HELP!! my cat keeps going to my old house

[irock]

help me!!! my cat keeps walking back to our old house and i can't get it to stay here!!! do you have any ideas???

[jbuck919]

help me!!! my cat keeps walking back to our old house and i can't get it to stay here!!! do you have any ideas???

Funny, there was just another thread about pets.

Who can figure out cats? I've never had one personally since living by mysellf as an adult, but two that my family did decided to get into a neighbor's garage and climb up into the motor of a car for warmth. Guess what happened? Other cats have jumped out of the car on the way to the vet and it took hours to find them. My family never had exactly the problem you're talking about, but ultimately we have to rely on the intelligence of the animal. They probably knonw where they need to go in order to be fed. Good luck.

[Corlyss_D]

help me!!! my cat keeps walking back to our old house and i can't get it to stay here!!! do you have any ideas???

Don't let him/her out.

[jbuck919]

help me!!! my cat keeps walking back to our old house and i can't get it to stay here!!! do you have any ideas???

Don't let him/her out.

Yes, well that's the obvious solution, but a lot of owners don't have that kind of discipline, unfortunately. If you live out in the counrtry as the members of my family do, it is foolish to let a pet outside. Eventually, it will be killed by a wild animal. But them's the breaks.

[irock]

he is miserable inside and every time we let him outside its up to the old house for him... i don't want to give him the the new residents of our house. i love that cat i've had him for 5-6 years

[jbuck919]

he is miserable inside and every time we let him outside its up to the old house for him... i don't want to give him the the new residents of our house. i love that cat i've had him for 5-6 years

It is true that cats like to roam. Germans love their cats too and I used to see a bunch walk by my window like alley cats even though I know they were owned. Then here in the village of Strullendorf outside Bamberg they discovered a dead bird with bird flu. So they quickly passed an ordinanace that all cats must remain indoors, and I have not seen one since. Another of my posts in the category of, I am not making this up.

[Corlyss_D]

he is miserable inside

I know. But who's the adult here?

I'm absolute on the issue. I adopted an outdoor cat whose family abused him - it's a long story that doesn't end well - and when I gave in to his pitiful displays, he was run over and killed.

What would you do if you had a child with a dangerous desire? Give in?

[paulb]

he is miserable inside and every time we let him outside its up to the old house for him... i don't want to give him the the new residents of our house. i love that cat i've had him for 5-6 years

ahh that explains it. The old house is his terroitory. The land is a part of his soul. There's not much you can do. Try feeding him can tuna in water and thin sliced turkey. Things that will help him forget his old place. How far away is the old house?

[Ralph]

Talk to your vet about mildly tranquilizing your cat so that staying indoors isn't such torture. This often works.

Also consider torching your old house.

I read your post to my two cats who have never been outside except to go to the vet and they were dumbfounded. One asked, "Why would any cat want to go outside?"

By the way, here in suburban Westchester County people are losing cats and dogs to coyotes.

[Richard]

I suggest playing a little from Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire at the old house.

[Agnes Selby]

Is it possible that the new owners of the house are
feeding him/her?

------------------

[RebLem]

he is miserable inside

I know. But who's the adult here?

I'm absolute on the issue. I adopted an outdoor cat whose family abused him - it's a long story that doesn't end well - and when I gave in to his pitiful displays, he was run over and killed.

What would you do if you had a child with a dangerous desire? Give in?

Corlyss is much more preceptive about cats than politicians. She's onto something here.

Is your new house a really new house, or did other people live there before you? One of the things you need to do is "scent-up" your new place with your own scent and those of your family members ASAP. On some weekend day, have everybody put on some grubbies they were planning on discarding and then do some hard physical, sweaty labor. Then make a present of the grubbies to the cat.

[jserraglio]

Have you tried putting the cat on a leash?
___________________________

To protect insect-eating birds, the Illinois legislature once passed a bill making roaming cats illegal--surprisingly, the governor, Adlai Stevenson, vetoed it:

• STATE OF ILLINOIS
  EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
  SPRINGFIELD, April 23, 1949.
  
  To the Honorable, the Members of the Senate of the Sixth-sixth General Assembly:
  
  I herewith return, without my approval, Senate Bill No. 93, entitled, "An Act to Provide Protection to Insectivorous Birds by Restraining Cats." This is the so-called "Cat Bill." I veto and withhold my approval from this Bill for the following reasons:
  
  It would impose fines on owners or keepers who permitted their cats to run at large off their premises. It would permit any person to capture or call upon the police to pick up and imprison, cats at large. It would permit the use of traps. The bill would have statewide application -- on farms, in villages, and in metropolitan centers.
  
  This legislation has been introduced in the past several sessions of the Legislature, and it has, over the years, been the source of much comment -- not all of which has been in a serious vein. It may be that the General Assembly has now seen fit to refer it to one who can view it with a fresh outlook. Whatever the reasons for passage at this session, I cannot believe there is a widespread public demand for this law or that it could, as a practical matter, be enforced.
  
  Furthermore, I cannot agree that it should be the declared public policy of Illinois that a cat visiting a neighbor's yard or crossing the highway is a public nuisance. It is in the nature of cats to do a certain amount of unescorted roaming. Many live with their owners in apartments or other restricted premises, and I doubt if we want to make their every brief foray an opportunity for a small game hunt by zealous citizens -- with traps or otherwise. I am afraid this Bill could only create discord, recrimination and enmity. Also consider the owner's dilemma: To escort a cat abroad on a leash is against the nature of the cat, and to permit it to venture forth for exercise unattended into a night of new dangers is against the nature of the owner. Moreover, cats perform useful service, particularly in rural areas, in combating rodents -- work they necessarily perform alone and without regard for property lines.
  
  We are all interested in protecting certain varieties of birds. That cats destroy some birds, I well know, but I believe this legislation would further but little the worthy cause to which its proponents give such unselfish effort. The problem of cat versus bird is as old as time. If we attempt to resolve it by legislation who knows but what we may be called upon to take sides as well in the age old problems of dog versus cat, bird versus bird, or even bird versus worm. In my opinion, the State of Illinois and its local governing bodies already have enough to do without trying to control feline delinquency.
  
  For these reasons, and not because I love birds the less or cats the more, I veto and withhold my approval from Senate Bill No. 93.
  
  Respectfully,
  ADLAI E. STEVENSON, Governor
  
  Source--Veto Messages of Adlai E. Stevenson, Governor of Illinois, on Senate and House Bills Passed by the 66th General Assembly of Illinois. Springfield: State of Illinois, 1949.

[Ralph]

Historically, the Democratic Party has been firmly pro-feline and Gov. Stevenson reflected that unwavering commitment.

In the Common Law cats have always been specifically excluded from tort doctrine with regard to owners' liability for harm inflicted. The rationale is that the domesticated kitty is still somewhat untamed and untrainable, a proposition most cat owners would endorse. A few recent cases challenge that position but, by and large, those who own cats don't have the worries that dog owners have.

There is mounting scientific evidence, especially from England, that outdoor cats have a severe impact on bird ecology because they are among the few mammals that hunt and kill even when well fed and not hungry.