Should I let our cat be an indoor/outdoor cat?

In My Humble Opinion
1

A bit of history first: Our boat cat used to belong to someone in our neighborhood in Florida. Apparently, they just tossed him out. About a year and a half ago, he wandered up to our house, and before long, he was bundled off to live aboard the boat with my husband. He’s been kept inside since then, although he has gotten off the boat a couple of times. We try to restrict that since he showed a preference for going aboard other boats.

Within 2 months, we’ll be living in a real house again, on 3 acres in a development out in the boonies. Traffic is not an issue, nor have we seen or heard any dogs in all the times we’ve driven around there since our contract was accepted. A couple of nights ago, we drove around there at sunset, wanting to see how dark it is there (very - no street lights and very few outside lights on houses) and we saw a couple (or perhaps the same) cats running across the street that’s the side of our lot.

As it was dark and the cat(s) moved fast, I don’t know if it/they could be feral or just neighborhood pet(s) out for a stroll. But that presence, as well as the four tiny kitten we saw on the road a week ago, make me less inclined to let ours run loose.

He’s been neutered and he’s not declawed. He’s a bit of a wuss. He did survive on his own before we adopted him, but I don’t know if he’s lost his edge. Mostly, tho, I don’t want him to be a pest to the neighbors, or get into fights, or get lost.

So, should he remain an indoor kitty? If we do decide to let him explore, how do we make him know that the house is home and that’s where he should return?

Up till recently, I was a dog person, and dogs are easy - they generally respect fences. I’m willing to bet this cat won’t, especially the fence with the big spaces in the mesh…

So, advice? Suggestions? Ideas?

2

Speaking as someone whose indoor/outdoor cat has been missing for 8 days, I think you should keep your cat indoors. It won’t be difficult if he’s used to staying inside.

I wish I had kept my cat indoors. I live with my parents, who don’t have the patience to deal with a cat who cries at the windowsill to be let out. They would just open the door for him, although I asked them to lock him in my room. Come to think of it, this is just as much an argument for moving out of the house as anything else…

Um, anyways, life for an indoor-outdoor cat is dangerous. If you want your cat to live a long and happy life, please keep him indoors. Hope that helps.

3

Elvis, the King of Casa Twicks, is an inside/outside cat. The firs three years I had him, we lived in an apartment, but once I bought the house, I started letting him out. I know a lot of people feel strongly against it, but my whole family has always done inside/outside.

I live in the city, on tiny lot on a street with a fair amount of traffic, some of which goes through at a speed that seems excessive to me. There are plenty of other cats wandering around (including Murphy, the black cat that lives across the street, and a white cat to whom I haven’t been introduced); a lot of dogs in their own fenced yards; and some wildlife, though anything as large as a possum is rare. He is free to come and go as he pleases – he does, in fact, have a cat door, which enhances both of our lifestyles.

Upside – I never have to change the litterbox, he only uses one when there’s more than six inches of snow on the ground. He likes being able to come and go and keep and eye on things – and go pee on the window of the indoor cat next door. (insert angelic smiley here)

Downside – gotta keep him current on his shots, which do include a rabies shot. He did disappear for about a week after that two-feet-of-snow blizzard back in '96 or whenever it was – but came home completely undisheveled, I’m pretty sure someone took him in. Yes, I was frantic for that whole week.

In my experience, cats don’t go any further than they’re comfortable (I’ve been dating a guy whose cat goes no further than the edge of the deck), and they definitely know where “home” is – it’s spelled F-O-O-D.

4

After my cat succeeded in escaping about 5 times in a row, I gave up. I just let him in and out as he pleases. It’s worked out for about 3 years now and I can’t imagine trying to keep him inside all the time now. He goes outside and chases chicadas or whatever, comes inside eats and passes out, wakes up and does it all over. Seems happy to me. And as twickster points out, he doesn’t use the litterbox at all anymore, major bonus.

5

Three acres in the wip-wops. Yep it is time to let kitty roam. If he can’t be safe there where can he be?

As long as there are no local endangered species of birds/small creatures. Your puss will love you for it.

6

Reasons to keep your cat indoors.

