Cat Issue

deman

Hi,

We have a little dilemma right now with our 6 year old tomcat.

Last week, we (me, wife, 4 kids and cat) moved into a flat after living in a detached house in a semi suburban area for the last 5 years (unavoidable financial reasons).

One of our biggest worries was whether Simba could adapt to a life indoors again. He's clean, uses the litter box like he always did up until he was a year old. He's perfectly happy almost the whole day, but at bedtime, he yearns he get out. He sits at the window meowing and no amount of playing with him helps. After about an hour, he lies down and sleeps.

When he was out before, he was a hunter and killed way too many small animals and birds. He was very aggressive with other cats in the area.

It's been only a week. What do you boardsies think? Will he settle down in the evening over time?

My wife says we've got to rehome him but nobody else agrees to this. He's part of the family.

Thanks for reading. Any advise appreciated.

ABajaninCork

It's only been a week!! Give Simba time. Just like humans some animals are slower to settle to new surroundings than others. Generally, I've found it's taken anything from a month to three months for cats to settle. They are not good travellers and hate change.

Have you tried a Feliway diffuser? I used one when I moved over from London with my 14 yo cat. It worked wonders! I also took care not to wash his blankets or the throw he slept on to help him settle.

Just keep doing what you're doing and I'm sure he'll soon come around. Is there absolutely nowhere you can let him out once he knows where home is?

OldNotWIse

Has he been neutered? This can help with the aggression and wanting to roam. As for killing far too many birds etc, thats his job. I dont like it either when my lads do that but they are simply expressing a natural instinct. (having said that I dont know how often I chase mine around trying to retrieve and revive small rodents from them :rolleyes:

Also, I would recommend catnip if he is a little restless. Depending on the cat (because some seem to be completely unreceptive) he may get some pleasure from it. It really chills them out

ABajaninCork

Yeah, catnip is the feline equivalent of a good joint! Not that I recommend giving puff to a cat.

deman

ABajaninCork wrote: »

It's only been a week!! Give Simba time. Just like humans some animals are slower to settle to new surroundings than others.:

My thoughts exactly.

Have you tried a Feliway diffuser?

No. What is it and how does it work?

Is there absolutely nowhere you can let him out once he knows where home is?

We're right in the centre of town. He's not used to traffic. We're on the third floor which he'd never be able to get up to. And also, here in Finland, cats aren't allowed to roam in urban areas.

deman

OldNotWIse wrote: »

Has he been neutered? This can help with the aggression and wanting to roam.

He's been neutered so long ago I doubt that he even remembers having them.

ABajaninCork

See here: http://www.medicanimal.com/keywordsearch?VIEW_SIZE=10&SEARCH_CATEGORY_ID=&SEARCH_OPERATOR=AND&SEARCH_STRING=Feliway&q=&gclid=CNG7hJPx-LECFcOL4QodUkUALA

Didn't realise you're in Finland though, so you need to check if they'll deliver to you. I had the spray for his box (which I didn't think was any good) and the plug-in room diffuser which works just like a plug-in air freshner which was excellent!

OldNotWIse

deman wrote: »

He's been neutered so long ago I doubt that he even remembers having them.

lol ok so. There goes that theory :rolleyes:

OldNotWIse

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Yeah, catnip is the feline equivalent of a good joint! Not that I recommend giving puff to a cat.

Its worth it to see them rolling around on the rug attacking phantom flies and just generally being ecstatic and delighted with themselves Mine even get the munchies after...

angeline

Cats are very adaptable so give him time. Anyway, he is safer inside at night time as so many cats are killed on the road. Get plenty of toys to keep him occupied and as someone else suggested purchase Feliway.

anniehoo

Have you got a balcony that you could cat proof? Giving him this outside space if possible would definitely help, although agree as above, its so soon and it'll just take awhile to settle in.

deman

anniehoo wrote: »

Have you got a balcony that you could cat proof? Giving him this outside space if possible would definitely help, although agree as above, its so soon and it'll just take awhile to settle in.

