Short of building an enclosure for him, I am not sure what you can do to
stop him wandering off. I think it is common practice to keep a pet indoors
for a coule of weeks after a move anyhow. Make sure you spoil him rotten so
he will want to come back, and get him chipped so if he is found he can be
identified. I keep my cats indoors, but they have never known anything else.
However, I am hoping that next summer I shall be able to have open windows
without fear of one escaping! This summer we had only just got one cat, and
had to be paranoid about open windows!
sandra

I think it is important for you to either (1) keep your cats inside or (2)
build an outdoor cat enclosure.  You are wise to be concerned about coyotes.
They are common in my area, and small animals often "disappear" without a
trace.  This has become more and more common as people displace the coyote's
natural habitat, and the coyotes consequently move closer and closer to our
own homes.  A friend of mine (east Texas) sent me a photo last week that she
took as she stood on her back porch.  A coyote was in her yard (a very
"large" yard because she lives in a rural area), and the coyote just stood
there looking at her.  The poor thing was probably hungry, but this shows
how close some of them get to our houses.  I do *not* think you should try
to "do something" about the coyotes -- after all, they are also part of
nature -- but I do think you need to take strong precautions to safeguard
your cats.

Here are some designs for fencing-in a yard (in your case, it would only be
a portion of your yard).  The designs range from do-it-yourself home
projects to expensive professional projects.  A search of the Internet will
provide lots of other options.  In fact, my brother and sister-in-law had an
8-foot "deer fence" installed to keep deer out of the yard.  It is a type of
mesh that can barely be seen and also serves to keep their can "in" (and was
one of the "expensive" options).

Design for do-it-yourself barrier to mount on top of fence (to keep cats
in):

http://www.lisaviolet.com/cathouse/backyard.html

Outdoor fence enclosure (several views):

http://www.just4cats.com/

http://www.just4cats.com/post1.html

http://www.just4cats.com/page7.html

A guide to inexpensive do-it-yourself fencing:

http://www.feralcat.com/fence.html

Cat fence-in containment system:

http://www.catfencein.com/

http://www.fabcats.org

(includes an information sheet you can download)

"Friendly Fence": web site says it is virtually invisible

www.friendlyfence.com

Other ideas for outdoor fencing for cats:

http://www.just4cats.com/page7.html

http://www.cat-world.com.au/cat-worldenclosures.htm

http://www.lisaviolet.com/cathouse/backyard.html

KittyKlips - addition to existing wood fence to prevent cats from climbing
[note: but would not prevent cats on "other" side of fence from getting in]:

http://kittyklips.com/details.htm

Cat enclosure made of planks and netting:

http://www.cat-world.com.au/cat-worldenclosures.htm

Modular cat enclosures:

http://www.catnip.com.au/

Flippy's page:

http://www.flippyscatpage.com/enclosures.html

MaryL

I just posted this to another newsgroup. Here is the enclosure I put up
for my cats:

http://www.purrfectfence.com/.

http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/gate_1.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/enclosure_1.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/enclosure_2.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/enclosure_3.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/enclosure_4.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/enclosure_5.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/enclosure_6.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/visitor_1.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/visitor_2.jpg