Indoor cats??

[MisterThyristor]

*Originally posted by Jennyrosity *
**
Please, all you indoor cat people, stop telling the rest of us that we’re being cruel to our cats. My cats were spoilt, pampered, very healthy, flea-free and absolutely adored. One thing that gives me comfort is knowing they lived very happy lives. And I would no more tell you how to take care of your cats than I would your kids, so please grant me the same respect. **

I don’t think that any of us said you were being cruel to your cats, Jennyrosity. We’re just suggesting that you might consider some of the possible consequences. I was even careful to mention that the shortened lifespans that I gave were for the US. I have no idea of traffic conditions in other countries, or the incidence of FIV and feline leukemia there.

If anything, it is the keepers of indoor cats who are being chastised, cajela is the one who says “Litter problems, scratching, obesity and neuroses are all associated with indoor cats” as well as “it seems sad to keep a cat indoors” as if we are depriving them.

But I don’t take it personally, and I don’t think people who have outdoor cats should take our comments personally either. Just consider them food for thought.

[Jennyrosity]

I can’t remember who, and I can’t be bothered to search, but someone did say that indoor cats are “healthier and happier” and someone else asked if we outdoor cat people “don’t love our cats”. But I probably am being over-sensitive after what happened to my two.

[malkavia]

Jennyrosity, I think you’ll find that alot of people (like me) who keep our kitties indoors have a hard time comprehending the reasons for letting them outdoors, just as those whose kitties enjoy rolling around in their garden and being in the sunshine don’t understand why we’d keep our kitties inside all of the time. (To alleviate this to a certain extent, I actually carry my little furballs outside one at a time and we push our noses against leaves and lay in the grass… but I’m sure it’s not the same as being allowed to run free)

Both sides obviously have pro’s and con’s. I talked to my boyfriend about this last thread last night because he has an indoor/outdoor kitty at his parents house that I know he loves to pieces. They also feel it’s cruel to pin a cat inside when he very obviously wants to leave and explore the neighborhood. My boyfriends last kitty was the same way and met an unfortunate end at hands of some maniac who wasnt paying attention and was driving too fast down their residential street. It bears mentioning, however, that he was 15 yrs old and in perfect health when he was killed, so it would be fair to say he had a good life. I just couldn’t bear the thought of it… I wouldnt be able to function until I let them back in. I’m sure I’m a bit overprotective, YMMV of course.

[Gravity]

*Originally posted by calm kiwi *
To Americans. Why do you keep your cats inside. I understand if you live in the middle of a big city but if you are in the suburbs? I understand Rabies is an issue there (we don’t have Rabies here) but is disease the only reason? I have wondered this often. Mostly when threads like “my cat wants to go outside” or declawing threads arise. When my boys decided scritching on the couch was a good idea, I put them outside everytime I caught them at it.

For me, it is disease, traffic and that I know that I can’t trust everyone in the world to be as kind to my cats as I am. I don’t want my cat to be tortured by neighbor kids, or hit by a car or to eat bad meat out of a garbage can.

The best way that I know of to keep them away from all that is to keep them inside where it is safe. They have lots of toys, and a climbing tree that goes floor to ceiling with platforms and houses to bounce around on. I play with them daily and keep their box clean. They are very happy and healthy, and they will live to be 17 years old or more.
That’s a lot older than the outdoor cats that I had when I was a kid. I had one die at 2 of some kind of poison and one die at age 3, hit by a car.
When I was a kid, I had never heard of indoor-only cats, either. They may have been prevalent in the cities, but not in the town where I grew up. But it seems to me that if I am going to have a pet, it is my responsibility to give it the best life that it could have. That includes living as long as it may, and not dying in a tragic accident when it’s just out of babyhood. Lots of people seem to have started to think like this, and so we have indoor cats. One of my friends and one of my aunts lives in the country. They both let their cats out. Other than that, every other cat owner I know has an indoor pet.
Even if I were to live in the country I would not let my kitties out. I have seen too many fishercats and bears and coyotes to trust that my cat could outrun them all.

[Elza_B]

I have two who are my NYC apartment cats who are indoor only - and 3 who have lived with my parents since my brother and I were kids who are outdoor, but they’re all old and pretty much stay in the garage now - they come in when they feel like it. I won’t let my little ones out for all of the above reasons. My boy has escaped several times and gotten the bejeezus scared out of him - now he just looks out the front door and gives me the “No, Mom, I’m NOT going out there! I promise!” glance when I walk by.

Ava

[ouisey]

*Originally posted by RickJay *
**We have three cats, all indoor cats.

There is no reason to allow your cats outdoors. They’re healthier and happier if kept inside. **

Healthier, maybe. Happier, absolutely not, in the case of my Charlie cat who now has to stay inside due to the neighbors complaining of his visits to their lawns. Poor Charlie cries and cries to go outside, but can only go out when I can watch him.

[fizgig]

Each of “my” cats I had in high school (not counting cats in-common to our household) were roadkill at less than two years old. One of my current cats is from the country, and lived in a stable and outside until she was four months old. She didn’t really learn to deal with perils of suburbia though; she liked to sun herself by laying in the road. Also, she’d try to take on the huge siamese from next door if I let her out. She still trys to get out on occasion, but seems more content with indoor life as time goes by.

My other cat has been an indoor cat since one week old, and seems to get a agoraphobic when taken outside. I don’t know if he’d take well to being an outdoor cat, ever. However, I live in a second-floor car, and they both enjoy hanging out on the patio, so they get outside without any of the dangers.

One of the best things about indoor cats is that I haven’t seen a flea in my apartment since I parted ways with my old roommate, who had a dog that spent lots of time outside, and brought the fleas in.

