Forcing cat to be a house cat. Success stories?

[LittleLostThing]

My kitten is nearly one and I think I’m going to have to keep him as a house cat . I’ve been letting him out in the mornings since he was neutered at 5 months. He comes home at 5ish for his tea and is generally knocking around in the garden or within shouting distance.

We live in a fishing town and I’ve just found out that he’s been causing absolute chaos for nearly 2 months at the fish market . The fish market is about half a mile of us and I have no idea when he goes there as I thought he was always nearby. A trawler had to turn round last week because he’d stowed aboard. I only found out after one of the mums was showing a video of a cat being chased about by the fish quay and I realised it was him.

Anyway, since then I’ve been trying to keep him inside but it’s a nightmare. We have to go out the door in shifts as he’s always trying to bolt. We have a biggish balcony that I put his cat tree and a few things on to keep him busy. He jumped off the balcony after meowing for hours, luckily he was ok but I now can’t let him on the balcony in case he jumps off again.

Has anyone successfully made the transition? If so, how long did it take before your cat accepted it? He seems so sad at the moment and it’s a nightmare whenever I need to open the door.

I think you need to cat proof the garden so he can still potter about and play with him loads. Although pets at home have nothing as exciting as being on a boat on sale.

I really feel for you, he’s obviously been having a fab time & all the time you probably thought he was nearby chasing nice and snoozing.

He sounds awesome. I wonder if he’s been stealing stock off the boats? “Mummy likes sea bass, I’ll take two. Try not to chew it too much on the way home”.

Yes, cat proofing the garden would be your best bet. Look at Protect-a-Puss for example. If you're handy you can do it yourself much more cheaply.

My dh has requested a photo if possible of the little lad.

Its also possible to net your balcony to cat proof that. Loads of instructions online.

I have no advice but I like his style
Don't bother with the chain of command, source yourself.

Before you ground him forever I think a go pro on his collar for a week to give him some mementos and for us to see.

Can’t be done once they’ve been outdoor cats. It’s animal cruelty to keep a cat inside all its life.
You either need to rehome him or find a way to keep him from causing trouble at the fishery.

You could try a tracker collar and then allow fishery to share so they can check your guy is not on board or messing around.
tractive.com/en/pd/gps-tracker-cat?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxoLs3L3X5AIVirHtCh0FogupEAAYAiAAEgIbE_D_BwE

Another vote for cat proofing the garden

Cat proofing the garden is tricky - we’re in a conservation area and can’t raise any walls or put in anything that would change the skyline (we’re on the top of the hill so there’s pretty much nothing we can do wrt fencing or things like that). I have an old chicken run that I’ve attached to the back door cat flap with a little plastic tunnel. He’s not happy about it though. I’m hoping he’ll get used to it. Or maybe if I keep him in for a few months and then let him out again he might have forgotten where the fish quay is? Maybe, possibly?

The cat that is attempting to destroy the UK fishing industry, one mackerel at a time.

You can cat proof with netting so it is less visually intrusive. The standard is to fix the netting on top of a six foot fence, but you can also do freestanding without a fence. We got ours from Securacat. Their website isn't the best but if you look on the product section there is one photo towards the bottom that gives an idea of how it's done without a fence

How about letting him out at a different time when the ships have already left?

He is gorgeous!

No advice but that story has made me smile. Maybe with the colder weather looming he’ll not want to be outside as much but I suspect the call of the sea will remain strong.

This could be an amazing local news sad face story with fishermen holding a half eaten mackerel looking forlorn and a side pic of cat serenely licking his paw looking like butter wouldn’t melt 😼

With a cute face like that let him be!

I shouldn't but I am chuckling at the image of a cat terrorising the village and you watching the video realising it was your cat.

No advice OP but agree you have to try something.

The boats all go out at different times and the fish quay is open 24hrs a day so letting him out at certain times wouldn’t work. The walls around our garden are waist height which I wouldn’t be allowed to raise. Pfft. I think he’s just going to have to get used to being allowed to go out and just sit in a chicken run.

I’d planned to keep him as a house cat when I first got him but he was having none of it. Bloody cat, he’s ever so cute though.

He's gorgeous! Looks like trouble as well

Aww he is lovely. Of course it can be done . Unless he is the one in a hundred.

What I would suggest, and have done myself, is keep him indoors for 6 months. Give him all the entertainment you can think of. Scratching poles, shelves for him to climb etc. After the six months, fence in an area, nets are almost invisible. A big enclosure a la chicken .

You can do it the other way around, but it is better to cool him down before he gets his restricted area.

I have two, both feral, we have fenced in with this, it's almost invisible from a distance. Especially if against a hedge.

Good luck.

Can you just keep him in when the fish market is on?

And... it sounds like he is living his best life to be honest!

It’s animal cruelty to keep a cat inside all its life

Biggest load of crap ever, what about the nature of certain breeds? What about cats getting attacked by dogs (other wild animals in other countries) and cars or horrible people killing cats.

Op it depends on his nature and how he's going to handle it. We have two Ragdolls, the elder one has never been out, she has no interest and she couldn't go out as she's so soft (she'd lie in the road ect). But the other is a totally different matter, she tries to escape constantly and you just can't knock that out of her so she goes occasionally in the cat proofed garden.

Maybe your best bet is to try netting the balcony first? Do you have a garden that you could get someone to build you a cat pen in outside? Lots of breeders use these if they don't want their cats out but still giving them garden time. They can be quite nice things too.

Oh my he is gorgeous and sounds like a right character!
Definitely look in to ways to cat proof the garden. You may have to get a pond with a boat in the garden and chuck him the odd fish to replicate his adventures.

Do you live in Mousehole?

Puss could be the new town celebrity!

No, not Mousehole. Slightly larger Devonian version of Mousehole. Along with the fact that the fish market and quay is constantly in action he has to walk along a couple of busy roads to get there which I don’t like. I’m still just amazed that he’s gone so far, whenever I’ve tapped a spoon on his dish to call him in he’s here within a minute. I just don’t know when he’s going there.

I like his style.

Is he a local? As in with look alike siblings?