-He will live longer.
-You will always know where he is.
-You will not be in violation of any leash laws. Cats can really piss off people who have gardens and such.
I used to be an indoor/outdoor person. I have had three cats (strictly dogs now.) One died of kidney failure at a young age. The other two just disappeared. It is not worth the heartache. I have a six foot privacy fence around my yard now and three barking dogs but still neighborhood cats find their way in there. Two of my dogs are Jack Russels. The cats don’t find their way out.

7

If you have three accres then let puss roam.

8

Mine’s much happier going in and out, she’s sorta become the neighborhood goodwill ambassador because she’s just that much of an attention whore. Folks used to call me constantly, from the phone number on her tags, thinking she’d accidentally gotten out but now they realize she’s just come to visit for a bit. She seems to particularly enjoy hanging out with the older folks that sit on their porches, they seem happy about it so it’s all good.

Bit of a problem with her bringing me birds but a few bells on her collar has pretty much put an end to that. I guess no one ever explained to mine she could relieve herself outside, she still uses her litterbox at home. Quite often she’s content to just laze on the porch and not roam, she just likes knowing that she can go if the mood strikes her.

cromulent I hope you find your kitty. :frowning:

9

Since you’re out in the country, traffic and digging in neighbors lawns isn’t really a big concern. Growing up in a similar environment, we always kept our cats indoors. We didn’t want them getting into fights with other cats or area wild life, being exposed to diseases, or killing things. Other people may feel letting the cat have time to prowl is worth the risk.

10

I lived way out in the country, on an orchard. The cats were indoor-outdoor. I only had two cats, when we lived there, and both of them died young because they wandered out onto the road and got hit by cars. I wish I’d kept them inside.

Now, I have two cats. Both of them are exclusively indoor. I don’t think they’re unhappy about it, and I feel better knowing that they’re safe.

11

I loved it when our cats were indoor/outdoor. It just seemed more natural that way. But three dead cats later, I’ve changed my mind. We live up in the foothills and beyond the cars speeding by we have coyotes, raccoons and cougars skulking around. Letting the cats prowl through the woods around here is like ringing a predator dinner-bell.

12

When I was a kid we had indoor/outdoor cats. Until I was about 7 yo, we had four or five cats in succession, who all disappeared within a year or two from the time we got them. Then we got one who managed to survive all the way through my college years and beyond. He too was an indoor/outdoor cat, but obviously an exception. So a cat can live for a long time, even if you let it out, but it was definitely an exception in our case. I mean, when one cat out of five makes it, what does that tell you?

We lived in a hilly neighborhood of L.A., where there were lots of undeveloped hill country above the houses, and there were many coyotes and other wildlife. In addition to coyotes, I’ve heard that owls and raccoons can be danger to roaming cats (though I tend to doubt the raccoons). Poisonous plants such as oleander can run wild, and you know how cats like to nibble thanks. It sounds like the OP is also gooing to be in a semi-rural environment. My vote, as the Master once said, is “a big negatory”.

13

Vote for indoor only here.

I lived on acreage in the country, on a private dead-end road, and I still lost two cats to cars. Another cat came home with a broken pelvis (never found out what happened to him to cause that) and yet another disappeared without a trace.

You won’t have to deal with fleas, parasites and other diseases outdoor cats get.

It won’t be able to kill birds and other wildlife. I used to have a daily ritual of cleaning guts and other body parts off the deck.
I personally would be a worry wart the whole time my cats were out, I figured why put myself and them through that?

14

It seemed more natural to me for our cats to be both in- and outdoors. Unfortunately, the following are also natural:
[ol]
[li]fleas[/li][li]ticks[/li][li]feline leukemia[/li][li]feline immune deficiency[/li][li]bite wounds that become abscessed[/li][/ol]
That’s not counting the one who simply never came home one day. We don’t know if he was kidnapped and ended his life in some evil laboratory, was killed by another animal, or what.
We keep our Sara and Skippy indoors exclusively. They can watch the birds and other critters from the screened-in porch or the windows. They are clean, vermin-free, and we hope to keep them with us longer. The vet said we don’t have to worry now about the vaccines for FIV and feline leukemia so long as they only associate with each other.