We have a balcony but it's not cat proof yet. We'll be glassing it over in the coming weeks.

Got some catnip yesterday and he loved it. But he still was restless again at bedtime, wanting out at 23.00, 01.00 and 04.00. I take him out to the balcony for a few minutes but always hold on to him for fear of him jumping or falling over.

I'll keep you posted on how things progress.

OldNotWIse

angeline wrote: »

Cats are very adaptable so give him time. Anyway, he is safer inside at night time as so many cats are killed on the road. Get plenty of toys to keep him occupied and as someone else suggested purchase Feliway.

I agree with this. There are two schools of thought on this. One is that cats should be allowed freedom to express natural behaviour, explore etc. The other is that they are better inside as free roaming cats have a much lower life expectancy and can suffer all kinds of fates. I never really know which is better tbh. We have a purpose built brick house for ours (complete with sofas (second/third hand of course!), scratchposts, rugs etc and this has a flap door out into a garden enclosure where they have sun/shade spots, little kennels (his n hers if you dont mind ) and toys etc. Currently trying to source trees and shrubs that are cat pee proof to "nature" it up a bit as I think its a little boring for them. I let the out in the evenings for an hour and at weekends but this is supervised as I am terrified something will happen to them on the road :rolleyes:

OP the thing I notice with mine is that when i let them out, they tend to come back in themselves after a half hour. This seems to be all the "free roaming" they want so dont feel bad about yours. They are not like dogs who require a lot of exercise and space (average cat sleeps up to 16 hours a day lol). Might be worth cat proofing the balcony so he can do his business outdoors. Hope it works out

lubie76

You sound like a very responsible cat owner, I wish there were more like you in my town. I have seen 3 dead cats at the side of the road in the last couple of days. He will get used to indoor life but I've heard it can take months.

+1 for the feliway. While the catnip acts as a distraction, the plug in will just relax him. The only other thing I use as a distraction is a toy called da bird that only comes out on special occasions like to separate fights etc. its v delicate toy but I've never seen a cat not go crazy when its dangled in front of them as it moves through the air like a real bird. Mind your crockery though, he'll go crazy and jump on any height to get to it. I usually buy on eBay or amazon.

Good luck!

deman

Just an update on the situation.

Things are looking up. I bought a harness for him, hoping that he would remember wearing one when he was younger. I put it on him and he took to it no bother. So before we go to bed at night, I put on the harness and lead and take him out to the balcony for 15 minutes. He's happy just sniffing the air and sitting beside me. Comes in, harness comes off, and he sleeps for the night.

Thanks all for your advice.

OldNotWIse

deman wrote: »

Just an update on the situation.

Things are looking up. I bought a harness for him, hoping that he would remember wearing one when he was younger. I put it on him and he took to it no bother. So before we go to bed at night, I put on the harness and lead and take him out to the balcony for 15 minutes. He's happy just sniffing the air and sitting beside me. Comes in, harness comes off, and he sleeps for the night.

Thanks all for your advice.

Aw......:)

anniehoo

Great.

I know it looks crazy, well here anyway...but would you consider taking him for a stroll outside on the harness also or is that pushing it? I know some cats love it and its something that has to be worked up to, but just another idea to curb his outside craving.

deman

anniehoo wrote: »

Great.

I know it looks crazy, well here anyway...but would you consider taking him for a stroll outside on the harness also or is that pushing it? I know some cats love it and its something that has to be worked up to, but just another idea to curb his outside craving.

It's not so uncommon here to see people taking their cat for walkies. And it's something I tried yesterday. Tried to walk him down the stairs, wasn't interested. Then lifted him and started to carry him down. That's when the loud meaow started. I just turned and told him we'll try again another day.

OldNotWIse

deman wrote: »

It's not so uncommon here to see people taking their cat for walkies. And it's something I tried yesterday. Tried to walk him down the stairs, wasn't interested. Then lifted him and started to carry him down. That's when the loud meaow started. I just turned and told him we'll try again another day.

You seem to be a really good, patient owner, so nice to see