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My Cat Won't Enter Half the House



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 3rd 12, 05:58 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
gamincat
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Posts: 2
Default My Cat Won't Enter Half the House

I have an adopted female 3 year old cat, Mandy, that I have owned since Jan.. 1st of 2012. She reportedly was an outdoor, feral cat (her ear is notched) but is very socialized to people - very sweet. They told me she would be shy to explore the house and to let her take her time. So it has been 8 months and she basically stays in half my main floor of the house - my computer room which has my cat platforms and the cat food, my bedroom which is the adjoining room and the bathroom where the litter box resides. She has made the rare pass through the living room but pretty much never goes in the living room, dining room or kitchen. I also have a nice sun porch she could enjoy with views of the yard.

I guess life can go on this way, but I think it would be nice if she felt comfortable in the rest of the house. She seems happy enough so maybe it's all a problem for me only. I was wondering what others think. Should I do nothing or is there something I can do to help her widen her horizons? What would you suggest? I hesitate to carry her into the other rooms because she gets fearful. I have tried calling to her which has gotten her as far as the entry to the kitchen. By the way, after I had her 2 months, I adopted a second female cat (1 year old). Mandy is friends with the other cat (Flag). Flag is a confident cat and is into everything in the house, but this example hasn't helped Mandy.

Thanks for your thoughts.
  #2  
Old September 3rd 12, 07:58 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
John Doe
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Posts: 381
Default My Cat Won't Enter Half the House

Advice: Find some way around the new Google Groups for posting to
UseNet...

gamincat wrote:

I have an adopted female 3 year old cat, Mandy, that I have owned since Jan. 1st of 2012. She reportedly was an outdoor, feral cat (her ear is notched) but is very socialized to people - very sweet. They told me she would be shy to explore the house and to let her take her time. So it has been 8 months and she basically stays in half my main floor of the house - my computer room which has my cat platforms and the cat food, my bedroom which is the adjoining room and the bathroom where the litter box resides. She has made the rare pass through the living room but pretty much never goes in the living room, dining room or kitchen. I also have a nice sun porch she could enjoy with views of the yard.

I guess life can go on this way, but I think it would be nice if she felt comfortable in the rest of the house. She seems happy enough so maybe it's all a problem for me only. I was wondering what others think. Should I do nothing or is there something I can do to help her widen her horizons? What would you suggest? I hesitate to carry her into the other rooms because she gets fearful. I have tried calling to her which has gotten her as far as the entry to the kitchen. By the way, after I had her 2 months, I adopted a second female cat (1 year old). Mandy is friends with the other cat (Flag). Flag is a confident cat and is into everything in the house, but this example hasn't helped Mandy.

Thanks for your thoughts.


  #3  
Old September 3rd 12, 01:13 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
AB
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Posts: 13
Default My Cat Won't Enter Half the House

We adopted a stray cat when we lived in a small one bedroom apt. The
cat lived there for nearly three years and rarely ventured out of the
bedroom and hallway areas. He would occasionally make a fast pass
through the livingroom area, and sometimes investigate in the kitchen.
Now that we are in a house, he still prefers the bedroom but does
explore the rest of the house in small doses. But iifanything he
deems is out of the ordinary he hurries to the comfort of the
bedroom.

I'd say do nothing and allow her to explore the rest or the house if
and when she is ready.


AB
  #4  
Old September 4th 12, 07:33 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Gandalf[_2_]
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Posts: 850
Default My Cat Won't Enter Half the House

On Sun, 2 Sep 2012 21:58:01 -0700 (PDT), gamincat
wrote:

I have an adopted female 3 year old cat, Mandy, that I have owned since Jan. 1st of 2012. She reportedly was an outdoor, feral cat (her ear is notched) but is very socialized to people - very sweet. They told me she would be shy to explore the house and to let her take her time. So it has been 8 months and she basically stays in half my main floor of the house - my computer room which has my cat platforms and the cat food, my bedroom which is the adjoining room and the bathroom where the litter box resides. She has made the rare pass through the living room but pretty much never goes in the living room, dining room or kitchen. I also have a nice sun porch she could enjoy with views of the yard.

I guess life can go on this way, but I think it would be nice if she felt comfortable in the rest of the house. She seems happy enough so maybe it's all a problem for me only. I was wondering what others think. Should I do nothing or is there something I can do to help her widen her horizons? What would you suggest? I hesitate to carry her into the other rooms because she gets fearful. I have tried calling to her which has gotten her as far as the entry to the kitchen. By the way, after I had her 2 months, I adopted a second female cat (1 year old). Mandy is friends with the other cat (Flag). Flag is a confident cat and is into everything in the house, but this example hasn't helped Mandy.

