Has anyone let a previous house cat start going outside? End of my tether with weeing in the house.

[NorwichMom]

And if so how did it go?

because I am at the end of my tether with my cat. He’s 7yo and has always been a house cat, he’s a pedigree Birman. For the last two years he’s been pissing in the house fairly regularly. On the sofas, on the beds, on the wool duvets.

he’s been to the vet. There is nothing medically wrong with him. Vet says it’s stress weeing. I have no idea why as he is the most laid back cat ever. There’s no reason for him to be stressed. He has three litter trays around the house which he’s used fine for the first 5 years of his life. We had no problems with him for 5 years and nothing has changed. He will still use the litter trays but will also wee elsewhere.

we now have to keep bedroom doors shut but occasionally we forget. Tin foil on the sofas. He hadn’t weed in DD’s old room so was allowed in there and last week I realised he must have been weeing on her duvet for weeks (she moved out a year ago). Duvet is wrecked. Thankfully not the mattress.

we had a catio built for him two years ago which he has free access to via a catflap and he enjoys but that hasn’t helped. We use the cystease capsules and the feliway plug ins. But he still wees.

so for the last two days I’ve let him outside, I’ve just opened the door to the catio and he’s been trotting round the garden looking quite happy. Dh is panicking and says he will be run over or stolen. But ultimately he’s a cat, he doesn’t know he’s a pedigree so he has no more risk of being run over than any other cat. If someone stole him I genuinely think they’d be releasing him within days because he’d piss all over their sofas and beds.

the alternative is to ask the vet about stronger meds like Prozac but I’m not sure about drugging the cat up if it’s being inside which is making him unhappy and he’d just like to be out.

ideally he stays in our large garden, doesn’t wander and stops weeing.

I have not done this but seems the obvious answer to your problem. Is he a house cat because of safety issues (traffic/pedigree theft threat) or could you easily let him out?

We can easily let him out but it’s the risk of theft and traffic which worries me. The breeder said Birmans are a bit stupid and shouldn’t be let outside. And also reckoned he would catch a chill and die. She was as mad as a box of frogs though.

but I can’t carry on like this and if he doesn’t stop weeing he will have to be rehomed to be honest and I feel awful for saying that. But we have an old, damp house and shutting the bedroom doors in winter will increase the mould problems we get. I’m fed up of my house stinking of cat piss.

the cat flap into the catio is open 24/7 and we can just leave the catio open so he can leave there and get into the garden.

our garden is big and backs onto other gardens and then a small close and then a field. So not much traffic that way. We live on a fairly busy road. But when I used to have normal cats I never saw them out the front, they’d just go outside the back.

We got a gps tracker so at least we know where ours is (or at least where the collar is!) He has been outdoors since we got him and is a bit of a roamer. It is difficult we have a big garden and I wish he would just stay in there.

One of our cats came to us aged 3 and had only ever been indoors, but has adapted happily to having free range access to the outdoors - he's not very adventurous and sticks to our garden or the immediate neighbours' gardens (unlike our other cat who was a street moggy before we adopted him - he wanders all over the neighbourhood)

Our indoor>outdoor boy is common moggy though so I couldn't speak to whether a specific breed is more risky (I know some just don't have 'street smarts').

I can’t cat proof the garden, it’s over 100ft long. We don’t own the fence on the left so we can’t put the roller things on that fence. We do own the fence at the back. Then on the right side there are conifer trees which have got mesh wire blocking the way inbetween them. But it’s the neighbours fence which would be the main problem.

I am hoping that he’d be content with not wandering. A gps tracker is a good idea, off to investigate those.

We did but hes just a normal moggy cat not a breed. My kids wouldnt let him out for the first 2 years because they were afraid he'd get killed but he was very unhappy. Now hes out a lot usually most nights and comes back in the morning and his mood has improved. Our neighbour's have a very well behaved cat who goes out to their decking but no further

We keep ours in at night, I think it's more dangerous when the road is quiet, . when there's a lot of traffic he's too frightened to go there. And we also have foxes and badgers around mainly at night

Yes, I’ll definitely plan to keep him in at night.

My previous cats were indoor for the first 4 years we had them (1 we had from kitten, other was a year or 2 old). Older cat used to wee on the floor when he was indoor only (we lived in a flat and only had a balcony at the time). Once we had a house and garden he never used the litter box (or the floor) again. Younger cat rarely went outside unless we were also out there and continued to use the litter box.

