Some cats taken out are much more difficult to keep inside thereafter. This was the case with our Siamese. We took him for walks in the yard on a leash. Thereafter, he constantly tried to get out, although we never let him out again. He escaped and a neighbor noticed him in the yard and let us know. Over a decade later, when he was blind, he finally got out again and we found him by sheer luck the next morning. We never allow the cats outside under any circumstances. You cannot tell if your cat will be like our Siamese or not, other than by taking him out and perhaps creating a problem that may not go away. It was an experience we never wanted to repeat.
In addition, cats will slowly explore new territory and a cat that does not go out is likely to investigate the areas just around the door when he first gets out. If he is taken out, becomes familiar with your yard and becomes comfortable there and then escapes, he is much more likely to quickly move away from the house - where the chances of recovering him become worse.
I have three kitty cat babies and each one has a different story to tell about going outside. First Webster, our rag. He has always been allowed to go out but on a leash. We never let him leave from inside of his own free will, we always carry him out which I think made a difference. His favorite place to lay, even in the winter is our landing by our back door and he never tries to escape out the door.
Now our Violet (she is a rescue, a kitten left to take care of herself on the streets until we adopted her) loves to go out and she is put on a leash when she does go out. There is a special place in our kitchen on the counter she must be to have her harness put on her (as we owners are to lazy to bend over lol) and she knows this. When we first started letting her out, she would try to escape out the door when it was open but in the course of the years she has gotten much better about it. There were times she escape but we caught her and brought her back in. Anyone coming to our house KNOWS we have cats and is careful when entering our house.
The third is Babygirl and she too is a rescue but rescued in a different way then Violet. We actually got her from a home where she was not wanted and was not always handled with kind hands. She is a very skidish cat, not very trusting at all. She finally showed an interests in going outside and we allowed it just to see what she would do. (at the time she was our only cat, the first of the three) We tried her on a leash and she did everything she could to get out of the harness. The stress the harness caused her was not worth it to us. Babygirl goes out after some coaxing and she stays right by or sides when she is out. If we go to our pole barn which is a distance from our home, she will follow us and stay right with us. If I am working out in my flowerbeds, he is there with me. She has never tried t get away from us. And we NEVER leave our kitties outside unattended!
So there you have 3 different cats and 3 different senarios. You won't know how your cat will act until you let them out. I guess you just have to try and see what happens. But do it with caution and I would suggest if it is a kitten start them off on a harness and leash. If it is an older cat then you should have some sort of idea as to how the cat will react just from their personality. Give the harness an leash a try first and then see how it goes. I like the outdoor enclosure idea and if you do some surfing on the net you can find all kinds of pictures of enclosures people have built for their cats.
Hope my stories help, Sue
I should have mentioned that the enclosure modular was purchased on ebay it is a handmade one and cost me less than $200 it is really well done and not expensive to make at all. There are often quite a few on ebay the other thing people are using that are very popular are bird avairy's!!! normally there are heaps listed.
Milo loves to go out, he is naughty sometimes and runs at the door but once outside he just flops and rolls LOL if he does this I normally bring him straight back in with a firm no!
99% he will now sit at the door and you can walk in and out , the other thing is we take one of the modular cubes with us when we go on holiday so that he has an outside enclosed area to be put in.
Milo's Mum - thanks for that tip - I actually hadn't thought to look on eBay
