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Inside or Outside Cat? - scotty - 01-26-2013
Do you keep your cat inside, or is it an outside cat?
My cats are so dame and domesticated they really would not survive long outside, but I know a lot of people are against keeping cats indoors because they are natural predators and hunters.
The reason I keep mine inside is because firstly, they are nice cats and I am worried they would get stolen, secondly they are the same colour as the road so I would worry they would get run over, thirdly fleas / bugs, and fourthly I just love cat cuddles to much!
So what do you do?
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - Ram - 01-26-2013
The good old days of let the cat free roaming is almost all gone. Many people I used to know having cats all had the cats stay indoor but they are also free to go outside.
Nowadays people are afraid of something, everything. Most people do not let their cats leave the house at all. One of my college friend even kept his cat inside the bedroom only. Poor cat had an extremely shy personality when we let him out during the friend's vacation. He always hid behind the window coverings and not moving, not making a sound. It took him a month to start opening up.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - scotty - 01-29-2013
My Boss's dog also just for mauled by a Coyote, so that has really and truly put the fear in me about letting them outside, I would be so terrified of anything happening too them! Luckily for me, we have quite a big house that we let the cats have free roam of so they have plenty of space to run and jump and exercise without having to go roaming in the scary outside world!
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - Msmonkeyfeet - 01-31-2013
Both of my cats are strictly indoor cats. I live directly next to a main road so there's no way I'd ever want to chance letting them out and even if I lived in the more rural areas around here I'd be extremely hesitant to let them out considering the amount of wildlife, including fisher cats and coyotes, that are in the area.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - Kaylee - 01-31-2013
All 3 of my cats are strictly indoor cats however they do get to go outside on a harness and leash when the weather is nice.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - scotty - 02-01-2013
I am glad I am not the only overprotective one! A lot people have ciritized me for keeping them indoor only, but I think really it is much safer for the cats! Pussington has now taken to trying to escape every time I leave house, but she only runs as far as the front garden then lays down and rolls about! I think she knows when I am screaming on her, she should stop..
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - AnnaU93 - 02-03-2013
My cat is strictly a indoor type of cat. She has always been since she was a kitten because it can actually be traced back many generations that her whole family was always the indoor type of cats. I don't think I will ever be that girl buying a leash for my cat. I actually prefer my cat being an indoor cat because it makes her more homey and much more "family " oriented. I am one of those germofobs who don't like germs around the house so if my cat was an outdoor cat I would worry about her getting something!
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - dsperin - 03-02-2013
I am a strict indoor-only cant owner, although my oldest cat Lola is now an indoor/outdoor thanks to my brother giving in to the cats' demands.
I believe cats are safer inside--from cars and people who would harm an animal for no reason. Plus, they tend to get into fights with other cats and animals and a vet visit is something I would prefer to avoid.
Sometimes I feel bad that I don't let my cat out, but she's such a skittish cat that I fear she'd get spooked and run (as she is prone to do) and then get lost.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - ACSAPA - 03-03-2013
My cat is strictly an indoors cat and right now I'm especially glad that I made that choice because someone in the neighborhood has been poisoning all the stray cats. My neighbor found a trash bag in the alley behind her house with a dead cat in it, and there was another bag like that a few blocks away, which also had a cat in it. Another neighbor told me that there's been a rash of cats being poisoned. So I'm glad my cat always stays inside. There are a lot of sick people out there.
I can't imagine someone hating cats that much.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - jowjo5 - 03-03-2013
Our cats are strictly indoor cats. As a kid we had indoor and outdoor cats, we always had sad endings with the outdoor ones. They can't navigate the cars coming on a fast traveling highway. Sad.
We live on a busy highway so I am not about to risk this happening to one of our boys.I do feel badly sometimes that they don't have the chance to get outside. But for now, they enjoy the windows while they are opened.
And if I really wanted to I could build an outdoor set up for them to get the chance to go out. I don't feel the need to do this as they don't ever seem to want to venture past the front door.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - 4sweed - 03-03-2013
Boots is strictly an indoor cat, although he makes grand attempts to get outside and sometimes makes it if the door is left open a half-a-second to long. He is very hard to catch and usually is caught by the scuff of the neck and brought back in.
