Will my cat ever like living indoors again?

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Hello! My cat has started spending all her time outside, day and night, she only comes in for meals. It’s like she can’t stand being in this house anymore - once she’s finished eating she sprints to the door and dives through her cat flap. If I stop her from going out she cries and can’t settle herself at all.

Even with the recent rain she’s not tempted to stay in. The only time in the past two months she’s graced us with her presence was when a friend’s dog stayed a couple of nights and she spent a few hours sleeping with us.

From where we live I know she’s not got a secret second home and I can usually find her when I go looking. She’s old, 14+, various age-related health issues, possibly dementia, but the most recent blood tests showed hyperthyroidism is under control with medication and her kidneys had improved very slightly.

I see lots of people online saying their old cat is behaving this way - my question is if it’s happened to you, did you manage to change your cat’s mind? Any advice?

She’s never been cuddly, and I actually don’t think she’s ever liked me much, but now she’s given up even trying to irritate me and I’m sad.

DBM.

??

When was the last time she saw a vet?

Could it be because it’s fairly warm at the moment? She may well come in when the nights are colder.
Obviously there’s a chance that she is preparing herself to find a favourite, sheltered place to curl up & have a final sleep, but it’s not necessarily so (& I hope it isn’t) Please give her a gentle snuggle from me & mine x

Mine always pretty much live outside in these sort of temperatures.

as soon as it gets colder - October/november time - they rediscover the joys of inside.

Yes mine is outside all the time in hot weather. He has made himself a little nest under a hedge and sleeps there. Turns up for food and then disappears again. Once the central heating kicks in I'm sure she'll be back indoors.

I would be tempted to tie a little note around her neck saying could the people she visits give you a call.

It would be handy to have contact details so you can check in if she’s safe etc and they can in turn let you know if anything was to happen to her whilst there.

The peace of mind might make you feel better about her not being around and as long as she’s happy that’s the main thing.

It’s been a couple of months - I’m making an appointment to get her next tests done sooner though

Thanks @HotTiredDog @Octavia64 @squashyhat - I hope you’re right about the weather. It’s been noticeably cooler inside during the heatwave but she’s not really sticking around long enough to notice.

@DaisyChain505 Luckily she doesn’t roam far and all the neighbours (gated street) know she’s mine - a couple of have messaged to let me know she’s hanging around, thankfully from concern rather than to complain. But if she starts disappearing I will definitely do this, thank you!

Here she is in all her contemptuous glory

She is truly as handsome and stylish as she knows she is!

my 18yo cat lives outside in the summer. She comes in for food and then sleeps in one of her various spots around the garden, depending on where the sun is.

By the autumn she will be back inside twittering around as usual

My cat has practically moved out since the weather got warmer. She always comes back for food and I'm sure when autumn comes, she will be inside more. I don't think it's an age-related thing, it's probably just the weather.

Is your cat called Funny?

😁no, but she should be!

As soon as it get chilly she will be back in, I have 5 cats, two are currently outdoors all the time, I get graced with their presence for food then they are off again. One I know defo goes into other houses, they all know him well here now tho so neighbours are not feeding him as much so he comes in like once a day, the other she’s comes when she is hungry then goes and sits in my neighbours bush that she has taken a liken to, but comes in when I shout most of the time, but wont stay in, unless she is away wandering then I meer human have to just wait. The minute the weather turns they are both home x

Isn’t it natural for a cat to be outside? Ours would be contacting the UN, and the Cat’s Protection League if they were denied the freedom to come and go as they please, day and night.

They don’t even care about monsoon grade rain. At least - they insist on going out, one is clever at finding shelter so stays dry, the other gets soaked, comes in for supper and starts googling cat pneumonia treatments while we dry her down.

Haha, I wasn’t sure if your username was cat inspired

Mine comes in in winter. He has another home (although they don't let him inside) and they are not vegetarian, so his daily allegiance lies there. I had to keep him in recently as he'd had some teeth out and my neighbours asked me if there was something wrong as he hadn't come by for his chicken and prawns, apparently! 😂

Haha, yes, agree, it’s the more that it’s unusual behaviour for this cat - she’s been here many summers but not stayed outside as much and never sprinting out of the house like she does now. The way she dives through the cat flap reminds me of that game show with Dale Winton shouting bring on the wall!

My old girl (at least 18 year old- she turned up in the garden 12 years ago and was around 6 years then) has been the same lately. When she is in the house she has decided to live sitting on top of the open bathroom window!

She is definitely getting a bit senile. I have seen her behavior before in previous felines. When she is outside, she is mainly sitting in a tree and yelling at us when we go out or call her. This was slightly embarrassing when I got back from a short trip a few weeks ago past 3am and the neighbour's started looking out their windows.😂She can get down, climbs higher when we try and grab her....

She seems happy enough but is definitely in decline. She remains queen of the universe and the other adopted and foster cats know to keep it that way. I am pretty sure she will choose another place to live inside when the weather changes. When she is inside and spends time with us she is very clingy in the most disruptive ways (so insisting on sleeping on top of one of us at night, sitting in front of the TV or burying deep under the duvet and spreading out). Obviously we just let her.

She is a beautiful tabby girl like your adored cat and whilst the vets reassure us she is not suffering we just pander to her needs- including making sure there is a full glass of water by every bed and in the bathroom. She does not like drinking out of a bowl!

This is our old lady. I honestly think there are few demands she can make that we will not pander to! She has already changed her mealtimes and insists on being fed on a window ledge above the other (peasants) cats!

I nearly wrote a similar post yesterday. Ours usually spends all day outside in the summer but has previously come in at night. This year she’s stayed outside 24/7 for the last couple of weeks and only comes for food every other day or so. I’m sure she’s lost weight. She’s at least 12 (rescue so uncertain).

I wanted to update the thread in case anyone else stumbles on it with the same question.

Tests showed that, in spite of her medication, my cat's thyroid levels had once again become very high, and the vet advised upping her dose of methimazole. After a couple of weeks on the higher dose, she seems to have remembered that she likes being indoors after all.

Obviously correlation does not equal causation, but it does suggest that thyroid levels are worth checking if this happens with an older cat – even if, like me, you're giving them their medication regularly.

I'm sure she loves you op, some cats just can't or won't show it openly.