Where, oh where, is my Mr. O'Malley (UPDATE, found very sick, to vet, crossing fingers!)

[OzarksRider]

@Arcadien

some cats are very unhappy & become increasingly discontented when kept in.

This is exactly right. Some cats like to be indoors only, some cats are ok indoors but would like to go out, and some cats need outdoor time like they need air to breathe. I once had a cat that I tried to keep in at night for the first seven years of his life. I let him out during the day but it wasn’t enough. I have a large screened porch that he could be out in at night, but even that wasn’t enough. He became increasingly stressed to the point that he was literally pissing blood. The vet said in his case it might be best to just let him out, so that’s what I did, and I worried about him every night until he died of old age and heart failure. His last years were happy, prowling and defending his territory (and yes, he was neutered, vaccinated, and wormed).

I hope Mr. O’Malley will recover and have many more years of happy prowling.

[moonlitoaksranch]

We have 4 cats in the house. That’s all we can handle. We have two outdoor cats that would otherwise have met a sad end. That’s the best we can do. One of the indoor cats may be going back to her owner so that leaves us an indoor opening for the long haired female barn cat. The other barn cat has always lived outside and was a Tom until he was four (we got him neutered from the pound). He would probably beat up our indoor kitties, lol

[Gesaffelstein]

Yes most cats are not happy with just being bored in the house. There are some very interesting and creative ways to keep them content inside. Multi level shelves attached to walls, kitty condos, there are all kinds of ideas on the internet.
Laser pointers are a go to when my cat is bored.

[dressagetraks]

Hope O’Malley continues to improve!

I have known several cats who simply did not want inside, even with long trials. Emily Dickinson, who lived to at least 16 (I trapped her as a young adult, so exact age unknown), loved being a barn cat. I tried and tried to retire that cat indoors. She was miserable and agitated for the entire extended period of attempt, no matter what I tried. Back out she went, and she was happy. Went to sleep in the sun years later at age at least 16. My Cory cat was an indoor cat for several years, then an outdoor cat, and once she got to know barn cat life, she refused to go back in. And she had known all the pleasures of indoor life and got along well with the cats in there, but she didn’t want to return to it. Nope, she wanted to live out. I’ve also known cats with what I’d swear was claustrophobia.

Sometimes, it just doesn’t work. And being “bored” was never a problem at my place, as I have all sorts of entertainments, cat trees at windows, active toys, plus several other cats who are very active and entertain each other.

[Arcadien]

Thank you all for your stories, ideas, and support. Really helping me. Latest update, after he finished some tuna & tuna water (good idea whomever suggested tuna liquid!) He visited litter box, then did first self cleaning since home. Then he wanted out of his little sick room, so I allowed it, and he leapt to his usual spot in my bed. Not letting him outside out anytime soon, don’t worry! But his interest in normal activities is so encouraging. Especially when earlier, feared I would be burying tonight. All the jingles seem to be working!!

[rubygirl1968]

That’s so encouraging!!! It sounds like he is feeling much better.

Continued jingles for Mr O’Malley!

[Janet]

More jingles for Mr. O’Malley.

[ravenclaw]

So glad to hear he’s doing better. I hope he’ll be even better in the morning. Did the vet have any idea what might have happened?

[shiloh]

I’m so glad he is doing better. When they are sick I like it when they want to sleep with me. I feel I can monitor them so much better. Plus they have that big reassuring lump in the bed to snug with - ME!

[mommy_peanut]

@Gesaffelstein

Laser pointers are a go to when my cat is bored.

Laser pointers are one of the worst things to “play” with

[Larksmom]

why?

[Peggy]

Glad to hear he’s doing better. Dice and I send jingles and healing thoughts.