Thanks for your thoughts.


If you want to introduce her to the sun porch, start moving her food and
water bowls a few feet a day, until it's in the sun porch.

Then, feed her there, and keep her water there, for several weeks.

You could then put the cat tree in the sun porch, too. Most cats love to
sit on a cat tree, and look outside. Or, you could move the cat tree a
few feet a day into the sun porch, too.

My cat took 6 months before she would enter my living room, and my house
is very small, just 5 rooms, and the basement, which isn't finished. Now
she sleeps on the sofa, sometimes.

One thing to keep is mind: cats are strange creatures, and they defy
logic. Your cat many NEVER be comfortable outside of the rooms she likes
now, though you can force her to go into other rooms.

Good luck
  #5  
Old September 4th 12, 11:54 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Bill Graham
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Posts: 1,065
Default My Cat Won't Enter Half the House

gamincat wrote:
I have an adopted female 3 year old cat, Mandy, that I have owned
since Jan. 1st of 2012. She reportedly was an outdoor, feral cat (her
ear is notched) but is very socialized to people - very sweet. They
told me she would be shy to explore the house and to let her take her
time. So it has been 8 months and she basically stays in half my main
floor of the house - my computer room which has my cat platforms and
the cat food, my bedroom which is the adjoining room and the bathroom
where the litter box resides. She has made the rare pass through the
living room but pretty much never goes in the living room, dining
room or kitchen. I also have a nice sun porch she could enjoy with
views of the yard.

I guess life can go on this way, but I think it would be nice if she
felt comfortable in the rest of the house. She seems happy enough so
maybe it's all a problem for me only. I was wondering what others
think. Should I do nothing or is there something I can do to help her
widen her horizons? What would you suggest? I hesitate to carry her
into the other rooms because she gets fearful. I have tried calling
to her which has gotten her as far as the entry to the kitchen. By
the way, after I had her 2 months, I adopted a second female cat (1
year old). Mandy is friends with the other cat (Flag). Flag is a
confident cat and is into everything in the house, but this example
hasn't helped Mandy.

Thanks for your thoughts.


Try putting her food and water a few feet in the direction you would like
her to go. Then, every day or two, move it another foot or so in that
direction. She will gradually get used to going wherever it is to eat and
drink, and will eventually be eating on the kitchen floor, or wherever you
want her to be. We did this with Smokey, our feral cat many years ago. He
started out way in the back end of our back yard, where he hunted for mice
by a natural spring that we have back there. I put out a bowl of chopped,
roasted chickin for him. Then I graduqlly moved it toward our house, up the
stairs to our rear deck, and eventually through our sliding glass doors into
our bedroom where he would, at night while we were sleeping, explore the
whole house. Today, Smokey is a very old cat, but he is well loved and
hardly ever goes outside. Our roving vet can't believe how well he looks and
is doing.....He is about 17 years old.....

  #6  
Old September 5th 12, 08:57 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
[email protected]
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Posts: 22
Default My Cat Won't Enter Half the House

Have you tried playing with her on the edge of her "territory" and slowly creep into the "other" area? Or you can try tossing a treat in that direction, a little further each day.
  #7  
Old September 5th 12, 11:59 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
FragSinatra
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Posts: 48
Default My Cat Won't Enter Half the House

"Bill Graham" wrote in
:


Try putting her food and water a few feet in the direction you would
like her to go. Then, every day or two, move it another foot or so in
that direction. She will gradually get used to going wherever it is to
eat and drink, and will eventually be eating on the kitchen floor, or
wherever you want her to be. We did this with Smokey, our feral cat
many years ago. He started out way in the back end of our back yard,
where he hunted for mice by a natural spring that we have back there.
I put out a bowl of chopped, roasted chickin for him. Then I graduqlly
moved it toward our house, up the stairs to our rear deck, and
eventually through our sliding glass doors into our bedroom where he
would, at night while we were sleeping, explore the whole house.
Today, Smokey is a very old cat, but he is well loved and hardly ever
goes outside. Our roving vet can't believe how well he looks and is
doing.....He is about 17 years old.....


That's a nice, inspirational story about Smokey. Have a good week and
Smokey too.


