We’ve got one cat 6months and the other 3months old, currently both using the litterbox. However we’re going to move to a new house soon, and eventually try to transition them to getting used to doing their business outdoors instead of the litterbox. Does anyone have any tips or best practices for this transition?
Pet cats that are allowed to roam outdoors are extremely destructive to local wildlife and live shorter lives. Cat should only be kept as indoor pets.
https://www.americanhumane.org/fact-sheet/indoor-cats-vs-outdoor-cats/
Classic case of US defaultism. OP, your cats will naturally adjust to doing it outdoors, but best to keep a litter box inside too.
https://academic.oup.com/jel/article/32/3/391/5640440
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.13745
Roaming domestic cats are a global problem.
Then keep your cat indoors and don’t shove your opinions down others throats? Especially when it’s completely irrelevant to what OP is asking
You don’t think information about the effects of free roaming cats is relevant to a question about transitioning cats to outdoor roaming?
They asked for tips or best practices, not on subsequent effects.
"What’s the best way to take heroin. " “Don’t do heroin” “They asked for tips or best practices, not on subsequent effects”
With clean needles, test shots, and not sharing any of your gear.
Make sure you always do a small sniff or shot of a new bag, know your sources but don’t trust them.
The y to have someone around with Narcan just in case.
It’s called harm reduction
Shorter lives? My first cat became 17 years old before she passed away. Of course cats can live outdoors, especially here in Scandiavia, the majority of cats cats live outdoors.
Okay, if not for your own cat’s safety then do it for the good of the environment.
House cats are non-native species who are subsidized by humans feeding them. Thus they can kill purely for pleasure and often do. Every year, house cats kill billions of birds (and rodents) and it’s an ecological nightmare that is putting massive pressure on wildlife.
Please, just don’t do it. It’s unnecessary. You can create a stimulating environment inside and if you cannot then you shouldn’t get a cat.
Norwegian forest cats are meant to be outdoors throughout the year even. Forcing these cats to stay indoors is considered animal abuse here. I’m not going to do that. While they do hunt sometimes, they also help get rid of rats and other pesty things… So they’re not all that bad…
Even the people we got these cats from refused to give them away to people who would keep them indoors only. It’s much like people who get Huskies while only keeping them in as pets in cities. They’re not meant for that. These cats are outdoor animals like many other, wether you like it or not.
If they’re meant to be outdoors then don’t feed and shelter them. That’s giving them an unfair competitive advantage against both their prey and other predators. Every rodent a house cat kills is a rodent that another predator doesn’t get. It leads to overpopulation and the eradication of their natural prey. In nature, if a predator’s prey is over-hunted without human intervention, then predators die off and the populations correct themselves (predators die off or move until the equilibrium is reached again). This cannot happen if you feed the animals when food becomes scarce and heal them (veterinarian) when they are injured. You are interceding in natural processes.
If it’s animal abuse then it’s very simple: don’t get the animal. No one is forcing you to get a cat (or Husky). If you can’t care for an animal responsibly then don’t get one at all. If you find one in the wild don’t interact with it, and let it be wild - don’t further damage the environment (more than we already have) so you can pet a cat once in a while.
I realize you aren’t going to change your mind, you seem pretty dug in. So I implore you to at least ensure the animal is spayed or neutered, and to consider not getting a new cat once the current one has passed on. Please, it’s just better for everyone involved.