My cat really wants to go outside

What a fantastic idea! I was thinking of investing in a scratching post too but these tunnels sound even better =D She isn't too fussed with catnip but she LOVES brown paper bags and the rug in the lounge room (goes under it all the time). She even manages to get up on the ledge in the stair well - so long as she doesn't jump on one of the kids, I don't mind. Thank you SO MUCH for that wonderful idea =D

You're welcome! I've had to turn several outdoor only cats into indoor only cats. It's not always easy. Another thing I have is called a cat porch. I bought it from a catalog about 20 years ago and have never seen another one. It is about the size of an air conditioner and fits in the window the same way. On the inside it fits flush with the window frame and there is a cat door on that side. The rest is like a screened in box on three sides with a solid top and bottom. I put a rug remnant in it. My cats have always loved it. A friend made me another one for another window so they have two cat porches with two different views. I am searching the web for one so I can give you a link. Not having much luck. Ha! I found one. here's the link, but I think mine are a little bigger. www.thecatandkittenstore.com/servlet/the-2705/Detail I hope you get to this response as there are no notifications going out.

Hi Deazil :) Thank you, once again, for another fabulous idea! I have a friend who is pretty nifty at these types of things so I will ask them next time they pop over what they think ;) Allegro would be over the moon with something like that =D

Yes, a kitty harness works well. You can find them at stores like Petsmart or PetCo. If you have a small kitty you may have trouble finding a harness that will fit. I know when I first got my kitty I tried purchasing one at Petsmart and it was to big for him. He could get out of it just like a little Hoodini. I ended up having to go to a local feed store to find a small one that would fit a bunny for him. He eventually grew into the one that I bought for him at Petsmart.

I think it depends upon the kitty. We had one kitty Leo when we were growing up that unfortunately got his jaw broken. While the jaw was healing we used the kitty harness so he could go outside in the yard to play. We would usually attach the end of the kitty harness part the leash to the garden hose then screw on the sprinkler head part so that he could move around the yard while we were outside keeping an eye on him of course. It did work. Keep in mind he still had a huge house to run around inside, which he completely turned into a jungle gym. I mean it he would tear through the kitchen scale the pony wall over the top into the den and back again. Even with all that he found his own little way of escaping out of the house one day for a little kitty excursion. My kitty Tigger will act like his little kitty paws are broken if you put a kitty harness on him. Generally speaking. I have gotten him on a couple occassions when we came home to walk with the kitty harness inrun the grass area. Keep in mind kittens go with the belief they walk us (not the other way around). I mean be prepared for your cat to say I want to go this way around and through the bushes. It is not like a puppy whom you walk. Then, of course there was the day when the neighbor kids scared Tigger. Well, the kids asked if they could pet him as I was holding him getting out the car from a trip to vet. I said yes. Well as they were getting off their bikes that had those noise making spokes. The bikes made a noise that scare Tigger. Well, frighten little kitty took like a 5 foot vertical leap out of my arms ran through the bushes, and headed to the downstairs neighbors door by where their was a puppy dog. I guess he figured that the puppy might help to protect him. It was our downstairs neighbors. Well the neighbor kids all thought that it looked super cool. I went to go find my little kitty. Trust me, he totally forgot that he had his kitty harness on that day. You see, I always use the kitty harness to buckle Tigger into the front seat whenever he goes to the vet or Petsmart. He totally hates the cat carriers and will complain the whole way if you put him in one in the car.He does not like the backseat. He likes the front seat where he can be pet at every stop light.

HAHAHAHA!! Oh sorry, that was just so funny, picturing Allegro in a kitty harness =D It might not be a bad idea actually. She is a larger cat and a harness would fit her. Do they go nuts? Can the cat be a bit older, like 5? Might have to give it a go, just for the entertainment value =D We have lots of toys, which the younger one plays with. Allegro has to be in the mood for them. Her fav toy is a brown paper bag or a box with a hole just big enough for her to fit in. The only problem with these is that I also have two kids with autism - brown paper bags and boxes are highly sort after items in the house. Allegro isn't afraid to get "her" bag back though and just kinda jumps on the kids to get them away. Yes, she hunts the boys too, well, my youngest anyway - he loves it as he also has ADHD as well as autism. Kitty harness, what a great idea! Thanks!

Try openning the blinds in the house for the kitty. Lots of times they just want to see outside and sun bathe. Many times they will be just as happy with the blinds being open. I know that when I used to live on the 2nd floor I would leave the blinds open all the time, and my kitty loved it! Keep in mind though that they will get playful, and sometimes not realize that it is a window. I know my kitty has jumped at the window acting like he did not realize it was a windo as he saw the birds flying in the trees outside the window.

