you go out at 3am in the cold and rain to wee or just wee indoors?.

Some cats prefer the inside - and certainly in the cold and wet weather that we have now. I'd get used to the litter tray - as Fluffy says, you'll likely always need one - and wait for Spring. (And keep an eye out for eg mean toms outside - he might be a ......less than assertive.....type and be being terrorized by the thought of a potential scrap out there.)

Thanks. I've had 5 other cats and have never needed a tray before. jinglecat is the stupidest cat i have ever seen so probably that's something to do with it. Will wait until nice weather and then see what happens.

Well when The Lodger moved in with us, he decided that he rather liked a tray and even started coming inside just to use it - I mean what's not to like: safe, warm, dry, self-cleaning (!) - and he's a bright bright cat who brought himself up on the streets.

I rather consider it a mark of brains to use one well - and it certainly has its advantages. You can keep a weather eye on their health (via their innards' workings), you don't have arguments with neighbours over poo in their rose-beds and it doesn't half relieve early-hours' anxiety on a cold winter morning.

Maybe consider what litter you're using to ensure that your cleaning task is as easy as possible? Some people are given (mad fools) to throwing away the entire contents and washing the thing every single day.

When not on house arrest both our cats go outside to play but both come inside to use the litter tray - in the summer our boy cat spent most of the day playing in the garden but would still charge inside when he needed the loo, use the tray and head straight back out again ..

I think a lot of cats prefer trays, they're safe, no-one's going to bother them mid-poo and it's a lot warmer at the moment