Fleas are so bad in our area and we live next to a very busy street. So the chance he could get hit by a car is huge. And we have lots of free-roaming cats in the neighborhood that do not always look healthy, so it is best to keep him inside.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - GavinMcresty - 04-03-2013
We always kept our cat indoors. There were several busy roads near the flat we lived in so it would have been far too dangerous. On top of that, there were (wild) foxes roaming around. Even if nothing had happened, we would always have been worried about where she was and what was happening. We used to live on the top floor of a an apartment building so it would have been hard to get catflaps put on the two doors used to get to the stairs. It would probably have needed the agreement of everyone who lived there. At the best of times, that would have been almost impossible to achieve (some people would be on holiday, some would not like the idea of it at all and so on). Since we lived so far up, there would have been no way to know when she wanted to be let back in. She did not seem to mind being indoors all the time. I think she found it rather comfortable. Actually, there was a cat who lived nearby who looked very similar to her. We think they might have been related somehow: possibly from the same litter originally.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - Rube - 04-05-2013
My cat prefers to be indoors, although he does go out with me sometimes where it is safe to do so. Then he will never wander far from me. It would not be safe for him to go out of our front door, which faces directly onto a busy road.
I believe it is acceptable for a cat to live indoors, provided he or she has some company and is not left alone all the time. I know cats can sleep for many hours while their owners are out, but I think a cat does prefer some companionship, whether it is with a human or another animal.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - mariposa - 04-18-2013
Our cat has always been a totally indoor cat. I don't think there's ever been a time that we even considered just opening the door and letting her roam. Now, there *was* the time when my hubby saw a neighbor walking a cat with a harness to keep it safe and decided he'd try the same. I'm laughing right now remembering the thoughts I had about *that* little brainstorm working... I was right. :-)
Bottom line, I never let anyone tell me that cats "need fresh air" or somehow have to run outside where there are so many dangers so they stay healthy. I've never thought those things were true... and our cat is perfectly happy to sit on her perch and watch the squirrels and birds. During spring, summer, and part of fall we have a screen in that window, and that's plenty of fresh air as far as I'm concerned.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - Britt24xoxo - 05-05-2013
I prefer my cats to be indoor cats. There is so many things outside where I live that if I didn't keep them indoors they would probably get seriously hurt. We have coyotes, foxes, panthers and mean neighbors with guns. Since my cats are indoors, I consider them my kids. I have a really close relationship with them. I'm probably more close to my cats than any of my other animals just because they are with me 24/7. I have nothing against outdoor cats whatsoever, I just prefer mine indoors.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - trishgl - 05-12-2013
Since our cat can't have kittens anymore we allow her to go outside. The garden in the compound where we live is enclosed so she does not stray outside the fence. She has also never bitten or clawed other people so I'm confident that there won't be any problems with the other people who live in the building. I feel that cats need to stretch their legs a bit and climb some objects to have fun.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - ReneLeBeau - 05-15-2013
I have two cats, and they are strictly indoor cats since they were kittens. I know that it would be ideal to let them go outside-inside as they wish, but I just don't have the right conditions for that. I don't think that it bothers them that they are inside. They have room to run around, furniture to climb and concur and toys to hunt down. They also have a clean toilet, fresh food and water served to them, warm temperature in the winter and cooler temperature in the summer. I live in a building, and right in front of the building is a parking lot and a playground for children. There would be a lot for me to worry about if I wanted to let them outside; people in the building, people outside, children and parents, cars, stray cats and dogs...
So I just like to keep it on the safe side.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - TheBrit - 05-15-2013
Wild cats were a bit of a problem out here a few years ago, with newly born scrawny kittens running about everywhere. Something had to be done especially as a few young children had been scratched, usually because they tried to pick the animals up. To solve the problem a group of local vets started working with complex owners/managers and local residents. they would contact the vets if a new litter or kittens were seen wandering about the complex and the vet or a volunteer would come down and trap them, take them back to the surgery and neuter them. They were then, if still young enough, given to cat rescue centres to get used to human company and be re-homed. Those considered too wild would be released back into the complex. All this work was, and still is, carried out by collection boxes in bars dotted around the area. The wild cat population has dropped considerably and most of those still about can't have kittens.
A couple of months after moving to my present apartment, on the first floor, I looked over the balcony and a wild queen was laying on the grass while her two scrawny kittens were feeding. Initially I did nothing but one night in my wisdom when the kittens were taking solid food they managed to scavenge from the bins, I made the big mistake of throwing a couple of small pieces of chicken down to them when I was having dinner.
Suprise suprise the next night they were right there, looking up expectantly for their scraps. It was down hill all the way from there on in. A week or so later when I arrived back from work in the early hours they were sitting, waiting, at the bottom of the stairs leading up to my apartment. That night, feeling a bit mellow, I left the door open and put a saucer down with a few chicken scraps in it. Sure enough very warily, first one then the other ventured in. I'd put the saucer close to the door so they knew they had a fast escape route.
