Cat Question Part 2 - Houston,TX

Uff da, that's a lot of questions that have complicated answers. I definitely recommend doing some general research on cats. The cat should be calmer after being neutered so hopefully it won't climb the walls. The outdoors is WAY more exciting and stimulating for a cat so you may be met with some resistance. Personally, if I were in your shoes I would get the cat a real litter box. Then I'd look for a somewhat quiet area of the house to keep the litter box. With a dog and toddler I'd probably put it on a table/counter. Prep your hubby that accidents can still happen. I'd probably start letting the cat roam around the house at night when it's most quiet. The cat's temperament will determine a lot in how it adjusts to being an indoor cat. Have places where the cat can go if the toddler and dog are bugging it. My cat gets on the back of the couch or high chairs to get away from the baby. But over time, kids and animals get used to each other and the initial "what is that?!" shock wears off.

I had 4 cats when I brought my son home from the hospital, 15 years ago. never had a problem with him getting into the litter box. Litter boxes were not kept in the common rooms of the house (I did not have a garage), but on the porch that the cats accessed through a bedroom window, or in an odd corner out of the way of toddler ramblings. Baby gates were effective deterrents also. Oh, dogs and litter boxes - yeah, yuck - but the same rules apply for keeping dogs out of litter boxes that apply to keeping toddlers out of litter boxes. LOL

Over the years I have lost pets, and added pets, introducing new animals to the house. Whenever I do so, I give the new animal a separate place to be - usually the family room in our house now - complete with food, water, litter box, and limit the other animals access to the room. The existing animals wander in, check out the new one, the hiss, growl, leave - this repeats for days. The new one ventures out when we take the other animals off to bed and slowly explores. Eh, in about two weeks everyone has found their own level and it works out.

Neutered male cats, IMHO, become lovely pets. Cats, to me, are easier pets to have than dogs (and we have 3 cats and 4 dogs), because they are more self reliant - a litter box, food water, and they are good to go. Do scoop the litter box at least twice a day - I like the clumping litters or the Breeze system, over the regular kitty litter. The garage is a great place to "assign" to the cat - it will give him a place to get away and keep the litter box out of sight. As for the dog, they will either get along, or not - unless they actually fight, just let them be. I have one cat who loves the dogs and whom the dogs love - the other two cats just ignore the dogs.

Your child will learn to interact the with the cat - teach your child how to pet the cat, let your child put the food down for the cat (good way to teach the difference between people food and cat food). Since you already have a pet - your child is already acclimated to pets so the transition should not be that difficult.

Oh, and you don't train cats. LOL They acclimate though. It may be that after years of being outside the cat will love being a daily part of the family. If you are worried about him getting out, get him a collar and a tag, and have him chipped. I had one, years ago, that was a stray that we took in - he loved to go out and since he was familiar with the neighborhood I let him - he always came home. When we moved into an apartment he became an indoor cat. He adjusted really well to not going out anymore - being in a new place helped I think. He spent his remaining years with us, into our new home, as a fat, happy, indoor cat. Your kitty may well not have an issues with being kept indoors.

Good Luck
God Bless

Good luck on making an outside cat an inside cat. When I moved I did all the recommended things by my vet to make sure my cat wouldn't run off. It worked....but guess what? She was NOT happy being inside anymore. I would gather her up at night and put her in my cozy garage with all the necessaries for her. It is heated and air conditioned. Nope...didn't wanna come in anymore. So I put an ID tag on her and let her go. People that saw her thought..."now that's a cat that shouldn't be outside"...and they would call me and say..."hey, we found your cat". So I had to explain and that is the end of that.

Some cats love to be outdoors, some are fine with staying indoors. You'll know pretty quickly which one your cat is! I would install a cat door from your house into your garage and keep the litter box in the garage. If the cat seems not to enjoy being confined to the indoors, then add a cat door going to the outdoors from the garage (or if you have a sliding glass door, you can install one there). We have one cat that WILL NOT be an indoors cat, so she is allowed to come and go as she pleases (if we try to confine her to the indoors, she will hide and then run out whenever the door is open).

In terms of introducing the dog to the cat, put the cat in the house. Let the two of them work it out. Cats are pretty good at defending themselves and/or jumping onto something high up to get away. It will take a little while for the two of them to come to an understanding, but they will!

