Wandering cat

anndub

Our cat has just been located after wandering off and getting lost for the second time in six weeks. She was found about a mile away from our house after three days the first time and this time after two days but significantly further away and in the opposite direction.

She's an indoor/outdoor cat, usually comes in for a sleep or food and then wanders out again, 18 months old and spayed. She's had access to outdoors since she was about six months so knows the area around the house reasonably well I'd imagine. I just don't understand why she's now ending up so far away.

Both times she was located was due to her turning up meowing incessantly at people's windows, hungry and looking fairly unhappy, visibly lost.

Any tips on how to prevent this becoming an even more regular occurrence? I don't want to turn her in to an indoor cat as I don't think it would be a happy existence for her.

anniehoo

Do you have a garden or balcony that you could fence off to make a "cat run"? There's some great solutions to the indoor vs outdoor debate using a cat run, if you put your mind to it and google some ideas.

I genuinely have no solutions except that, if you don't want her to become an indoor only cat.Most cats have a territory range they patrol around but can often become distracted and then disorientated, so I genuinely don't know how you're going to prevent a young cat from doing that.

Have you got her microchipped or is she being reunited with you by a collar and tag?

Some ideas for you to look at here, to both enhance indoor living or extend it to enclosed outdoors.
Check out the coolest cat tree ever. Brilliant idea. Indoors does not have to equal boring if you get your creative side out. :pac:

willmunny1990

I'm assuming the cat is neutered? If shes not definitely consider it as it can help with wandering.

Just out of interest does the cat have access to the outdoors 24/7? If so you could limit her outdoor time, when she comes in lock up the windows and doors and keep her in at night. I do this with my cat. At first I tried to keep him in 24/7 but it became impossible, the cat became aggressive and stressed and it just didn't work, minute a window or door was opened he'd be gone like a rocket towards it so it wasn't practical, so striking a balance can help a lot.

If this isn't an appropriate solution for you then you may have to go for the enclosure, but this can be impractical depending on where you live. Good luck.

anndub

She is spayed and she was reunited via collar and tag. We live in a friendly neighbourhood so luckily the people she has come across on her travels have been good enough to reunite her with us. When I went to pick her up yesterday she was fast asleep sprawled across their couch. So much for loyalty!

She has access to the outside 24/7 now. That is a fairly new experience for her as up to June she was out during the day but in at night. Maybe this is the problem, the novelty of her usual territory has worn off and she's venturing further. We have a large park 200 m away and my suspicion is that she's going in there to hunt and then becoming disoriented. Both times it was at dusk that she went AWOL. An outdoor enclosure is not an option at the moment either so I think maybe limiting her time outdoors could be a good alterntaive.