The closest my kitties get to being outside is my enclosed patio/greenhouse. When the sun warms the cobblestone floor they love to roll around on their backs. Then they have some salad, and puking ensues.
No. My mother had indoor/outdoor cats growing up, and lost too many to cars and such. (And the cat my grandmother had when I was little, despite living until 18, was once shot and had to live with a pin in her hip). So our cats have always been indoors only.
They’re much healthier, safer, and really, they’re plenty happy. The only ones trying to get out the door right now are the two kittens, and that’s only because they’re curious. They try to get down the basement as well.
Now, if you let your cats out, that’s fine. I feel that cats do better indoors, but to each their own. I hate the whole, “but it’s cruel to keep them inside!” “But they’ll be hurt and sick outside!” bullshit.
Just as long as they’re taken care of.
Boris is declawed and there are a lot of tough cats in the neighborhood. He would get scratched up pretty badly. So he stays in.
I found a kitty in the park. he was a feral and there was noway to keep him in. He ran the neighborhood. Cats came by once.
Yes we let our cats in the veranda.
We lost two cats to feline leukemia and one to feline immune deficiency disease. Our current cats will never, ever, be allowed go outside to be made ill by the swarm of feral cats on the corner.
I have had a multiple cat household for quite some time. Right now I have three cats, who were all outside cats until we moved a few years ago. I realized upon moving here they were going to have to learn to adapt to being indoor cats. We are now close to a busy street and there are too many roaming big dogs here. It was hardest for my oldest cat, who is now 20. He grew up in our old neighborhood and was used to coming and going as he pleased. But they are safer now. Several years ago when we lived in the old neighborhood, I took my oldest cat to the vet. He had started limping and licking his hindquarters. The vet showed me the pattern of his wounds and informed me
his back end had been in the jaws of a large dog. He also said it was amazing he got away considering the depth of the bites. Years later, we are living where we are now, and he has to go to the vet again for what turned out to be bad constipation. He had xrays taken to check for a bowel obstruction and they asked me if I was aware my cat had been shot. No need for surgery they said because the bullet (from a pellet gun, it looked like) was lodged just under the skin. Of course, I realized this had happened years ago in the old neighborhood since he hadn’t been outside where we live now. The point is, you don’t know whats going on with your cat when they’re out there. It seems like they are happier when they are free but who knows?
all three indoors only. Too many mean dogs where I live.
My current cat is indoors only. He’s declawed on all four paws and we’re near a major street and in an area with coyotes. I wouldn’t declaw a cat personally but we got him as a stray.
Previous cats (at a different house) have been adopted barn cats from the stable where we boarded the horse and they came in and out as they pleased. For one, we used to actually keep a basement window open so he could come and go until one day an opossum got into the house which ended that. The outdoor cats caught local fauna but, judging from what they brought home, 95% of their kills were mice from the yard. I can’t feel too upset about that.
My kitty does not go outside, because he is unfixed. I’ve had pet cats with urinary issues because of fixing, and spoke closely with my vet. Vet says that if kitty stays inside, and we remain a one-kitty, one-pet house, then there is no medical reason to fix him. Luckily enough, kitty has decided the outside is EVIL, and he even hides if someone leaves a door to the strange-noised, strange-smelled, random-movement place open. He has ventured upon the balcony on rare occasions, in the middle of the night when there are no cars, beeps, trucks, wind, thunder, or rain, but he runs for the bathroom whenever he sees a bug or bird, etc. Funniest thing ever was when he came running in, yowling and shaking, because a hummingbird flew by. He’s 5, almost 6.
Previous cats have been indoor, outdoor, and indoor-outdoor, based on personality and living location.
slight hijack
I’ve never had an unfixed male cat. Don’t they spray? Even if it’s just in the box, doesn’t it stink? My limited exposure to unfixed stray tomcats has led me to believe that they pee some horrific liquid funk.
answering hijack
The only time Shadow sprays is when there’s sounds of a catfight from the random strays outside. Then he sprays around the door. However, it’s not a horrid smell/stink. It’s sort of musky, like some perfumes/colognes. I clean it up, because as it rots, it begins to stink. Maybe it’s because he has never had contact with any other kitties, or perhaps because he feels nice and safe.
