My condolences on the loss of Boo Kitty.
That being said, I will disagree with your analogy. How would you feel if the ananlogy used was “My wife gets depressed and angry if I don’t let outside. It’s natural for women to want to interact in society. I don’t want to keep my wife in the house because I feel like I’m imprisoning her.”
We are not talking about keeping a small child in the house until it has grown up, we are talking about keeping a creature inside it’s whole life. Should everyone in the US live in prison so that they can be safer? Isn’t it irresponsible of our parents to let us go to school? All kinds of dangers out there you know.
Perhaps cats would RATHER live fast and die young, how do we know? We adopted a barn cat. He was tearing our house to pieces when we tried to keep him inside. We could not keep him in the house. (RickJay’s argument about brain size does not work if there are children in the house. That door only has to be open about 3 inches for more than 5 seconds and the cat got out). He is now in noticeably better physical condition and non-destuctive in the house. He is front declawed and wears a bell, but still brings us the remains of small animals he has been playing with. (Sadly, we encourage this behavior in an attempt to decrease the rabbit and chipmunk population in our neighborhood. We are bad people.) He obviously has lots of fun outside.
Thank you for allowing me the space for self justification. Dang cat. If he wouldn’t have destroyed so much inside he’d be an indoor cat.
And yes, we are breaking the law where we live ($20 fine to get him returned if he is caught).
It depends. Is my wife extremely stupid, and does she decimate wildlife populations, and is she likely to get fleas, leukemia, and so forth when she goes into society, and is she likely to get in fights with or killed by other people in society? If so, then sure, I’d keep her inside. If not, then your analogy is wayyyyy off. Adult humans, strangely, get to make more of their own choices than my cat does; if it were otherwise, then I wouldn’t be allowed to get my cat spayed, or to take my cat to the vet against her will, or to euthanize my cat when she was suffering, or to give away her kittens without her permission.
Glad to hear that your cat’s gonna be indoors, FairyChatMom!
My cat, TJ, is seven years old. He was born outside, and has been an indoor/outdoor cat almost his whole life. He’s never had any of those things happen to him.
I got him fixed when he was very young, this helps the roaming instinct. He’s never been gone more than a day or so. And with my new kitten, I plan to do the same. God forbid anything happen to either of them, but I’m not going to deny them their right to be an animal.
It’s their nature to want to roam and hunt and be their own cat. If you choose to keep your cats indoors, great. If it works for you that’s cool. All cats are different. My cats would be clawing at everything if I didn’t let them out. They love nothing more than being outside. As long as they aren’t contributing to the overpopulation problem, collared and chipped, and they’ve got their shots, I don’t feel bad about it. I’m very consistent in making sure they’re not out for long stretches, and so far, so good.
Like I said, it’s cool if you’d rather keep yours in, but don’t be so harsh on those of us who make a different choice.
Coyotes kill cats, but foxes don’t. Sure, they’ll eat a dead cat if there’s one to be had, but they don’t kill healthy adult cats. It was the first thing we looked into when we discovered fox kits in our yard. http://www.nfws.org.uk/pro/problems.htm
I, too, grew up in the sticks, and we had indoors/outdoors cats. Only a tiny fraction ever made it to 2 years outside. In addition, one stray that adopted us consistently carried off any kittens she had (until we had her spayed) that many more probably died than I’m aware of.
Two cats out of, what?, 15?, thereabouts ever made it. Most vanished without a trace, probably victims of cars as my parents live up a hill from a busy highway. Others were probably killed. Some crawled up into the engine of my father’s truck or on its top before he noticed them and also died. It’s too harsh. Really.
My Tosha is an indoors only cat. However, sometimes she is allowed outside, but only when we’re present and only when she’s in her harness/leash combo. Yeah, she whines to go out for a while afterwards, but it’s the only way I feel comfortable with her outside. It’s not overly hard to keep her in.
Consider, too, that people don’t seem to have any neutral perception of cats that dogs seem to enjoy. I’ve met very few people that didn’t either love or hate cats; there doesn’t seem to be anyone that says, “meh, take 'em or leave 'em.” And the people that hate them, really hate them. I’m not leaving my kitty where they can get to her.
