Moving house - worried he'll get out

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Here's another example.  http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,43486.msg775659.html#msg775659

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,4802.msg74237.html#msg74237

Is there anyway you could put up an outdoor enclosure ... these are Australian examples but you can get the idea:  http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-enclosures-3.htm

[pinkpixie83]

You say you're moving for the final time so it sounds pretty permanent - could you invest in cat-proofing your garden?

I would love to do that but it is a council house I am moving into and I've been told I cannot modify anything in the house or garden for a year at least as it is a new build so that is not an option right now but definitely in the future I would be able to.

The area in the back is very quiet, there is a secure high fenced pathway behind the gardens so if he got out there he wouldn't be able to get into trouble.  At the front there is a main road that a lot of buses and lorries speed past.  Like I said I've never had an outdoor cat, I would worry about him constantly if he became one incase he got hurt or didn't come home.  I think taking him out in the garden on a harness would be a start.  My parents cat is an indoor cat but she gets into the garden and has never once tried to leave it, she is happy lying on the grass in the sunny spots.  I would love Oscar to be like that.

[jezebel]

You say you're moving for the final time so it sounds pretty permanent - could you invest in cat-proofing your garden?

[Kay and Penny]

is it your intention to let him out eventually, once you're sure he won't get lost? or is the surrounding area too unsafe for a cat to roam safely?

either way, have you ever tried him on a harness? if you get him used to walking in one, you could show him the garden and let him get his bearings without being able to make a run for it - then eventually you can let him roam when he knows whre he lives, or if it is too dangerous go on taking him out on a lead and harness - something your daugher might be up for doing on a regular basis, perhaps

[pinkpixie83]

A bit of background info - Oscar is 7 years old, I got him when he was 1 year old.  He was abused by his previous owner, he was kept in a cage in their garden and then when they got a dog he was thrown onto the streets.  He was rescued by the neighbours and given to a rescue home where I got him.  Despite the horrible treatment he endured he was an incredibly loving cat.  As I lived on the 12th floor of a flat he became an indoor cat and was very happy with that.  Since having him I have moved twice and I am about to move for the third (and final! lol) time. 

We are currently in a ground floor flat, Oscar does make a bolt for the front door whenever I open it but I've always managed to get him in time.  I am now moving to a house with a garden and I am worried he'll get out.  I think he still has that outdoor instinct in him and he is an explorer at heart, I worry that because he has been a pampered indoor cat for 6 years if he does manage to escape out he'll not be aware of the dangers such as cars, buses, lorries and could get badly hurt.  Ideally I would prefer to keep him in at all times but my daughter is 5 years old and I know she'll be in and out the garden which means the back door will be left open, he will make a bolt for it.  I am unable to modify the garden fences to keep him restricted to the garden and they are very low down (waist height) so he'll jump over it no bother.

I have never had an outdoor cats, all the cats my parents had while I was growing up were indoors and were restricted to the garden which they were happy with.  I am a worrier and couldn't bear anything happening to my little osky-pie.  My other baby Tobey is a total homebird, he has no interest in the outside world except through a window!    Any advice would be greatly appreciated!