I’ve (and the roommates, let’s not sell them short) got two cats that are about six months old. In the last few weeks they’ve been making serious efforts to escape the lovely confines of our house and explore the great outdoors.
What do I/we need to do to ensure that a) they don’t get any weird-ass disease from running amok outside, and b) that they come back? I’d imagine that taking them to the vet for shots will take care of part A, but what about B? Any tips, tricks, techniques, whatever?
make or buy something like this; http://www.amazon.com/Kittywalk-Outdoor-Cat-Run/dp/B0002OVBUW
It can be outside but still be safe. Otherwise it could get hurt by vehicles, animals or people.
I’ve been raising indoor/outdoor cats for 30+ years. I do this so I don’t have to hassle with a litter box.
Not once have I EVER had a cat NOT come back. (Well, I had one that likely got ate by a coyote but thats a different story)
Currently I have two cats one likes to stay with in about 30 or so yards from the house and stays out a maximum of a couple of hours.
The other goes God only knows where. All I know is he leaves the neighborhood via a drainage ditch and exits a Field somewhere. (I know this judging by the thistles I’m always having to pick out of his fur.) THIS cat will stay gone for a couple of days before heading back home. But he always comes back. Usually with a couple of battle wounds but he does come back.
Cats aren’t stupid. They aren’t likely to forget where it is they get fed.
Probably not all cats, but I don’t have that much faith in our youngest cat, Jet Jaguar. He had been abandoned by his owners, and was living the outdoor life when I moved into the neighborhood. This was on a military post so it was only a matter of time before animal control picked him up. (can’t have animals roaming free in the housing area). I felt sorry for him and put food out for him. One night it was raining and cold and he was huddled by my door when I got home, so I let him in, fed him, and gave him a bath (in case he had fleas.)
Man, he wanted out badly the next day. He managed to get out a few times too, forcing me to chase him for hours. Even after we had him fixed. (we had to, 1st because it was for his own health and 2nd because we had 2 female cats already and he was terrorizing them, horny bastard. 
) Eventually he seemed to calm down and enjoy being an indoor cat. We’ve moved since then and sometimes I can tell he wants to go a’roamin’, but he’s mostly content inside I think. He gets food, has 2 other cats to keep him company when we’re at work, and he gets human attention pretty much on demand.
Don’t let them out, except on a harness, etc. Outdoor cats live about half as long as indoor cats. They also bring fleas. My cats don’t even know what a flea is.
I suggest getting all cats microchipped.
I have to recommend not letting them out. It just isn’t safe for them - shots may protect against disease, but they won’t protect your cat against other cats, dogs, cars, etc. We had a thread recently from a guy whose garden was being used as a littlerbox by neighbors cats - he was not amused.
Look at it this way - if you had a child, you would childproof your home so the baby can’t get into the bleach. But, the baby wants to get into the cabinet under the sink! Just because your cats think they want out doesn’t mean it’s the best or safest thing for them.
Just say no.
It’s controversial, but we let our cats come in and out freely, and most of them love going outside.
We have a 6’ high stockade fence topped with plastic piping, so if they try to jump over their little paws just slip off harmlessly. This encloses 3/4 acres behind our house. The back door includes a cat door they can always use to go in and out. The containment works - they all stay in the fenced area. We have a pole barn, two gardens plus a tiny koi pond, a deck, 3500 square feet of grass, and the area is mostly wooded.
They also get REvolution brand pesticide, a few drops on the back of the base of the neck, which fixes fleas, ticks, worms, mites, and other things. And they get all their shots including FLV. They go to the vet regularly - hell, I dropped $400 just this Saturday.
Some cats are content inside. Some are not. I took in a cat I found abandoned in the park. He may have been feral. He was not going to stay in. He was loving inside but spread dead mice and birds all around the lawn. We had a beginning rat problem in the neighborhood. He solved it.
I’m still upset about last night so I’m urging you rather more strongly than usual to please keep the cat indoors where it’s safe unless you have the ability to confine it to your yard - a run is an ideal way to let the cat enjoy the fresh air without compromising it’s safety.
Neighbourhood cats have come and gone from our yard all my life and it’s never occurred to me to be bothered by it. That’s why I was so shocked a few years ago when, on another message board, a post complaining about a cat straying into the backyard of the OP wasn’t greeted with the derision I expected; when the bulk of the replies began advocating that the OP steal the cat and either find it a new home or take it to a shelter I was flabbergasted. I had no idea that there were so many people out there who were deeply offended by neighbourhood cats wandering into their yards, and who thought that getting rid of their neighbour’s cat was a reasonable response. Their justifications were that letting the animal roam was “neglect” and if they were so neglectful then they didn’t deserve a cat. Disease, cars and dogs are not the only dangers an outdoor cat faces - there’s also self-righteous neighbours with a chip on their shoulder.
Based on several past threads, this is a highly contentious issue, but I’ll mention it anyway:
Cats that roam outdoors are hard on certain native wildlife, and an outright disaster for ground-nesting birds (as gonzomax indicates). I question whether it’s responsible pet ownership to allow this. You certainly should not leave this more or less inevitable effect out of your decision-making.
I can’t have cats (allergic) but where I used to live, my neighbor would take his cat out and let him play in the complex yard, but never get out of sight. Both cat and owner seemed content with that.