Included in the next weeks shopping was a big bag of own brand cat biscuits. I'd been fully adopted.
I have barred security gates on the door and patio so during the day, even if I go out they can come and go as they please and there's always food down for them. They learnt very quickly after one or two taps for jumping on the work tops that indoors they have one big chair with an old sheet thrown over it that they can lay or sleep on. Other than that it's the tiled floor or patio.
They know that if I am going out or to work at night then so are they. They are not allowed to stay in at night and first thing in the morning when I open the patio doors their they are, waiting for their first meal of the day after a hard nights hunting.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - Jpix - 05-16-2013
My cat is mostly an inside cat, every since he was a kitten, I know he'd get stolen if I let him out without supervision, though I would like for him to be able to go out. However, I did teach him to actually walk on a leash and when not on a leash I taught him to follow me around, he's a very bright cat and I'm glad I taught him to stay with me, so I can go for a walk with him.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - zeric064 - 05-20-2013
I live in the country and my cats go wherever they want. They always come back, and its very rare for any of them to disappear for more than a day. Some of my cats don't like going outside, some go outside all the time. The ones that do go outside tend to hang around the house. Most of my cats are strays that we found on our doorstep. Some of the strays find the indoor life to be very exciting or relaxing and don't want to go outside. Some of them still like the outdoors knowing they can hunt mice or chipmunks. Since we live in the country I suppose we have the freedom to let our cats decide whether they like the indoors, the outdoors, or both. When they want to go outside they sit by the door and wait. If they want to come inside they sit by the door and wait again. Since we have a transparent sliding door it is easy for us to let them in and out.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - nafretiti - 05-25-2013
My cat would be both, so neither inside or outside really. She is free to roam and come inside or go outside as she wants, the best part about her though is that she captures all the creepy crawlies including roaches,lizards and everything else that dare try to invade our home. Personally I believe allowing her that freedom she is able to be a cat,stalk and hunt her prey like they are meant to and of course we feed her normal cat food as well. The indoor and outdoor I think gives her an escape from the dogs when she wants it, yeah she is used to them but still. I enjoy when she brings little gifts and leaves them under the bed or on top of the blankets (not really) but it is good to just allow her to be a kitty and not a pampered house pet,although she is quite spoiled. I didn't vote because it didn't have a choice for both,but thank you for bringing up this topic.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - jules0309 - 05-26-2013
My cat is strictly an indoor cat. I doubt it would survive outside anymore. I live close to busy roads and I fear he might be struck down if he's ever outside. He's already used to me putting out his food and water and doubt he will be able to hunt for food outside. He's also a very picky eater and only eats dry crackers and canned tuna. He rejects other cat food that I've bought for him. I have opened the door and let him come out before during winter and he went right back into the house after taking a few steps outside.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - cliverederson - 05-27-2013
My parents have struggled with this issue. You put them at a bit of a risk if they go outside, fighting other cats, animals, etc. Especially since they live in a wooded area. But the cat they have that goes out was living outdoors before they took him in, so they hate to take that away from him since he loves being outside so much. I think you have to decide what's best for the animal, if he's gonna be sad locked indoors all of the time, probably should let him out. They have another cat too that's never been used to being outside and is perfectly happy inside, so they keep her in.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - maelstrom - 06-01-2013
Por que no los dos?
My cat is pretty much both. We have a cat door so that she can leave whenever she wants, and she used to leave a lot. As she's got older(she's about 13 and a half, now) however, she usually stays inside now. She will go out occasionally for bathroom and exploring, though.
RE: Inside or Outside Cat? - Dellygoat - 06-01-2013
My cat is also both! We are lucky enough to live in such a place where it's safe for her to be outside. We have a house with a big yard and nice neighbours in a semi rural area. She spends about 50% of her time inside and 50% outside. Well, more time outside during the summer of course. She goes in and out whenever we open the front or back door (when letting the dogs out for a pee for example), or she sits and scratches the door to get out/in. She always stays close, either outside our house or the house next door. Apparently, they told us, during the summers when they keep their door open, she sometimes sneaks in and they find her snoozing on their bed! Cheeky cat.
But yeah, it has never been a problem here, and she always comes back for food and to sleep as she prefers sleeping inside.
BUT - if I would live in any other condition and with a new cat, I wouldn't have it like this. She's 12 years old now and isn't exactly going to go anywhere. But when I do move away from home and into a flat, and if I do get another cat, it would be an indoor one.