Cats & the outdoors

[DeannaN]

I'm hoping and and patiently waiting for a new kitty to adopt my family. In the meantime I wanted to learn about how others deal with a problem we've had with two cats in the past.
Cats naturally want to be outside, as they don't really know what's best for them "traffic" and "health" wise. We have 3 kids that run in an out constantly. The problem we have is the cats darting outside. Literally, they hide in the corner waiting for the door to open, and the kids with their mind's elsewhere don't stand a chance of stopping them.
Anybody have ideas of preventing this? We tried to tell the kids to be careful, and at least half the time they were. But, the cats are smarter!LOL

Thanks for any ideas

[Mysts38]

Hi

Is there anyway you can get or build a can run? that way kitties can go outside but in the safety of a run...

You can even use a large dog run for this...

[DeannaN]

We have no problem with controlled coming and going, putting them outside on harness'. But when they get it in their head to go outside...how do you stop them?
We have a screen door with the bottom aluminum panel..and he used to snuggle up to the bottom of the door where you couldn't see him if you were on the outside coming in. As soon as that door opened a crack....he was like greased lightning!!!

[glasslass]

When Puss-Puss showed up on our porch 15 years ago at the tender age of 3mo, she was already streetwise; terrified of the street. We live on a corner lot at the entrance of our subdivision and traffic can be bad. It's impossible to keep a cat in with a doggie door. But, she was the right cat at the right time for us. She never goes near the street or out of our yard. When T'Grrr showed up years later, we hoped he'd follow her example. He used to wait for Den-Den to go out and would walk through the doggie door at the same time, just underneath his tummy. He was neutered at 7 mos and never showed any inclination to leave the property. When he was 9mos, he went on the street and was killed. I've always felt guilty. How to keep the cat in and allow the dog to go out. Friends of ours invested in a special fence that cats can't climb over. I haven't seen it yet, but know they spent a lot for it. I will seriously consider that option if we ever acquire another kitten.

[chico2]

When my kids were little,we had a Maine Coon kitty.One day the kids allowed him to sneak out and he was gone.
Later in the day I was out looking for him and saw a HS-truck in a drive-way and they took this bedraggled cat out from under the hood of a car.
It was my Tigger,he was badly wounded,lost an eye and part of his ear and had lots of stiches,but he survived.
My kids felt really guilty and from that day on,never forgot to check for the cat before opening the door.
I guess you just have to make sure the kids realize how important it is for kitty not to run out.

[iRONKNiGHT]

Originally Posted by Mysts38

Hi

Is there anyway you can get or build a can run? that way kitties can go outside but in the safety of a run...

check out this link for more info