# Cat doesn't like outside?



## betrayedninja (Sep 21, 2013)

My cat is such a handful around the house I thought letting him outside would be the key, we have a large back garden with a 6ft fence around it so perfect for kittie to run around.

This past week we have been trying to let him out for a while but as soon as you put him down he's like a bullet back in doors, I tried shitting the door he goes and hides behind the bin. As I say this has been going on for the pst week and he is not improving, he just does not like it.

I am lost as to what to do with him as he is such a handful indoors I simply can not give him the run of the house as he's stuck in everything he's shouldn't be so he gets locked in the utitily or toilet most of the time, so i thought putting him outside during the day would be the perfect answer but its not working out like that,

Any advice?


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

He'll come round eventually, it took my indoor cat a few months to persuade her to go out. Try again in the warmer months perhaps? I trust you don't live near a main road though as a 6ft fence is nothing to a confident cat who will explore.


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## Cookieandme (Dec 29, 2011)

Can you explain "handful indoors" and why you can't gave him around the house 

It really is the wrong time of the year to try and encourage your cat to go outside, this week has turned colder and it's not surprising he doesn't want to go out.


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## betrayedninja (Sep 21, 2013)

Wiz201 said:


> He'll come round eventually, it took my indoor cat a few months to persuade her to go out. Try again in the warmer months perhaps? I trust you don't live near a main road though as a 6ft fence is nothing to a confident cat who will explore.


No we live at the back of a housing estate out in the country, he has quite a trot to get to the road which is a small country road.


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

I remember your previous post that you were struggling with him and you were given loads of great advice and many said that it was no wonder he was 'a handful' if he's shut in one room most of the time

He needs to be able to explore the house, to have people spend time with him and to play with him to use up some energy

Re outside, totally agree with cookie and me, its totally the wrong time of year to be starting to let him out - has he been neutered yet?

He needs to build his confidence first, which will happen with spending time with him, playing with him etc


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## cats galore (Jul 17, 2012)

i personally would be so happy if my cats wanted to stay indoors. you only have to look on this forum this week alone to see how dangerous the outdoors can be. several people are devastated at the loss of their cats after being hit by cars. even a 6 foot fence won't keep some cats in, so if yours wants to stay indoors, if it was me, i'd let him


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## betrayedninja (Sep 21, 2013)

Cookieandme said:


> Can you explain "handful indoors" and why you can't gave him around the house
> 
> It really is the wrong time of the year to try and encourage your cat to go outside, this week has turned colder and it's not surprising he doesn't want to go out.


OK this morning he was out when I was feeding him, he was no sooner out to he was climbing up the vertical blinds, I chased him from there he was on the back of the sofa which has a small rip, he was pulling the fluff out of it, I chased him from there he went in behind the TV and was chewing at the wires even though I have sprayed them with chew stoppa, I got him out of there he was up the curtains, in the end he went into the utility for his breafast and is now meowing looking out again.

Our house is rented, things like the vertical blinds which are expensive to replace are his favourite.

I spent £50 on a big cat tree for him at the weekend, not a bit interested in it even after treating it with cat nip spray, no he'd rather hang of the curtains or blinds.


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## Cheryl89 (Jun 24, 2013)

Agree with all. 

If your cat is a handful then buy bits to keep him occupied!

A cat tree, some fuzzy lights (zooplus.co.uk) there's endless toys and scratching posts and this will make him have lots of fun... whilst cats are very independent they still require interaction.

I could never ever let my cat outside and if I did it'd be on a harness :biggrin: but I've learned the hard way and lost cats on the road to see how much danger there is outside.

To echo CG.... our members have lost many cats in this month alone, heartbreaking but true. Keep your boy inside


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## Cheryl89 (Jun 24, 2013)

betrayedninja said:


> OK this morning he was out when I was feeding him, he was no sooner out to he was climbing up the vertical blinds, I chased him from there he was on the back of the sofa which has a small rip, he was pulling the fluff out of it, I chased him from there he went in behind the TV and was chewing at the wires even though I have sprayed them with chew stoppa, I got him out of there he was up the curtains, in the end he went into the utility for his breafast and is now meowing looking out again.
> 
> Our house is rented, things like the vertical blinds which are expensive to replace are his favourite.
> 
> *I spent £50 on a big cat tree for him at the weekend, not a bit interested in it even after treating it with cat nip spray, no he'd rather hang of the curtains or blinds*.


I take it your boy is a young cat? They do tend to go through this stage


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

Chased him?

Seriously?

Sorry but no wonder he's running riot

You need to play with him to use up his energy

Get some dangler poles with toys, feathers etc on

Get some toy mice etc so he can chase these around

Until then, get a bit of tin foil, scrunch it up into a ball an I'm positive he will love that!

