SO young I bet that once his hormones calm down, he will adjust. My mom
pulled an intact 2 or so year old from the outdoors and I suppose it took
about 2 months before he stopped yowling at windows.

This is a difficult one.  It seems much more usual to keep cats inside in
the USA than it does here in the UK.
Up until now then, until he was snipped he could go out?  Is that what you
are saying?
I don't know how dangerous it is where you live, but it's not any more
dangerous than a few days ago and once the testosterone has reduced, which
doesn't happen immediately, he probably won't want to go far anyway.
It's quiet here, so safe (ish) for my cats, never say completely safe, so I
let Boyfriend out a couple of days after his snip.
Kitty, having lived feral for a few years would go crazy if I kept her
inside, even though now she is old she likes to sleep in front of the fire
most of the time, she was always keen to go out until she got hurt last
year.
Boyfriend is always happiest if the door is slightly open.  Even though he
quite likes to stay in now, he also likes the thought that he can go out
when he likes.
He may only just have come in, but if I shut the door, after ten minutes or
so, he will miaow at it.  Then I get up and open it, and he says "actually I
don't want to go out, I just want to know that I *can*, leave it open.."

Tweed

First, toys.  The favorites here are (in order of preference) "Red Dot
Greeble" (laser pointer), "Panic Mouse" (only under supervision), cat
dancer, bird on a stick, and jingle balls.  They also have just about every
other toy ever designed for cats.  Play with him hard enough to wear him out
so he's ready to sleep.

Do you have a place where you could put an outdoor enclosure?  Even if you
can't afford to buy one, some 2 x 4s and chicken wire can be used to make an
adequate enclosure if you, or someone you know, is handy.

Time and patience.  Eventually he will get used to being inside and
appreciate it (ask Enfilade how Smokey feels about going outside now after
having lived the good life for a while!  ;>).

Hugs,

CatNipped

My very best advice is to get him a kitten, and let them both always stay
indoors if you live near any traffic at all.

<snip>

<snip>

Couple months, anyway, and he might get kind of antsy at increasing
intervals afterwards, especially in spring. Oddly enough, of my two,
Mandy, who was never in her life an Out cat, was and is the most
determined would-be Out cat of the pair. We lack your wild animals (this
far from the woods, at least!) but when I moved to this house, I thought
the fenced back yard, surrounded by other yards, would be fine for an
adventurous cat. I didn't realize Mandy is completely confident of her
ability to run off other animals (including the wheeled kind), and I don't
think we'd been there 6 months before a neighbour told be there was a cat
run over out front, and it looked like one of mine! She was lucky to
survive, and although she made a few escapes, she was officially an inside
cat except when on leash from the time I got her back from TED.

Betsy, who actually had survived part of her short life on the street
before I adopted her, doesn't like the Out at all. She will sometimes, ver
briefly, come out in the back with me and Mandy, but she'll wriggle out of
her harness to get back *in* the house! And she never cries to go out. No
bowls of cat food, no nice soft place to rest - why should she?

No real help here.  I've never been able to keep a cat in.  Partly because
Charlie believes they should be allowed out.   But we have lived in
relatively safe areas.

It sounds as if you do not.  I want to offer you a lot of encouragement.
Cats are stubborn.  Siamese cats invented stubborn.

Jo

Lots of toys to keep him occupied.  Open the windows if you have secure
screens and let him "smell" the outside but not go out.  He'll calm down in
a few weeks or a month.  And I'll second what Lori (Catnipped) said; if you
can give him an outside enclosure that would be ideal.  Persia is out in
hers now and that's as far OUT as she ever cares to go anymore.

Jill

It depends. It could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, but
in my experience the behavior eventually stops. There are a few
compromises you can make that will make it easier for the both of you.
You could build an outdoor enclosure that is attached to your house and
is accessible via a cat door built into a window or some-such, although
I would would close it off at night and keep the cat in since you have
large predators in the area.

Another option is to train your cat to a harness and leash and take him
out at set times each day. Cats are very routine oriented animals and if
you do certain things the same way every day they do find comfort in
that, especially cats that have been in shelter situations or abandoned
and have experienced negative changes in their lives and had to live
with no continuity or schedules.

If your cat knows he gets to go out on the harness at a certain time
each day, he'll have something to look forward to (just as cats that are
fed scheduled meals know when breakfast and dinner time are near) and
his *knowing* that he will be able to go out at certain times will help
to stop his crying behavior at other times.

The absolute best harness for a cat is called a walking jacket and, when
properly adjusted, is inescapable. You can read more about them, see
what they look like and get leash training tips here:
http://www.hdw-inc.com/walkingjackets.htm

If you want to purchase one you can get it for a better price here:
http://www.metpet.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/walkingjacket.html

Stick with the soft sided one as it's more comfortable for the cat and
fits better. HTH.

Megan

                                   

Purrs coming that you'll win and he is soon happy being IN instead of
OUT facing the traffic hazards. No real advice, as I never won this
type of argument.

Hindsight being 20/20, I wish I had tried harder to insist that Rocky
(RB) stay inside. I felt he would be safe enough - after all he had
lived an estimated 6 years feral, then a couple more semi-feral, in
this neighborhood before deciding to retire and join our household.
Part of the problem with losing Rocky is that I'll never know how he
was injured. TED couldn't find any obvious signs of mauling or being
hit by a car.

After reading Karen's post in another thread about not wishing to
intrude with memories of Grant, I've spent most of this NG session
thinking of Rocky. Like I said in my reponse to Karen, I think readers
here understand what losing a furry master means a lot better than the
people we interact with day to day in RL.

Have you thought about useing Feliway? That might calm him down for
long enough to get him used to being indoors.

--
CATherine

It depends on the cat, I guessed. Xoxo never really asked to be left out
once he realized it was nice and dry and warm inside... :)

Well, Melisande ceased to be an indoor/outdoor cat four
years ago, but she still haunts the door, I can hear her
meowing all the way to the building elevator (hopefully only
when I leave or return), and if I'm not quite fast enough
with that squirt of water as I open the door to get in,
she's out and away.  Fortunately, so long as I remember to
check the door to the outside at the end of the hall before
I unlock mine, she can't go anywhere, but chasing her up
four flights of stairs to corner her at the door to the roof
is not my favoirte exercise!)

How did your friends cats kill themselves? I hope that isn't literal!  
Purrs for a successful indoor integration. I guess I've been lucky.
My cats have always come from the outdoors but never seemed to want
to be outdoor cats. At least to the point that I had to worry about
escape. Good luck and purrs!