Allegro sounds a little like my kitty Tigger. They have plenty to do inside but they still like to go outside. I think it is part of nature them wanting fresh air and sunshine. My little Tigger gets scared of people coming to close. If he is outside and anyone shows up he will come running inside. Well, personally I think you just have to negotiate with your kitty. Be creative to find ways that he can go outside with supervision. For my Tigger at the old complex, the rule was that he could go outside but had to stay on the top landing, which he did about 90% of the time. He just sometimes needed to be reminded. I could go back and forth and get the groceries, while he laid on the top landing. At the new complex where we live now, I tried saying he could go out as far as to the end of where the stairs where but that did not work well. He found it too easy to go where ever he pleased, and when his little kittyness did not want to come in the house he would run and hide under cars. Well after many times of trying to teach him the rule without success, he finally lost priviledges to go out the front door when I went to get things from the car. We have negotiated that he can go out on the patio. Which he enjoys. I just leave the patio door open for him while I do work in the living room generally on the computer, go get groceries from the car, or take things out to the car. He will explore the patio, lay out side, and enjoy sun bathing. He looks so relaxed and enjoys his time on the patio. If people get to close to the patio he just walks back inside the apartment. It seems to work for us. He occassionally will jump up on the wall but since the consequence is that I pick him up and bring him into the house, which he sees as a consequence because he does not like to get picked up. He knows that he is in trouble when he does this he rarely does jump up on the wall. He knows the routine. Trust me when I say the minute that I get up he wants to be let outside on the patio. As I keep telling him, you first have to let me get dressed then you can go outside. Trust me even on morning when I have to go to work, all it takes is me walking out onto the patio and saying time to come in the house, and he will willingly walk back inside the apartment. Keep in mind, he will come in the apartment; then remind me that he wants can kitty food for breakfast before I leave for work. I totally believe our little kitties can be trained. Once they find a routine they enjoy, they will hold us to the routine everyday. I mean it my kitty is the best at prompting me at what I need to do. Whether it is a paw reaching for the kitchen drawer where the paper plates are kept when it is around dinner time. Even when the boyfriend was visiting, little Tigger was quite bold. Right after, I told him that he had to finish what was on his kitty plate. The boyfriend headed for the pantry. I heard the boyfriend surprised that Tigger was rubbing up against his leg. Well, the boyfriend decided to give into Tigger. He decided to give him a new can of kitty food. It was pretty funny as the boyfriend was trying to figure out where I kept the canned kitty food. Then, he realized that it was in the pantry. I commented to him why do you think Tigger was rubbing up and down you legs while you were getting into the pantry. It was because he wanted you to get him something out of the pantry and he knew where the kitty food was kept in the pantry. Well, perhaps it is our kitties that train us! Either way, we love them!

Yep, both cats have been 'fixed' =D She hasn't been out since we moved here 18 months ago, which might be making things difficult for her too. We have a big screen TV and she actually does like watching TV with us. All different types of programs, so long as there are things happening she is normally interested. But only if I'm watching TV ;) Might have to find some DVD's for her, though, as that seems like another great idea that I can use during the day when the boys are at school. All the blinds are open during the day as are the windows. My partner redid all the fly-screens when we first moved so that they won't pop out easily if she presses up against it. Allegro used to spend a lot of time sitting up on the window sill. In a way, it's great because if anyone pulls up in our driveway, she freaks out and runs to me right away. Like she did just then, , ,

on her

I do feel so sorry for her sitting up there at the window, looking down on the next door neighbour's birds. If they weren't exotic birds and if the dogs on either side weren't little yappers (and if Allegro was so "funny" with people), I might consider letting her out. Instead, I think I will invest in a really good scratching post/playground ;-)

