housecat training

Question
I picked up a stray kitten (6 wks old)- have taken him to the vet - has been neutered at 6 mos.  He is very loving; loves to be with us.  We have an older female (15 years old) who will not play with him; he is now about a year and 3 or 4 months old.  We have always had both cats outside in our back yard which is walled in (AZ) so they have not wandered away.  The young cat, Winston, has discovered he can jump over the walls.  We have been able to catch him and bring him back but this is becoming a problem and, therefore, we are reluctant to let him outside.

Is there any way to train a cat to stay in his/her own yard?  We tell him "no, bad" each time but he hasn't learned.

Answer
Judy,

Once a cat has discovered there is more to explore it is hard to keep him home until he is satisfied. You can put a collar (a breakaway type) with your phone number and address on it and hope he just explores a little bit and comes back, which most likely he will.

Sometimes the reason they like to get out is to find companionship. You may want to think about getting your cat a kitty friend about his same age to play kitty games with, and for company and comfort when he is alone.

If you want to contain him in the yard, I am including a couple of  good links for ideas on how to cat-proof your walls:
(copy and paste, or type, the whole links into your address bar)

http://www.lisaviolet.com/cathouse/backyard.html

http://www.feralcat.com/fence.html

I hope this helps.

Tabbi