Indoor cats vs. outdoor cats

I let my two cats Socks and Mittens go outside. We live in the suburbs and they stay pretty much close to home (especially Socks) but many people say that cats should stay indoors.

My cats love to lay on the patio outside and they love to chew on blades of grass. They wouldn't be too happy if I started making them stay indoors, especially Mittens. If I tried to keep her inside, she would probably drive me up the walls meowing to go out (she does that now and I do let her out). They are not allowed to be out overnight, though.

I was curious what other people think.

 

Well I know people do but I don't think I would personally. I would be too worried about what could happen to them and if they wouldn't come back. Plus diseases and injurys.

Some dangers are:
cars
other cats
dieseases
people taking them in to their homes
people abusing them
wild animals
getting taken to the pound

etc..

 

This is actually a very controversial topic.

Personally, it is too dangerous in my area (I live on a main road in the city) so mine are kept inside only. Although, I ocassionally take one of them outside on a harness. Even if I lived in a "safer" area I don't think I'd be too comfortable letting mine outside without supervision. In the future I would like to build them a large outdoor cat enclosure so that they can enjoy the outdoors if they wish to but still be safe. My grandmother lets her cat out in the backyard. She has a 6ft privacy fence and her cat is obese so he just stays in the yard and lounges in the garden.

Its really a personal decision. I would take into consideration your individual neighborhood. If you feel that it might be too risky then maybe you can build them an enclosure or harness train them.

 

my kitties have a large wire dog crate that i let them out in the yard in..i am too nervous to let them roam free...it is too dangerous for them outside.

 

It all depends on what type of cats you have and what environment you live in. I live in the suburbs and I let Milo out for a couple of hours each day. I trust him to come home when I call him or when it rains. His sister Venus was another story. She was a wild chick. She never came home when called upon. She played catch me if you can at midnight, 2, 4 ,6 AM. Finally she met her maker crossing a busy street last July. I vowed to keep Milo in but failed miserably. He needs to be outdoors everyday or he's miserable. Pumpkin and Monty are perfect for letting outside by themselves. They will chew grass or smell the fresh air for 5-10 min. and then they will demand to be let in again. I tend to agree with most people here. Harness train and/or built an outdoor enclosure unless you have one crazy chick like Venus or Rene. We refuse to let Rene out ever because she has the same crazy traits as Vene. She'll never come home if she gets a taste of the outdoors. We have her trained. She does not sneak out when the doors are open. Only Milo will do that.

 

I had a cat, Sessy, that always stuck close to home too. She would lay on my cat, she could get on our porch, she would lay in the sun on our stonewall my husband built in front of our house...she did this for 9 years and I never had a problem.

July 18th 2002 was the last time I saw Sessy.

I came home from work a couple of days before and I could hear Sessy meowing from the porch. Our porch has cathedral-type ceiling with rafters going across it - no way to get up there other than to climb the screened windows or up the walls....but I found Sessy in the rafters. She must have been desperate to climb up there to safety.

I got the ladder and got her down, knowing damned well that something must have caused her to get up there. I brought her inside and told her that was it - no more outside world. Couple days later I let her outside....haven't seen her since.

This was a cat that stayed in at night, never left the yard....something came into the yard and got her. If you want to live with wondering what kind of hell a pet went through that's up to you. I spent nights sitting on my porch hoping Sessy would come home...she hasn't yet. I'll never know what happened to her - but I bet it wasn't pleasant.

We have wildlife around here and I'm pretty sure she was probably some creatures snack - everyone in the neighborhood lost cats that summer.

Not worth it...at least not to me having been there done that.

I hear the arguement that would you keep your kids locked up in the house cause of dangers and the difference is you can teach your kids to to be aware - cars, strangers, poisons left on the ground, strange dogs, etc.....you can't teach a cat to be aware of these things. I prefer mine to not die a horrendous death - something I could have protected them from.

 

Mittens used to be harder to get in at night. My husband and I would be out there at 11 pm calling her and looking for her and she would not come. I think she was probably hiding under a bush laughing at us. We'd keep checking the door every 15 minutes and she would always come back by midnight. The last year or so she has been very good about coming and we try not to let her out later in the evening.

I understand what some of you are saying about the dangers of outside for cats. It's hard, though, since they love it so much and are used to it. They are 7 years old now and I don't know if I could or should change their habits. I'm kicking myself for not keeping them in when they were kittens.

I've had other cats I've let outdoors and they have all lived until they were 15 to 17 years old. One was hit by a car, though, but lived for 10 years after that.

 

We live in the suburbs. Our cat eviecat we let out most days. She comes back most times when called. So if we're going out we make sure shes back safe and sound. We also don't let her out at night as we'd be to worried. I sometimes think this may be a little selfish on our parts but she seems contented.