I know what you mean about people doing bad things to kitties. When we were growing up we had a kitten Leo. That got his jaw broken (we think by one of our neighbors). Then he got dipped his whole underside in motor oil. Then there were all the injuries from the occassional kitty fights. That is why I decided when I got Tigger he would be an indoor only kitty. Trust me when I say that indoors does not mean that the stay injury free. To this date, I still do not know how it happened because I was out shopping. Well, I came home to find a hole in the bathroom wall and a missing kitty. It took hours to find him. Keep in mind it was a 1 bedroom apartment. Well, eventually I did find him. His face was all hurt. It was Easter weekend so no vets were open. When he went to the vet on Monday. We found out he had ruptured his eye, hurt his nose, andhis mouth. The vet thought that he had also broken a tooth, but I reminded them to check his chart that the broken tooth was a previous injury that he had done somehow play inside the apartment. Well, Tigger did recover from his household accident. He is just blind in one eye. That is why especially nowadays he is pretty much scared of people. Even once in awhile if I put my hand out on his bad side where he cannot see he will sometimes get spooked slightly just because it catches him by surprise. Maybe try to get some toys for Allegro. I know that when I first got Tigger he was always trying to climb the walls in the apartment. He was much happier being inside once he got his 6 foot tall tree house, which is actually just a round 6 foot tall by like 2 foot high scratching post with different levels for him to climb. He loves playing like toy mice from Petsmart which he will pick up and throw with his kitty paws. There were even the pair of fuzzy blue slippers that he claimed for his own that he would carry around the house. His latest has been playing with my flip flops were I have to search for where Tigger hasleft them. I think mostly our little kitties just have too much time on their littly kitty paws while we are at work all day. That was my theory after coming home in the past to find that Tigger had removed the keys from the laptop. After breaking the laptop keyboard he earned himself a permanent ban from using technology. It is like our pets our curious. For the most part that curiosity is innocent. Although Tigger did come to realize that curiousity might have a downside, shortly after we moved into the new apartment I guess he decided it would be a good idea to explore the new apartment while I was at work. I cam home, and could not find Tigger anywhere in the apartment. While it took awhile, but finally I heard a little kitty meows. Following the sound, I finally found him trapped behind the dryer. Aparently he had decided to jumb down between the dryer and hot water heater to explore. Well, once he jumped down, he could not climb back up because his kitty paws kept slipping on the metal of the dryer. It was not like a wall or carpet where he could attach his little claws to climb. Well it took me about 15 minutes to figure out how to pull the washer an dryer out to rescue him. Of course, he walked out like it was nothing. Like it was a completely normal spot to be at in the apartment. My kitty and I like to watch the Shark Tank, and Tigger says that it is amazing they are always coming up with products for dogs. He says that there are millions of inventions that the common kitty needs. He is wating for the paw activated kitty can opener system. Maybe, they will come up with a novel way for kitties to safely experience the outdoors.

We used to do that with Allegro at the old house. Because it, too, wasn't the best part of town (similar to here) I used to stress beyond belief if we couldn't get her in before dark. If she caused me too much stress, she would be grounded. Allegro doesn't like people too much either. She used to hiss and twist herself inside out on the driveway every time our friend across the street would be outside his house. Too many bad things happen to animals these days. I would hate to think of something like that happening to Allegro. Sometimes being over protective is the best way to be ;)

Good on you for rescuing your cats =D I guess it is because she has had a taste of freedom and wants to get back out there and wreck havoc on the world again. She isn't savvy, though, when it comes to cars, , , or people, or lots of things for that matter. Just killing birds and beating up dogs lol! Will be keeping her inside but with bells on, just in case ;)

Don't worry, I am a HUGE animal lover too and most definately believe in spaying/neutering before I would even consider letting them outside. I've also been a big believer in "kitty curfews" and, when I did have an outside cat, I made sure she was in before dark. My Dad recently rescued a cat that was in kitten. She has had the kittens, which he has found homes for, and has gotten her spayed. I hate people who abandon animals, especially seniors =(

I, too, have had many cats that have either been run over or killed (baited) when I was living out in the country as a child. My last cat used to go outside but as she got older I decided to keep her in for her own good too - she lived to the age of 13 and seemed happy enough laying in the sun coming through the window. This cat, though, she is determined. I have decided that I will keep her in but put lots of bells on her "just in case". Allegro doesn't like people too much either and can get a bit "funny" with strangers. Might be best for all concerned if she stays inside =)

She sure is one tough kitty-cat. We don't have a very big yard anymore. Where we used to live, the yard was HUGE and she had a territory of about 4 house yards - one house, she used to hang off a cockatoo's cage O.o I might have to keep an eye out for a cat run or something similar I think.

Thank you for you reply. Both cats have been 'fixed' - the female has had a fight with a neighborhood cat through the fly-wire door, which I think she won as the cat hasn't been back since. I think this has made her determination all the more urgent as she is fairly territorial - she was not a happy camper when I rescued the younger cat from a friend on Facebook (nearby suburb). They have had some fairly big fights and seem to have sorted out their "pecking" order for now. I really feel for Allegro. Seeing her stalking around the house, watching her at the back door looking up at the sound of the birds, it's sad when one of the furry-kids isn't happy. I have been spending more time with her and so has my partner. She is allowed in the main part of the house as often as she wants - the male likes to live in the laundry when the kids get a bit full on (they have autism). There is a lot of traffic around here. The street that we live on is also part of an industrial area and the local businesses get a fair bit of traffic. Also, our road is part of a "detour" for traffic whilst a major intersection is shut off for upgrade on the highway. Drivers around here (Perth) are very inconsiderate when it comes to animals/wildlife - they don't care if they hurt an animal =( Thank you for your reply =)