It seems most of the arguments being made here for outdoor cats are for the owner’s convenience rather than the cats’ well-being. Sure it would be easier to not have to scoop 4 litterboxes a day, and I’d love it if I didn’t have to buy scratchy things for my cats so they won’t destroy my furniture, but realistically I would probably not have any cats left if I let them outdoors. I know this from previous experience.
I’m sure my dogs would love it if I left them to run free in the neighborhood. Then they could terrorize people on bikes, ransack people’s trash cans, and spread their personal poop and pee marks far and wide. But I don’t let them. If they go out it is in their own fenced yard, or on a leash. Of course, they will not be exposed to moving cars, poision, or the dog catcher, either.
I’ve got two, one male, on female. Both have been fixed, and are current with the other shots. I let them out when they want to go out. The only downside for me is that they just love to kill birds and bring them back to the house to show me how bad they are. If they would eat the birds it wouldn’t be so bad, but they don’t seem to have any interest in eating them, just killing…
Like BoringDad my cat comes and goes. Although I call her “my cat”, in as much as possible, she is her own cat. She is spayed. Yes, I recognise a bit of inconsistency in that statement.
Who are you trying to make happy by keeping your cat exclusively indoors? Your cat or you? That being said I realize that many cats are happy to remain indoors. Some are definitely not.
My cat, Exit, waskind of an indoor/outdoor cat. We grew up in the suburbs and had a porch in the front of the house with a post that we’d tie the leash to and gave Exit about 25 yards of outside play room. He spent most of the time indoors but when he went out, he was always in our yard. We were also able to watch him from inside since the kitchen and main living room both faced the front if we weren’t out there with him. He had a long life (about 12 years), never got ticks/fleas/diseases/hit by a car/eaten/attacked. Exit did get a couple birds and a couple mice (even though there was a bell attached to the collar).
Another vote for indoors only. Our cats have always been strictly indoors, and they’re NEVER unhappy, bored or cooped up. (We let them sit on the windows and look out the screen doors. That’s enough).
My grandmother DID have an outdoor/indoor cat that lived to be about 18 (she was my mom’s cat before Mom got married), but that’s rare. And even then, the poor thing had a pin in her leg because she had once been shot.
My mother said that as a child, she lost numerous pets to cars, predators, some just disappeared and another cat was shot by a neighbor who thought she was after his chickens. (She wasn’t-she was chasing mice).
I don’t have to worry about my cats getting hit by cars, stolen, attacked, that they’ll run afoul of some sicko, get filthy and flea-ridden, destroy property, get lost, disappear-you get the idea.
Indoor cats can be VERY happy. We have scratching posts and toys for them. My mother has made up several beds for them around the house with cushions and afghans she’s crocheted for them. They have their own space in the laundry room with padding over the washer/dryer and then my dad made a padded shelf on the back door there (that we never use), so they could look out the window.
They’re happy as can be, extremely spoiled and NEVER bored.
As for trying to get out, you just watch them. My old cat Fluffy occassionally tried it, and we were watching her and caught her. We never left the doors open, and easily got her back inside. After a few years, she never tried it again. And none of our cats now have ever made a break for it.
Another vote for indoor only. Our cats are inside all the time and seem to be very happy.
Besides predators, I’d be worried about nasty people doing something to the cat. A friend in high school lost her cat to poison. He came home to die and suffered terribly. There’s also the danger of getting caught in a trap of some sort or being injured and unable to get home.
