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Animal Awareness

From traffic to wildlife to disease – living indoors is a safer life for cats and cat owners

Yes, you can turn your outdoor cat into an indoor cat!

 

By Deni Michele Goldman, Hull Animal Control Officer

It takes patience, but an outdoor cat can be turned into a perfectly content indoor pet, making him safer from both wildlife and traffic encounters, and as well protecting himself and your family from diseases that he brings home with him.

Since cats are unquestionably creatures of habit, the act of replacing an old routine of going outside with a new routine of staying inside does not come without effort. You can begin this transition by increasing the amount of time that the cat stays inside so that his indoor time begins to exceed his outdoor time. Continue to increase and decrease both of these times until you no longer allow him outside at all.

Replace his outside expeditions with special playtime activities. Cats long for human companionship to be happy, and when they spend all their time out of doors, they get very little attention. An outdoor cat may welcome the indoors if he or she gets more love, attention, and play.

Provide your cat with secure cat condos, scratch posts, and interesting toys, which offer interesting places for your cat to relax, scratch and play. Much like you do with a dog, praise your cat for using his posts and toys. Cats like to search, chase and climb, so hide his toys, pull them on a string. These indoor games can simulate the outdoor adventures that are so cat appealing.

Provide your indoor cat with fresh (and safe) greens. You can buy kits that include containers and seeds to grow, or plant pesticide-free alfalfa, grass, birdseed, or catnip in your own container. This way, your cat can graze safely and not destroy your houseplants. Again, he will find satisfaction in the house through simulated outdoor fixations.

If you still have trouble keeping your cat from longing to be out, consider leash-training him and take him for a walk.

Again, an indoor cat is a safer cat. And a family who owns an indoor cat is a safer family!

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