Indoor/outdoor?

meritaten

my present cat is an 'indoor' cat.
my former cat was previously an 'outdoor' cat, I think (I don't think he was actually allowed indoors as it seemed very strange to him at first), but he would only come outside with me, and never even explored the garden, preferring to sit on my lap). he was a sick cat when I kitnapped him though - FIV and almost at deaths door.
First cat was primarily 'outdoors'. but even he spent most of the cold months indoors and later in life was mainly an indoor cat.

Cats love home - I truly believe this and as they spend at least 18 hours a day asleep, where better than home? I really don't approve of owners who think cats should 'roam'. that's irresponsible. to let a cat 'roam' all night, well, they wont, mostly they will find somewhere to 'sleep'.
If you are worried (as I am) that the cat would be at risk outside - then just take the cat out in a harness, and supervise outdoors.

inkie

We adopted our cat, Bob last year. he had been straying before the RSPCA took him in. When we adopted him, we fully envisaged, after a few weeks settling in that we would start to let him out. once we got him home, we soon went against this idea. Why? Well, I couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to him either accidental or caused by some of the cat haters that are around. We felt that it was far better to keep him indoors, and he has seemed perfectly happy with this arrangement. one day last year, he managed to escape as Hubby has inadvertently left the patio door ajar and he got out. missing for 6 hours in the blazing sun, and I realised then how much we wanted to keep him as safe as possible. We have build an enclosed paio area in the back, nd so he can go out in an enclosed outdoor area if he wants. but he seems perfectly fine in the house: plenty of exercise, stimulation, and he never paws or whines at the door etc. Works for us. I cannot understand folk just letting their cats roam around. We don't do that with toddlers, and so why do it with cats?

Iain_L

inkie wrote: »

We don't do that with toddlers, and so why do it with cats?

Because a cat isn't a toddler ?

Having said that, one of my cats is totally indoor (he used to get bullied by other cats when his previous owner let him out) and my other 3 are all in at night (to keep then safe from the badgers and foxes that visit us then)

Iain

meritaten

The other reason I will be keeping Barnes either inside or outside on harness, is that he is obviously a pedigree cat (though I don't have his papers), and well, lets just say that anything valuable around here which hasn't been 'nailed down or cemented in place' gets nicked!

GwylimT

I do think its cruel to have an indoor cat, how would you like it if you were never allowed out the house? Yes you can get toys, but nothing actually recreates their natural environment properly and so they cannot fulfill their instincts.

If you don't want to allow an animal to be an animal, then really you need to think if you are actually suited to owning that animal.

meritaten

GwylimT wrote: »

I do think its cruel to have an indoor cat, how would you like it if you were never allowed out the house? Yes you can get toys, but nothing actually recreates their natural environment properly and so they cannot fulfill their instincts.

If you don't want to allow an animal to be an animal, then really you need to think if you are actually suited to owning that animal.

Many people are housebound Gwylim - its the quality of life which is provided which makes the difference. many homeless people would envy them.
and cats soon let you know if they are NOT happy! in which case I would be looking to rehome the cat to one where he could enjoy outside access.

GwylimT

meritaten wrote: »

Many people are housebound Gwylim - its the quality of life which is provided which makes the difference. many homeless people would envy them.
and cats soon let you know if they are NOT happy! in which case I would be looking to rehome the cat to one where he could enjoy outside access.

Yes, many people are housebound, most of them suffer from mental illness due to their geological isolation and a lack of outside interaction. A cat being abused would envy a house cat, but that doesn't make an animal being locked in doors a good thing, just less bad.

Person_one

meritaten wrote: »

Many people are housebound Gwylim - its the quality of life which is provided which makes the difference. many homeless people would envy them.
and cats soon let you know if they are NOT happy! in which case I would be looking to rehome the cat to one where he could enjoy outside access.

Many people are housebound, but most of them would rather not be!

The thought of a cat living its whole life and never going outside at all does bother me, I don't think that's fair. If the cat can go out on a harness, or can go out in its own garden a bit then that's different.

Although, cats and harnesses...

meritaten

GwylimT wrote: »

Yes, many people are housebound, most of them suffer from mental illness due to their geological isolation and a lack of outside interaction. A cat being abused would envy a house cat, but that doesn't make an animal being locked in doors a good thing, just less bad.

how on earth can you state 'most of them suffer from mental illness?' what about disabled people? and 'due to geographical isolation'? what do you mean by that?

Person_one

meritaten wrote: »

how on earth can you state 'most of them suffer from mental illness?' what about disabled people? and 'due to geographical isolation'? what do you mean by that?

Being housebound isn't good for your mental health, its true. You're far more likely to get depressed:

I wouldn't say 'most', but its definitely not good for humans to never leave the house, that's why it only happens when necessary and is hardly ever a choice that a healthy person makes.