cats-in-treeWritten by Jennifer Evans, DVM

My cats have always been indoor/outdoor but I moved recently and my boys had to adapt.  We had a 6-month temporary living situation on a very busy street so they had to stay inside.  I was quite worried, they are about 3 years old and still extremely full of energy and one of them has been known to occasionally urinate where he shouldn’t when stressed.  I bought an extra “cat tree,” a few interactive feeding cat toys where the cat has to play with the toy (“hunt”) to get the food out and used Feliway, a kitty pheromone in a diffuser that helps decrease anxiety.  We all did much better than I thought we might!

We moved into our permanent new home about 2 months ago where they are able to go outside again.  I kept them inside for over a month then slowly started letting them go outside.  I started briefly letting out one at a time with me present with really yummy treats available to keep them close.  I also showed them their ‘escape route’ into the garage right away so they would instinctively run there if they got scared.  As soon as I let one of them outside, he charged at a sprinkler about halfway down the lawn and pounced!  Apparently, he had been watching that ‘mouse’ for weeks from inside, he was terribly disappointed to find out what it really was!  I gradually started letting them out together and for longer periods of time, always in the daylight, until they were fully acclimated.  They now happily go in and out, climbing trees, hunting for gophers (haven’t caught any yet unfortunately) and basically having a blast in their new digs!  Even though they go out during the day they always are kept inside at night.  If you have questions about keeping cats happy and healthy in their home environment or have questions about moving, call or come by!  We are all happy to help!