Temperamental cat

Question
Hello Kate,

I live across the pond in the U.S., West Virginia to be exact, if you have ever heard of that state.  Anyway, my question concerns my cat, Tiger.  She is a 13 year old Calico, and she was a stray given to me by a friend.  When I got her she was 6 months old, and I tried to make her strictly an indoor cat, but I soon found out her love of the outdoors.  After significant damage to the interior of my house, I let her out and she has been a happy camper ever since.  I have 16 acres for her to romp, and I live in a very rural area.

The reason I am writing is her behavior surrounding being indoors vs out.  I know she prefers being out, but in the winter it gets very cold in this area, so for safety's sake I keep her inside at night so she won't freeze.  Her behavior regarding wanting out has just recently became a problem.  Just today, I let her out after her sleeping inside last night, as the temps were in the teens.  I also have an indoor dog, so I let them both out at the same time, so the dog can do her "business".  The dog (Princess) likes to roam around my yard sniffing every leaf and blade of grass.  She is shepherd/lab mix with some beagle mixed in I think, because her nose is always combing the ground.  Anyway, back to the cat...it wasn't very long after I let them both outside, Tiger all of a sudden was at the door wanting back in.  I realize it was probably because it is very cold outside, and she had been in the warm house all night.  So I waited until Princess was ready to come back in and let them both in at once.  Tiger always runs to her food bowl when she comes in, so she did that, ate a few morsels of her food, and immediately began meowing constantly wanting back out again!  And this after less than a minute indoors!  She can be very annoying when she starts her whining to go out.  

So my question is,  why did she want back in if she was going to want right back out again?  I realize that is what kids do, so it's not that big of a stretch for animals to have the same behaviors.  But what is your opinion of this?  Is this normal? Her whining is driving me crazy.  Is there a way to correct these habits? I am very curious to know your thoughts on this.   Thank you!   

Gary

Answer
Hi
Well yes this is normal behavior in my opinion. I have two cats and on many occasions they have asked to go out then about then minutes later want to come back to eat something then they want out again.

I know this can be annoying but the only other option is to have a cat flap which can only be operated by a chip in the cats collar and that is lockable at night. This way she is free to come and go during the day.

I would however keep an eye on her now she is 13. Old age can cause health issues and sometimes behavioral issues too, especially around age related illnesses such as dementia. See my page on my site about senior cats at www.our-happy-cat.com

best wishes Kate