Always keep kitty indoors?

my cat was stray, and borderline feral.. meaning, if he didn't like you, well.. you kept your distance. When I first got him, he didn't want to go outside... we were living in a quiet area, so i would sit outside with him, but he wanted to be on me at all times... on my lap, on my shoulder... he needed to be attached to me.

After a while, i think he got it through his head that i wasn't going anywhere. So, we would leave this little window open, and he would come and go as he pleased.. but if I went onto the porch and called for him, he came running home.

Now, we are living in a busier area. I still took him outside, but he didn't like it. He got skitish and jumpy and clung to me. Sometimes we take him to a big state/regional park on his leash, and he likes that, but only if it's warm.. not too hot, not too cold. And if other people or animals show up, he jumps into my arms.

If my cat still wanted to go outside.. I would let him. He never went too far, and has always been home by dark... hahaa. But he doesn't really like it outside anymore... he has gotten used to having a yarn basket to sleep in, a choice of food in his bowl, a ball to fetch and a couple nice sunbeams to laze in.

 

i give tremendous freedom to my kitty,and she is very self-conscious.

 

Bree - I really like your idea about the outdoor pen.. I have thought about getting one of those but then I feel like it would be the same thing, only moved outdoors. My cats would still be "jailed" as I have come to think about it lately. I don't really know what to do.....

I don't think that the environment I live in is healthy for an outdoor cat. I only live two blocks away from one of the busiest roads in the entire state plus it can get SERIOUSLY cold here, like -40 degrees F. in the middle of the night. Plus I notice alot of other outdoor cats living in my neighborhood.. some of which i KNOW are un-neutered males.

Thanks everyone for replying. I think I have decided to keep them indoors until I move to a quieter, warmer area of the world.

 

Well,I just lost my little buddy.She was a teeny ball of fur when I found her--abandoned,eyes glued shut,maggots in her mouth from missing teeth.She was covered with dirt,foxtails and was pitiful.$500.00 bucks later,she was a beautiful little thing--talked constantly and was loved by me and all who met her.She was fixed and liked to be indoors and out.My daughter left for an hour and kitty was sitting on the porch as usual and now she is just gone.Somtimes they go for a few days and return.I feel really bad.Imagination is rough somtimes.

 

Scratcho, I'm sorry to hear about your little pal. It hurts to lose a pet; I certainly have lost a few over the years...I hope she returns soon...please let us know!

 

My 10 year old cat Misha came frome the streets... she spend almost 9 years comming in and out of the house, as she got older she would spend more time inside... I tried to keep her in more cause my street started getting roudy and I was woried about her... Then one day she came home limping...somehow she got a spiral fracture on her leg (I think that's what it's called) she had to stay 2 months lock up in a room. It was terrible for her. She would meow, his and get angry at first but then she got used to it... After she got better I tried keeping her inside more, then I moved and didn't let her out again...
She change after that, she would get angry at my other cats and fight over teritory alot... But after some time she started feeling more comfortable and discoverd all the places she could jump on and hide under at the new apartment. She turned into a kitten again, plays, jumps, hides all the things she used to do outside but she was definitly more playful... It helps alot that I have two other cats she enjoys playing with... she does her daily routine of curiously looking out the window, but has never tried to escape... plus she gets to sleep on THE BED which she loves...

so anyway I think that if a stubborn street cat can get used to being inside, then it's not that bad after all... they just need entertainment to recompensate the activity they would have outdoors.

 

My Rosco is an indoor cat, he is declawed but I let him out on balcony and I go out with him supervised. He enjoys it, so if you can go out with them for a little bit or let them out in a closed area. I live in a urban setting where anything could happen to my kitty so I am super cautious.

 

Our cat Newt was a stray in the city where my daughter attends uni. The students sort of adopted her, fed her and gave her shelter until the porter decided she was a nusiance and had to go to the pound. Anyway, it ended by me driving across country and bringing Newt home.

We kept her in for a month but she was always desperate to get out, so we let her go.....for all of an hour. She loves being out, but not when it's cold, in fact she's now lying in front of a roaring fire. I know she hunts, brings gifts of birds and mice, always alive and unharmed......the mice take some catching as she just drops them on the carpet and they scurry off. Warm summer nights see her gone till the following day and then I worry, but she'd hate to be kept indoors. I hope she always returns I'd be mortified if she didn't.
Scratcho - I hope your little buddy returns home.