Have you encouraged him onto the cat tree?


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## munchkinpie (Oct 20, 2011)

This sounds just like my moose!! He's an overgrown naughty kitten (boy+neutered). As much as he is naughty I wouldn't have him any other way, he's so much fun, ok he's broken a few... Ok many things but he's a happy cat who will find fun in anything. He has ruined my expensive blinds, knocked down family photos, broken various lighting, countless trinkets but I love him, his energy is amazing. I told my breeder he's nuts I think he has feline ADHD, he has no sense of danger, consequence, his brain runs at 100mph. You must interact with him more, moose will happily play away on his own but will also bring his toys to me. Don't chase him, him becoming fearful of you will give you major behavioural problems, he is just a young happy naughty boy cherish it


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

How old is your cat exactly? We have a new two year old who is pretty energetic. She's very nervous and now the cold weather is coming, there's no way I want her outside in case she doesn't come back so she will be indoors until next spring. She has lots of toys to keep her occupied and the run of the house and she constantly runs up and down from back to front letting off steam. So far she has ruined our new carpet when she first came and was shut in the spare room and the curtains plus getting into less serious mischief but you have to expect this with young cats and I'd rather that than mine went out and disappeared or was run over as has happened to so many this week. You shouldn't force him out if he doesn't want to go or this will make him more unhappy. You just have to accept upheaval and some turmoil with young cats, though I understand some of your concern is that it's rented property so some furnishings don't belong to you. I don't think you are doing yourself any favours keeping him shut in the utility room as this will just make him frustrated. You can buy protective covers for wires which would be my main worry. I would suggest you put some toys or dangly things on the cat tree which might encourage him to use it and you do need to spend time playing with him a lot if he's young so he's using up all that energy. You just have to think of ways round the problems at the moment until he grows out of this juvenile behaviour but don't keep punishing him or this will make things worse.


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## sarahecp (Aug 22, 2011)

Though 2 of my cats go out, after the heartbreak on here over the last few days I wish they didn't.

How old is your cat? And has he been neutered?

Please don't force your cat to go outside he will become fearful. I don't think letting him out will make any difference, Seb is 2 yrs and 3 months old, he goes out but still charges around the house, running riot, plays and gets up to mischief indoors. This to me is normal and I love to see him enjoying himself 

If your cat is doing things in the house you don't want him to do, do not chase him, again you will make him fearful, you need to prevent him from doing these things, as the saying goes, prevention is better than a cure! place a throw over the rip in the sofa to stop him from pulling out the filling, get some cable tidies to cover the cables, tell him 'no' when he goes near the blinds, and distract him with toys/a game each time it happens, he will soon stop doing it. 

Look at getting some interactive toys, like da bird, toys you can play with together.


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## JordanRose (Mar 10, 2012)

Like the others have said, it sounds as though he needs more stimulation in the home and is being a typical youngster.

If he likes the blinds and such, could you maybe fix some carpet to the wall for him? Sounds odd, but he may see it as a real challenge and enjoy trying to climb up it, whilst using it as a scratching post.

Also, he needs lots of predatory play indoors to keep him occupied- have you tried the Da Bird or the Flying Frenzy? Have a look on this link and you'll see there are various attachments to tickle your cat's fancy:

Interactive & Herbless

He needs things to keep him occupied when he's alone, too- Catit tracks, tunnels, cuddle bags, balls, mice, my boy loves things like pipecleaners and plastic spoons ( ut: ). Anything that will keep him busy.

Also, try treat feeders for him- if he has dry food, only feed him in an interactive feeder as it will keep him occupied and simulate hunting to some degree. If he doesn't have dry, any treats can be fed in this way- or hide them around the house for him to 'hunt'.

Lastly, and most importantly, if he's unneutered, neuter him ASAP. And please, if he doesn't want to go out, don't force him. He will become fearful of you if you do, it's the wrong time of year to do so, and really, you're lucky that he wants to stay indoors with you. See it as a privilege- he clearly enjoys spending time in your home with you


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Unless I am mistaken this is a kitten of approx. 19/20 weeks/ un neutered and from what I have read so far, being shut away simply because he is being a kitten.
It is normal kitten behaviour to be into everything and to do it at the speed of light,unless you play with him and keep him occupied he will find his own amusement.
Please don't let him outside he is way too young to be safe as others have said you only have to read the sad posts over the last few days to see how easily accidents can happen.


