Expert: Tina - 3/2/2004

Question
My cat insists that I accompany her to the cat door to go onto the porch to eat. She returns inside with no help. I want to get her to go in and out by herself so I can move her litter box out onto the covered porch. She is 4-6 yrs old and has been spayed .

Answer
Hi Dennis,

Your cat probably feels afraid to go out on her own. And rightly so! Cats allowed
outside are subjected to danger from cars, wild animals, contagious
diseases, poisoning from rat poison and other materials, nasty cat-hating
neighbours, and fights with other cats that can lead to diseases such as
FIV, Feline Leukemia, and abscesses from infected wounds.

Because of these dangers, cats allowed outdoors live an average of 5 years
versus 15 for indoor only cats. I always hear people say "my cat lived to be
18 and went outside all his life" but for every cat like that there are 5
more who die horribly at a young age. I learned when I worked in a vet
clinic for 2 years that most cats that come in dead or injured were allowed
outside, and often came to grief with cars, dogs, racoons, and rat poison.
Pet insurance companies will charge much higher premiums for pets allowed
outside because of the drastic statistical risk of injury or death.

So, please consider keeping your cat strictly indoors, or you can consider
building a cat enclosure. These things are great because they give the cat
fresh air and the feeling of being outside without all the dangers! You could put an enclosure on your porch and have the cat door lead to it. Then prop the cat door open for a few days until she is used to using the door.

More info on cat enclosures:

Build your own   
http://www.just4cats.com
http://home.earthlink.net/~tonks3/pets_outside2.htm
http://www.catfancy.com/catfancy/enclosure.asp

Pre-Built       
http://www.cdpets.com/enclosure.html
http://www.cde-animalcages.com

Also, articles about indoor-only cats, how to covert your indoor-outdoor cat
to an indoor-only cat:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9352/indoors.html