How to Raise an Adventure Cat

[Eddie Teach]

I don't think your expectations are realistic.

[alfred russel]

Mongers previously had a reply here too, I'm like 99% sure....

Okay, eddie, everyone is telling me that, many of whom laugh at me first. But can you explain? No one is explaining to me in rational language that gets through.

I get that cats are territorial and uncomfortable in new places. But what I don't get is that he is quickly acclimated to new indoor spaces, but outdoor spaces = doom.

I also get that he may be scared outside, but we climbed about 8 hours yesterday during which he did not use the bathroom, eat, or drink, despite us putting food and water almost on top of him. Also, he was visibly shaking a lot of the time--my girlfriend thinks from cold but I suspect from fear. Presumably if we turned him loose he would be a stray cat and on the street. I get that he may not survive long, but I doubt he would die because he would refuse to poop or pee anywhere other than a litter box, or die from thirst or hunger because he wouldn't eat food literally right in front of him. At a certain point he has to get over his fear, right?

We got him from a shelter after he had been picked up off the street with his mother and litter mates when he was about 2 weeks old. He was apparently underweight and had some sort of infection. Perhaps the lingering memory of a traumatic period is now associated with the outdoors?

[mongers]

And co-incidentally a young cat has turned up in the garden the last few days, someone, not me thinks 'we' should adopt it, I'm not so keen, a cute animal, but it would be yet another responsibility I could do without at the moment. 

[Eddie Teach]

Stray cats familiarize themselves with their territory just as house cats do. It's not the same as taking the cat somewhere new all the time.

[Zoupa]

Jesus Christ, just leave the cat at home. Or get a dog.

[Eddie Teach]

And co-incidentally a young cat has turned up in the garden the last few days, someone, not me thinks 'we' should adopt it, I'm not so keen, a cute animal, but it would be yet another responsibility I could do without at the moment. 

Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Nephew? Parole officer?

[Syt]

Jesus Christ, just leave the cat at home. Or get a dog.

This. Poor kitty.

[Josquius]

Jesus Christ, just leave the cat at home. Or get a dog.

Or both.

[alfred russel]

Jesus Christ, just leave the cat at home. Or get a dog.

This. Poor kitty.

We wanted to get a dog but we are never home so we thought it wouldn't be fair to the dog. Neither of us have ever had a cat--we always had dogs growing up. Then we saw this article

https://www.outsideonline.com/2095606/art-creating-adventure-cat

and this website

https://www.adventurecats.org/

and that prompted us to get a cat.

[ulmont]

Jesus Christ, just leave the cat at home. Or get a dog.

This.

AR,

Every time I have taken a cat out of its territory (say, just moving the cat from apartment to apartment) it has taken a minimum of 6 hours for the cat to settle down and become confident again to do more than furtively dash from place to place.  I had one cat that hid in the closet for 3 days after each move.  Cats aren't going to go on hikes with you.

Also, from your article:

That is to say, not all cats have the personality of an adventure cat.

"You take some cats outside and they think the sky is falling and their eyes get big and wide and they want back in," says Mieshelle Nagelschneider, a popular cat behaviorist and author of The Cat Whisperer. "Don't expect your cat to behave like a dog. Make sure you're not forcing a cat into a situation that's going to be scary."

Armstrong has a second cat, who prefers to keep his girlfriend company at home when he's out climbing mountains with Millie. "I would take her on some easy hikes outside and she hated it," he says. "She was stressed to the max. I said, 'Nope, I'm leaving her at home.'"

[Syt]

We wanted to get a dog but we are never home so we thought it wouldn't be fair to the dog.

Then don't have a pet, maybe?

[alfred russel]

We wanted to get a dog but we are never home so we thought it wouldn't be fair to the dog.

Then don't have a pet, maybe?

Okay--I guess we should release our cat onto the streets from whence he came? 

[Syt]

Or offer kitty up for adoption?

[alfred russel]

Or offer kitty up for adoption?

But we love the cat and he loves us.

Our plans on him loving the outdoors just aren't working out well.

Btw, guys, I get the "cats are territorial" thing...what adds up less to me is that he barely misses a beat when we take him to someone else's house. So it isn't a territorial problem necessarily - a new house isn't his territory. And most of these new houses have dogs, which he interacts with as well (he is clearly scared of them, but more curious than scared--as he acts frightened but still walks up to them and, when they are sleeping, on top of them and even jumping on them).

It is uniquely the outside experience that leaves him cowering.

[HVC]

Neither of us have ever had a cat

You don't say

As for why your cat is more comfortable indoors, mainly its because it's indoors. there's finite boundaries (no predator hiding on the outside of the walls to get him). The outdoors has more smells, sounds and threats so takes longer to acclimate.

Imagine some giant came along and shoved you in a bag randomly. You probably wouldn't eat either