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## korrok (Sep 4, 2013)

My boy Teemo is a year old and can have crazy days, but the answer has been just lots of toys and if he's in "that mood", you need to stop what you're doing and play with him, tire him out. He's also a very smart cat - I think many high energy animals are intelligent, dogs and cats alike - and "intelligence toys" are a great boon, e.g:

Snack Ball Cat Toy: Free P&P on orders £25+ at zooplus!
Peek a Prize Toy Box for Cats at zooplus
Great deals on cat toys and accessories at zooplus: Trixie Cat Activity Fun Board

"Da Bird" is also a great toy for using up energy, they go mental for it:

Da Bird Interactive Feather Cat Toy - Easy Store / Pull Apart Rod: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

I really would not force your cat to go outdoors, especially not at this time of year. As for "chasing" the cat, I don't know if this was meant literally or not, but it's also a bad idea since they get fearful. I make a sharp "TSSSS" sound to interrupt the bad behaviour which gets their attention real fast and then I go pick them up and "relocate" them somewhere else, ideally on their cat tree or with toys. Cats are individuals though so your milage may vary on that.

EDIT: after reading above and reading he's that young, then oh yeah he's gonna be a ball of constant energy that needs lots of attention and play. Tire him out, get all the various toys you can, make the place safe (including for your furnishings/possessions) to let him explore. He's going to do crazy things which will drive you mad at that age. They all do.


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## Jesthar (May 16, 2011)

Please don't let him out - he is WAY to young, and no cat should be let out before they are both neutered and a year old.

What you are describing is pretty normal kitten behaviour. I have a female tortie kitten a similar age to yours, and she runs on Zoomy Juice. Thankfully she hasn't shown any interest in climbing curtains, and she also has my older cat teaching her manners, but she is still a handful! And I kittenproofed before she arrived, too, with wire protectors etc.

Put simply, your cat is bored, VERY bored, and keeping him confined is only going to exacerbate that. He's the feline equivalent of an energetic toddler that needs to be played with interactively, and not just for a few minutes, but for a couple of hours at a time to wear him out. That means feather wagglers and danglers, laser pens, other toys where _you_ are playing with him. My girl also loves her Bergen ball track (Catit also do ball tracks) and plays with that for long periods of time on her own - but I always get the best results from playing with her myself. Drinking straws and jingle balls are also a big hit.

Yes, it's time consuming - but, oh it is FUN! And you only get this time of life once, one chance to make the most of it. And at the end of all this charging around the result is often a zonked out kitten lying beside me on the sofa, or curled up in my arms.

Also, as you are in rented accomodation, see what you can do to minimise the attractiveness of the furnishings. Take the blinds down, if you have to, or leave them in the up position (my friend once had to remove an inlaid coir door mat as her two wanted to use it as a loo  - landlord was fine and they just put it back when they moved). Replace expensive curtains with cheap ones. Block access to the wires behind the TV (I got a whole new unit, and still use blankets to finish the job!), and use cable tidys on them. Move the cat tree closer to the locations where he likes to climb so he may choose to use that instead (position is also important with a cat tree) - and PLAY with him on the tree with the toys so he knows he is allowed to do what he likes on there.

But most of all, remember that what he wants is to spend time playing with YOU and your family. Do that, and keep on doing it, and it will make a big difference


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

I didn't realise it was you with the kitten shutting him in the room. I'd take the blinds down if they belong to the rented house owner and put up a pair of cheap curtains.


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## Harveybash (Apr 29, 2013)

My girls are 5 months and a constant 'handful' .. but I love every minute of it and wouldn't have it any other way. I certainly won't be thinking of letting them out till next summer.

I also agree that 'chasing' him round will make him become fearful.

I live in a flat, so the kittens are constantly 'under my feet' but I play with them a lot and encourage them to play together. I love them being around me, even when they are being naughty.

Why did you get him?
Do you enjoy spending time with him, playing with him and cuddling him, or do you see him as a nuisance?

This may sound harsh, but .. If he is really becoming too much for you to handle, rather than forcing him outside, there is always the option to re-home him.



Edit .. I agree about the curtains, I took mine down and put up some £3 charity shop ones. Problem solved


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## Cookieandme (Dec 29, 2011)

betrayedninja said:


> I spent £50 on a big cat tree for him at the weekend, not a bit interested in it even after treating it with cat nip spray, no he'd rather hang of the curtains or blinds.


My girls have broken almost all of the bottom chains from the blinds and having spent around £500 on cat trees both of them currently prefer £7 ZP carboard beds 

There are no closed doors in my house - it is their house as well


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

You need to PLAY with him. Kittens are perpetual motion machines. You need to play with him every day, several times a day. 

Four or five interactive play sessions a day. Every day. This will stop the so called"bad" behaviors. he's just being a kitten.

