I have a 16 month female kitty who I adopted 3-4 months ago. In short, she spent the first 12 months of her life tied to a leash in an antique shop with no freedom to jump or run. So sad. I live in a small guest house with a beautiful backyard and windows, so I thought given her background, she’d be happy staying indoors at my place with her ability to run and jump etc., and lounge at the windows. Boy was I wrong. She once got out while I was gone because a gardener somehow blew my window open, and she spent the whole day outside. Ever since then she has been meowing incessantly to go outside. I have been routinely taking her outside on a harness but that seems to only open pandora’s box even more. It’s hard to work from home or even be at home sometimes because of the constant wailing. I play with her A LOT and it helps a little, but not much.

I want her to have a full life, and I want her to be able to go outside freely, but we have coyotes and rodents (I live in the hills of LA). I’m really struggling and wondering if taking her in was the best decision for both of us, which makes me really sad because I love her so much.

I would love to hear from anyone else who has been in this situation.