Anyone had a cat with no interest in going outside?

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I adopted two 5 month old cats in October and have recently tried giving them access to outside. One has been out most days in the last week or so sometimes just for 10 minutes or so and a couple of times for around an hour. His sister has no interest whatsoever. I have gone out with toys but she turns round and goes straight back in before I can even get them out. It's not a massive issue, though I was hoping to lost the litter tray (at least for daily use) at some point, but I am also worried about her being bored. I avoided rescuing indoor cats because I don't think I can provide the stimulation they would need. These are the 4th and 5th cats I've had as a adult and I had 3 growing up and none have needed or wanted much playing with. My last cat I had from about 7 months (had to be pts at the age of 10) and he went out from the start so this is new to me. Any advice would be great.

I've had male cats that have always wanted to be outside. I've currently got a female cat and she likes to stay at home most of the time. She does occasionally go outside but only stays within our garden. I was told at the time we got her that female cats like to stay closer to home.

I have one that will not go outside at all, he was a flat cat for a bit and didn’t have the opportunity until older so maybe that’s why. The other has been allowed since he was a kitten and is still a youngster but the layout of the gardens around here mean he’s limited to a very small area so he isn’t much interested- an hour in the morning and then back inside for a nap. I’d love to not have a tray but it’s obvious that’s not going to happen so we got the litter robot as the next best thing.

I've had a mixture of males and females and they've all gone out. My current 16yo female torbie likes to pop out several times in the course of eating her breakfast and again for around 30 mins in the evening. Do you find your cats need lots of playing with @SmurfetteBlue ? This is my biggest fear - obviously I like a play but feel I need to build a whole play area and devote hours a day to playing if she won't go out, and I don't have the means for either of those things.

Give them time. When we started letting our boy out (he was one when we adopted him and had been living as a stray kitten in a lady’s garden) he was wild exploring initially, then didn’t really want to go out for the next few months. I think he needed to know he was home here and would always be able to come back in. He loves being out now but still doesn’t really roam far. Generally he will come in to use the litter tray even if he then goes straight back out though!

Our previous girl took to being outdoors immediately, and pretty much didn’t use the litter tray ever again even if it was snow up to her armpits.

Our (female) cat has access to the outdoors but generally prefers to stay in. She will sometimes go out onto our front patio but doesn’t usually venture much further. She is quite timid generally though.

My 16 year old girl cat hardly ever goes out. She only goes outside if Im out there weeding otherwise no, and she sticks to my side like glue.
The younger cat practically lives outdoors.

Have a rescue ragdoll who is definitely a fair weather cat! She’ll go in the garden in summer but she is basically a self imposed indoor cat right now!

It's obviously more common than I thought. How much playing and stimulation do all your self-imposed indoor cats need?

Sorry op, it does look like you have an indoor cat. It’s not a bad thing and actually our cat doesn’t love stimulation, she’ll be around you for as long as she decides and will only play if she’s in the mood! She’ll stay next to you/ sleep or clean and is a happy cat, just an indoor one and doesn’t want to be patronised with games or toys😅😅😅

It almost sounds like you think cats are more like dogs? Even if your cat goes outside, it may just spend the time snoozing in the sun. Cats are very independent creatures. I think it’s wonderful that you want to make sure they’re entertained and not bored or unhealthy, but I think you’ll find that even if he or she stays inside permanently, your cat will have a completely independent-from-you life. You feed, you pet, you play for a LITTLE bit of time, but you do not need to devote hours and hours to your indoor cat’s entertainment. We had a completely indoor cat and she just walked away when she was done with us, which was often after about 10 minutes of attention on her terms. You’ll manage this, OP! Thank you for adopting cats who needed a home.

I think that it depends on the cat to be fair. Our boy is an indoor cat and probably will remain so and he needs a LOT of playtime and interaction. He is obsessed with chasing a small ball and needs several chase sessions a day or he becomes a complete pain in the neck. So yes very much like a dog!

Well hopefully she will be one who can largely entertain herself. This is my worry - I work fulltime outside the home so I'm not available for play most of the time. To be fair, she doesn't seem unhappy or agitated and does seem to go off and do her own thing after a bit of playtime, or they play together and wreck the room .

There is a big difference between not providing the mental stimulation for a cat that doesn’t want to go outside compared to one who wants to but can’t. I think your cat is still young and it’s early days, as well as quite cold at the moment.

I’ve had some cats who are more inclined than others to go out but usually most enjoy a snuffle in the grass in the summer months. However, snoozing in the sunshine on a bed or comfortable indoor position is often the preference.

When I lived in my ti y house beside a main road my cat didn’t want to go out and I don’t encourage her. Now I have moved to a bigger house with a quiet garden, she will go out and just stay in the garden only.

she is 15 now. In summer she will live outside only coming in for food and at night or when I am out the house. I won’t lea d her out at night or if I am out the house. Currently she will go out for 15 mins a few times a day, but only if it’s not cold, windy or wet!

Our cat (male) hardly ever goes outside, which from reading here seems a bit odd as it looks like it’s mostly female cats that are like that!. He’ll go in our garden if we’re out there, but he likes to stay around us.

Our boy is very playful and has loads of toys, a whole wicker basket of mouses and balls. He plays in bursts of about 20 minutes, tossing things around and chasing them, either with us or by himself, then has a nap. He doesn’t have unrestricted outdoor access - he’s in if we’re out and always kept in overnight - and sometimes we get up or come home to find every toy strewn around like he’s had a party. When he’s out he is often just sat on the patio or up on the shed roof, and he likes to sit in his cat tree at the kitchen window watching what’s going on/snoozing - I guess he does the same outside, just in a different location.

Our girl cat wasn’t much interested in toys, and I always felt she just humoured me by playing with me!

Maybe she just doesn't like cold weather. Come some warm sunny days, she will probably venture outside more often.

Our female cat spends a lot more time outside than our lazier male cat. But she also favours spending time indoors! In summer they do both like to spend more time in the garden, so you might see a difference when the weather warms up again.

Our old girl will happy spend all day outside in the summertime. She finds a cosy spot to curl up under the bushes in the front garden and stays there, watching the world go by. In the winter she asks to go out for a wee and then comes back in again after a few minutes. The winter months are spent largely on our bed.

OP, your cat might have sensed that your garden is currently another cat's territory and doesn't want to encroach on it. Once your other one has made it part of their territory instead, then she might feel happier to go out.

We had a female Siamese who hated going outside. Before us she had been owned by an elderly woman and lived in a flat in a big city. When she came to us we had a small cottage garden in a quiet village, but she would rarely go outside. TBH I thought it was a Siamese cat thing! The only garden she would go out to play in was my parent's small walled garden. At the time I was working FT but did probably play with her daily for no more than around 10 minutes. She had toys she played with. She seemed pretty content, although she was very happy to see us. Every other cat we've had wanted to go outside.