Also, I don’t have to worry about my kids getting run over by cars like my highschool pets, or mysteriously being injured or disappearing. Also, they’re much more personable and affectionate that the indoor/outdoor cats I had growing up.

[umop_ap_sdn]

2 of the cats in my house are indoor only. The other cat, which is the oldest, used to go in and out as he pleased, but since I got reports of mountain lions in my area, I’ve been bringing him in for the night. Took him a while to settle down and quit yowling at the door at 3 AM. Another thing is, I heard the life expectancies were 6 and 15 years and he’s 6 now. So as much of a pain as the yowling is, it’s looking like a good idea to wean him off of outside and keep him indoors.

[cajela]

I’m just so not believing those lifespan claims. I’m not dignifying them with the term “cite”.

They all seem to cross reference each other, unsubstantiatedly. I have yet to see anything with an academic study. There are two academics, whose work is selectedly cited to say “indoor cats good” (though I don’t know it wasn’t extracted from a positives and negatives list), and still with no actual lifespan numbers given. I want a journal reference, not gossip.

I don’t see why the human society should get any more credibility that the UK RSPCA has that counter site which I already mentioned. And a friend’s outdoor cat just died of a heart condition at the age of 17. This seems pretty normal in my experience. I’ve also seen one or two sites repeat the same statistic but for “feral” cats, instead of outdoor cats. I can believe that more easily.

Now, looking at my two cats, it would obviously be cruel to keep them in. They love it outside. They chase butterfiles, roll in the dust, stalk each other through the grass, srop their claws on the trees, doze on the roof of the shed. They use our garden, which is their territory, to bury their wastes. They HATE litterboxes and stopped using it the second they were allowed outside for the first time. They rarely stray past those boundaries. They are wormed and vaccinated and they appear to have a modicum of street sense, or at least think the road is off their territory.

Also, personally, I think the chance of them being taken by a random torturing psychopath lies roughly somewhere between being hit by lghtning and being hit by a piano falling out of the sky. If that’s not the case for you, well, I’m sorry for you, and I’ll go back to that fearsome and derogatory adjective “sad”. Go on, pit me now. “Sad”. “Sad”. Ooh err. I’m such a nasty person.

As for behavioural problems, it is quite true that indoor cats have more, and it’s basically because of boredom. Obesity, hairballs, inappropriate scratching & litter use etc, etc. But probably everyone here with an indoor cat has given them many toys and companions and food puzzle games and climbing frames and scratching posts, and are careful not to overfeed them, and give them that special indoor cat food with the anti-hairball whatsit - so it’s really more of an issue for careless owners than for you guys who care for your cats.

[CrazyCatLady]

Some of the life expectancies that are being thrown around here are, uh, extreme. While it’s not unusual for an indoor cat to live to be 15, or even 17, those are NOT average life spans. That’s like saying the human life expectancy is 90 or 100. Sure, a surprisingly large number of people live that long, but the vast majority don’t. Same for kitties. A 15 year old cat is really frigging old, and a 17 year old cat is ancient. A 12 year old outdoor cat is a 3 days’ wonder around the clinic.

[Jennyrosity]

My mum’s outdoor cat is 12 and apparently indestructible. He seems to have become so hardy that he’s actually impervious to pain. Last time he went to the vet’s for his jabs, he fell asleep while the vet was examining him!

[calm_kiwi]

*Originally posted by malkavia *
**Outdoor kitty parents don’t have to clean litter boxes?! Woo-hooooo!! Where do I sign up?

ponder

I’m trying to imagine my neighbors letting their pups come poo in my plants and under my front window and then going on about nice it is that he doesnt have to follow Spot around with a baggie and scooper.

I’d be rightly cheesed off, I do believe.

( **

This again may be a cultural thing. I have never heard of anyone complain of cat poo in the garden and I’m sure most people would be able to find it in their garden.

Dog poo is widelywhinged about and covered by council bylaws. Cat poo seems to be “just one of those things”

As far life spans of outdoor cats, old cats do not seem to be of short supply here. My family had a 19 yo that for at least the year before she died, we had expected to find her snuggled up on the couch after dying in her sleep. She died outside, curled up in a ball in the garden. It seemed awfully fitting being the tiger she was. The only time she would condone being kept inside was Guy Fawkes night, but I think that was just to keep the dog company

The 17 yo from the OP had a litter mate, she was a wuss and never really liked the great outdoors. She died under the bed at 15 yo. It will be sad when Sammy dies, but she has had 17 years DESPITE being outside most of the day.

Again I was trying to say indoor cats were wrong. I just didn’t understand them. It would appear that their are some dangers in the US that don’t affect cats elsewhere.

I’m gonna keep letting my boys roam. It makes them happy and it make me happy.

[ENugent]

One more thing to think about for you, kiwi, given your location:

Domestic cats have been traced to the extinction of eight bird species on New Zealand and the eradication of 40 more species on select islands.

New Jersey Audobon Society article

I don’t know where they got this information from, but if true, it’s sobering.

[Eve]

Why does anyone care what others do with their pets? If you’d rather let your cat out and take the chance that it gets killed or diseased, and the cat and you are happy, fine.

If you’d rather keep the cat indoors, and the cat and you are happy, fine.

Fer chrissakes, get your panties out of Perma-Bunch.

[Jennyrosity]

Yes, I didn’t think calm kiwi was lookimg to get converted either!

[umop_ap_sdn]

I think it’s good to hear others’ viewpoints on the matter of keeping cats indoors vs. letting them out. Diversity of opinion is one of the nice things about the SDMB.