Advice please?

[empyrox]

Thank you Firefox those links are great - think a Turbo Track would be the ideal welcome home pressie for his Lordship 
He could go back out as before - it worked well for five years before his disappearance - but i'm just so scared now in case whatever caused him to vanish happens again.
I too had considered a companion cat - I meant to get two at the beginning but I never found the right friend for him and he seemed so happy an as only child that after a while i stopped looking. But if i thought it would make his days more interesting I would definately consider a brother or sister  Some people offered me kittens while Jazz was missing but i like you would prefer another rescue  - that way i could have a better idea if it would make a suitable friend for Jazz.
Lulu is lucky to have landed on her paws, I hope she has had anough of the dangerous outdoors and decideds to relax and enjoy her kitty paradise flat 
I'm full of ideas for the balcony after reading those links, will let you all know how we get on! 

[Fire Fox]

Lulu is living in my flat on trial, I am not yet sure I am comfortable with keeping her indoors as an only cat nor am I sure whether it is right for her (she came here from a friend of a friend as a RTA stray, nowhere else to go). Of course I can't begin to understand how you would feel after having Jazz for so long. 

My attitude is that I am going to do what I can to make the flat fun for her; if that doesn't work then I will have to consider whether I can afford a companion or whether she would be better of elsewhere. It may sounds heartless but I will always have a rescue cat (hopefully Lulu) do you feel the same? If so it seems to me you have nothing to lose by catproofing the balcony and making the playroom as one way or another it will make a cat very happy (hopefully Jazz!). 

You may find inspiration in some of what I have been looking at
http://www.ikeahackers.net/search/label/pet%20furniture
http://www.thecatshouse.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIgdVucDeVU
http://www.sehorsch.com/FRANKLINCATFURNITURE.html
http://www.moderncat.net/category/diy/

Perhaps you will share whatever you find? 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I think cat proofing the balcony will be an excellent idea 

[empyrox]

Thank you so much for the suggestions.

To be honest i would feel awful keeping him in permenantly, he loves going out and is asking out to play every day  I could cat proof the balcony (ground floor so no danger of falling if he gets through the proofing) so he can have somewhere to sunbathe and take in the smells, that might help him to adjust. He has a lead already from when he was younger, he was not too keen but maybe it is time for another trial

Gill i thought of that and asked a few people i still know who live there to keep their eyes peeled but we moved from there five years ago and have been here a lot longer than we lived there for so i thought it was quite unlikely. He was actually found near the farm where i keep my horse, i wondered if he might have followed the smell of farm, he would recognise it from my boots etc. But the vet thinks he was shut in somewhere - maybe a van as he was very far from home. Wish he could talk human!!

Emma

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I agree with Sam and some cats just cannot tolerate being an indoor cat.

I wonder if he was trying to get back to his old home when he got lost?

You could try to get him to accept a lead with an extension for a long lead and if he will wear one then maybe you could go out with him on play and walk sessions?

It needs to be one that goes all round him in two places and they have a small section across the back linking the two sections together, so he cant wriggle out.

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Hi Emma,

It's a hard decision to make to try and turn an outdoor cat into an indoor one and it depends on his personality really. Obviously for safety reasons it's the best all round ... but mental health is also important, only you really know how your lad would adapt to an indoor life.  I know my boy would never adapt ... he would drive me and the girls completely mad if he couldn't go out and have his little wander around.  My only suggestion would be to allow him to have plenty of fresh air if you do decide to keep him in.  Either by way of some sort of window locks or screens so he can sit and hear the noises and smell the smells without actually having to be outside.

Hope this helps.

[empyrox]

I have a big decision to make soon. My Jazz recently went missing for 5 weeks, he's home safe now and indoors for the moment... but I will have to decide at some point if he is ever to get out again. I have had Jazz for six years, i got him as a six month old from the SSPCA and at the time i lived in a house so he had access to the garden - not that he stayed there despite the seven foot fence!  :innocent:I'm now in a flat as i split with my partner and couldn't afford another house. I chose the flat for the quiet area and distance from main roads so it would be safe for jazz but they installed a secure entry doorway so he can only go in and out when i open the door for him.
My family have asked me to make him an indoor cat for both our sakes - he nearly died during his recent adventure  and I was a wreck the whole time he was gone, i couldn't sleep, i couldn't stop looking for him, i couldn't enjoy anything and i lost a stone (the only upside! ) Its just me and him in the flat so i have lots of time to give him, plus he is a welcome visitor at my friends and families homes. I have a spare room which i thought i could transform into a kitty playground - but will it be enough to compensate for the great outdoors???
I would love any thoughts / advice / help that anyone can offer.

Emma