Indoor cat to outdoor cat advice please

[lukiebebe]

Hi all,

I have a 7 yr old male cat who has been indoor all its life (apart from the times he's escaped!)

We decided to keep him indoors because we used to live on a very busy main road and I couldn't imagine if he was to be knocked over (happened to my childhood cat and upset me so much)

We now live in a very quiet new build development and our house is a few streets away from the main road. We've been here for 2 years and kept him indoors, but it's so lovely around here and the neighbourhood cats just look like they're having the time of their lives...

So I guess I'm posting to ask if anyone here has let their indoor cat (who's been indoor for a long while like mine) become an outdoor cat and how it went/been?

My worry is he's so used to being indoors that he will just walk into peoples houses 🙈 or get bullied by "street wise" cats 🙈

Thanks

Do you have an enclosed garden, and a cat flap, OP? If so, you could carry him outside, walk round the garden with him, and go straight back indoors. Repeat for a few days, then put him down on the ground and let him explore beside you. Do this when he is hungry and due his dinner so you can easily tempt him back indoors with his dinner plate or a bag of Dreamies.
Let him walk about rubbing bushes and walls to scent mark them as his property.
Next get him to practise using the cat flap. Hold it open for him to start with, progress to calling him through it with food on the other side. You can gradually build up to letting him have free access via the cat flap.

I adopted an indoor cat on the proviso she would have outdoor space. I simply left the door open. She made her own way out in her own time. Had a couple of scraps with the locals but having an open door felt like strong message to the other cat ‘dare not cross that boundary’, which I felt made it safer for my cat.

You know, it also depends on the cat. I have 2 cats - one doesn't want to leave the house at all, and another - always lay on our patio.

I have a cat for about 6 years already. He was always an indoor pet. However, when we moved to a privet house, he started to go out. He got used to it. The only thing I worry about are insects. I have to inspect him every evening.

Just leave the door open on a nice day before feeding time and let him wander. Don't carry him around as he needs to sniff and scent mark to create his own mental map of the space which will help him find his way about and back home.