I think it depends on the cat. Our kitty Monty is 8 years old. We got him when he was just a kitten. He was always an inside cat up until a couple of years ago. I don’t know if he went through early mid-life crisis or what but he started escaping for romps through the neighborhood. The only problem is that he seems to be a bit on the dim side. He wouldn’t be able to find his way home. I found him outside of another apartment that looked similar to ours. The people said that he had been howling to get in most of the night. So, we started letting him out in the backyard. He seemed pretty happy with this. There was a high fence all around that he couldn’t jump. (He’s a big, fat Maine Coon) Sometimes he would have visits from other cats jumping over but he’s had all of his shots, and actually diesn’t seem to care to associate with them because he’s come back in. When we moved we kept him in the house for 2 weeks (as the vet suggested) and then let him out for a little bit at a time. Fortunately, he’s a big chicken and stays pretty close to the house. Literally. He NEVER leaves the yard (We’ve got a nice big fence around the whole thing anyway) The farthest I think I’ve ever seen him away from the actual house structure is about 10 feet. Birds scare him unless he’s inside, and if another cat comes in our yard, he scoots back in as fast as his fat bootie will go. He’s such a wuss.
On the other hand, when we were still living in our apartment. My MIL (who lives with us) bought a white Persian cat. Pretty to look at but dumber than dirt. (Even worse than the other cat) Although, he was smart enough to get out and get himself lost forever. I’m going to believe that one of our neighbors took him in and are taking very good care of him than thinking about the alternative… (Although the funny thing is, he would NOT use a litter box. He preferred tile floors )
Ya know, Ozma, I’m fairly sure that sort of situation is precisely how I wound up with Eponine. A former client found her wandering down the street, brought her in to board while she looked for owners, and surrendered her to me when no owners were forthcoming and she didn’t feel up to adopting the cat herself. Given the condition she was in, her personality, and her penchant for going outside, I think the cat either wandered off when she went into heat and couldn’t find her way home, or was out for an afternoon stroll when this woman picked her up.
I know for a fact that’s how we wound up with one of the cats we had when I was a kid. We lived in an area where people often dropped unwanted pets, so when the cat wandered up begging for food, we assumed she was a stray and took her in. About six months later, a kitten wandered up, and we fed it, too. A few days after the kitten showed up, a man from down the road showed up asking if we’d seen his cat. The kitten was his and as he got ready to leave, our cat walked into the room and the man exclaimed, “That’s my cat, too! It wandered off about six months ago!” :eek: We kept the cat, of course; I was eight or so, and the guy wasn’t about to suggest taking a little girl’s kitty away from her.
I guess I don’t agree with you here. The cat was destroying things in my house because he wanted to go out. So I broke down and let him out, thus making him happier. Is that soley for my convenience?
Yes, dogs could do all those things. That is why I do not let my dog out. (Plus my dog is too dumb to find his way back from the end of the driveway.) If my cat could terrorize a person or knock over garbage cans, I could sell him to the circus. Seeing my cat scurrying in their bushes does not cause my neighbors permanent mental harm.
And wow! I am astounded at the number of stories of poisoned cats that came up in this thread! What kind of neighborhoods do you people live in? We’ve had indoor/outdoor cats for 30 years, many friends with indoor/outdoor cats. No poisonings or mass cat killings of any kind. Yes, a few got hit by cars, but not nearly the death rate some of you have experienced.
Boring Dad - I’ve heard people at least threaten to put antifreeze down because cats and dogs got into gardens and even because cats would walk on their cars. Mean people suck.
Boring Dad-some could be poisoned by accident-a neighbor leaves his garage open-anti-freeze, cleanser, you name it. There’s a house up the street where the man has traps around his garden to keep the rabbits and deer out. My grandfather had an electric fence around HIS garden.
Well, I could also step on the cat and squish it in the middle of the night when I get up to get a drink of water. Maybe I’d better keep it locked in a cage in the basement just in case.
In my neighorhood at least, I make the odds of “someone leaving a poisonous substance in an open container in his garage with the door open just at the time my cat wanders by, and the cat decides that this substance looks tasty” to be quite acceptably low. An electric fence around a city garden strong enough to kill a cat? Hoo boy! You’d have to be insane to have something like that nowadays, so it’s not something I worry about.
So since I analyze the risk to be low, I make the call for my cat that it is worth the risk to increase his enjoyment of life, even though I know the risks are non-zero. Everyone has their own acceptable level of risk. I assume that most people in this discussion accept comparable risk levels for their own behavior as what they allow their cats to experience. For the record, I ride my bike to work in light traffic and I don’t wear a helmet.
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