# Cat too scared to go outside



## Lizzy and Bonnie (Oct 28, 2014)

Hi
I have recently inherited my mother in laws 7 year old female cat, due to territory problems with another cat. She is a loving cat but very timid. She has been with us now for 6 weeks and has settled in to our home well but we can not get her to venture outside. She always loved to be outside when she lived at my mother in laws and we thought we would have the opposite problem of keeping her in. We have opened the back door for her to explore, she is curious and will walk up to it to sniff around but then runs straight back into the house. I know we need to give her time but we know how much she loves to be outside so feel awful that she is too scared to go out. Any ideas or tips will be much appreciated. 
Thanks


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## Ely01 (May 14, 2014)

I'll be following this discussion with interest, as I have a possibly similar issue. I took my old kitten down to the garden a few times and he seemed delighted and would then be asking or at least be interested in exploring the outsides (stairwell), but over the last few weeks he's staying strictly inside the flat and I think is scared of something, whether it is of people in the staircase or of another cat in the garden (he may have received intimidation the last time I took him), not sure. I'm quite happy with him being mostly indoor but wouldn't like him to miss out as he did used to really enjoy the garden the few times I took him.


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## ALR (Apr 16, 2014)

Hi, you say your cat used to have territorial problems. Was that with one of your MIL other cats? If so, your cat might have gone out more in order to avoid your MIL's other cats not necessarily because she liked it. 

Also the scents in your garden would be very different to the one she's used to. There might be other cats that have marked your garden. In autumn some cats are less interested in going out especially if it's been raining. I'd say leave the door open whenever you're in the garden and ignore the cat. When your cat feels safe, and hopefully your presence will make her feel so, she'll go out a bit more. 

But it's possible that she's settled indoors now and feels safe so doesn't feel the need to venture out as much.


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## Lizzy and Bonnie (Oct 28, 2014)

Thanks for replying. I think you maybe right. Yes the territorial issue was with my MIL's other cat, although they lived happily together for 6 years as the problems only started a year ago and she always liked to go outside before the problems began. There are a lot of cats in the neighborhood, we have even spread her own used litter around the garden so her smell is out there. I guess if she is happy indoors then that's fine as long as she is happy and content in herself, and I'm just worrying too much like you are with your kitten and they'll go out when they are ready on their own accord. I'll persist with leaving the door open and try to have more patience.


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