We know cats are much safer indoor. Many owners would not prefer to have their cats go outdoor.
If the cat goes outdoor where are more possibly to face risks such as road accidents, poisoning, parasites, catching diseases from other cats, being hit by cars, stolen by strangers, attacked by predators, or just plain getting lost.
To avoid these kinds of situations, you should know, how to keep an outdoor cat to stay home. It is not so easy to keep an outdoor cat stay at home. But we know cats are creatures of habit. If we try, we can keep cats indoors.
Here are 12 ways you can get success in keeping an outdoor cat to stay at home:
- Take it slowly
- Start in the winter
- Think about an outdoor enclosure
- Make availability of food and water
- Provide sunshine and fresh air
- Regularly visit the Vet
- Spend time with your cat
- Keep the door closed
- Keep cat inside cage
- Allow Limited Time to outdoor
- Check out your cat hunt get your cat spayed
When you visit forums discussing the topic, cat owners would forcefully insist that domestic cats are better off indoors. Here they can live longer and peaceful lives. However, we have realized that cats have dissimilar personalities, interests, and moods.
When your pet is showing a strong tendency to outdoor cat behavior, or when you just adopted a homeless who’s more habituated to the life of an adventurer, the most important thing you just make sure he’s trained for it.
In fact, an outdoor cat can benefit from practice and increased social activity. There are unlimited heights it can climb or the ground it can travel over. The outdoors procures its low instinct to prey and hunt.
Moreover, cats are also free to show instinctive behavior that may not be well-received indoors, such as scratching. As a responsible cat owner, you have to carefully judge if your surroundings are a safe enough place to reduce risk. Of course, it’s important to know how to train an outdoor cat to stay home.
How to bring an Outdoor Cat to Stay Home
1. Move Your Cat Indoors Slowly
Take your time to get your cat from outdoors to indoors slowly. When each time your cat comes inside the home, keep the cat indoors for a longer time.
Many cats will adjust with no trouble. Few will adjust with very little struggle. However, few cats can scratch at doors, claw at windows, yowl, and try to dash through open doors. So you have to keep in mind these things.
2. Start in the Winter
Cats don’t like the cold weather. Because they are very sensitive and can easily become ill. So it is a good time to keep them indoors. By keeping all winter inside, your lovely pet might be fully adapted. Cat becomes a habit inside life.
3. Think about an Outdoor Enclosure
You may be frightened about letting your cat go out on its own, and those fears wouldn’t completely be rootless. After all, indoor cats live longer than outdoor cats.
You can find some middle ground by providing a surrounded outdoor space right where you can keep an eye out for your pet.
In this same way, you can try to build a DIY cat enclosure, or what is generally known to cat lovers, nowadays as catios. It’s a secure way to keep your outdoor-loving cat happy, minus the hazard.
You can build these cat enclosures in the garden where the cat can enjoy the sunshine or other outdoor sights and sounds within a safe space.
However, if you don’t exactly have a big yard or even to find the materials or the time to build catios, you can use the garage where can be a good place for your outdoor cat.
Firstly, find a box or a container that can set as a shelter. Then, cut holes through them and put in some blankets to keep your lovely cat comfortable.
Finally, keep the door to the garage open so your cat can comes back safely. Just make sure and be alert, in case your cat decides to cozy up in the engine compartment.
4. Make availability of Food And Water
If you’re determined about how to train an outdoor cat to stay home, it’s still necessary to ensure that its basic needs are provided for the times it returns home.
You must regularly refill his food and water supply. Moreover, you can stock up in automatic feeders and water dishes.
5. Provide Sunshine and Fresh Air
Indoor cats need fresh Air, sunshine and exercise. Open the window and let the cat sit in the window. So the cat can breathe in the fresh air. You can put reinforced screens or bars on the window, so your cat won’t fall or jump out.
You could even build a catio using Bamboo and wood. Or can buy a beautiful readymade catio from the local store or online.
6. Regularly Visit The Vet
Needless to say, outdoor cats have a higher possibility of attack from parasites, injuries, and other bacteria-caused-diseases. Therefore, regularly visits to the vet to keep his vaccines up to date. This would go a long way to keeping your cat healthy.
7. Keep Spending Quality Time with your Cat
In fact, outdoor cats may be more uncommitted, but they still admire the periodic quality time with you. Moreover, every time the cat comes back, spend time playing or just sitting down with your cat.
