Can/should I occassionally let my cats out?

[Sdashiki]

I really have to resent the mentality permeating this thread like the smell in my house when I havent cleaned the litter in a couple of days...

That my cat is UNHAPPY being an indoor cat.


Nothing could be further from the truth. So quit acting like YOUR way is the right way. Obviously its YOUR cat and YOUR way must be the right way, so why is mine wrong? Its not wrong. Its perfect. For MY cat.


Also

DOG

do not equal

CAT

Comparisons can not be made whatsoever when it comes to the topic at hand: outdoors/indoors?

 

[Mavimao]

I live in downtown Columbus. My two cats love going outside and playing in the neighborhood. I saw one cat yesterday climb up a tree and climbed right back down.

How could I deprive them of that? I am well aware of the risks in letting them roam, but the benefits totally outweigh them.

 

[jonbravo77]

I really have to resent the mentality permeating this thread like the smell in my house when I havent cleaned the litter in a couple of days...

That my cat is UNHAPPY being an indoor cat.


Nothing could be further from the truth. So quit acting like YOUR way is the right way. Obviously its YOUR cat and YOUR way must be the right way, so why is mine wrong? Its not wrong. Its perfect. For MY cat.


Also

DOG

do not equal

CAT

Comparisons can not be made whatsoever when it comes to the topic at hand: outdoors/indoors?

+1 this is pretty much what I was trying to say as well.

 

[ChrisA]

We don't have a catflap but do you think I could let my cats out every now and again? They haven't been out since we moved house two years ago but with such fabulous weather, I feel terrible!

Cats that are raised indoors are rather stupid about being outside. Many times they get hit by cars or killed by other cats who consider the area "theirs". Cats who have lived outside and actually lived tend to do OK. It's just Darwinism at work.

 

[jonbravo77]

I just feel that cats should be allowed the choice at least to go outside, many people forget that animals can get depressed as well, try keeping a dog inside its whole life. I'd rather not be an animal Josef Fritzel.

Way to take a sick news story about a vial Human and twist it to meet your own narrow minded view on animal owners. Way to go.... Credibility=none.

 

[iBlue]

I just feel that cats should be allowed the choice at least to go outside, many people forget that animals can get depressed as well, try keeping a dog inside its whole life. I'd rather not be an animal Josef Fritzel.

Jesus H Christ on a rubber crutch that is a ridiculous comparison. I don't know what kind of crazy ass animals owners you know but that is hardly an appropriate analogy. Eeuuuugggghhh!

 

[takao]

yeah if you live somewhere where you have coyotes it would make sense to keep them indoors
but if there a few gardens around your house + street with little traffic + some small fields for growing grass etc. i would consider it animal cruelty

we currently have 2 cats: 1 being 19 years old and the other 1 year old (the replacement for the others cat companion who died with 17 years last year)

and what should be a problem with "not seeing a cat" ? do you see your other family members constantly ? a cat isn't a dog who likes to await "the return of their master"

and cats bringing home mice etc.: cats do that to show that "they are doing something too"... that's why they want the owner to _see_ the mouse and then tap their back

our family has contained cats in our hosue since the house was built (1926) and nearly all grew 12+ years old ...

 

[Wild-Bill]

My cat has been an indoor cat for five years now. That decision was made initially from two overarching factors: when I adopted him as a kitten he was already declawed, and the neighborhood where I used to live in San Diego had a lot of ferile cats roaming around. To let Gizmo out would mean at the very least he'd get his ass kicked since he couldn't properly defend himself.

He is absolutely fine indoors. I'll let him out the front door to go maybe 5-6 feet so he can sniff around, but he'll always come right back inside. He has a "kitty condo" that he can climb up and down all day, all the toys he can handle, and I also keep some cardboard boxes around because he loves chewing up cardboard for some reason.

He'd never last out in the wild!

 

[RedTomato]

I'm seeing the cultural thing too.

I guess from the cat's viewpoint, it also depends on if they have grown up going in and out, and learned how to cope with the outside world. (or even been able to learn some tricks from their parents - i.e. not separated early).

Here in the UK it's almost unheard of to keep a cat indoors 24/7. I live in central London and there's about 5 or 6 cats on my local streets that I know by sight. I often seen them out, on walls, or hanging out with each other - they all belong to various houses. UK houses are quite small, especially city houses so it's a bit cruel to keep a pet within such a confined space.

I also have a family of foxes that live in the garden opposite me - i see them from my living room window almost every night. At first I was worried they'd eat the cats - I rarely see the foxes and cats both in the street at the same time - but recently I saw them having staring contests with each other both on the ground. Ended with the fox walking away. Once or twice I've even seen what looks like the cats teasing or taking the piss out of the foxes.

I guess the cats are generally better fed than the scavenging foxes so it evens it out a bit. Not sure what the foxes eat as all the bins around here are of the tall wheely type with self-closing lids so they're not very fox-accessible.

