{"id":1308,"date":"2017-07-23T20:47:54","date_gmt":"2017-07-23T20:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/pets\/stay-inside-please-with-some-training-you-can-keep-your-cat-safe-inside\/"},"modified":"2017-07-23T20:47:54","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T20:47:54","slug":"stay-inside-please-with-some-training-you-can-keep-your-cat-safe-inside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/pets\/stay-inside-please-with-some-training-you-can-keep-your-cat-safe-inside","title":{"rendered":"Stay Inside, Please! With Some Training, You Can Keep Your Cat Safe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Lilo<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lilo by the Door.\u00a0Photos courtesy\u00a0of\u00a0Long Beach Animal Hospital (LBAH)<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The sights, sounds and smells of the outside world are very attractive to our little tribe of foster kittens. Although they were all born outdoors, they\u2019re now indoor kitties for health and safety reasons. They may eventually become indoor\/outdoor cats in their forever homes, but they could also be indoor cats for their whole lives.<\/p>\n

It is very possible to provide a good quality life for indoor cats, especially if they are never allowed outside. If a cat is \u201coccasionally\u201d allowed out, they tend to become very motivated to get out on a daily basis, constantly trying to slip out between your feet when you\u2019re going in and out the door. Then, they\u2019re hard to catch once they\u2019re running around outside. Wouldn\u2019t it be better to have a cat who comes when called, and better yet, to have a cat who knows to stay inside even when the door is open? We do this with the \u201cyes\u201d and \u201cno\u201d signals in our kitty-training program (see “The Joys of Cat Training<\/a>”\u00a0for a full description of the “psssst-and-petting curriculum).<\/p>\n

Our little foster kitties\u2014Loki, Lilo, Flicka and Tortilla\u2014are now doing well with the \u201cYes\u201d and \u201cNo\u201d sounds. We started this training from day one, using a pursed-lip kissing sound for yes<\/i> to attract them to come near for petting or food, and a harsh \u201cPsssst-psssst!\u201d for no<\/i>, which means \u201cStop what you\u2019re doing!\u201d When they\u2019ve successfully followed a direction, they\u2019re rewarded with the \u201cyes\u201d and some petting.<\/p>\n

The \u201cyes\u201d sound has been in use every time the kittens are fed, so they now come running whenever I use it, whether I have food or do not. In fact, Miss Tortilla, the dilute tortoiseshell, has decided she really prefers dry food to canned, so she\u2019s not that interested in the canned food at feeding time but still comes running along with everyone else when I call. Petting is reward enough for her, and she loves it.<\/p>\n

\"Tortilla<\/p>\n

Psssst! Miss Tortilla.<\/em><\/p>\n

The \u201cno\u201d hissing sound is used when the front door is open and they get too close to going outside. Not a single kitten has tried running outside when they hear this sound\u2014it means \u201cStop what you\u2019re doing,\u201d and they don\u2019t go out. They\u2019re content to play in the general area inside the front door and occasionally flick their ears and sniff the air as the outside world makes itself known. And they\u2019re not motivated to try going out!<\/p>\n

Now I don\u2019t have to worry when I\u2019m doing something like carrying things in from the car and opening the door for more than a few seconds\u2014they won\u2019t go out. My fosters quickly learned to step away from the front door when I\u2019m coming in, since it\u2019s quite easy to accidentally step on them, especially if my arms are full. I started this by opening the door an inch and then shutting it firmly so that it made a loud noise\u2014kittens instinctively avoid loud or sudden noises. After this, they\u2019d get rewarded for doing the right thing, which is to step away from the door. Then, they hear the \u201cyes\u201d sound of reassurance and are rewarded with petting.<\/p>\n

Another method is to use a noisemaker to get their attention and dissuade them from approaching the open door. A can of pebbles works\u2014it makes a loud rattle when shaken. The can be kept right outside the front door and shaken when the kittens approach the open door, then stopping when they step back or turn away. This is a cause-and-effect reward for good behavior, coupled with the \u201cyes\u201d sound and petting when they do what\u2019s asked of them. I have found that making my own \u201cno\u201d noise, or \u201cPssst!\u201d works very well, but the noisemaker also can be used. Just avoid trying to find the can of pebbles, putting down your purse, fumbling with keys, and being otherwise distracted while the cat is running our the open door. You always have your voice with you!<\/p>\n

What If We Do<\/i> Let the Kitties Outside? <\/strong><\/p>\n

The dangers for outdoor cats are about 10 times that of indoor-only cats, but what exactly are the risks? Injury, illness, parasites and fighting are all real concerns with outdoor cats, and exposure to stray cats can result in viral infections such as feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV, sometimes called feline AIDS). Unlike you or me picking up a flu virus at work and getting over it in a week or two, FeLV and FIV infect their hosts for life. Once a cat is infected with either of these viruses, they will carry it for the rest of their life, although whether and how much their health is affected depends on the individual animal. Indoor-only cats who never come into contact with stray cats will not have to worry about these infections.<\/p>\n

Fights with other cats often results in injury and abscesses, and being attacked by dogs can be fatal. Being hit by a car, eaten by a coyote, falling off a roof or out of a tree, and other infectious diseases such as haemobartonella, a blood parasite transmitted by fleas, will not be a problem for the indoor-only cat. Providing environmental enrichment; places to exercise, especially carpeted cat trees; toys for chasing; and maybe even a fellow kitty companion can provide a very good life for the indoor-only cat.<\/p>\n

If your cat is going to be an indoor\/outdoor kitty, there are some things you can do to help reduce their risks of injury and illness: training to come when called; getting them inside at night, when problems are more likely; and providing identification in the form of a tag and a microchip. Outdoor cats should be on a monthly comprehensive high-quality flea control all year round and be kept up to date on their vaccinations.<\/p>\n

If you decide an indoor-only life would be best for your kitty, make her truly an indoor cat. Indoor most of the time except for every few weeks for a little jaunt outside generally doesn\u2019t work well\u2014you\u2019ll be dealing with the escape-artist cat who frequently tries to get out when the front door is opened. Indoor-only cats can be very happy in an enriched environment, and they\u2019ll be a lot safer.<\/p>\n

\"Loki<\/p>\n

Loki’s curious but knows that her safe place is inside the house.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Feline Diseases section of our website\u00a0at LBAH<\/a> has detailed information on the diseases mentioned in this article, along with many other cat diseases.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If a cat is \u201coccasionally\u201d allowed out, they tend to become very motivated to get out on a daily basis, constantly trying to slip out between your feet when you\u2019re going in and out the door.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[388],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pets","tag-the-vet-is-in","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1308"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=1308"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}