More and more apartment complexes and subdivisions in urban areas are
passing *Leash laws*--as they are called--requiring restraint of all
household pets.  This is both good and bad.  It's good for the cats who can
be safely kept indoors because it precludes their coming in contact with
small object like fleas and ticks and large objects like cars and trucks.
But it's bad for the stray ones who run loose as ferals.  Ferals are apt to
be picked up by Animal Control and killed.

I happen to be one of only a few souls in my subdivision who traps,
spays/neuters inoculates and releases ferals back into the area where I
catch them.  If the female has kittens, I do the same with them and go out
of my way to get them placed.  I've been fairly $ucce$$ful at that.
Obviously, a cat who is spayed or neutered will not contribute to the
growing feline population.

The prollem is that such a humanitarian act is illegal because it runs
contrary to the Leash Law which says that the owner of a pet must keep it
restrained.  By local ordinances, when a person catches and spays a cat,
they become the de facto owner of the cat and subject to the Law and a fine
for breaking it.  It is virtually impossible to restrain a feral cat--which
makes the law both ludicrous and in opposition to humanitarian efforts.

In response to the original poster, I have a couple of quasi-feral cats that
I brought inside.  It took a while and lots of tough love, but after a few
weeks they stopped yelling at the door to get outside.  They finally settled
down and became totally insiders.

Cats are creatures of habit and they learn by that same rule.  If they get
their way just one time, they feel the wait was worth the reward, and they
have won.  Don't let them.

--Geno

Look, just give in to a certain point like letting the cat out at
nighttimes -
but that's about it! Full stop! It's for the cat's best isn't it?

Carola

hahaha yeah i can see what you mean. Maybe i'll just go buy a watergun and
keep her indoors from now on. I'll make like Clint Eastwood whevever she
meows to get out.
But do you think it's too late? I mean, will she ever get used to it, after
having extensive experience with freedom, will she ever get used to being
confined to this studio apt? God, i hate even using the word "confined!"

Is she perfectly alright with being in that space between the two doors? Or
does she just want out period.  If you want to train her to go out at night
only you might have to put up with the howls.  My understanding is it's
natural for cats who are outdoors to enjoy the freedom because they get to
express their hunting skills.  My cats are indoor only.  I made that
decision a long time ago mainly because we move to much and making them
indoor/outdoor would make it difficult on them to remember where home was
all the time.  I wasn't going to lose them, and not only that we always
lived on busy streets. So that fear stayed with me.  My cats hunt dust
bunnies, bugs that get in the house, (When we lived in Houston we'd often
purposely let in a Mosquito hunter just for them and let them chase it all
over the house), but they have their favorite toys like mice - take some
aluminum foil and ball it up, my cats love that and they hunt those things
and then they hunt each other. Now a cat who is stubborn, that's a trait
I've learned.  My oldest cat Wylie (5) is stubborn to the hilt.   If she is
somewhere she isn't supposed to be, she'll look and you with these eyes "I
know I'm not supposed to be here, go aheaed I dare to you spray me, I don't
care." attitude.  Whereas my youngest cat (I only have two) Zoe (4) if she
is somewhere she isn't supposed to be will look at you with those deer in
headlights "No, no, don't bother, I was just getting down.  Because wasn't
it you who said yesterday you didn't want me up here?" (Thanks to Paula
Poundstone for that).  We do use water to discipline our cats but I feel
guilty because I'll spray them and they come running to me for security. Zoe
doesn't even need to get sprayed though, she sees that bottle and runs to me
for cover.  It's almost like "If you spray us you have to spray yourself
too".  We did try the clicker routine to train the cats but like I said
Wylie is so stubborn that it didn't work, but perhaps if you use the clicker
routine and a treat everytime your cat comes home your cat won't want to go
out during the day.  Eventually they learn the clicker means a treat and if
the cat starts to howl give a click to distract him/her (sorry by now I've
forgotten) about the outside to give a treat and maybe have a toy waiting.

Just some thoughts and ancedotes I thought everyone would enjoy :)