Stray dogs are rare here too. I understand the USA has more cat diseases, more stray dogs and other wild animals, and bigger houses, which does change the balance somewhat.

UK country towns will have literally hundreds of cats out on the streets each day; it's a big part of the country tradition to have roaming cats out and about to keep the rats and vermin down.

My partner's older sister, who lives in North London, has a pedigree Persian cat which she never lets out for fear someone will steal it. Not even into her back garden, which is quite large. This really upsets my partner, who says 'why on earth get such an expensive cat then jail it indoors and ruin your life worrying about it?? Just get a cheaper cat!'

I have to say, this Persian seems less intelligent, less sharp and quick off the mark than other cats I've met, which were allowed to roam. Being in an unvarying environment with no hazards or chances to test yourself will do that to anyone. I can't imagine it having the guts or the skilful judgement needed to stare down a fox without being harmed.

 

[garybUK]

We have never de-clawed any of our cats.

This seems to be a cultural thing how people keep cats seems different around the world, quite interesting actually.

 

[yellow]

We have never de-clawed any of our cats.

This seems to be a cultural thing how people keep cats seems different around the world, quite interesting actually.

Agreed. Our neighbors had a tuxedo cat (Tuxedo Steve, picture to follow) that they put out because he ate a bamboo stick and barfed green on their white carpet. Oh, did I mention that he was declawed and still put out to be an outside only cat? Yeah.
We adopted him, but unfortunately, he disappeared. Undoubtedly he was killed by the pack of Boxers in the area. Did I mention that he had no claws? Yes? Did I mention that I hate Boxers? When I see them roaming I chase them. Does that sound weird? Probably.. but I don't give a ****. On my property and on public property, I'm ****ing alpha dog.

Damn, I hate dogs.

 

[RedTomato]

OK, another UK thing coming up.

Why de-claw a cat? I've never seen a de-clawed UK cat. Is this for the convenience of the owners or to benefit the cat?

Some cats scratch, yes - so give them scratching poles. Cats are trainable - I presume all these USA people with indoors cats have already successfully trained them to use litter trays and not ***** in every room.

 

[Wild-Bill]

OK, another UK thing coming up.

Why de-claw a cat? I've never seen a de-clawed UK cat. Is this for the convenience of the owners or to benefit the cat?

Some cats scratch, yes - so give them scratching poles. Cats are trainable - I presume all these USA people with indoors cats have already successfully trained them to use litter trays and not ***** in every room.

I don't know why people do it. There are some for it, some against it, and some VEHEMENTLY against it. Gizmo just happened to be declawed already when I adopted him, and it wasn't a factor in the decision making process to adopt. My ex fell in love with him, and that was the only deciding factor.

When I eventually get around to buying a home I will adopt another, maybe two more cats. I won't have them declawed because from what I understand it is a traumatic event for the cat. As far as the scratching goes, I think there are some plastic things that can be put on the cats claws to prevent them from damaging anything. (My leather sectional looks much better un-perforated. ) There's also that new "Pedi-Paws" thing that is a clipping device that actually rounds the ends down and doesn't hurt the pet.

 

[dizzy13]

I can appreciate your thinking but it seems you have this view that people think animals are here to just serve us. While I agree that there are a lot of people that do have that view, I don't think it is fair to think that everyone who has animals has that view. I certainly do not, I love my cats more than anything and do not wish to see anything bad happen to them.

This topic has pretty much been beaten to death, but just wanted to respond to this because I don't agree with the category you are putting me in.

I think by letting my cat go outside and have it's own life as well as "hanging with the peeps" inside it's less of an animal serving me and more of me letting the animal live it's life. Plus, the old saying goes, "Dogs have masters, cats have staff", is pretty damn true IMO

I understand the fear of letting your pets into the wild, especially a cat which is almost impossible to contain...but just because I let my cat out does not mean that I want anything bad to happen. Also, my cat probably does spend more time inside because she is like a dog and needs to be around people.

So I say, to each their own!

 

[No1451]

We only did it with our cat(Whiskey) because he kept attacking the neighbours cat. This was a bad idea because I once watched that cat take down a fox(and I mean take it down, my friend and I found it dead with cuts all around its neck).

Once he got declawed he realized he couldn't take my friend's cat and stopped being a jerk.

As for letting cats out, we always had an open-door policy. During the summer our door was basically open all day till it was evening and the mosquitos came out. We live in the city(Ottawa) now and our cat refuses to go out, she just has no interest in it, not like in the country.

 

[cantthinkofone]

never read so much bs in my life

agreed. I've had a cat or two for the last 14 years. I have never had a cat with any of those problems. I've since moved out and my parents only have one cat . He has started spending most of his time inside. But will go outside for a few hours at a time.

I think it's horrible to keep cats and dogs locked up in the house.

