My cats don't want to be outside

[Killerqueenie]

We live on a farm, and wanted to get some cats to keep the mice/rats down.

At the end of last year we got 2 kittens, Who are now 6 months old. We kept them inside the house while they were little. We have a small conservatory that we kept them in overnight but through the day when we were at home they could roam the house. Now they are old enough to go outside, but they just constantly want back inside. I don't want them to be house cats, our plan was to have them as outside only cats. We have a porch that we have moved them out to, so it is sheltered, and they have a cage to sleep in that is covered that they can freely go in and out of. They have constant access to dry food and we feed them wet food at scheduled times. They also have a litter tray outside. But they spend the whole day sitting outside the house waiting to get in. They only ever go and explore if we are outside with them. They follow us everywhere when we are outside, and as soon as we go back inside, they just wait by the door.

How can I get them to go and explore/hunt on their own? They have had access to outside for a few weeks now.

My MIL has one of their siblings on her farm, and it goes off on adventures on its own all the time, so I'm not sure where we are going wrong?

I think we need to look at a middle ground here!

The most successful pest control cats I have known on farms or at stables have been those who are well looked after and have the ability to roam or be in the house as they want.

As an example my cousin's latest cat was a fully adult local stray who decided to adopt them & move in. He will happily spend all night curled up in front of the fire in the house in winter then go out on his daily slaughter during the day. In summer he can vanish for days, though he can often be found in his own apartment in one of the sheds which has been set up specially for him. He systematically wiped out every rodent on the farm within about a year, and they even rarely get foxes now. Plus he has learned that baby birds like chicks & ducklings that are in large outdoor pens are NOT prey, but belong to mama!

She's "inherited" cats who decide never to come indoors, so she would feed them in their own spaces, she's had ones that (like the present one) like the comfort of home but also go out to hunt, and ones who as soon as they discover carpets, and fires, and warm dry beds only go out to pee & poo. Every cat is different.

Those poor cats! Cats want to be in a warm cosy home, not outside. Rehome them so they can get the love and warmth they need and deserve.

Get a feral cat.

I think if you want barn cats, you need to go and adopt some barn cats - loads of rescues have cats who they will only re-home to farms or rural areas because they wouldn't cope as indoor cats.

These kittens have been raised inside your home and it's only natural that they associate that with comfort and safety. They may want to go out and hunt when they're older but it's unlikely that they'll be happy living in a barn alone and never being allowed indoors and with human company.

All of ours (we have three) love being outside in good weather but none of them would choose to live out full time - they all love their home comforts - a warm bed, a lap to curl up on and lots of fuss. I think you need to accept that these cats want to be inside and install a cat-flap so they can just come and go as they please. Or, if you really don't want indoor cats, re-home them to a family who can give them what they want/need.

I think this is the crux of the matter - do you want pet/dual function cats, or just "working" cats?

If the first, give yours some time. If they don't end up doing the pest control thing as well as being loving companions you can always get a couple of barn cats as well.

If the second and you really don't want house cats at all, it would be better for all if the current ones are rehomed & replaced by feral or barn cats.

It sounds like you might be north American or Australian. Because no-one in the UK calls cats an 'invasive species' nor considers them unadapted for outdoor life (most cats in the UK are outdoor cats, and we and the cats like it that way).

It's obvious that feral cats aren't socialised; that's the nature of feral cats. We have them in the UK, too, and they are happiest living on a farm or similar, with 'owners' who feed them and ensure they are spayed/neutered and vaccinated etc.

As for your assertion that the 'natural state of a domestic cat is inside', this is total and utter bollocks. And believe it or not, hamsters are wild animals, too.

Thanks all for your input. I don't appreciate being called cruel. I love my cats and all of my other animals. They are very well looked after. We spend the majority of our day outside where they roam around with us. They get lots of cuddles and lots of attention. They have a very warm cosy bed in our porch which is still very much part of the house, where we also spend a lot of our time.

This is our first time having cats, so I appreciate all the input from you all who have much more experience with cats. This is why I posted here in the first place.

As I said before, my MIL has one of their siblings and has done similar to us, and it has adjusted very well to life as an outdoor cat, so I thought I would try the same approach. But my cats are obviously different from their sibling.

We did introduce them to outside gradually, where they could run back inside if they wanted to, so I didn't just chuck them outside and forget about them.

But as others have pointed out with their cats being great hunters when they have access to inside and outside, I will look into getting a catflap, so they have access to both.

Has anyone any advice on how to train cats to do their business outside? As I would like to avoid having a litter tray in the house.

Cats should always have access to somewhere safe to do their business - the last thing you want is for them to start peeing on the floor because something has spooked them!

For two cats you should ideally have three litter trays but for cats who go out, you could maybe get away with two. Could you not put them in the porch area you have their bed etc. in at the moment maybe?

A fully open sided porch area is not a warm space for little kittens, they need proper access inside the house.
I have cats and they are phenomenal hunters and provide fabulous pest control including rabbit population control. They have free access to the house through a cat flap. Please allow them house access, it is all they have known

Make a nice loo area outside. Earth or sand. Make it sheltered and private and clean it regularly.

When mine were outside cats (until we lost one in January hit by a car - all of them immediately indoor), they all did their business outside. At that time I had 9. I only kept a litter tray in the house for the two youngest. There were stages when they’d come inside to do their business but I just picked them up and put them out the back door. Didn’t take long at all for them to go outside. I always aimed for all outside cats and no litter tray in the house but when you lose one so cruelly, you do everything to keep the others safe

@Killerqueenie are they chipped? I recommend a cat flap that recognises their microchip so you don't have all manner of random cats accessing your house.

Our last boy was a stray used to living outdoors, but gradually moved into the house. Once he got a litter tray, that was it! He came inside specifically to go! At least if there are any health issues, you can spot them sooner if you see the contents of the tray.

Cats are all different and I'm assuming your MIL only has the one kitten whereas you have the two?

I don't think it's fair that having raised them in the house, you would then deny them access?

They might never turn out to be hunters. None of the last three boys I had who had access to outdoors were. Two of them once cornered a rabbit between them which I saved. One of them brought back a cigarette packet, a cheese wrapper and a teabag (the teabag nearly finished me off lol!) His mate was very good at nicking cooked chicken breasts, pork chops etc! The last boy was so lacksadaisical that even the birds didn't bother to fly away when he was in the garden.

@Canthave2manycats are they chipped?

Legal requirement in the UK as from last summer to have cats chipped, so I would assume so!

Just because something is a legal requirement, doesn't mean it's the case! Plus if they're 6 months they're just weeks over the legal requirement so might not have been done yet.