All good posts, and I'd like to point out that there is technology available
now to trace lost animals, microchips.  Obviously not available in 1974.

Hi Rich,

Just shows how cats, like people, have different personalities.

We bought our Burmilla kitten as an indoor cat, and have no intention
of ever letting her roam free outdoors - she's too young to fend for
herself and too valuable anyway to let loose on her own.  However, she
does love going outside.  We take her out into the garden for an hour
or so most days on a longish lead and harness and she loves chasing
moths and lizards and just sitting in the bushes.

If we don't take her out by around 10am she goes to the front door and
miaows, then comes back to our feet and rubs up against us, meowing,
then back to the door again.  She gets quite put out if we don't take
her out - eg if it is raining - and will sit on the windowsill gazing
at the garden, giving us soulful looks every so often and plaintive
little meows.  It's heartrending!

She is quite good on a harness and lead, and follows along like a dog
when we take her for a walk.  She is a bit like a dog also in that she
loves "fetching" and will chase a ball of rolled up paper and bring it
back to drop it at my feet.  She never gets tired of it - we give up
first!

Sounds like you are getting into the debate though with that last
inflammatory statement. I tend not to get into it since I get
accusations of abuse from self righteous Americans.

govtlawyer@aol.com (GovtLawyer) wrote the following words of wisdom:

<snip>

Well, here's our take on this issue. My wife (before she was my wife) has a
son who brought in a cat (without asking). Since it seemed to be
therapeutical to him, she let him keep him. Then her older son came back to
live with her. He brought 4 kittens with him. The first cat got ticked and
started peeing on every piece of furniture he could. Literally.

So, we got my soon to be step-son to move his kitties into his room where
they all stayed cooped up for an truly abominadable period of time.
Finally, about 5 months later, he moved back out again taking his 4 with
him. I would say things settled back down again too, but the first cat was
still royally po'd and still ocassionally peed on the furniture. We usually
found out when one of the young girls sat down and went ewwww. Not to
mention more cat hair than an asthmatic like me could handle. Cat hair all
over the place. Floating thru the air to land on our steak dinners more
than once (one of the more enterprising among you really should write a
poem just about cat hair).

Then older step-son came back yet again. But, before he had, we purchased
all new couch and love seat since the previous ones had been totally
ruined. After he came back, he brought just one of the not so little
anymore kittens with him. We had to buy him a new bed as he took his with
him when he left and left it whereever when he came back. Uh-oh I bet you
are saying. The first cat got even more po'd this time and did his dangdest
to ruin the new furniture and the new mattress. We put up with his attempts
about 6 times before my now wife finally had enough and said, "He is now an
outside cat and if the other so much as looks crossways at my new couch and
loveseat funny, he will be too". A week went by after that and the second
cat peed on the loveseat and out he too went. So, now we have two outside
cats. One without claws seems to have become a very versatile hunter. The
other one almost sorta kinda. We think the first cat has found another
home, cause we hardly ever see him. Good for him we think.

I know, there are those among you who think we must be heartless to make a
poor cat become an outside cat after he had destroyed over a $1000 bucks
worth of furniture and was on his way to trying to duplicate it yet a
second time. Oh well. We decided our stuff was of more importance than that
of a tempermental cat. It is up to yall however to make a decision
concerning your own cat. We had a breaking point and once it was crossed,
we made our decision.

Good luck.

I'm not about to do the "oh you're horrible" thing. Nobody wants their
animals ruining their belongings. It isn't always a bad thing for the cat to
be allowed outside if the environment is safe.

I will ask if you tried anything (various sprays etc.) to discourage the cat
from using the furniture? Did you try any enzyme cleaners to get the smell
out? Were the new cats introduced gradually or did they just move in end of
story?

For future reference (not that your about to get another cat in a hurry)
this isn't unusual when a new cat(s) are introduced if they aren't
introduced gradually. The resident cat feels threatened and marks it's
territory. They need a gradual introduction before the new cat(s) have free
run in the resident cat's territory. Also cats will continue to use a spot
as long as the smell of their previous indescretion remains. Regular
combings can greatly reduce the amount of fur found laying around the house.

There are quite a few things you could have tried before taking the action
of dumping them outside. If you're ever interested I'm sure many people
would be more than happy to offer suggestions.

I also hope the cat that was declawed finds another inside home soon as it
is really at a disadvantage if it meets up with another outside cat. Have
you considered finding a new home for the kitty where it can be the only
cat?

I only bother commenting for the benefit of OP reading this who may have
similar problems. There are things to be done that can solve this problem
before the furniture/carpeting is ruined without having to ban the cat from
the house.