Actually, most owners of outdoor cats like better to have their cats indoors by night time. Try attracting him back inside with joy before it’s dark, for his own safety.
8. Keep the Door Closed
Make sure everyone in your home including kids close the door tightly when going out. You can keep some cat toy or treat away from the door. So your pet will be busy with those toys and forget to go outside.
9. Keep Cat Inside Cage
In the first week of introducing a kitten to your home, firstly keep it inside a crate or a cage to habituate itself with its neighborhood. Remember, the enclosure must be large and comfortable enough. Moreover, feed him inside the crate regularly and give some interactive cat toys to play with.
10. Allow Limited Time to Outdoor
It would take a minimum of a week to be absolutely comfortable. When it becomes ready, you can allow going out of its cage to travel over. Moreover, leash training would also practically train your cat the benefits of traveling over outdoors.
At the same time, train him to return home at the end of each day. In that case, you must concentrate on how to train an outdoor cat to stay home.
11. Check out Your Cat Hunt
If you have a kitten that has the eagerness to hunt, it will hunt on its own without any training. It’s not surprising to happen if a dead bird or rodent shows up on your doorstep within some days. After all, hunting these creatures, it’s one kind of gift to their human owners.
12. Get Your Cat Spayed
Naturally, several cats that aren’t neutered, have a chance of roaming away from home. If your mouser is about five months old, this would be a perfect time to take it to the vet for the procedure to get spayed.
Why it’s Important to Keep Cats Indoors
It is very important to keeping cats indoors to protect wildlife, humans, and cats themselves.
According to a Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute study, free-roaming cats are responsible for the deaths of an estimated average of 2.4 billion birds every year in the U.S. alone. Also, the cat kills approximately 12.3 billion mammals every year.
Indoor cats live an average of 12 to 15 years. Besides depending on the risks in the environment outdoor cats live on average 3 to 10 years only.
There are many risks of being an outdoor cat. Every year estimated 5.4 million cats hit by cars. Also a lot of cats killed by inadvertently ingesting poisons such as antifreeze, rat poisoning, or toxic plants.
Many outdoor cats get dangerously injured to fight with other animals. Cat gets under threat by predators such as owls, raptors, coyotes, or dogs.
There is a wide range of reasons for having to keep a cat inside the house. Here cats stay with a happy, healthy, and safe life.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you train a cat to stay in the yard?
- Let your neighbors about your new cat
- Mark the cat’s boundaries using flags or stones
- Set an initial training period
- Take your cat outside on a leash
- Allow cat to walk around the yard
- Reward cat for coming inside house
- Work up to letting the cat roam more freely
- Stay close to your cat to watch activities
Is it OK to have an outdoor cat?
Cats are much safer indoor rather than outdoor. Vets also recommend keeping cats indoors. If you want to keep your cat outdoor, then think the safety first.
How to stop my cat from wanting to go outside?
Make an exciting Indoor Environment for your cat. Play with your cat. Get some toys for him/her. Make special treats or rewards for staying home. Sometimes bring your cat to go outside with a leash.
Do you need a litter box if your cat is an outdoors cat?
Yes, you can try to habit to use a litter box for your outdoor cat. If the cat comes inside at night, let it stay in the litter box.
Is it healthy for cats to stay indoors?
Yes, it is a healthy and safe zone to stay indoors for cats. But you have to give all the facilities of being indoors. Such as fresh air, sunshine, litter box, toys, playing zone, etc.
Final Thoughts on Outdoor Cat to Stay Home
If you want to train an outdoor cat to stay home or make it an indoor cat, then should follow those points we discussed. But always keep in mind, your cat’s health and safety first.
Moreover, if you and your family stop moving an indoor cat outside, the cat becomes try this habit. Unfortunately, if it goes outside, it will always try own to return home.
After all, you may be concerned about training a new kitten to be a mouser. That means it can hunt rodents and other prey.
If you think your cat let be an effective mouser, follow the steps we described on keeping an outdoor cat inside.
Dr. John Morris, DVM is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine who has seven years of experience in feline medicine, dermatology, and behavior. He also enjoys volunteering at a local NGO that supports literacy programs for children and adults. In his free time, he enjoys fostering kittens, traveling, vegan cooking, hiking, and biking. Learn more about Justin here.
