HACKER SAFE certified sites prevent over 99.9% of hacker crime.
Welcome, Guest
Username:
Password:

Please login to add/view friends online.


Quick Dog Breed Selector:
Quick Traffic Stats:
Visitors Online: 1,184
Today's Visits: 22,853
Yesterday's Visits: 120,740

Discussion Forums

Collapse Quick Menu

Message Central

Unread[0]
Inbox[0]
Trash[0]

Who's Online

alabamabloodhounds, jmotteler, knaber3314, mustlovepuppies, pinkxlucy, puppychase, raquette, safeplace02, sharonhill, sugarqube33, terrykirby1

Cat keeps running away
Tips
Found [17] Posts :: Page 1 of 1
<< Return to Cat Talk Topics
Sweetiemommyof2
Posted: 2:44:41 AM 8/11/2008
I recently was forced to move from my home and we are currently running back and forth from our new home half an hour away and my aunt's house about 3 minutes from our old house. I have 3 cats who lived with us at the old house and when we left we caught each one of them and brought them to my aunts. Well only the oldest of the bunch stayed and the others went staright back down to the location of the old house. We went down there every day and looked for them but only every now and then would they show up so we would feed them and when we could pick them up and try again to leave them at my aunts but they always ran right back.

Finally after a month of not seeing them I went down there one day and saw them so I brought them down and was forced to cage them because we needed them to stay there. Well I let my one cat out and he stayed but the youngest of the bunch, when we let him out, ran away again after about a week of staying there out of the cage.

I am just wondering if anyone has any tips that might help me to get my cat to stay where I would like him too. I hated seeing them caged up but someone told me to try it so i thought it wont hurt to at least try.
"Dogs aren't our best friends...were their best friends"
http://www.dogster.com/family/367520
ruffian
Posted: 3:19:06 AM 8/11/2008
Ya keep them inside or leashed like all cats should be.
Ha Ha I got me one, and it is Pink, please click me.[url=http://dragcave.ath.cx/viewdragon/nDZ6][img]
Sweetiemommyof2
Posted: 2:09:01 PM 8/11/2008
Was that suppose to be sarcastic?
"Dogs aren't our best friends...were their best friends"
http://www.dogster.com/family/367520
rainbowzoo622
Posted: 4:10:21 PM 8/11/2008
Outdoor cats do not consider your house their 'home,' just a part of their territory. They believe their territory should be several blocks in size, and so will consider your neighbor's homes as part of their territory as well. If you move them outside their territory, they will return to their own if at all possible, because they are invading on another cat's turf, for one, and because they feel more comfortable in their own territory. You were likely not their only source of food, shelter and affection, and their loyalty does not lie with you. In their established area, they already have discovered where to find food, water, where other animals (cats, dogs) live and how to avoid them, where it is safe to cross the street, the best places to nap, etc. Out of their element, they are just as panicky as an indoor cat thrown outside for the first time.
The only way to make them stay, is keep them indoors, or leashed, or caged. And leashed and caged only work for as long as they are kept leashed and caged, and is incredibly stressful on the cats. The kindest way of all would to keep them indoors, especially if you ever plan on moving again. Moving with indoor cats is much safer and an easier transition.
http://www.dogster.com/family/614817
Pen2
Posted: 6:51:38 PM 8/11/2008
If I understand correctly, you have now moved to your new place, half an hour away from your old place, and your aunt's? I would just make a serious effort to keep them inside, no matter what, until they become acclimatized to their new home. It sounds like you were letting them out at the old place? (not them just running away).If they have become used to running free, it will be a little more difficult to keep them inside, but it can be done. There are too many creeps out there to have them running loose; so I wish you luck keeping them in your new house.
ruffian
Posted: 7:25:15 PM 8/11/2008
Nope it wasnt sarcastic I dont think cats should be running at large any more than dogs, I personally dont like having to dig in cat pee because my nieghbour is too lazy or inconsiderate to keep his pets contained to his own freaking property.
Ha Ha I got me one, and it is Pink, please click me.[url=http://dragcave.ath.cx/viewdragon/nDZ6][img]
Rottluvr
Posted: 8:55:53 PM 8/11/2008
" target="_blank">http://terrificpets.com/images/smilies/41.gif"/>

(That was supposed to be a clapping smiley.)
I agree with Ruffian. Not only is keeping them indoors safer for them, but it's much more considerate of you neighbors. Loose cats bother dogs, dig up flowers, scratch cars and make noise at night. Move them indoors.
Sweetiemommyof2
Posted: 9:08:51 PM 8/11/2008
Well see we have NOT moved into our new home yet we are staying at my aunts house and run to the new house everynow and then to drop stuff off. I caught them and brought them down and they were caged for quite some time and then I let the one out who stayed but the youngest one, when I let him out, ran away again. So we plan on taking them all up to the new house once we are going to be up there for sure, and letting them be inside cats only going outside to strech and pee ubless they can prove they wont run off. Cause see they were all outdoor cats at the old house. The oldest and youngest would come in everynow and then and eat inside and sleep sometimes but other then that they were outside and that is where they feel comfortable. I hate cageing them up and putting them on leashes but I love them to much to see them wondering around the steets where they could get hit by cars or picked up or who knows what else. Anyway I just hope it all works out.

