The old cat cited numerous times so far was an apartment cat for the first two years of his life, and only became free-range when I moved into my current house when he was two. He took his time getting to know life outdoors, and stayed very close to home for the first couple weeks I was letting him out – despite having been a major escape artist when we were living in an apartment.
So, yeah, childhood as an indoors cat doesn’t disqualify an animal from becoming free-range.
When I was living in a dorm with other international students my (also American) friend and I somehow got into a conversation with our English friend about cats and we mentioned that most people we know keep them stictly indoors and if we got a cat senior year, we would too.
You should have seen this girl’s utter repulsion. She acted like we just told her that we planned to give it daily beatings or something.
I’ve seen a show on HGTV with an electronic dog door exactly like you describe. My only caveat is that the collar fob seemed pretty large even on the dogs. You’d think that something like that could be miniaturized without much trouble.
All hope may not be lost. I found a cat in my cellar once who had been missing from home for over three months. The owner was, suffice it to say, stunned into speechlessness when I called him to tell him I had found his cat (several miles from home).
I can beat that. When I was a kid, we moved a few miles up our road. We found a cat of ours that had been missing for two years and living feral near the new house.
Well, sure, but as you say, the first won’t be an issue if they can come and go as they please, and the fight thing, well, chances are pretty good that they’re not going to be within earshot if a squabble breaks out.
I say go for it.
That is, and has been, the plan – per the OP, I’ve been in a transition from “not allowed out of the bedroom” (when they were babies) to “not allowed out of the house” (when they hadn’t had all their shots or been fixed) to “not allowed to go out when I’m not home.” My question was, since at 9 months they’re still not yet fully adult, is it too soon to move to the final stage, “unblock the cat door and let them go in and out freely”? The concensus seems to be “no.”
Given that we’re talking 12-14 hour chunks of time when I’m not home, though, it doesn’t seem overly cautious of me to ask the question.
Yeah, the argument over here is usually that you’re not letting them lead a proper cat’s life if you keep them cooped up inside all day. I usually just made sure mine could get in for food when they liked, and locked them inside overnight.
Personally, having lived in -20c and seen the size of the houses in Canada, I don’t think there is blanket right answer. Depends on where you are and your circumstances, I guess.
The RSPCA used to tell us to not let the cat outside until it was spayed/neutered and had its injections. After that, they didn’t have any advice on how old the cat should be, just that an adult cat in a new home should be kept inside for a few days until they had been there long enough to associate it with food and comfort (presumably so they’d come back).
FTR: I do know how to spell “consensus.” :rolleyes:
I let mine out as soon as they’re big enough to stand a chance against other roving cats. Oh, and big enough that the ospreys won’t carry them off thinking they’re baby bunnies. 
I don’t have a cat-door because they’re prone to bringing in prey to kill and make messes on my floors.
I agree with the reluctance to have freely-opening cat doors in the city… I definitely do NOT want raccoons, skunks, mice, or other non-pet animals to enter the house. All you’d need to do is have your cats chipped as usual, then put an RFID reader on the cat door that would only open it if it read the specific IDs of your cats. The airlock/camera/alarm arrangement would be a good idea as well.
As for going outside versus not going outside, one argument I’ve read for not letting them outside is if you’re in an area with rare birds or other wildlife, an area in which cats are not native… you don’t want a foreign cat population reducing their numbers. So in that case it makes sense for restrict them. But in places like London, where cats are part of the wildlife, that doesn’t make as much sense.
Up north, the main objection to not letting cats out seems to be that they won’t survive long because something larger will eat them.
And of course a cat door in Canada must be carefully designed to not let the heat out or in, just the cat…
I have no dog (cat?) in this fight, but ‘Free-range Cats’ made me think of this old commercial (totally safe for work, unless your work hates Youtube on general principles).
I love that ad, though I try not to think about them ending up in the stockyards in Chicago to be slaughtered.
There are actually cat flap doors on the market that claim to eliminate this problem. The cat flap only opens in response to the proximity of an little ultra lightweight electronic gizmo attached to the cat’s collar.
Here’s a link to Flo Watch.
Never had problems with unexpected visitors with Jumpie’s cat door, even when she was being chased the pursuers stopped at the door.
I’ve never seen dog there either but I’ll bet they make a fine stew.
Nine months is about the time I left my two youngest out with supervision. If yours are already used to that then I think the weekend is the perfect time to introduce them to the cat door. I am sure they will take to it pretty quickly that they can come and go as they please.
I would give it a go this weekend and maybe block it during the week and try again next weekend. If it seems that in a 12 hour time period they come in and out in regular intervals with no issues then I think you are set.
We have nine cats and I wish I could install a cat door. Right now it is not to bad as I only have two die hards that want out no matter what the weather is. Come spring though I will be back to being the door man to six that want in and out.
I have two that have no interest in going out and then there is Beastie. He wants out bad but he is front declawed so I am not comfortable letting him roam. He wants to run and play with his brothers. When I let them out he runs to the closed door and “scratches” at the storm door glass. He looks so pissed off that he can’t go with them. We have bought him a walking jacket and he already seems fine wearing it. I am going to take him out come spring and see how it goes.
Country cat haver observations.
Though the area has raccoons,skunk,o’possum,whistlepig and fox,they have never come through the cat door.I have always had male cats, by pure chance, so that might affect their guardianship.
All the cats that have lived here came from friends who lived in urbanity and kept them inside.They always want out, and adapt well.There are numerous feral cats to hobnob, hiss and spray at.
Never had kitties less than a month old here, so can’t comment on that.
OT,I currently have a Russian blue who likes to roll in the snow,something I’ve never seen the others do.Yet when you pick him up he’s dry.
Good suggestion. I’ll try that.
Update: I unblocked the cat door yesterday. They used it to go out if I held it open for them, but didn’t seem to get that they can get in that way also. It was raining like a son of a bitch here most of the day – at one point Zeb went out through the cat door, then, when it started raining again, jumped through the hole in the screen door to cower by the back door till I let him in. (A minute or two, I heard the commotion.)
This morning, they seemed uninterested in the cat door, so I gave in and opened the back door. Jez headed out, but Zeb, who’s usually the main instigator for “let us out!” wasn’t interested. I picked him up and threw him out anyway, 'cause that’s the kind of Mom I am.
Three minutes later, he was back inside – so I think he’s okay on the “two-way” thing. I let Jez stay out for a while, but when I went to see if she was ready to come in, I went outside, closed the back door, then called her – when she appeared, I tried to show her the cat door, including picking her up and putting her right in front of it while flapping it. Duh, yup yup. She did use it, though, when I held it open.
So – progress is being made – but I’m going to wait till there’s consistent evidence that they can both use it on their own, and both understand that it’s two-way, before I leave it unblocked while I’m gone all day.
