Please help me with my cat

Question
Hi,
First I wish to thank you in advance for your help.  I've had my cat Blackie for 8 years now...he was a stray that followed me home one day.  He has been an indoor/outdoor cat, and I always make sure he has flea medication on at all time.  Lately he has been acting strange...he never wants to come inside the house anymore.  It's come to where i had to put his food bowl and water outside.  He's has always been a very affectionate cat and still is...if i go outside he follows me around but when it comes to going inside...he refuses.  I've picked him up and brought him in...but as soon as he comes in he meows and scratches the door until i put him back out.  It's almost as if he's afraid.  I don't understand what is going on and i'm very worried about him.  He always loved sleeping inside the house...now he refuses to even come in.  Do you have any idea what could be wrong with him?  

Answer
Well, I'm scratching my head on this one because a cat will react this way if brought into a place that it has had a bad experience in. And I am sure that he hasn't had a bad experience in your house.

Could he, perhaps, have gotten trapped somewhere outside for awhile? Perhaps the experience of being stuck in or behind something he couldn't easily get out of was traumatic and he remembers it when he comes into your house.

This sounds to me like it is a behavioral/psychological issue and so that is how I recommend you approach it. If he doesn't like being indoors, what does he like? Treats? Toys? Catnip? Affection? I suggest you use some combination of these to lure him to the doorstep and give him a special treat when he gets there. You might put his food as close to the door as possible too. Do that for a few days until you can get him to come close to the door and stay there for a few minutes. Then prop the door open and put the food/toy/treat just inside it and start all over again. Keep moving him deeper into the house every few days but don't close the door.

If you can get him to walk into the house a few yards on his own, then go buy a Feliway Comfort Zone kit (you can find them at Petsmart or possibly at your vet. It is a little atomizer that sprays Feliway (which has cat pheramones in it)
into the air and it makes cats feel safer in tense situations. A lot of exhibitors spray it in their show cages. Set it up in a room away from the door, then get him into the house, pick him up and put him in that room, leave him for a few minutes, go in and give him a treat, and then let him out. Again, you are going to need to repeat this training too, but I think over time he will become calmer and be able to tolerate more time inside the house. If you live somewhere where the weather is going to change and it is more comfortable inside the house, that should make a difference over time too, but the only way to fix this is to gradually convince Blackie that "indoors is OK."

Hope this helps

iris