Locking a kitten up in a small room is cruel. And forcing a cat to go out who doesn't want to go out is asking for trouble. He is safer inside.


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## Harveybash (Apr 29, 2013)

I'm so glad that I replaced my curtains with cheap (throw away) ones ... as now, instead of telling them off when he climb up them ... I can laugh and enjoy their crazy moments! 
(It takes more muscles to frown than to smile remember)


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## ljs85 (Jun 2, 2012)

You get what you put in.

If you interact with the kitten on a daily basis (playing, petting, chatting etc) and make their environment a safe and pleasant place to be, you will have a more settled cat in the long run.

If you leave the kitten in a confined area for most of the day, expect it to amuse itself and then chase it when it does, you'll end up with a very frustrated and confused cat at the very least!

Oh and the going out thing... Why you would want to do that now when it is coming up to bonfire night is beyond me.:


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## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

He sounds like a totally *NORMAL* kitten.

Do you really want him? Why did you want a cat? What did you think kittens do?? Just sit about?! That's called a teddybear! 

No wonder he is going mad, stuck in one room all day night then he is let out, he is going to go mental, you are going to slowly experience problems if you do not sort this out now  This is no way to keep a loving family member! 
He is probably doing that blinds as its the only time you give him any attention! He does that you come up to him, bad attention is better than none!

Why isn't he neutered yet? Of course he doesn't want to go outside, he is kept in a small room then expected to go play outside with all of those new smells, noises, he is scared!  Cats shouldn't go out until at least 12 months old and neutered, with small steps like on a harness to get them used to the garden over weeks, you don't just open a door :skep:

Why don't you play with him? Let him have the run of the house, get the laser out, the da bird, get him cardboard boxes, put the cat tree in front of the patio doors so he can look outside, throw toys up the stairs drag toys all over the house so he chases you, Let him out of the flippin room!

Really think about whether you want him, if you are going to put in the work, if you don't he will have problems and then you will end up 'getting rid' of him so someone else will have to deal with it, or sadly not


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Spot on TB , I'm fairly sure you have just posted what everyone else is thinking


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## korrok (Sep 4, 2013)

Pretty much exactly this, unfortunately. I read the other thread and was a little uncomfortable seeing stuff like



betrayedninja said:


> I suppose everyone has the image of a kitten as a cute little cuddly thing who you can carry around, cuddle etc etc


I'm not sure of anyone who has this image of a kitten, but then I could be being naive myself. But when I imagine a kitten, it's a non-stop little ball of fur who will chase at anything and constantly wants to play till they fall asleep. I think the majority of cats don't want to be carried around like a plush toy, certainly in my experience.

At this point, I don't think further criticism is going to help, but I can only say to decide if you really want a kitten/cat (who is not an item of decor or a toy for the kids, but a creature with a personality, moods and needs). If you do want him - and I hope you do, since you are taking the time to post here - it's time to start building positive experiences with your kitten. So far he's associating you/your family/your home with a string of negative experiences - fear, being chased, not understanding him, locking him away, throwing him outside - and these have all built into a few negative behaviours and a kitten who does not trust humans at all, hence his "scrabbing and biting" when you try to go near him. You need to now put in hours, empathy and love to get him back on track. Sit with him, play with him, talk to him - get a cat book from Amazon/The Works or the library or whatever, teach your children about how to properly handle and look after cats, what their behaviour/bodylanguage means so they treat him right and don't need to feel scared. Build up trust, follow the advice on the thread to protect your belongings and give him plenty of time - WEEKS - to get back on track and see you as a friend and not someone hostile.


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## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

korrok said:


> Pretty much exactly this, unfortunately. I read the other thread and was a little uncomfortable seeing stuff like
> 
> I'm not sure of anyone who has this image of a kitten, but then I could be being naive myself. But when I imagine a kitten, it's a non-stop little ball of fur who will chase at anything and constantly wants to play till they fall asleep. I think the majority of cats don't want to be carried around like a plush toy, certainly in my experience.
> 
> At this point, I don't think further criticism is going to help, but I can only say to decide if you really want a kitten/cat (who is not an item of decor or a toy for the kids, but a creature with a personality, moods and needs). If you do want him - and I hope you do, since you are taking the time to post here - it's time to start building positive experiences with your kitten. So far he's associating you/your family/your home with a string of negative experiences - fear, being chased, not understanding him, locking him away, throwing him outside - and these have all built into a few negative behaviours and a kitten who does not trust humans at all, hence his "scrabbing and biting" when you try to go near him. You need to now put in hours, empathy and love to get him back on track. Sit with him, play with him, talk to him - get a cat book from Amazon/The Works or the library or whatever, teach your children about how to properly handle and look after cats, what their behaviour/bodylanguage means so they treat him right and don't need to feel scared. Build up trust, follow the advice on the thread to protect your belongings and give him plenty of time - WEEKS - to get back on track and see you as a friend and not someone hostile.