15

I live on a small cul-de-sac in an LA County suburb. The area isn’t very nice and there are crazy drivers everywhere, but my indoor/outdoor [mostly outdoor, even] cat is now 13 years old and very happy. We have a big back yard so she mostly just basks there; I’d be surprised if she made it a habit to even leave our street.

She’s never gone missing, but I know that’s mostly just because she is a homebody and rarely leaves the backyard. Whenever she passes on [knockonwood] and I adopt a new cat, I plan to try making the new cat an indoor cat - I’m not relying on fate to provide me with another non-adventurous kitty.

My previous cat was also indoor/outdoors, and unlike this one he was VERY adventurous and roamed a rather large radius. He lived until 14 or so.

If your home is on three acres, having an indoor/outdoor cat may be possible. Perhaps you could try letting the cat out for a week or so and somehow keep track of how far she tends to travel? Not easy with a feline I know, but not impossible either. If she tends to stay on the property, I say letting her out should be fine.

16

I think you already know what I’m going to say.

Traffic is always an issue, no matter where you live. We’ve had dogs get loose and get hit right at the end of our driveway when our nearest neighbor was half a mile down the road.

Other pets are always an issue, especially since you already know there are other cats roaming loose in the area. Dogs and other cats can tear the crap out of a big weenie cat in pretty short order. I’ve seen a few cats come in nearly eviscerated after catfights.

And out in the boonies, your wildlife issues go way, way up. There for a while, there was a pack of wild dogs roaming in the woods behind my cousin’s house. Not coyotes, mind you, but feral dogs. There are coyotes in the woods behind my parents’ house. Coyotes and feral dogs kill and eat cats on a pretty regular basis. Then there’s the issue of raccoons and bats, and a huge reason to keep rural pets indoors–RABIES. Coon and bat populations are huge rabies reservoirs, and raccoons are decidedly not afraid of something as piffling as a cat. We get confirmed cases of rabies in dogs and cats pretty regularly around here. On at least one occasion, the cat in question was and had always been up to date on rabies vaccinations.

Keep the cat inside.

17

So far, the arguments for outdoor seem to be:
Kitty will be happier.
No litterbox.

The arguments for indoor seem to be:
Kitty will be safer and you will have peace of mind.
No dead critters on your doorstep.
No pissed off neighbors.
No vermin in your house.
Kitty will live longer.

I have had both indoor and outdoor cats. There is no question in my mind that indoor is better for me and my cats. My cats are very happy indoors, so the first argument under outdoor doesn’t apply. The litterbox is a pain, but is nothing compared to having a healthy cat and a flea-free house.

Those of you with outdoor cats who have had long lives, that’s wonderful. It is, however, not typical. I have seen statistics on outdoor cats, and they are pretty grim.

18

Ah yes, the flea-and-tick issue. I forgot about that.

I’m starting to be more inclined to just keep him in. He’ll be going from a 37’ sailboat to two levels of 1682 sq ft each. We’ll have a big bow window in front so he can look outside, stairs to climb, and lots of nooks to explore. I know there are bats around there, because there’s one living in the attic.

So it’s looking like he’ll live his life of leisure indoors.

19

As you may know, here in the UK it’s the norm for our cats to be allowed to wander fairly freely … possibly because predators are uncommon, and rabies is not a problem. Indoor cats are quite unusual here, except for very valuable breeds etc. That said, I can see the arguments on both sides, and were I to live in the States I’m not sure which side of the fence I’d jump.

That said … when reading about “indoor cats” it always occurs to me; just how do you manage to keep them inside? Every cat I’ve ever known automatically heads for any open door / window for the great outdoors. Do you have to keep all your windows closed, and be extra careful when going outside that your cats don’t follow you? :confused:

Doesn’t it make life rather difficult … or are US cats somehow different to ours in that respect?

20

Windows in the US generally have screens, so cats can’t get out open windows. Having them try to get out the door is generally not a problem as cats that have been raised as indoor cats seldom try to get outside, in my experience.