Dice is another cat that does not want to stay inside. Some friends found him about ten years ago. He was a barn cat for a number of years, came home with me for awhile until he and my original cat went to war and he started to urinate in the house (yes, extensive vet work; Dx was idiopathic cystitis, for which I’ve kept him on hyaluronic acid in the form of Trixsyn), went back to being a barn cat, and then came back home when the other cat died. We have a decent collection of coyotes so I no longer put him out at night, but he goes out during the day when I’m home. He follows me around when I do yard work. He is essentially the mayor of our little street: people on walks and bike rides stop to visit with him and I am known as Dice’s mom. The inappropriate urination occasionally rears its ugly head, including sometimes when he wants to go outside at night and I won’t let him. It got better when I was home more during the pandemic (one of the triggers was when I came home after teaching at night) and now that I’m retired. But if he really demands to go out at night I’ll often let him: however, I can generally retrieve him a couple of minutes later.

[Fiesta01]

What a handsome boy. I love black and white kitties. My husband and I had two tuxedo cats we adopted from our barn. The male was a survivor of a coyote attack and decided there and then he didn’t want to be a barn cat anymore. We adopted another barn cat to keep him company. They both loved being spoiled house cats the rest of their lives.

[Arcadien]

O’Malley is looking great this am!! Great appetite, eating, drinking, peeing, only worry he had diarrhea, no solid bowel movement yet. But could be all the fluids & miralax effect. Letting him walk about the whole house this am, he is increasingly perturbed at my refusal to let him outside lol. Not until I have a long talk with the vet, buddy boy! As for cause, vet theorized he became overwhelmed by the extreme heat & humidity, got dehydrated and then too weak to come home. But just a theory, I still have questions. Will be interested to see how his kidney & liver functions look on the labs. And take it from there!

[Marla_100]

super news.

Usually it’s some kind of traumatic event that causes these situations but often we’ll never know
just what it was.

[2DogsFarm]

Jingling for Mr O’M

BTDT with In/Out cats, both in the Big City & here on my farm.

For the ones that choose Out, you have to accept their lives are their own & the heartache that goes with that.

My petite (7#) barncat survived 10yrs, succumbed to a stroke the year I decided she could retire indoors.
She had always come up to the house (usually when she felt I was tardy with meals) but never wanted In.
Worst scare she gave me was going MIA for 3 days during a horrible Winter storm. I was sure something had got her.
She had never been much on going out into the snow, preferring her cozy hidey-hole in the stacked bales of hay, or the fleece house I put out for her, complete with handwarmer pack for overnight.
She reappeared as if nothing had happened.

[AnastasiaBeaverhousen]

Glad for the good news.

We need pix!

[Arcadien]

Update, O’Malley bouncing off the walls with great health - so healthy the little brat managed to escape outside a couple hours this am before I rounded him up! His labs came back - all good. Going to be a struggle to keep a healthy O’Malley inside but it is a joyful problem. Seeing when I can schedule an update of his vaccines, then we’ll talk about outside again buddy!

Thanks again for all the support here, still amazing how extremely distressed one of my fur babes being missing or ill can make me - I think I’ll age out of this but it actually only gets worse as I get older, it seems.

Pic of O’Malley sulking by the window that no one will open for him, this morning

[rubygirl1968]

For some reason I was expecting a big orange tabby but he’s a distinguished gentleman. He’s so handsome!

I’m glad he’s feeling good enough to be a pest but sorry about it at the same time.

One of the cats that showed up at my house years ago that I trapped and had neutered won’t stay in all the time either. He’s more than happy to come in at night when the temps are lower, but come spring and summer he will have no part of it and runs away from me if he thinks I’m going to pick him up and bring him in.

[ravenclaw]

@Arcadien

Thanks again for all the support here, still amazing how extremely distressed one of my fur babes being missing or ill can make me - I think I’ll age out of this but it actually only gets worse as I get older, it seems.

About most things in my life, I am very level-headed and rational and laid back. But when it comes to my cats, I get extremely upset and emotional.

O’Malley is adorable! Very handsome and you can really see his personality.

I have a cat that has always loved outside. As he’s getting older he’s spending more time inside but when it’s warm weather, he wants to be out at night. If I don’t let him out, he will claw at the doors and harass the other cats and cause problems all night.