Would rehoming my indoor cat be best for her wellbeing

[Iheartmysmart]

Help me make a decision please. Last year I took on a tiny stray feral kitten who was found abandoned in a barn with no sign of mum. She was suffering from a nasty bout of cat flu and it was touch and go for a while.

As she was only 6 weeks old, she settled relatively well into my flat and showed no signs of wanting to go outside. However over the last few months this has changed. I’m on a really busy road and my flat is first floor so there’s no way of getting outside access for her.

She desperately wants to go out, she grooms herself excessively and is showing signs of stress. A friend of my sister’s lives on a small holding and has offered her a home. She would be a house cat but have access to acres of land to roam away from traffic.

I’m so torn. I absolutely adore her but don’t think I’m giving her a good quality of life. We play games, I’ve got scratching posts and high places for her and loads of interactive toys but she seems so bored.

Will she be traumatised if I rehome her. She’s such a timid little thing and is terrified of everything and everybody but me.

You're clearly thinking about your cat's best interests and must have spent so much time and love on caring for her as a sick kitten.

Yes, I think you should probably trial the outdoor option and see how it goes.

EDIT!

Ignore me,. I just noticed you live in a flat on a busy road SORRY!

Yes, rehoming her is a good idea.

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Yes, let her go. She obviously wants to.

Maybe you could rehome an older cat that doesn't care about going out.

That is a hard one. being a feral cat she probably will have some wildness still in her. the place you say about may be a cat paradise especially a semi feral cat but it is concerning that she is so attached to you. she may try to get back to you risking life on the roads. is it worth talking to your vet? the other solution i think would be if you have no garden to put a catio in could you considering a harness and lead so you can take her out safely for little walks in the fresh air then when she is inside she may settle more

That’s okay @PrettyLittleRose You weren’t far off with your description, I’m on a busy T-junction with a school and shops opposite. The road isn’t fast but is incredibly busy.

I honestly didn’t expect her to survive and my initial view was to make whatever time she had as comfortable as possible but she was a little fighter and pulled through.

Having only had cats that live outside not inside, I can never understand the concept of keeping a cat indoors for its whole life. It’s so contrary to their identity as a specie. Their very essence is that they roam. In my opinion, they must have outside space and humans that deny this should really take a look at themselves. It’s the same with rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, caged birds. It’s all unfair on the animal, but more so with cats.

Please rehome her/him. They live an awful long time.

Cats are pretty resilient to change and probably would cope very well with being rehomed. Your friends set up sounds like cat heaven.
If you miss her, maybe you could take on a cat that cannot go out - older/health issues, etc?

I think given you have somewhere for her to go i would rehome. Now you know you love cats you could look at an indoor only cat

Is she spayed? If not I would wait and see if she still wants to go out afterwards as it may be that the urge to go out reduces after this is done. If she is already spayed then it is a more difficult decision, are you likely to be in your flat for a long time to come? If you are likely to move in near future I would probably first try to add enrichment - cat trees, more cat toys including automatic ones for when you’re not there, puzzle feeding boards etc - to get her through until you can move somewhere bigger. If that’s not an option though your flat does sound small for a cat who wants to explore so maybe it would be in her best interests to rehome.

To answer some questions, I’ve had cats before but they have always been outdoor ones for the very reason that I didn’t think cats should be kept inside all the time.

I was looking at taking on an FIV cat when I had a call from a friend about this kitten. I felt sorry for her and agreed to take her in and see what happened. I didn’t expect her to survive but she did.

She’s very bonded to me which is a concern about rehoming. I’d hate her to feel abandoned.

My flat will be my permanent home, I’m not in a position to move. She has cat trees in every room, about 3 boxes of toys, I work from home so she has company pretty much all the time. There isn’t much more I can do to enrich her life as an indoor cat.

I’ve tried taking her out on a harness against my better judgement and she was terrified. She was spayed about 9 months ago.

I think you do need to rehome her sadly that set up is not right for most cats. In about 10 yrs she might cope with it but that’s a long time to fight against her nature. I’ve seen people to that to cats and they ended up with dementia.

It sounds like she has plenty of toys and your company, is very bonded to you so
Is it you that thinks shes board as she looking out of the window all the time ?
To me if its just you thinking it
i would not rehome but If you truely believe she may benifit from the new home then do you think if you could take her there and you stay a few days or so see how she gets on.

You sound like a really lovely cat owner. I completely get this concern and your friends set up sounds ideal. You aren't abandoning her - you're sending her on to the next stage of her life where she can be lov d and looked after but also have freedom to roam!
We have made the decision to let our indoor cat out as he is desperate to get out and we feel it's unfair on him so I understand what you're feeling.
We had an older FIV cat previously who lived indoors for 8 years with us and was very happy -defitely revisit this!