Huh. That’s weird. I’ve always heard that cats spraying leave a terrible stench. It’s good to hear otherwise, at least for your cat. 
Then again, I think it’s females you definitely DO NOT want to leave unfixed. (Ever been around a cat in heat? shudder)
Our cat goes outside because my husband is more vehemently pro let the cat out than I am pro keep the cat in. My preference would be to keep her in.
When I was a kid and we lived in a rural area the idea of inside cats was unknown to me. As an adult I’ve had indoor cats, and ones that went out. With indoor cats, besides worrying less about illness, brawling and traffic I never have to think about whether the cat is in or out when I’m going out, even if it’s for the whole day.
I (sort of) live in Britain - where the idea of confining a cat to a pre-defined area is just silly. Our cats roam freely, and don’t annoy anyone. Most people just stroke them or ignore them. I think there are more cat owners on my street than non-cat-owners.
Stray,neutered male cat that adopted us 7 years ago. (didn’t know what his name might be, so I just called/still call him “Kitty”). Could not tolerate the yowling when we tried to keep him inside. And he sprays when he gets mad.
This cat is street-smart: when walking down the sidewalk, he stops and looks down the alley before he crosses the alley. And he won’t go near the busy streets.
After finding another cat in our house (I did not begrudge the food, just the marking of the furniture and the walls) and waking up one night to the screams of a wounded baby rabbit, our cat door is set for out only. Using a spoon to tap on the side of a cat food can or his food dish, or shaking the bag of cat treats usually brings him running, so he doesn’t go far.
I have not actually had a cat since I last lived in the suburbs on a 17th century colonial farmhouse (seriously) on a ridiculous number of undeveloped acres for anything that close to New York City. (Historical society was in negotiations to buy it; the owner had been wanting to raze and develop it for decades, blocked by the town zoning board; stalemate so he rented the long-deserted old building). At that time, yes, my cat, Tail, got to come & go as he pleased. Neutered Maine coon, stayed out of fights, did not harass the neighbors AFAIK but that’s the way I voted as the closest approximation 
I live in an upstairs apartment, and letting my 2 cats out is not feasible or practical. They have supervised time on my balcony (supervised heavily because one of them jumped off it once) but that’s it.
I grew up with indoor/outdoor cats and have no beef with people who do let their cats out, but I know non-cat-lovers have huge problems with it, and that worries me. My neighbor once blinded one of my cats with a golf club for getting paw prints on his truck and pooping in his flower bed.
Regardless of whether that guy is burning in hell (hopefully he is) there are plenty of people out there who see outdoor cats as huge pests, and that’s not something I want to worry about.
Five cats at the moment, one just this week as one of my writers developed an allergy to her new kitten.
They all choose their own mode of living.
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18 year old front declawed female. She goes in and out as she pleases. Mostly sits in the sun but sometimes brings down birds and eats them on the porch. Ugh.
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~4 year old female. Comes and goes as she pleases.
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~1 year old female. Mostly outside by her choice. Eats at our porch but usually is on her rounds.
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<1 year old female. Won’t go outside at all. Lived on her own as a kitten and wants no part of it again, apparently.
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<6 months brand new female. Living indoors at the moment. But will have her options in a month or so.
This quite illustrates the problem with polls. Skald, you didn’t have an answer that describes my situation, so I didn’t respond to the poll.
I let my cats out during the day and bring them in at night (there are lots of critters around here that consider kitties a tasty snack). They do not, however, “roam the neighborhood and annoy the townsfolk,” as we live 4 miles from town. They visit our two closest neighbors from time to time, but I’ve spoken to them (the neighbors, that is) and they don’t have an issue with it.
My Max-cat used to be indoor/outdoor when we lived in Bulgaria, but he didn’t come home one night and ended up lost for two weeks. I was really devastated. Fortunately, we lived in VERY small town and I had my students keep an eye out for him and, lo and behold, one of them found him and brought him back to me.
So now he’s an indoor-only cat. We live in a much bigger city now, anyway, and I’d very concerned about his survival skills should he get out.