Thank you. Fingers crossed it works for us as well. I also have a younger house cat who is happy being inside. She never goes in the catio. Has never used the cat flap to go in there. If I’ve taken her and physically put her in the catio she looks terrified and come straight back in the house!

I had a cat that was desperate to roam, he would bolt out the door. Unfortunately he did get hit by a car within a year.

Cats are born to roam. Neighbours cats are miserable buggers because they’re not allowed to.

Catch a chill and die?? Yes, she was barmy😂

I have had pedigree cats (Burmese) for 40 years and they always used to roam. Unfortunately over the years three of them got run over so they all (except the eldest) have a huge catio. It’s an ‘enriched environment’ with climbing and sleeping facilities, and their own potting shed, they come and go through a cat flap. Three of them are happy with this. One is not and wees in the house. I am very tempted to let him out because at this stage I would not be that heartbroken if he got stolen.

But it is a bit of a myth they get stolen. I have never had it happen, or known it happen to anyonelse, even when I lived in London.

What unfortunately does happen is they get run over, or they wander into someone’s house or shed or car and get shut in. So all mine wore collars with a name tag which ensured they were repatriated to me. My remaining older cat who roams has a tracker.

It is hard to know which is more stressful really, the indoor weeing or the risk from cars or getting lost. You have to choose one or the other.

They’re actually both DD’s cats. She’s in shared accommodation atm and can’t have them and is then planning on emigrating in a year. Shes said she’ll take the younger one but not the older one because her bf has said he won’t have an incontinent cat in the flat. I know the feeling!

I’m beginning to think for him it will be better to have a happier if potentially shorter life. I mean I’d be sad if he got run over but I’d also be running down to dfs the next day and buying new sofas!

He's telling you he's unhappy with the current set up in a very feline way. Definitely let him out with a tracker attached to his collar and your phone number on the collar as well.

Birmans don't have a good temperament for being outdoor cats. They aren't very street smart and they're too trusting. He doesn't know the dangers outside, he just knows it looks fun and it's boring inside. We don't let our kids do dangerous things just because they want to.

I'd suggest
Feed him in his pee spots, they don't like to pee where they eat.
Put puppy pads where he pees
Put a litter tray where he pees
Put climbing structures around your house, boredom causes stress which causes unwanted weeing. We have cat shelves all over our walls scratch pads everywhere. We have one cat that is adamant she must pee on a certain chair. She gets penned at night, she's much happier like that and loves her pen. She only does it at night.
Wash the carpets thoroughly, once they've weed there it smells like wee and they'll keep weeing there.
Cat proof your garden.
Lead train him

But a purebred birman isn't well suited to outdoors I'm afraid.

Not all cats are born to roam. Some have been selectively bred to be indoor cats

Next door’s are in a catio. I get why. They lost a kitten who got hit by a car. Cats still need to roam and hunt and investigate things. If my outdoor cat got killed I’d be devastated beyond words; he’s my soul cat but he still needs to live a full life however long or short that may be.

That’s cruel imo

Yes. Our cat has lived in flats
amd houses and been both throughout her life. Last year she stopped going out by choice but last month went out again!
I think it’s fine and it’s a healthy life for them. Yes there are risks; I would make sure she is chipped so you can report her missing if you ever need to. I think it’s worth the risks for them to have a better quality of life.

He could play in the garden I would think. One of mine likes to have a potter around but only in the garden and never tries to leave, he is a pedigree Maine Coon. (Tax included). I would be surprised if yours tried to wander off considering he knows where he is fed.

Does yours have plenty of toys and do you play with him, things for him to chase around etc, this could help him if not.

And then the other thing is maybe a different litter? If your usual brand has changed their formula he may not like it so much, worth a look into something different (though I suspect you already have)

Then don't buy one, I've seen in OPs update that she didn't actually buy the cats. But it would be cruel to buy a breed of cat that is well known for not having the survival skills needed to be free roaming and then let it out.

It's like buying a pug and taking it for a 2hr walk in the height of summer just because it gets excited when you get its lead out. It doesn't know any better

My second one won’t even go into the room if the back door is open. And if you try to take her to it she starts losing her shit. She is very happy just to sit and watch everything else going on outside from the safety of a windowsill