From the outside looking in, the life of your pampered indoor cat might look so sublime. But from the inside looking out, you may find yourself wondering if your cat agrees with you. You notice your cat’s been staring out the windows longingly and meowing at the door. What should you do when your cat wants to do something you don’t want to let them do? You ask the animal communicator, of course!
Dear Shannon,
We have two cats, Lila and Leo. They came to us as brother and sister rescue kittens and are now three years old. We think they have a lot of Bengal cat in them although we haven’t had them DNA-tested.
Now that they are adults, Lila seems perfectly content to laze around the house, rousing only for mealtimes and evening “zoomies.” Leo, on the other hand, has become quite restless over the last year. More and more, we see him sitting on the window ledge and staring out the window. He meows when we open the door to go out and has even tried to race past us to get out!
From his facial expressions and meowing, it seems clear that Leo wants to go outside and explore. But we don’t want to let him out because we worry about his safety and we also worry about the songbirds in our backyard (Leo isn’t the only one in our family who loves birdwatching!).
But Leo seems so unhappy and I feel really guilty keeping him indoors and not letting him unleash his “inner wildcat” by going outside. Could you talk to him and see if there is anything else we can give him to ease the sting a bit?
Concerned cat mom,
Phoebe
Shannon’s reply:
Hi Phoebe,
My heart goes out to you. It isn’t an easy situation you find yourself in with Leo! I can assure you many of my human clients with felines face this same dilemma. So first I want to affirm you for bravely reaching out for help and for inviting Leo to join the conversation.
When I tuned in with Leo, I immediately felt the “bigness” of his presence and energy. When I feel an energetic spirit like Leo’s I know I am talking with an animal who feels like they are in their prime. Leo is strong, healthy, curious, intelligent and ready to explore. And your pet parent intuition is absolutely correct – he has definitely been wanting to venture outside lately.
When I shared with Leo that you want him to stay inside for his safety, the emotion I felt was sadness. Then he said “I know how to protect myself!” So then I shared that you also want him to stay inside for the safety of the birds outside. He sent back the emotion of LOVE. I capitalize because the emotion felt so strong – like my heart was literally going to explode with love!
I sent back an image of a cat chomping on a bird, an image of you watching this scene and the emotion of sadness. Leo responded with a statement “I love them so much!” I then sent back an image of Leo outside just sitting and watching the birds. He sent back an image of a cat chasing and catching the birds.
From this, we can be clear that your intuitive concerns about Leo and the songbirds are definitely on track. What is interesting is how Leo feels so much love towards the birds and doesn’t seem to associate catching birds with anything negative. He literally doesn’t seem to understand why he would be expected to just watch the birds once he is outside with them.
What is useful for you to know from this exchange is that Leo is clearly requesting an outlet to express his instinctual need to hunt and catch. When I showed him an image of a bird in the house that he could chase, hunt and catch, he sent back the emotion of JOY – again, a really strong emotional response.
So this guides us to brainstorm ways to bring a “bird” indoors so he can enjoy being a cat!
One way to bring the outdoors inside for Leo is to pair a cat laser pointer toy with a physical toy he can then hunt and “catch,” play with and chew on.
And because cats like Leo tend to crave novelty and variety to satisfy their “wild side,” adding several different hunt and catch toy combinations to his regular toy rotation is likely to be more effective than doing the same exact routine at the same exact time every day.
Interactive cat toys have become quite popular because they often fulfill a cat’s hunt and catch needs through a single toy – and do it without the need for you to get hands-on involved. However, it is always smart to supervise Leo with a new interactive toy at first just to be sure there are no safety concerns.
I also showed Leo an image of him sitting in an outdoor enclosed space watching the world go on around him. Leo seemed intrigued – he sent back a feeling of curiosity. This trend towards providing safe outdoor time for cats involves creating a structure called a “ catio”. So if time, budget and outdoor space permits, you may want to give a catio a try as well.
Finally, I showed Leo an image of him wearing a leash and walking with you outdoors. Once again, he sent back a feeling of curiosity, which indicates this might be something you may also want to pursue for extra enrichment.
Phoebe, I hope this information is helpful to you as you work to add more enrichment into Leo’s days. Please do keep me posted and let me know how Leo likes his new activities!
From my heart,
Shannon
