Turning an outdoor cat into an indoor cat.

milos_mommy

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#1
My parents have been feeding this stray cat outside for a few years now. She's really friendly, will let you pick her up and rubs all over you, etc. I don't know where she came from...she's pretty obviously not feral, like most cats around here. She also hangs out with this other orange kitty a lot, who I think might be her offspring or a sibling...except for the color they're identical. He's more of a wanderer, but also friendly enough to pet or grab.

She's pretty much on our front porch 24/7. Sometimes she'll go off to neighbor's yards, but when we come home or outside she comes running. We initially didn't take her in because of the dogs, and now that we have other cats, are worried about sicknesses or fights, IDK really. I guess she seems happy enough outdoors and never tries to come in, so my parents aren't really concerned about it.

When I move, which wouldn't be for a year +, I'd like to take this cat with me. I have no idea if that's a good idea...if it's likely she'll handle it well, be happy, be able to be litter trained, try to run away, get lost if she gets outside in another area, etc.

Has anyone done this before? What about going from outdoor cat to strictly indoor apartment cat? Or just moving an outdoor cat along with the family?

I don't know a whole lot about cats, just basic stuff.
 

Jynx

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#2
She sounds like she would be pretty adaptable to living as an indoor kitty.

I have friends who have taken truly feral cats and brought them in, they've adapted well, seem to pick up the litter box very quickly..

I would go for it, she sounds like a sweet cat
Diane
 

Gypsydals

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#3
When we moved back in June, we took our outdoor/indoor(supposed to be outdoor but she figured out how to break and enter the house) and made her a strickly indoor cat. Other than her and Ivan hating each other. Its worked out great. She has had ZERO interest in going outside. She has roam of the daughters bedroom and the sparebedroom and the 2nd bath. She took right away to the litterbox. We did put a collar and tag with our new address on it if she did get out and got lost. But she hasn't tried anything like that.
 

Snark

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#4
Most of our cats are feral rescues and most of the ones we brought into the house have adapted quite well to indoor living, showing no interest in going back outside. The exceptions were one barn cat (brought her in because she'd been injured, probably by the neighbor's dog), who, after she recovered, demanded to go outside; and LucyFurr, who never stopped looking at us like we had eight heads, even though she was a kitten when we acquired her.

It's a big help that this cat is already friendly, so I doubt you'll have much trouble with her. I would suggest confining her to a single room initially (bedroom or bathroom), until she seems comfortable before giving her free roam of the house/apartment.
 

Kilter

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#5
I would start out with a small room at first as well, with the litterbox and such, then slowly start to let her out into the rest of the house supervised, and so on.

You can get different window 'cages' and such for letting them get some outside but not being totally free, some cats will wear a collar or harness and you can take them to the grass for a bit.

Usually what I've been told is once they settle down, they're usually ok with being indoors only and it's much better for them long term over wandering.
 

Keechak

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#6
In my first house growing up we had an indoor outdoor cat. We then built a new house several miles away, we moved all the furniture and stuff over and the cat was finally brought over on the day we officially moved into our new house. At first we kept him in the basement and he stayed there for about a week, then we let him out to the rest of the house and within two days he was begging to go back outside so we let him out again and he lived out the rest of his years again as an indoor/outdoor cat. He would cling to the window screens when he wanted to come in and meow at the door to go out.

That cat passed away a few years ago and now we have another indoor/outdoor cat who wears a collar with a tag just in case he gets picked up while he's outside so someone knows he has a home.
 

*blackrose

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#7
My mom has five cats, all indoor outdoor. Apollo was raised inside, but loves being out. Mikey was raised outside, but loves being in. The three females, however, dont like it inside. My brother's girlfriend tried to adopt Lilly, Mikey's sister, and make her a house cat. Lilly cried constantly, refused to eat, peed all over the room they had her in (wouldn't touch the litterbox), and tried to break out of the window at any given opportunity. Mitzi has done much the same when she's come inside, and Penelope doesn't even act interested in coming indoors.

That being said, most kitties have no issue with indoor life. I think trying would be a good idea, but just keep in mind she may not adapt.
 

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