Conference misery::feline_v1

    Try a leash..  At the age of 2 (Smurf is now 4) I decided I wanted
    him to have some of the benefits of outdoors without the risks.
    So I put him on a leash.  At first he would not come out of a crouched
    position due to the harness but that passed.  Now I, or I should
    say he walks me around the yard. Of course he wants to just GOOOO,
    at times, but he seems very happy.   I think many cat people feel
    a little guilty when they keep their cats indoors and I get comments
    like "He's a cat he should be running free, not on a LEASH!", but
    I think between traffic, leukemia, wild animals, and sick people,
    I'll keep him inside with the benefits of outdoors on a leash -
    he seems happy and I sleep better a night.

    I, too, need to hear about this.  My new neighbor has said that
    he will disappear our cats if he ever finds them in his yard.
    Two of our cats absolutely LOVE the outdoors.  Fillmore even broke
    through a closed screen this morning in a window 5 feet up and got
    out (he was in our basement).  How can I keep these two happy?
    Unhappily, Fillmore will spray indoors occasionally, and we will
    probably have to get him a new home (but in the meantime, what to
    do?!)    
               Carol

    If you are going to let your cats outside, have them fixed.  There
    are too many kittens being born every day as it is.  There is no
    need to bring any more into the world. Maybe Fillmore will calm down 
    if he is neutered.

    

    If Fillmore is fixed and spraying, you might want to consider Proban
    (I think). It is a hormone treatment. Ask your vet.
    
    Deb

    I think it's Ovaban that you might want to try.  Proban is a product
    for flea control.
    
    Anyone have any neat ideas to try to get a whole male to stop
    spraying??
    
    cin...not ready to have Fire "fixed" yet!
    

    I called the vet as you suggested and asked about Ovaban.  He says
    that the short term side effect is that he might gain weight, but
    that the long term side effects are possible diabetes and mammary
    tumours.  The way I look at it, a short term side effect of a) not
    being able to get him to stop spraying and b) not being to find
    him a new home is c) death, so I would go with the drug.  We will
    discuss it at any rate.  In the meantime, any other suggestions about
    making him happier indoors?  I plan on increasing toys and possibly
    building them another "cat hotel" (as opposed to cat house ;-) ),
    but Fillmore gets bored easily and I want to help as much as possible.
    He was my favorite before the spraying, and I have had a hard time
    giving him enough love.
    
                 Carol
    
    (BTW, all of my cats have been spayed/neutered for years)

    Carol,
    
    Only rarely will a cat be kept on Ovaban for a long time. I had
    Argus and Alex on it for just a few weeks, with a continously
    decreasing dosage. This is to prevent the long term effects.
    
    Cin,
    
    It isn't Ovaban I'm thinking of; in fact, Argus *STARTED* spraying
    after being put on Ovaban. I seem to recall JoAnn Cordes mentioning
    the same problem with her neutered male that was on Ovaban. It seems
    to me that she said that the vet put him on a different hormone,
    I *thot* was Proban, but it might have been something different.
    Unfortunatly, I can't find the note.
    
    Deb

    A neighbor of mine with a similar problem, solved it by getting
    a long lead, attached to a figure 8 cat harness, all attached to
    a cinder block . . . with the cat at the business end, of course.

Well I think there is easier ways of adjusting a cat to indoors rather than 
trying to let them outdoors on a lead.

This is what I did when I had a cat that had to be kept in that was used to
being outside and it worked brilliantly:

Cats like to go outside not only for the fresh air but also to nibble on the
grass, play in the trees and various other cat type activities.  When I had
Kitty and she had to be kept in I bought two extra large litter pans.  I
filled one with good potting soil and sowed celery and grass seed in one 
and put in on top of the refrigerator to grow.  When it reached about 4
inches I put in down for Kitty.  She had more fun with that, did her napping
and digging in there and it saved us all from a miserable cat!  While she
had one I had the other growing getting ready for when she wore the first
out.  All it takes once you get them going is to just throw some new seed
in there from time to time, it is not necessary to do a complete replanting.

Also I purchased several plastic boxes and stacked them all up safely and
lined them with different textures that would attract any cat's interest.
Some carpeting in one, a old pillow in another and some toys on strings 
attached to the boxes ( I used plastic frogs, birds and balls)  When Kitty
was not found in her new growing box she could be found in her cheaply
built kitty condo.  

The third thing I did was I replaced the kitty litter with the shaved wood
like you get for hamsters and gerbils.  I felt like this would give her
more of a sense of being outside and digging around in the flower beds like
she had always been used to.

All in all it worked great!  And it really cost very little to save my 
cat from outside withdrawal symptoms!

gailann

   
    A warning about harnesses - cats can get out of them just as easily as
    collars, or at least ours can. 
    
    When I first got Rascal, he was used to being outside, but in a
    different state (NJ vs Md.) I didn't want him to try "getting home" ,
    but didn't want to confine him to the house. After a week or so of
    adjustment to the inside, I decided I would start letting him get
    acquainted to the outside. On went the harness with a lead rope
    attached, out we went, cat on one end, me on the other. I would watch
    him, he would be fine. I would stop watching him and garden, or some
    other outdoor activity and he would be out of the harness before I knew
    what happened. In fact, I watched him one time (while pretending to do
    something else). He would watch me and when I wasn't looking, go behind
    the tree so that I couldn't see him, get out of the harness in a split
    second and then come walking back with a very smug look on his
    face..... he never went anywhere, just didn't want the harness on! 
    
    oh well.... Good luck keeping the kitties in! I'm tempted to try
    some of the suggestions mentioned here just to see if we can keep
    ours in more of the time (or at least have them more contented when
    we have to leave them for a few days).
    
    janet b.
       (owned by two cats, who run the house!)

    Just curious, Janet.  Was the harness you used on your cat a "figure
    8" or the regular cat harness?  I was told by people who run Pet
    Potpourri, 101A, Amherst, NH, that cats can get out of the regular
    harnesses but "can't" get out of the figure 8's.  The figure 8 has
    the collar attached to the piece that goes down over the shoulders
    and under the girth area.  
    
    I am getting my younger cat used to the harness and 10' leash to
    eventually take him out in the yard.  He seems to want to go out
    every time I take my dog out for her walks.  My other two cats have
    no desire to go out and have become strictly indoor cats (they wouldn't
    last long if let outside due to busy traffic on our street anyway).
    
    

Gee, both of my cats have gotten out of the figure 8 harness.  I was just about
to try the other type of harness, thinking it would be better.

Pam    

    
    Oh, oh!  Guess I'd better not take the chance then and let my younger
    cat try to adjust to indoor living!
    

    .11
    
    I'm not sure what type of harness it is, or where it even is at
    this point. Haven't used it in almost 3 years....probably in some
    black hole in my closet!
    
    I will check though, now I am curious! 
    
    janet b.

    RE:  .11
    
    I have used the figure-eight type harness extensively while traveling
    with my Melissa(rip).  I have found that the only way she could
    get out of it was to turn around and face me (or whatever was holding
    the leash) and back out of it - pulling it over her head.  If I
    was holding the leash and saw her start to turn around, I would
    just pull up slightly on the leash.  The harness would therefors
    slightly lift her front paws (from under her arms - just as I might
    pick her up) makeing her unable to turn around.  After a while,
    she would get the message and if I lifted slightly on the leash,
    she would stop whatever she was doing - trying to turn around - going
    the wrong way - whatever.  Smart kitty, that Missy (I still miss
    her).
    
    Marion