--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---
  #8  
Old September 6th 12, 03:16 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Gandalf[_2_]
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Posts: 850
Default My Cat Won't Enter Half the House

On Wed, 5 Sep 2012 22:59:36 +0000 (UTC), FragSinatra
wrote:

"Bill Graham" wrote in
:


Try putting her food and water a few feet in the direction you would
like her to go. Then, every day or two, move it another foot or so in
that direction. She will gradually get used to going wherever it is to
eat and drink, and will eventually be eating on the kitchen floor, or
wherever you want her to be. We did this with Smokey, our feral cat
many years ago. He started out way in the back end of our back yard,
where he hunted for mice by a natural spring that we have back there.
I put out a bowl of chopped, roasted chickin for him. Then I graduqlly
moved it toward our house, up the stairs to our rear deck, and
eventually through our sliding glass doors into our bedroom where he
would, at night while we were sleeping, explore the whole house.
Today, Smokey is a very old cat, but he is well loved and hardly ever
goes outside. Our roving vet can't believe how well he looks and is
doing.....He is about 17 years old.....


That's a nice, inspirational story about Smokey. Have a good week and
Smokey too.


--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---


I always love hearing about feral cats that are adopted as indoor pets,
as I know it takes a LOT of work and patience to 'tame' a feral cat.

Smokey is a very fortunate cat, indeed. No feral cat lives to such a
nice old age,
  #9  
Old September 8th 12, 11:12 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Bill Graham
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Posts: 1,065
Default My Cat Won't Enter Half the House

Gandalf wrote:
On Wed, 5 Sep 2012 22:59:36 +0000 (UTC), FragSinatra
wrote:

"Bill Graham" wrote in
:


Try putting her food and water a few feet in the direction you would
like her to go. Then, every day or two, move it another foot or so
in that direction. She will gradually get used to going wherever it
is to eat and drink, and will eventually be eating on the kitchen
floor, or wherever you want her to be. We did this with Smokey, our
feral cat many years ago. He started out way in the back end of our
back yard, where he hunted for mice by a natural spring that we
have back there. I put out a bowl of chopped, roasted chickin for
him. Then I graduqlly moved it toward our house, up the stairs to
our rear deck, and eventually through our sliding glass doors into
our bedroom where he would, at night while we were sleeping,
explore the whole house. Today, Smokey is a very old cat, but he is
well loved and hardly ever goes outside. Our roving vet can't
believe how well he looks and is doing.....He is about 17 years
old.....


That's a nice, inspirational story about Smokey. Have a good week and
Smokey too.


--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to
---


I always love hearing about feral cats that are adopted as indoor
pets, as I know it takes a LOT of work and patience to 'tame' a feral
cat.

Smokey is a very fortunate cat, indeed. No feral cat lives to such a
nice old age,


Yes. Smokey's mom taught him well to be very afraid of human beings. It took
us a long time to undo all that learning and convince him that we would not
harm him. Most people wouldn't have bothered, but my wife and I were retired
and didn't have much else to do. He spent a couple of Winters living in a
cat carrier equipped with a waterproof heating pad on our back porch. The
day when my wife went outside, picked him up, and carried him in to our
bedroom and started brushing him was a milestone also. I no longer remember
the exact order of these milestones, but they were all part of, "The taming
of Smokey" Today, he has absolutely no fear of human beings and remains
sleeping in the living room no matter who comes in the house. Even the
roving vet can approach him without any reaction on his part.

  #10  
Old September 8th 12, 11:27 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Mack A. Damia
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Posts: 212
Default My Cat Won't Enter Half the House

On Wed, 05 Sep 2012 21:16:22 -0500, Gandalf
ingold1234(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

On Wed, 5 Sep 2012 22:59:36 +0000 (UTC), FragSinatra
wrote:

"Bill Graham" wrote in
:


Try putting her food and water a few feet in the direction you would
like her to go. Then, every day or two, move it another foot or so in
that direction. She will gradually get used to going wherever it is to
eat and drink, and will eventually be eating on the kitchen floor, or
wherever you want her to be. We did this with Smokey, our feral cat
many years ago. He started out way in the back end of our back yard,
where he hunted for mice by a natural spring that we have back there.
I put out a bowl of chopped, roasted chickin for him. Then I graduqlly
moved it toward our house, up the stairs to our rear deck, and
eventually through our sliding glass doors into our bedroom where he
would, at night while we were sleeping, explore the whole house.
Today, Smokey is a very old cat, but he is well loved and hardly ever
goes outside. Our roving vet can't believe how well he looks and is
doing.....He is about 17 years old.....


That's a nice, inspirational story about Smokey. Have a good week and
Smokey too.


--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---


I always love hearing about feral cats that are adopted as indoor pets,
as I know it takes a LOT of work and patience to 'tame' a feral cat.

Smokey is a very fortunate cat, indeed. No feral cat lives to such a
nice old age,


My Vietnam buddy, John, had a feral cat that died recently, and
Pity-Pat was 24 years old. Stayed under the bed and would not come
out for anybody except John but very rarely.

She came out more towards the end of her life - as if she knew.
--


 




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