coming inside

[queeniekate]

Hi I have just joined this forum to try and get some advice. About 10 months ago I adopted a rescue cat , 12 years old, and had been in the cattery for 3 months. As soon as I let her out she was very happy and prefers to stay out. The problem is now she won't come in !!! She has been coming for food around once every 2 days (I think she may be getting fed elsewhere ) and if I open the door she runs away , only coming back for the food if I go back inside (she knows I 'll try and get her in for some fuss). The point is I feel like I'm feeding a stray and not gaining any pleasure from her. Starting to wish I'd got a kitten ! Please help if you can .....many thanks

[Eliz+Cats]

Hi,

Well done for rehoming an adult cat.

A few questions:
How long did you keep her indoors before letting her out for the first time?
Has anything happened in the house that might have frightened her?
Do you have a catflap, or are you letting her in/out by opening a door as needed?

Eliz

[queeniekate]

Thank you for your reply ....

Kept her in for about a week , maybe more when she first arrived. I know standard is two but she seemed desperate and we have a lovely , quiet back garden leading onto other gardens

I have a 5 year old whose very attentive and a husband whose not keen on cats (but would obviously never hurt her or even be nasty , just ignores her .... but nothing frightened her as such )

no cat flap - had a cat for over 10 years before this one and no cat flap either ....only glass doors so would need brand new doors and don't have the money ! Opening door to let in but she won't come in ! IF I manage to catch her I fuss her for a d=few mins then she's mewing to get out She's not happy to be inside at all

any advice with what i can do despite all of this gratefully received

[Crewella]

I'd catch her and bring her back in for at least three weeks, if not four. One or two weeks really isn't long enough for a cat to 'put down roots'. I know it will be painful, for you both, but it's the only way to make them feel 'at home' and it will pass and be worth it.

[queeniekate]

really ? ! I never thought about that .... she'll be miserable as hell but I can see how that would work ...do you think she's come back in again though once i finally let her out ?

It's got to be worth a try ... thank you

[AhmedUK]

Hi I have just joined this forum to try and get some advice. About 10 months ago I adopted a rescue cat , 12 years old, and had been in the cattery for 3 months. As soon as I let her out she was very happy and prefers to stay out. The problem is now she won't come in !!! She has been coming for food around once every 2 days (I think she may be getting fed elsewhere ) and if I open the door she runs away , only coming back for the food if I go back inside (she knows I 'll try and get her in for some fuss). The point is I feel like I'm feeding a stray and not gaining any pleasure from her. Starting to wish I'd got a kitten ! Please help if you can .....many thanks

I don't want to sound rude, but surely the happiness of the pet should come before ours, no?

I do agree with crewella though, I think you should just keep her indoors for a bit even if she doesn't like it at first, because in the long run I believe she will get more happiness from knowing she has a loving home with you that she can often come back to.

[queeniekate]

I think the fact that I adopted a 12 year old cat who was shut in a cage for 3 months says at least something about my concern for the welfare and happiness of cats. However as an experienced cat owner I don't think that wanting something more than a two day visit for food etc is unreasonable . I will take the very useful advice of keeping her in from the previous post. Thank you

[AhmedUK]

I think the fact that I adopted a 12 year old cat who was shut in a cage for 3 months says at least something about my concern for the welfare and happiness of cats. However as an experienced cat owner I don't think that wanting something more than a two day visit for food etc is unreasonable . I will take the very useful advice of keeping her in from the previous post. Thank you

Please do not misunderstand me - I wasn't saying you do not care about cats or anything of the sort, I am sure you do.

I think the point I was trying to make was that some people (and again, not you) keep pets for their own happiness, and I think that is wrong. Whilst I appreciate getting happiness by having a pet is a natural feeling, the pet's happiness should be more important - if I had a cat, that I loved, and someone said the cat would be happier away from me in some other environment, then I will have to let it go even though it would be heartbreaking for me.

Thank you.

[Eliz+Cats]

I'd catch her and bring her back in for at least three weeks, if not four. One or two weeks really isn't long enough for a cat to 'put down roots'. I know it will be painful, for you both, but it's the only way to make them feel 'at home' and it will pass and be worth it.

I absolutely agree with 'Crewella'.
Keeping your cat in for a while may well do the trick (however, there are no guarantees, and if your cat is absolutely determined to go elsewhere then she will do that.)

When I've brought cats home I've always actually kept them indoors for 4 - 6 weeks before letting them out. That's way longer than most people keep them in, I think; but I wanted to be sure they were completely imprinted on us and on the house. I hoped they'd get the idea that the house was their home and provided everything they needed, and having access to outdoors was just the 'cherry on the cake'.

I took in a stray tom cat who really wanted to get out of the house initially; but after a little while he did settle. He had plenty of toys to play with, a variety of nice places to sleep (and to hide if necessary), litter trays in quiet places, and we spent quite a bit of time playing with him and grooming him. I also got him used to his name by calling it repeatedly and then giving him a treat. I wanted to know that, when he did go out, he would know the sound of me calling his name and would respond to that.

A couple of other things:
It is possible (if you wanted to) to get a glass door panel replaced with a cat flap fitted into it. (It may be that your cat would be more likely to come in if she knew it was within her control to get out again...?)
And does your cat wear a collar? If she does, and you suspect she's being fed elsewhere, then you might try attaching a little note to the collar with your phone number. It may be that someone who's feeding her would see the note and give you a call...?

Really hoping you can resolve this issue so that all involved can be happy.

Eliz

[queeniekate]

Thanks Eliz that's all really useful . I'm definitely going to try keeping her in if I can catch her ....I thought about the collar note too but I'll try this first. This is all really supportive advice thank you so much xx

[queeniekate]

I just wanted to update and say a huge thank you to those amazing ladies that gave me the advice ....we took it, kept her in for 3 weeks ...and now she likes to go out , but always comes back and loves to come in , eat and sleep !! She now knows where her home is and enjoys the best of both worlds. Can't thank you enough for the advice xxx

[bobbys girl]

Really pleased to hear that. Thanks for the update.

[Crewella]

I'm so pleased, now that she knows where 'home' is I hope you have many happy years together.

[meriad]

excellent news so pleased for you all

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

Oh, how lovely. So glad that your girl knows and loves her home. Really happy for you. x

[lilynmitz]

Well done, I'm really pleased to hear she's worked out that your home is her home! And well done adopting an oldie. You have a big heart.

[queeniekate]

Aww thank you for all the replies .... she's now taken to coming out of her hidey places and will sleep on my daughter's bed all night . Her name is Bobbi and Bobby's girl she looks just like your cat ! I'm noticing her age now she's more settled and she'll sleep for hours (she's 13 ish) but she's healthy and happy - thanks again xxx