 

Thanks Sus and wond ring----nah.I guess the little bugger's gone.I seem to have found strays that have needed help over the years,so I guess another will come my way.I won't forget the last little guy though.She was special.-------------

 

I don't have the patience right now to read all of these replies, but my opinion is that it is very cruel to keep one's cat indoors. I live in a decent sized city, and sure there are lots of dangers but I really feel that my cats are much happier being allowed to go in an out as they please.
I can understand your fears and just wanting to protect them....but cats are very independent and wild creatures and to me it just seems fucking evil to lock them up. I would never do it.
If you get them and they've been raised an indoor cat you can let them out occasionally at their will and it's been my experience that they will grow to want to be outside. If not then well, I guess you're in luck and you don't have to worry about it! But jeez at least give them the opportunity. Animals aren't our property, I like to think my cats (and I use this possesive term for lack of anything better, just like I'd say MY roomates, MY mother etc.) are just two little dudes who live and eat in our house and sleep in my bed but have their own lives and whims outside of just keeping me company and entertained. People tend to have a very whack view on animals and "pets" though so I don't expect much else.

 

also, scratcho I'm very sorry to hear about your friend

ALSO I hope my post didn't come across as pompous or something, it was just my honest opinion. I fully understand why some would feel the need to protect their cats but in my eyes locking them up is just not right, morally.

 

I personally wouldn't. I have seen too many cats get lost, or hit by cars to ever let my cat go out. My cat escaped, was hit by a car and almost died and she had a litter of kittens at home that needed her. So no, I don't like cats being let outdoors. Especially since a great deal of people don't spay or neuter there pets. We don't need more cats and dogs.

Anyhoo... honestly, if your cats have plenty of toys and each other indoors they should be fine. I know "oh well its natural to keep them outside" but it's not natural for them to be hit by a car. Cats are domesticated. They do well indoors.

I would never put my cat to risk to get hurt or sick from being outdoors. IMHO. She likes to sit and watch outside but has never once tried to get out. She is happy.

 

totally agree.

 

cats are not wild creatures they are domesticated and have been for about 5000 years or so.....if one chooses to have a pet it becomes ones responsibility to take care of it...if ones idea of taking care of a pet is to put it in danger.maybe one should reconsider having a pet..would one let their baby play in traffic??..jeez there are SO many cats and dogs that are killed and/or lost and in shelters or the pound because someone thought they should run free....unbelievable

 

Domestication has not wiped out their need for freedom, adventure, new experiances and so on. my cat doenst have to stay in the same old house staring at the same old shit day after day (if any human was forced to live like that you can bet they'd be more than depressed). my cat goes out freely and isnt in any real danger. he hangs out fairly close to home. he doesnt play in traffic he's a smart baby and stays away from the road. for the most part he can hear me whenever i call him and then he comes running home. but he comes home anyway throughout the day, sometimes to eat and sometimes to just hang inside or whatever. even if he lives ten years as opposed to fifteen years then atleast he's had a great life where he had the freedom to make choices and enjoy the world. i think he would choose that than fifteen years cooped up in the same old house.

just like with us. if i stayed in my house day after day for my whole life i'd be safe....wouldnt take the chance of dying in a car wreck or something else happening to me out in the world......but no one wants to live that way.

 

dont anthromorphize animals they are not like people...but whatever..

 

I tried to take BJ outside with me yesterday. He stood at the doorway, looked at me and said "you have got to be freaking kidding me", and turned around and went back inside. He doesn't like it outside... it's cold, and wet and snowy. Inside its warm and cuddley and there is food.

I think it would be 1000 times more "cruel" for me to FORCE him to go outside. Some cats like the outdoors... some don't. BJ is one of those that really doesn't like the outdoors.

 

I could never do that to a hunting, carnivorous animal. I feel the same way for de-clawing them.

 

I don't let me cat outside, and when she does get out, all she does is eat grass then come back in.
I don't think it's mean or anything, she seems to like it better indoors anyway...

 

Now that I live in Hawaii and it's too hot to keep my poor cat inside all day (although sometimes it's much cooler inside) we let her out in our backyard where we can sorta keep an eye on her. But she pretty much just likes to eat grass and then she comes inside and throws it up on the floor. She does love that grass though. We swear she's a closet vegetarian! I did catch her chasing after a centipede (that was in our house!) but I snatched her away because I was afraid it would sting her!