Hey everyone! I am new here, and I am a college student with an almost 3 year old Maine Coon named Robbie who is not declawed. My problem is that he has always tried to get out, but as of the past week or two, it is getting up to 3 or 4 times a day he gets out. I let him sit out on the balcony to enjoy the outdoors and he had been doing this for hours at a time since late August. On Saturday, we found that he had jumped off the balcony to go roaming. He never goes far, we usually find him within 10 minutes and let him back in. Yesterday I let him out on the balcony and checked on him about every 5 minutes and the last time I checked he was gone and had jumped again! Finally today, I shut the screen door so he could feel the air, and he CLAWED through it and jumped off the balcony! I found him roaming around with another kitty outside. It's all well and good, he has his claws and can protect himself, but my boyfriend and I DO NOT want him to be an outdoor cat.
When he is not outside, he is wailing (waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!) at the balcony door or front door. I know he is sad because things change a lot (I am in college so we go from FL to MD pretty much every 4 months, but he was raised this way). I can tell he is unhappy, but I don't know how to make him happy and keep him inside!
Can you guys think of anything I could do? Should we discipline him when he runs out? Thanks in advance.
Just wanted to add one thing: He has always been an attention hog. If he is at the door and someone is outside he wails until they come back in. If he hears movement in a room where the door is closed, he wails so loud no one in the house can sleep. I am just lost! Thanks guys!!
-Camille