 

[allmIne]

I can't believe so many people keep their cats indoors. If people are that scared of their cat catching something, they shouldn't keep cats.

It's rediculous. Not to mention, imo, cruel, to suppress every natural instinct they have. You wouldn't do it with a dog, so why with a cat? Both are descended from animals designed to hunt, play, and roam free.

Though I guess if you guys in America have a ton of natural predators out there, and more cat diseases, it's more understandable. In that situation, though, maybe it's better not to own a cat, than to confine it to a house day and night.

 

[Jpoon]

I wouldn't let my cats outside, they'd get ripped to shreds by the neighborhood cats. It's situational, and people are going to do what they're going to do.

 

[RedTomato]

We only did it with our cat(Whiskey) because he kept attacking the neighbours cat. This was a bad idea because I once watched that cat take down a fox(and I mean take it down, my friend and I found it dead with cuts all around its neck).

Oh yes, that reminds me of a cat, Besom, that occasionally used to hang out at my friend's house, down in Cornwall. It was a giant black moggy that lived wild, stealing fish off the fishing boats and from the fish market. Twice the size of most cats I've seen and covered in scars. Heavily muscled and walked like a panther too.

My friend had a sign on his gate 'Beware of the Cat' with what looked like a photo of a large black jaguar on a tree branch. It wasn't. It was Besom.

Awesome cat. RIP.

 

[Sdashiki]

My cat is happy indoors.

Thats all that matters to me, and her.


Also, declawing your cat...if you have done this, you have NO right to talk about "cruelty" of keeping a cat indoors. You have mutililated your cats hands by cutting off their first knuckle. Declawing is NOT as harmless as it sounds. Its wrong, evil, and tantamount to torture.

Unlike keeping an indoor cat, indoors.

Get off the high horses about YOUR cat. Its not MY cat.

Also, since when is "natural instinct" compatible with "domestication"...they go hand in hand, but neither overpowers the other when both are involved...know what I mean?

 

[IJ Reilly]

Get off the high horses about YOUR cat. Its not MY cat.

Or get off your high felines, at least.

A cat's natural state is feral. I've asked several times whether anyone would want to keep a feral cat. Anyone who talks about how "unnatural" and "cruel" it is keep your cat "prisoner" in your home, needs to answer this question, or risk being labeled a gasbag!

 

[jonbravo77]

I can't believe so many people keep their cats indoors. If people are that scared of their cat catching something, they shouldn't keep cats.

It's rediculous. Not to mention, imo, cruel, to suppress every natural instinct they have. You wouldn't do it with a dog, so why with a cat? Both are descended from animals designed to hunt, play, and roam free.

Though I guess if you guys in America have a ton of natural predators out there, and more cat diseases, it's more understandable. In that situation, though, maybe it's better not to own a cat, than to confine it to a house day and night.

Fine, on the flip side. Why would you get a cat just to let it outside and see every now and then? There is nothing cruel about keeping a cat inside as long as there are things for the cat to do. And if you do own a cat and watch it's behavior they tend to sleep, eat and sh&*, rinse and repeat.

I'm glad that you have a degree in animal physiology and that you know how evolution works (well, I don't think you quite know how evolution works). But, just because you do one thing for your animals does not mean that what someone else does is wrong in any way.. You automatically equate that keeping a cat indoors that someone is "suppressing every natural instinct" how do you come to this conclusion? You must think that cat owner's that keep their cats indoors do not provide anything for the cat to climb on, any toys for the cat to play with and don't provide any love to the cat. Well, you're wrong, very wrong...

 

[iJohnHenry]

I "suppress my natural instincts" every day, and many are still walking around because of it.

Is that a bad thing??

 

[jonbravo77]

There's also that new "Pedi-Paws" thing that is a clipping device that actually rounds the ends down and doesn't hurt the pet.

Ok, off topic. But I just bought one of those Pedi-Paw things and don't like it. Both my cats are de-clawed in the front, (not my decision) and there back claws were getting to long. So I bought that thing and the safety guard with the hole that you stick the claw into is to far away from the grinding wheel. I could barely get the tip of the claw and it was splintering the claw (like it said it was not going to). So I am not to sold on that thing for cats, Dogs I think it would work well on but not so much cats. Just my 2 cents

 

[jaw04005]

I would think it would depend on where you live (neighborhood, traffic, other animals, etc). Personally, I grew up with cats going in and out, and we live in a nice rural suburb.

We keep our cats out during most of the work day (depending on the weather) and let them in at night during the winter months. During the summer, they stay out most of the time, sleep in the chairs on our back patio and probably wouldn't have it any other way. They love it!

In fact, if we try to get them to come in during warm weather ... they just stare at us.

You get used to them showing off dead birds and mice by leaving them on the porch. They're proud.

We do use common sense, both are spayed and if it's raining or cold outside we let them stay in but most of the time they'd rather be outside.