Should I move my senior outdoor cat to an indoor apartment?
Relocating an older cat indoors causes significant stress because they lose full access to the outside. This drastic change can trigger behavioral issues, like urinating on furniture, often leading family members to oppose the move. Owners are forced to choose between feeling like a cruel owner for putting the cat through the transition or leaving them behind and not being there if something happens.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Leaving the cat with family or a relative who provides outdoor accessDid this help you?
- 2Trying to use a cat backpack and harness for supervised outdoor tripsDid this help you?
- 3Relying on neighbors to feed the cat occasionally.Did this help you?
- 4Having a family member visit daily to provide care.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Dilemma: not being there when something happens to her or being a “cruel owner” by making her go through a big change?”source ↗
“Can I please get some advice, especially if anyone has moved a senior outdoor/indoor cat to an apartment?”source ↗
“I am fully aware that it will be stressful for him, especially since he will not have full access to the outside anymore.”source ↗
“My mom disagrees with this idea and is trying to forbid me from taking the cat, because she thinks ir will cause wayy too much stress for the cat and he will piss on every single piece of furniture”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4How to move with a puppy without stressing them out
- 42How to get a puppy to settle down indoors without barking
- 4Roommates keep letting my indoor pet outside
- 3What to do with pets buried in the backyard when moving
- 6What do I need to buy before bringing home a first cat?
- 4How to bring an outdoor cat inside when family objects or you have pets