how to keep a cat from going outside?

i can't help you with a way to keep your cat indoors because i too am looking for an answer but i can reassure you it's not your fault your car ran away. i bought my 2 cats from a facility that raises cats in peoples home so they are already accustomed to family life. one is a boy and one is a girl. they were both fixed at the appropriate age and they are now 1 year old. the girl will make occasional attempts to get outside then she freezes and doesn't know what to do so she comes right back in. my boy cat constantly tries to get out of the house every chance he gets and doesn't come back until bedtime. this is a really bad habit he formed on his own. he was never an outdoor cat and now he's trying to become one. even though cats a domestic animals they do have a wild side to them that will always crave the outdoors. some cats are just more brave then others!

I'm so sorry you lost your cat. That is very sad. I hope if you ever get another cat, you will get her spayed. It is better for her health not to go into heat repeatedly. There will be no unwanted kittens. She will not get uterine cancer or other cancers. She will not howl and be unhappy. And, yes, she will not need to run outside to find a male cat. Some cats are hard to keep inside even if they are spayed or neutered. One way to keep them inside is to be very careful when you go in or out. You could keep a soda can full of coins and taped shut near the door and shake it when you leave or come in. You could toss a cat treat away from the door when you go out, so that the cat will go after the treat and not out the door. Some people have luck squirting the cat with a water pistol which they usually don't like to discourage them from leaving. My four cats don't go anywhere near the door, so I'm pretty lucky that way. I so sorry you lost your cat.