Hi,
I have moved in with my partner who has two cats, I just have the one.
In the old house she was indoors during the day but outside most evenings until I called her in at bed time.
Her bed was in the kitchen which had french doors onto a patio so she could see the garden and would stand at the doors crying to get out.
In the new house, although it's a lot bigger, her bed is in the kitchen still but the back door is solid and she can't see the garden.
We have a cat flap but it is in the conservatory and she refuses to use it. She has never used one before and I suspect it smells of the other two cats and that also puts her off. We can't move her bed as the conservatory is where the other two sleep and eat.
The three cats tolerate each other, there is no hissing etc but they're not friendly enough either to be in the same space of a night time.
So, since we moved in she has not been going out and is now really overweight. She is on a diet (weighed out food, no treats) but is not losing any weight and just sleeps constantly. She used to be really active.
Would it be mean to physically put her in the garden in the evening and call her in at bed time like we used to?
I need to do something as she is starting to move quite stiffly which I think is because she's so heavy and she's only 7.