My indoor cat seems to be depressed and bored as he does not want to play with the puppy anymore. He has a good appetite and acts stimulated after a while when I put balls out, toys out and rattle in front of him, but then he goes to the window and looks out like he wishes he were outside. The dog goes outside for potty and my other cat has limited hours outside or she goes nuts. Should I be keeping the other cat inside because of this? Usually I let her outside at night when he is not looking. but at some point he sees her come inside. He can't go out because he runs to the neighbors and eats all sorts of junk food and gets in fights. Please advise. thank you!
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Depressed cat
- Thread starter KathyS
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How about a catio like:
If she loves going out, then no.
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Like with children of different needs - rely on your creativity. maybe train this one to a harness. Use clicker training to teach to come. Try telling her the boundaries and reward her when she stops at the edge of your yard (or hire an animal communicator to try). Discover what brings her great joy - since not the toys anymore, what about mind games, boxes, chase, find the food, chase the food (Julia Child had a brussel sprout on the end of a string).
Feed her high value treats often during the day so she does not want to eat the neighbor's food.
Just a few ideas - let us know what works.
Dr. Christina
Feed her high value treats often during the day so she does not want to eat the neighbor's food.
Just a few ideas - let us know what works.
Dr. Christina
I really appreciate these comments! Thank you Dr. Jeff for the catio info and also for letting me know that my other cat can go outside. And Dr. Christina, I love your idea of using a harness and playing food games with the cat as I think that will work wtih Jack. I will say that partly why Jack was depressed was I was trying to cut back on his food. He's a big ragmuffin cat and eats constantly throughout the day. when I stopped trying to control that his mood improved. But I will try these suggestions. thank you!
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Excellent.
Just checking, you said you stopped trying to control eating all day. He is not on dry food, right? And is his weight good? Make sure he has to "hunt" his food.
Dr. Christina
Just checking, you said you stopped trying to control eating all day. He is not on dry food, right? And is his weight good? Make sure he has to "hunt" his food.
Dr. Christina
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