Help, cat keeps running away :(

[Platform38]

Hello,

I'm hoping someone will be able to offer some advice on this predicament. Myself, partner, 2 year old son and 9 year old cat (female, tabby) all live together in a 1 bedroom flat. Until 2 months ago, this living arrangement has not been a problem. It's a fairly decent size flat and has a back garden, which our cat 'Mabel' is able to access as she pleases through the micro-chip cat flap. Mabel and my 2 year old son, although not best buddies, aren't too interested in each other (My son is a typical 2 year old in terms of noise, but at this stage is yet to chase the cat around or torment her in any way!!).

Mabel has always seemed fairly happy and relaxed and has never ventured too far out of the backgarden (we live in a terraced victorian basement flat, so the gardens form an enclosed network in which she was not able to get to the front of the house and we did not allow her out of the front door).

The problem started approximately 2 months ago when Mabel worked out how to get to the front - we're not sure how, but started spotting her and she ended up on a couple of occasions meowing at the front door to be let in. At this stage, she could still find her way back to our garden and return to the house through her catflap.

To cut a long story short, we gave in disuading her from the front and the arrangement worked ok for a couple of weeks, but for some reason in the last few weeks she refuses to come back in the house through her catflap (so she goes out through it into the back garden, but won't some back in through the garden and always ends up meowing at the front of the flat at some ungodly hour of the morning). We are not sure if her access route back into the garden is now blocked, or if it is a territorial issue with another cat. Worse than that she is now regularly spending all night outside in the rain and turning up all over the block in neighbours houses. We've taken two calls now from vets and pet rescue to advise of a missing cat (Mabel) who is in their house, being fed etc.

The last occasion, this morning, the lady who brought Mabel home to me, said that her good friend would love to rehome Mabel (they thought she was homeless and had even posted on Facebook to see if anyone knew whether she had a home). Nb: Mabel is microchoipped but does not wear a collar.

We're not sure what to do as there doesn't seem to be a solution. We've tried locking her in and bought a litter tray, but she is going nuts as wants to go out, but we know if we let her out through the catflap, the next time we hear/ see her will likely be another call from pet rescue or someone down the road thinking she's homeless again.

We love our cat and had no problems 8 weeks ago, but this is quickly turning into a nightmare. We do not want to re-home her, but we also want what is best for her. It is hard to tell if she is choosing to spend time in other people's homes because she is unhappy, or simply because she cannot find her way back to her catflap.

We will actually be moving to a different town, but this will not be for another 3 months at least. The new house is a 3 bedroom semi detached with a large garden, so we hope she would be very happy there.

Is anyone able to offer any advice on how we should proceed? Is it fair to lock her in our one bedroom flat for the next 3 months? Perhaps her relationship with our toddler son is causing her more stress than we think (although as I type this she seems very contented curled up on the sofa and doesn't seem to be exhibiting any other signs of stress).

Any advice on the situation would be greatly appreciated,

Many thanks

[Jacks]

Hello Platform38 and welcome to Catchat!

Your lovely Mabel sounds quite a character and a very determined lady. I can imagine the likely first thought is that Mabel is finding it difficult living with a toddler, but I tend to think this is not the reason for her behaviour. I too let my girls out the back only and this means, for three of them, that they stay close to the house in the neighbour's gardens (we live in a mid-terrace as well). I wouldn't trust them out the front, although our 'matriarch' Sophie was once spotted by me wandering down the footpath outside the front of the house, and over the summer one year realised that if I went out front to do the patch of garden she could climb across the fences and come round and see me. I promptly took her back inside. Eventually the behaviour stopped. My fourth girl is irresponsible and has been injured, trapped and lost a number of times, so she's indoor only now, for over a year - and adjusted fine. When I first started keeping her in she was begging to go out, but I had made the decision like a responsible parent, and distracted her with play and some treats. She got used to it, and now accepts that the others go in and out (we open the door for them, and they only go out when we're at home) and enjoys watching the birds from the window. My fifth cat (a boy) was living wild in the neighbourhood for his first four or five years, and he comes in and out as he pleases. He walks with me like a little dog outside.

My guess is that Mabel has, like my matriarch, realised there are new possibilities and that her world is bigger than she thought. She's taking full advantage of the new territory and this includes the nice people who give her foods and tidbits and into whose homes she can investigate.

As you are moving in a few months and she'd have to be kept in for some time from then on anyway, I'd keep her in. It's winter, muddy, wet and might get really cold, and the days are short. She'll need to have toys and be played with, and maybe a nice new cat tree by a window, but I'd be cruel to be kind and I think she'll get used to it. When you move you can star over in a much bigger home territory and a lovely garden. If you could catproof it all the better (I can't do mine because of adjacent buildings and trees) and don't let her out the front, even if she begs.

Wishing Mabel all the best, the lovely girl.