Get a covered litter box and transition your cat to that. This will help keep your pug and toddler out of the sand. I would suggest getting the largest one you can to give the cat plenty of space. Get a couple of good scratching things to save your furniture and carpet. You don't have to spend a bunch on those trees, just those cardboard ones are great. Have a few around the house where you do not mind him scratching. Get a good stainless steal food and water dish.
Keeping them in a separate space at first is a good thing, especially while healing from getting neutered. Slowly, while you are home, allow supervised romps in the house. Start slow and build up to longer and longer stretches. Putting him back in the garage when you are going to be leaving and at night. Do you have a room in the house that you could give the cat that you can close the door while working on transitioning? This way the pug and the cat can get used to each other's scent and visit from under the door. This works very well. As time goes on you will be able to let him in the house for longer and longer stretches as everyone acclimates. When you begin to have him around the house for longer stretches and people come and go you may find him trying to door dash. Have a spray bottle with water handy and/or a can with some pennies or something else that makes a startling shaking noise. When he approaches the door give him a squirt and/or rattle the can while stating a stern "NO". They do get it. While you have him separated make sure to go out there on and off during the day just to pet him and give him attention to help socialize him. Bring the toddler out with you and hold his hand while petting him together. Have lots of treats on hand to reward good behaviour in the cat and verbally praise him while giving him the treat. Teach the word "Gentle" to both the cat and toddler. Yes, cats can understand simple one word commands. Trust me.
Maybe pick up one of those Cat for Dummies books. They really are great books. I bought the Kitten for Dummies when we rescued a stray off the street along with her few day old kittens (we tried to rescue her before the kittens were born but failed but managed to within a few days of them being born). It's been a little over 3 years now and they have settled in and taken over. We had 2 other cats at the time that have since passed on from old age and we added one more adopted cat a year ago. It does take a little patience with previously outdoor cats. We had the trio in the bathroom while incorporating them. We were later able to move them to the library so they had more space. They now of course have run of the house ;)

I've had cats all my life. All but 2 were outdoor cats. Now what I'd suggest is to not force the cat inside. If he don't want in, he's not going to like being couped up inside but to let him in if he shows interest in coming in...let him in if he wants in..let him in for a few minutes to explore then let him out if he wants out. If you have more than one cat, you may need to get a separate litter box b/c most cats don't like to share (could be wrong but that's what I heard...I've only had indoor cats one at a time so not too sure on that). I'd just let him go in/out as much as he likes at first but making him stay in longer each time or could just put him inside then just forcing him to stay inside/preventing him from getting out. Both methods work but my latest cat was outdoors & had to make her indoors due to living in an apt & she didn't like it at first but has accepted it but if I could do it all over again, I'd do the let her in/out method instead but our situation didn't allow for that. Make sure to have plenty for the cat to climb on, expect it to jump up on stuff b/c cats luv to climb! If he still has claws, teach him to use a scratching post as soon as possible. Good luck!

First, for the cat box- you can put it in a bathroom with a gate across it. The cat can jump the gate, the dog can't. I never really had any issues with my toddlers getting into the cat box.

As for introducing the two animals, that ones a little harder. I would keep the cat in the bathroom that you are going to put the little box in and close the door. Keep him in there for a week. Yes, it will seem cruel, and he may try to escape every time you go in there, but he will get used to the smells of the house and the dog and vice versa.

It will be very hard to transition your outdoor cat to an indoor cat. Once outside, cats usually like to go out. We have an outdoor cat who only comes in to eat, and an indoor/outdoor cat who goes out for a few hours at a time and then wants back in. We also have a strictly indoor cat who rarely ventures outside.

I would do this- get a cat door in the door leading out to your garage and leave the boxes in the garage. That way, the cat can come to and fro as he pleases. My cat loves the garage and does not ever want to come inside. She has a cat door to the outdoors to do her business, but she prefers her little garage sanctuary. Also, cats that aren't used to children will find it pretty stressful to be around all that excitement. Kitty may need a refuge.
I wouldn't worry so much about the toddler being in the litter box, but man, do they smell. It doesn't matter how often you clean it either. There will always be that persistent mild urine/cat litter dusty smell. As a cat owner for 14 years, I can walk in a house and know if the person has a cat. So, if you don't absolutely have to put it in the house, then leave it in the garage!
Good luck!