Well, I live in about as safe a place to have indoor/outdoor cats as exists, and it was a lovely spring day, and they both absolutely freaked out when I tried to get them to come out in the garden with me.
Our cats were afraid of going outside when they were kittens, so I bought a roast chicken, and went out into the middle of the yard to eat it. That brought them out onto the verandah, where they wailed piteously for a while, but after about ten minutes, the lure of the chicken overcame fear of the great outdoors...
That might actually work with Elli. The only time I ever tried to feed either of them roast chicken, she scarfed it up, but Elena, aka Ms. Bernhardt, took one sniff, looked up at me with, I swear, tears in her eyes, sighed, and sat down at the crunchie bowl. She's very, very hard to tempt with food.
Yes, but since all of mine were feral rescues, I assumed that somewhere in their little catty brains they were comparing inside (food provided, warm, safe, cuddles) with their last memory of outside (hungry and cold) and deciding to play it safe.
I have woods out back, but a street in front makes me not comfortable with letting them outside, so I also have not attempted to lure them out.
They do very much enjoy sitting in front of the storm door and *watching* the outside, especially at summer dusk when the raccoons come up and they can hiss and stare at each other in perfect safety.
Huh. I wonder... The girls came from the Humane Society, and I was told they were littermates. I assumed someone had brought them in, but I wonder if they were feral kittens.
The only other two feral cats I've ever had both loved the great outdoors. AAMOF, they both insisted on being able to go outside.
I'm not sure I can deal with two full-time indoor cats for the long term, though. I guess we'll see what we'll see.
Oh, my condo association would be just thrilled, I'm sure.
The way the backyards are set up, the landscape guys have to be able to push the mower across everyone's back yard in order to reach everyone's back yard.
But mostly, that's not the sort of outdoor improvement they're going to approve of.
My neighbors have cats from the same litter, both girls, that they've had since kittenhood. They want them to be indoor cats - one is cooperating just fine, making her own adventures indoors, and the other escapes whenever possible. It just seems to be in the personality. Mine, you couldn't keep inside.
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I have woods out back, but a street in front makes me not comfortable with letting them outside, so I also have not attempted to lure them out.
They do very much enjoy sitting in front of the storm door and *watching* the outside, especially at summer dusk when the raccoons come up and they can hiss and stare at each other in perfect safety.
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The only other two feral cats I've ever had both loved the great outdoors. AAMOF, they both insisted on being able to go outside.
I'm not sure I can deal with two full-time indoor cats for the long term, though. I guess we'll see what we'll see.
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In my experience, indoor-only cats pick up fewer fleas, and get killed by fewer things...
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...no?
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The way the backyards are set up, the landscape guys have to be able to push the mower across everyone's back yard in order to reach everyone's back yard.
But mostly, that's not the sort of outdoor improvement they're going to approve of.
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