Cat afraid of outside

[Yvonne]

I hired a friendly joiner to do ours and I would say that the damage to the door was minimal in fact he made an excellent job.  It was a great relief to know that the cats had easy access because a couple of mine will not use a litter tray.

[Lily]

I have a 6 foot cat tree, da bird with mousey and feathers and a treat ball (which she won't use) but she still seems bored sometimes.  I hide all her toys away and only leave one or two out (mostly catnip ones).  She does seem quite keen to go outside, she follows me to the door and sniffs the outside but just gets nervous when I shut the door on her.

I'm not sure what to do now, getting a cat flap means some major cutting up of my front door so I don't want to do it unless she will use it.  I do know the pros and cons of outdoor vs indoor cats and I was all set to have her as an indoor cat but she seemed to like going outside when she went.  Any more advice?

[blackcat]

she would be a lot safer and healthier - you can provide them with lots of enrichment devices. with a one-bedroom flat a tall climbing tower is probably out of the question, but you can get things like treat balls (which she can chase around and they occasionally release a food treat) and other toys that she can amuse herself with. If you hide them and only bring them out if you planning to be out for the day, then they will retain their novelty value. You can also get da bird which will guarantee both of you lots of excitement and exercise. Indoor cats with lots of opportunities for play are happy healthy cats - I have had them as both indoor cats or as indoor-outdoor and there seems little difference in their emotional wellbeing either way and I work five days a week away from home.

[Lily]

I'd like her to be a day-time outside cat as I'm afraid of her being bored with no other cats.  She's quite hyper-active at times so I thought she needed something to occupy her.  When she did go outside she seemed much happier.  I live in quite a small one-bed flat and although I work from home most days, I do sometimes go into the office and I don't want her to be lonely.

Should I keep her as an indoor cat?

[blackcat]

If she is that afraid of the great outdoors, why don't you just keep her as an indoor cat? Seems like she would be a lot happier and you would not have to install a catflap until you are ready to do it in your own home ...

[berties mum]

My Bella won't go outside unless accompanied by a human!  She's quite happy to potter around the garden while I do the weeding or chat to the neighbours, but the minute I go inside, she follows.  Sometimes she trots out of the front door when it's open, but then she completely freezes to the spot halfway down the path and cries till someone fetches her! 

[fluffybunny]

I've just bought a catmate brown one - having prodded lots of catflaps I felt that the catmate was slightly better quality, less draughty and also it has less surround so it might blend a little better?  I'd go and have a prod of a few and see what you think.

[Desley (booktigger)]

IT is quite normal to have cats that panic when the door is shut, I always have to prop my door open when the cats go out cos of having cats like that.

[MrsR]

Sorry I am lost with this one - what on earth is cat gravity?

J just means that where there is 1 cat many follow - your other neighbourhood cats will find yours - always happens. 

[Yvonne]

Sorry I am lost with this one - what on earth is cat gravity?

[J (Indoorcatsuk)]

You say you don't have many cats around, but like gravity and objects, cats somehow attract other cats with cat gravity.

[Yvonne]

Good morning - you are really fortunate to have such a well behaved cat.

Any cat flap will do, I would not bother to go for the expensive type where you need a collar as there can be issues there too.  I just have an ordinary Staywell cat flap which has been in place for many years.  The downside I have found is that a strong cat can break through a locked cat flap if it tries hard enough, however, I do not think that will be an issue for your Lily as she appears to be incredibly well behaved.

If it needs to be brown just look for a brown one in your pet shop - mine is white or at least it used to be.

[Lily]

I've had my rescue cat for about 3 months now, a few weeks ago she went outside for the first time and came back after a few hours.  I heard her pawing at the front door and let her in no probs.  She went out a few times after that until one day I heard a loud meow, went to the front door, no one there.  She was on the balcony!  I have no idea how she got up there (I'm a flat on the first floor) and there are no obvious jumping places so she must have scaled a wall or two.  Ever since then she's been afraid to go out, when I open the front door she sniffs outside, will follow me outside but panics when I shut the front door and she can't get back in immediately.  Yesterday she was following me to the front door very enthusiastically but it was dark so I didn't let her out.  This morning she leapt outside following my boyfriend to work, I shut the door and got in the shower.  5 mins later there was a knock at the door, my boyfriend with Lily in his arms.  Apparently she was terrified when she couldn't get back in straight away, he saw her and knocked on the door. 

Previously I didn't want to put a cat flap on the front door, I wanted to wait until I bought a house so it could go on the back door, but it seems Lily must come first.  I've been doing some research and I can get a brown cat flap to match the wood of the front door.  Can anyone recommend a cat flap which won't look too obvious?  I'm not bothered about getting a magnetic or infra red one as we don't have many cats around and you have to go up a stair well to get to my front door.

Thanks!