Also I heard if you put butter on your cats feet they cant smell, I guess, where they have been so they will stay where you put them. Is this true?
"Dogs aren't our best friends...were their best friends"
http://www.dogster.com/family/367520
ruffian
Posted: 11:21:06 PM 8/11/2008
Maybe build an enclosed area for them outside, a place with levels that goes into the trees if you have them, where they can be outside and safe and not bothering the neighbours.

http://www.catsofaustralia.com/images/cat_enclosure.jpg
Ha Ha I got me one, and it is Pink, please click me.[url=http://dragcave.ath.cx/viewdragon/nDZ6][img]
imunique
Posted: 12:55:55 AM 8/12/2008
At least the police didnt steal them yet!!!! Do police pick up stray cats in your area? If so you may have to pay to get them back again.
Sweetiemommyof2
Posted: 1:16:06 AM 8/12/2008
That was kind of ruse and defiently uncalled for. I am just asking for advice from willing people obviously unlike yourself.

Yes that is a good idea. But the only pets we are really allowed to have where I live are cats, were going to fight to keep the dog. So all the nieghbors have is cats cats, and more cats. So it defiently wont bug them, I'm just afraid of them running away up there and getting lost. But I will defiently think on the idea of an outside play area.
"Dogs aren't our best friends...were their best friends"
http://www.dogster.com/family/367520
janeryan
Posted: 9:56:28 AM 8/12/2008
sweetiemommy, you don't say how long it is since you moved to your aunts house. I have moved house 3 times in the last 4 years and have had no problems with my cats running off. I did keep them indoors for the first week though so they could used to their new surroundings before letting them outdoors.
I don't agree that cats should be leashed or kept indoors unless you live in an apartment and don't have a garden. I have 3, they are outdoors most of the time, sometimes they sleep in at night and sometimes they stay out and I have never had a problem with them being noisy at night although they all either spayed or neutered.
About butter I always use this when I get a new cat as well as keeping them indoors for the first 5-7 days and I have had no problems losing a cat I'm not sure its meant more for kittens rather than older cats, its just something we always did in my family and it's always worked. Perhaps the fact that you are not in your own house yet but your aunt's is confusing them, perhaps the answer is to keep them indoors until you move, how long will that be?
ruffian
Posted: 2:34:59 PM 8/12/2008
WOW double standard much???? Why do so many people think that dogs have to be leashed but cats should just have free roam??? WHY??? Here ALL your pets have to be contained cats and dogs alike, thank god for that, I have a cat, he is 13, and lives indoors, I dont like having to deal with other peoples animals in my yard, dogs or cats, why do you feel the need to allow your cats to run loose?? Do you care at all what your neighbours think?
Ha Ha I got me one, and it is Pink, please click me.[url=http://dragcave.ath.cx/viewdragon/nDZ6][img]
Pen2
Posted: 3:47:12 PM 8/12/2008
Ruffian, I think a lot depends on where you live. I know that all the farmers here have barn cats. A few might have a house cat, but that's not the general rule. I believe that spayed and neutered cats will stay home, as long as you have a large garden, or outside area, secluded from other people and animals. That's my experience anyway, but living in a town or a city is totally different. A lot of people in the city can't let their dogs out in the yard all day, because of theft, etc. Here everyone has their dogs both in and out as they please, although the area outside is fenced for most. It's a totally different story for farm dogs though. Most of them live outside, know their home territory, and don't stray from it.
janeryan
Posted: 7:16:26 PM 8/13/2008
Pen2, what I like about you is your ability to see the bigger picture. And Ruffian no I don't have double standards, both my dogs spend most of the day outside in my garden (it is fenced), I live in a rural area in a part of the world where the average temperature is 23ºC all year round and I see no reason to keep them indoors when they have so much fun outdoors(I work from home). Likewise my cats are free to roam around, and I speak to my neighbours every now and again about my cats as they do visit their land, and they do not have an issue with that. I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on that one.

Also as Pen2 says it very much depends on where you live...
shinyblackpit
Posted: 7:41:08 PM 8/13/2008
My cat is outside. He comes in when he asks, but mostly he's an outside cat now in that we don't make him stay inside. Ex hubby put him out for peeing (which I didn't agree with) and now he comes in for a while and then meows incessantly at the door when he's ready to go out. He's a neat cat, comes when we call, stays very nearby, neutered, vaccinated, and doesn't spray. He hunts mice and chipmunks in the backyard. I don't feel bad about it. One of my neighbors said they wished he would come kill mice and rats in THEIR yard.

Dogs do stuff that my cat doesn't do.. get into trash, pee on mailboxes, run into traffic, go after other people's animals. Plus some people are scared of them. The cat doesn't run up to strangers to say hello. Squash is much less needy than a dog and he is pretty well equipped to climb a tree or run away, whereas our doggy friends are somewhat helpless without us humans around.That is why my cat goes outside unleashed and my dog does not.

To the OP I would keep him indoors only for a while so that he will consider your new house "home."

***Edited By: shinyblackpit on 8/13/2008 8:01:01 PM***
Reason: asdfasdf
"Be who you are and say what you feel. Because those that matter, don't mind...And those that mind....don't matter."
Sweetiemommyof2
Posted: 3:01:46 AM 11/1/2008
Thanks everyone for your help. I finally found him and once we got him to the new house and he had all the other cats/kittens to play with he was stoked and he has not run off since. He is an outside cat mostly but we moved up into the country not really close to anyone who would mind and the people we are close to have TONS of cats themselves so it all worked out. He comes in sometimes to eat and sleep around on cold and rainy days. Luckily the snows have not fallen yet. I excpect they will all want to be inside cats then! Except I have to say he has put on some weight eating all those birds and gophers I guess is what we have. THANKS AGAIN!
"Dogs aren't our best friends...were their best friends"
http://www.dogster.com/family/367520
<< Return to Cat Talk Topics
 
Found [17] Posts :: Page 1 of 1


© Copyright 2003-2008 TerrificPets.com (a JCOM Designs, LLC company)

Dogs
 
Horses Cats