 

indoor outdoor?

After losing out beloved 13 year old cat Penny to a car in the alley behind our house and seeing how much she suffered before she died I had vowed never to get another cat.Well many years have passed and Raymond came into our lives, He will forever be an indoor cat. The vet asked me very specifically about this because outdoor cats get certain other vaccinations that indoor cats don't require.Also outdoor cats should never be declawed (YUK, on this practice anyway) as they have no way to defend themselves against other animals they might encounter.



who would have ever guessed you could love a silly cat so much?

 

My cat Mittens loves to eat grass, a lot of people say its to help their digestion. So I only take her outside, if I am with her, she doesn't go outside by herself, there are too many strays in this area, and people who like to speed. She could easily get hurt.

 

My Stewart is an indoor cat. I dont EVER want to let him roam the streets but I live on a busy street in a busy city. He is allowed on our balcony as long as I am home and the neighbors cat isnt outside to beat him up. He wouldnt roam the streets anyway, he is too scared of the cars and to be anywhere away from his home. I think its a decision that has to be made by the cats mom and/or dad to determine the safety-ness of the area and how they feel about allowing thier kitty outside.

 

i just wanted to comment on raymond....he looks soooo cute!!! i think if i get another kitty, its going to be orange again. I LOVE ORANGE TABBIES!!!!!!!

for me...only indoor. i guess it was how i was raised...we had two siamese when i was growing up...they were strickly indoor. i have had four cats in my adult years. all indoor. here in phoenix...i would be very afraid to let any cat outside. there are coyotes that run in the neighborhoods sometimes. its wierd...all of a sudden you will see a coyote in broad daylight...running across the street in a residential area. what they do is....the female lures the cat like she wants to play...then the male comes from behind and attacks. so...no going out for maxie cat

 

...............talking of orange cats, saw one out in the yard yesterday morning and I'm betting on it that it's the daddy of Dusty's babes!!

I've never had an indoor cat, my first cats, Sam and Nipper lived to 17 and 19 yrs, both had to be put to sleep in the end because of arthritis in their back ends. Dusty goes outside and has a cat flap, Kat we inherited when we moved onto the farm, she had been abandoned by the previous occupants and had managed to survive on her own. She won't come in the house but loves to be petted outside and goes round with me when I'm checking on the hens etc just like a little gaurd dog would. She has a bed and her feeding area in the wash house and seems quite content with that. Often she sleeps in the hay bails with the chickens She's a pretty mean hunter I can tell you! Fortunately whoever previously owned her had her spayed and so we haven't got the worry of her having kittens out in the barn!! Fleaing and worming are manageable but we might have problems if she needed to be taken to the vets - we'd have to get a trap from the cat rescue people I think.

Annie

 

My two cats both stay indoors for all the reasons Bellack1 states in her post. I would just be too worried about them if I let them wander, especially as a cat was run over on the road outside my house a couple of months ago.

But, encouraged by the comments on here about harnesses I bought one at the weekend and Pudcat, the eldest had great fun out in the garden for the first time on Saturday. Fudgie also went out afterwards but he is much more nervous and didn't like it much. I'll try him again in a few days, he often needs time to get used to something new and he never tries anything that Pudcat hasn't done first!

Anyway, I'm really pleased with the harness, though it was a bit of a struggle to get it on at first Despite all the toys they have, I think they do get bored easily during the week as they're in the house all day by themselves so hopefully some time spent in the garden everyday will help.

Jennie
who usually lurks

 

I keep my cats strictly indoors. I did let my one cat out on a harness from time to time. But, lately I've been so busy that I can't even do that. My cats were never let out so they don't bug me to go out. (Although the harness kitty tends to slip out the door - that sly cat! Luckily, she never runs past the porch before I wrangle her back in).

I live in the city and there are many strays in my neighborhood and heavy traffic is barely a couple blocks away. I just don't want to worry about what could happen to my cats.

I watch too many of those Animal Planet shows (Emergency Vets and all the animal cop shows)... I have seen so many scenarios where animals are being hurt and killed by being outside. I just would worry to let my cats out in the environment where I live.

BUT, in the end, I think it's a personal decision. Every circumstance is different, and all cats are different. Also, every location is different - each place has varying wild animals, traffic, neighbors... etc. Your decision just has to be something you (and your cats) are comfortable with.

 

I was thinking about harnessing my kitten later too but I'm just worried he'll want to stay outside once he sees what its like so I dont know.

Oh also I have one of those orange cats that is a stray and hangs out side my house! Purrdy- one of my cats- doesn't like the strays too much. The strays come right up to our doors and look in and eveything and since Purrdy knows they do that she pees right next to the door- territorial :cry:

 

"one of those orange cats" :lol: