Cat owners: I'd like your non judging feedback as to what you think I should do

[WebmasterMaryJo]

You'll get all kinds of comments, some you won't like - that's the nature of discussion boards.

Having said that, all of our cats are outdoor cats. We catch them when they are feral, fix them, and then take care of them. Even if you get a cat tree or another cat your current cat may still want to go outside. Obviously you care about your feline pet, so hope you get get some good advice you can use in your home.

 

[sonnyjane]

Ok thank you for clarifying your post.
I'm just still unclear about what symptoms of heat my cat is displaying.

Your original post said, "I did not want her to go out but after she went into heat for the first time (yes she is fixed) that is all she has wanted to do."

If she isn't going through heat, then the suggestion of a female cat over a male cat doesn't apply.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Also she definitely likes her treats and trying to get things out of place so I will give the treat mice a go.

 

[usnuzuloose]

You'll get all kinds of comments, some you won't like - that's the nature of discussion boards.

Having said that, all of our cats are outdoor cats. We catch them when they are feral, fix them, and then take care of them. Even if you get a cat tree or another cat your current cat may still want to go outside. Obviously you care about your feline pet, so hope you get get some good advice you can use in your home.

Unfortunately when mine did go out I forgot about getting him the lukemia shot I think that was what he needed. I sure miss him. Oh it is nice to hear you take in feral cats. Most people don't like to help them. Bless your heart.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Your original post said, "I did not want her to go out but after she went into heat for the first time (yes she is fixed) that is all she has wanted to do."

If she isn't going through heat, then the suggestion of a female cat over a male cat doesn't apply.

I mean she was spayed so I'm not sure how she could be going through heat anymore.
I was more referring to that is when became interested in going out and even though she was spayed she didn't go back to being a happy playful kitten inside.
Thinking about it she really changed after getting fixed.
Could you think of a reason for the change from playful adorable kitten to an irritated cat that is ticked at your for not letting her out?
She literally played with me for hours per day until she got fixed.
I'm glad you started posting because otherwise I may not have even recalled that the spay was really about the time she stopped being a cat that played with toys.

 

[sonnyjane]

Now... My current cat will be 2 in a couple of weeks.
I have had her since she was 8 weeks old.
I did not want her to go out but after she went into heat for the first time (yes she is fixed) that is all she has wanted to do.
Last year I did let start letting her out mid August. In late December she got out at night and was injured when she came in.

How old was she when she was fixed? How old was she when you think she went into heat? And how old was she when you first let her out? When they spay, if they don't remove ALL the tissue, there is sometimes enough left to still produce the hormones to lead to the "heat" behavior. The disinterest in you and toys could also be purely associated with age - kittens are easy to entertain, adults not so much.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

How old was she when she was fixed? How old was she when you think she went into heat? And how old was she when you first let her out? When they spay, if they don't remove ALL the tissue, there is sometimes enough left to still produce the hormones to lead to the "heat" behavior. The disinterest in you and toys could also be purely associated with age - kittens are easy to entertain, adults not so much.

Born in November 2015.
Went into heat (started going nuts off the wall in my room and urine marked on my bed several times perhaps because she smelled my male cat that passed away just before I got her?) mid March 2016. Was Spayed Mid April 2016.
Got out for the first time mid June 2016 when my niece walked out the door in a hurry and didn't pay attention and I looked in the house for her and freaked out crying when I realized there was a chance she got out. Luckily she was in the back yard and let me get her. After that she was relentless as she had gotten her first taste of freedom.

 

[sonnyjane]

Born in November 2015.
Went into heat (started going nuts off the wall in my room and urine marked on my bed several times perhaps because she smelled my male cat that passed away just before I got her?) mid March 2016. Was Spayed Mid April 2016.
Got out for the first time mid June 2016 when my niece walked out the door in a hurry and didn't pay attention and I looked in the house for her and freaked out crying when I realized there was a chance she got out. Luckily she was in the back yard and let me get her. After that she was relentless as she had gotten her first taste of freedom.

Okkkkk. So she experienced heat and was THEN got fixed in April 2016. If she hasn't experienced any symptoms since then, she's probably fine. From your wording I had thought she was spayed THEN showed signs. Honestly I think the truth is that it was just simply that she got out by accident, loved it, and wants to experience that more. There are so many sounds, smells, tastes outside compared to inside.

Can I ask, when you tried for the harness and it was "traumatizing" for both of you... what happened? How did you try to put the harness on? Did you make it outside? What happened outside? The fact that you're home 90% would be really conducive for a daily walk if we could address the harness issue.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Okkkkk. So she experienced heat and was THEN got fixed in April 2016. If she hasn't experienced any symptoms since then, she's probably fine. From your wording I had thought she was spayed THEN showed signs. Honestly I think the truth is that it was just simply that she got out by accident, loved it, and wants to experience that more. There are so many sounds, smells, tastes outside compared to inside.

Can I ask, when you tried for the harness and it was "traumatizing" for both of you... what happened? How did you try to put the harness on? Did you make it outside? What happened outside? The fact that you're home 90% would be really conducive for a daily walk if we could address the harness issue.

Tried the harness for the first time in August 2016. I refused to let her out prior to that because she needed the shots for her to be able to go outside first.
I was able to put the harness on no problem but after it was on she hated it and tried getting it off.
I then attached the leash and she went to the front door so I took her out.
She kept pulling as hard as she could to get out of it and I was affraid she'd her herself.
Then she wrapped herself around the leg of a bench we have out front and couldn't get free and started dragging the bench.
I then unattached the leash so she could get free because she wouldn't let me help unravel it.
After that if she'd even see the harness and leash she'd freak out and lunge at me.
I was able to get it on her one more time but she got caught up on a window opening mechanism trying to get it off and just about hanged herself.

 

[sonnyjane]

Tried the harness for the first time in August 2016. I refused to let her out prior to that because she needed the shots for her to be able to go outside first.
I was able to put the harness on no problem but after it was on she hated it and tried getting it off.
I then attached the leash and she went to the front door so I took her out.
She kept pulling as hard as she could to get out of it and I was affraid she'd her herself.
Then she wrapped herself around the leg of a bench we have out front and couldn't get free and started dragging the bench.
I then unattached the leash so she could get free because she wouldn't let me help unravel it.
After that if she'd even see the harness and leash she'd freak out and lunge at me.
I was able to get it on her one more time but she got caught up on a window opening mechanism trying to get it off and just about hanged herself.

Ugh. Yeah that definitely would leave a bad taste in her mouth about the experience. It's something you'd have to train. I wish I lived near you to do it!

 

[sonnyjane]

Here's some videos of my guy on a walk. I'm lucky in that I adopted him when he was already 4 years old but he took to the harness right away. He equates it with "outside" so will let me put it on rather easily and then as soon as I click the leash on, he heads for the door. I give him a few treats while out on the walk but I give him a HUGE reward for coming BACK inside and letting me take the harness off (that way even though being outside is fun, being inside is where he wants to end up!)

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

So cute!
He's like my friend's cats.
They are happy to use the harness.
My friend has attempted to help me with my cat but its hard to help when you can't get near her with it.

 

[sonnyjane]

So cute!
He's like my friend's cats.
They are happy to use the harness.
My friend has attempted to help me with my cat but its hard to help when you can't get near her with it.

Oh yeah. Sometimes you have to start from scratch... like... feeding her breakfast while the harness is just visible in the room, then working closer and closer and closer... then maybe give her a piece of tuna if she just SNIFFS the harness... then you can hold the harness up and give a piece of tuna in such a way that she has to stick her nose through the loop of the harness to get the piece (I think you can see where this is going). All animals learn at different paces. Some it could take days. Some months. Any behavior that is physically possible can be trained, but it takes an awful lot of effort on the owner's part, not necessarily the pet!

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

One thing I'll say about my cat is that she is amazing when going to the vet.
She goes right into the carrier no problem, doesn't whine at all, and gives them "the look" but does not try to attack.
My other cats were such a struggle and once I had to cancel an appointment because the cat hid in the house so well I could not find him in time to go.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

To add on I even thought she would never want to go out because the first two times we took her to the vet for check up and shots it happened to be rather cold and she had a little "meow meow" when we were walking from the car to the building because she was cold.

 

[sonnyjane]

One thing I'll say about my cat is that she is amazing when going to the vet.
She goes right into the carrier no problem, doesn't whine at all, and gives them "the look" but does not try to attack.
My other cats were such a struggle and once I had to cancel an appointment because the cat hid in the house so well I could not find him in time to go.