I missed that, who thinks that about a cat (or any other animal) 

To be honest I agree that the OP has created the situation herself, now its going to take weeks/months of work to turn it around, Im not sure how much the OP wants to invest though?


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Taylorbaby said:


> *I missed that, who thinks that about a cat (or any other animal) *
> To be honest I agree that the OP has created the situation herself, now its going to take weeks/months of work to turn it around, Im not sure how much the OP wants to invest though?


This is the thread TB................. http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-chat/326639-struggling-new-cat.html


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## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

buffie said:


> This is the thread TB................. http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-chat/326639-struggling-new-cat.html


Wow  wonder how the dogs were raised? Not that much difference with the playing and training them with a cat, 16weeks old?! going outside?!  Couldn't read much more, he isn't a 'terror' he is a kitten 

Im not sure the OP actually reads anything anyone writes as they haven't changed or done anything to help the kitten, apart from chase it and try to put it outside instead of the great advice people have given.

I feel sad now! :frown5:


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## dagny0823 (Oct 20, 2009)

So after all the great advice that people took the time to give you in your original thread, the only little tidbit you took away was "let him outside"? And this is ignoring the caveat to that advice of "after he's 1 and neutered". Ordinarily I would say 2 kittens would help you here, but there's no way I'm going to suggest anything of the sort. 

Look, you got a kitten, not a stuffed toy. He has an individual personality and the only interaction he's had with people it sounds like is 1) chasing, 2) yelling, and 3) locking away. Perhaps your friend's kitten has been petted and treated like a member of the family rather than a troublesome interloper. Perhaps your friend's kitten just has a more docile personality. If you keep on like you are doing, however, he's never going to even like you. You sound a lot like my mother did when she got her kitten. She misinterpreted his kittenish play fighting and took everything as an 'angry attack". She smacked him when he was "bad". She provoked him by continually trying to make him do what she wanted instead of respecting some of his wishes so they could compromise. Eventually she just started letting him wander because he really didn't like being in the house with her--it was unpleasant. To me, that's not a pet. But pets aren't necessarily born--they are often made by love and respect and gentle handling and quality time spent.


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## princesspeach (Oct 6, 2013)

I also have a kitten, a boy as well, he is 11 weeks tomorrow so a bit younger, but he is also in to absolutely everything and i am assuming he will probably get worse as he gets older...or that is what i have been told anyway. I considered long and hard before getting our little guy because i have 3 kids, and i like my house to be in order, even with 3 kids, i like things in their place, and knew that a kitten would disrupt this. Freddie likes to crawl in to the back of our tv cabinet and sit on top of the dvd player looking through the glass at us, he plays with any wire he sees, he climbs up the curtains, he sits in my daughters toy buggy when she is trying to play and tries to chase the front wheel as it goes round, he sits on my sons hands when he tries to play his ds and chases his fingers as he taps on the buttons, he sits in amongst both my boys trying to play with their cars and drives them barmy chasing the cars, he scratches at my sofa, and one of his absolute favorite things to do is to sneak up on me and pounce on my feet!! I could go on for a very long time, as i am sure other owners of kittens could. But the thing is though, this isn't really naughty, because, like a baby human, freddie is a baby cat, he is playing and he doesn't mean these things to be harmful to anyone, like when my daughter does something i do not want her to do, i tell her, over and over until she gets it, i don't lock her in a room out of trouble. If i did, she would cry, which is what your cat is doing, by meowing. I'm not an expert on cats, far from it, freddie is my first cat, and i am completely new and do not know what i am doing, but to me your cat does seem pretty normal for a kitten. Also, freddie is going to be an indoor cat, but the other day i had him in my arms (he was being a little monsters clawing my feet so i was giving him cuddles!) when my hubby came in and he had left his key, so i went to let him in, and as i got to the front door and opened it, Freddie let out a yelp and bolted from my arms and hid behind the sofa....though i do intend on taking him out when he is quite a bit bigger on the harness, he is absolutely terrified of outside at the moment. I think if you let your kitten have the free run of at least some of your house he may not be as much of a handful, because, it won't be as much of a novelty being let out maybe? I sometimes shut freddie in my bedroom when i want to clean the carpet in the living room, and after 10 minutes he is scrabbling to get out again, so can't imagine how he would be after a long period of time!


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