See, you have me beat there! Rocky does NOT like the carrier. I can get him to go in, but then he gets nervous in the car and pees all over himself, and then once we're at the vet, he won't go back into it to go home. It's all my fault, I need to work on it more with him, but he only goes once a year.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

See, you have me beat there! Rocky does NOT like the carrier. I can get him to go in, but then he gets nervous in the car and pees all over himself, and then once we're at the vet, he won't go back into it to go home. It's all my fault, I need to work on it more with him, but he only goes once a year.

You'd think the harness thing would have been a piece of cake when I tell you that I used the method of set the carrier in the room with the door open and just leave it there as a regular fixture to see if they freely go in it themselves to make them not afraid of it. That worked like a charm so now when I want her to go in it I just act like we are playing a game and then lock her in and she looks at me like "darn you tricked me AGAIN" lol.

BTW I think what stressing me out about her meowing at the door is the type of meow.
She has a distressed sounding meow that sounds like my former cat did only in his last couple hours.
He had a blood clot go to his hind legs. That sound is ingrained in my memory and I worry when she makes those same sounds.

 

[sonnyjane]

You'd think the harness thing would have been a piece of cake when I tell you that I used the method of set the carrier in the room with the door open and just leave it there as a regular fixture to see if they freely go in it themselves to make them not afraid of it. That worked like a charm so now when I want her to go in it I just act like we are playing a game and then lock her in and she looks at me like "darn you tricked me AGAIN" lol.

BTW I think what stressing me out about her meowing at the door is the type of meow.
She has a distressed sounding meow that sounds like my former cat did only in his last couple hours.
He had a blood clot go to his hind legs. That sound is ingrained in my memory and I worry when she makes those same sounds.

So, cats only meow to humans, not other cats (other than kittens crying for mom). It's not their wild, animal instinct to meow. Meowing developed as a way to communicate with the weird, tall species that cohabit with our domestic feline friends. They learn that the louder, more distressed the meow, the more response they will get. Sometimes when my cat meows for food, I'll meow back, and then he will amplify the volume of length of his meows. It's kind of a game, I just like to see what he'll do. He knows meowing gets a rise out of me. My husband is mostly deaf without his hearing aids, which he doesn't wear at home. My cat doesn't bother my husband for food by meowing because he knows my husband either can't hear him or just totally tunes it out. I've trained my cat to take advantage of me by meowing, and your cat has trained you to let her out if she makes a horrible sound. It's important to of course be concerned with your cat's health (I lost my previous cat incredibly suddenly - he went from light wheezing to having to be put down in about 10 hours), but I think it's also important for you to remind yourself of what I know you understand deep down, which is that the meow just means she wants out and not that she's about to die.

I guess I kind of want to go back to your initial question again when you asked for advice. The most I can say is that if you WANT your cat to be indoor only, you can ignore the crying and it will diminish over time as you ignore it (but you HAVE to be firm about ignoring it - you can't cave in). If you WANT your cat to be indoor-outdoor, that's your prerogative, but if you just want to know how to get the crying to stop, you just ignore it. It's the "cry it out" method for cats.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Just wondering now that you've gotten to "know" my cat a little bit more than at the beginning would you say a playmate has a chance with helping or not at all?
I definitely feel like she gets lonely even when I'm there.
If I'm watching a movie she will meow at me a few times and then wander away and then when I'm done and walk out of the room I notice her "beary" in the front hallway.
She carries it downstairs from my room and she loves it up like a kitten.
I think its her "security blanket" but I often wonder if that behavior would mean she would like a playmate or if its really just because I would not pay attention to her so she felt the need to have it near her.

 

[sonnyjane]

Just wondering now that you've gotten to "know" my cat a little bit more than at the beginning would you say a playmate has a chance with helping or not at all?
I definitely feel like she gets lonely even when I'm there.
If I'm watching a movie she will meow at me a few times and then wander away and then when I'm done and walk out of the room I notice her "beary" in the front hallway.
She carries it downstairs from my room and she loves it up like a kitten.
I think its her "security blanket" but I often wonder if that behavior would mean she would like a playmate or if its really just because I would not pay attention to her so she felt the need to have it near her.

Unfortunately there’s no way to know how she’ll do with another cat. It seems like if you got a slightly younger (but only slightly) animal, it might be a good fit, but it would also depend on the personality of the new animal. It’s a gamble, which is why I don’t typically recommend people getting another pet for the sole purpose of keeping their pet company. Only get a second cat if you want a second cat, and would be fine if they hated each other and slept in separate rooms.