Indoor vs Outdoor Cats

floyd

DaisyNelson wrote: »

If you get a cat, you should probably be guided by her.

I definately agree with this, it would break my heart to keep a cat in that was pawing to get out or having a poor quality of life

daisykinn1

floyd wrote: »

I definately agree with this, it would break my heart to keep a cat in that was pawing to get out or having a poor quality of life

Totally agree, well hopefully he/she will make the decision for us!

anyonefortea

We have 2 boy cats and we keep them indoors because of a busy road out the front.
They dont mind at all. We do make sure they have lots of toys, and we are lucky that they are very playful cats so they keep themselves amused. We try and hide cat nip filled toys about the house, so they hav something to search for, however, when we come home from work, the litter tray is usually clean and food is still in the bowl, suggesting they sleep for the majority of the day anyway.

We have just started taking them into the garden on harnesses, and altho they dont walk as such, they do like rolling about inthe grass and chasing flies.

As for teh litter tray, we try and clean it as often as we can, and i dont even notice any smell. i have also asked friends and family, and they hav assured me there is no smell, so thats good.
as long as it is kept clean it shouldnt be a problem.

cluuuuur

We have two male cats. One of those I found at around 3 weeks of age, dumped in a bag. The other we got from a rescue shelter - he had been feral for a time.

Both of our cats were indoor cats until recently (after 2 years of ownership), when we have started letting out the one who had been feral. There were a number of reasons for this - firstly, we have moved to a "nicer" area, which has the added bonus of no main roads close to us. He had been getting more and more frustrated being inside - trying to follow the dogs out when they went to the loo, trying to climb out of windows when they were open, etc. He had also attacked the other cat a couple of times, and there were more frequent scuffles.

So now he goes outside. Our other cat, who hasn't been outside since I found him, has never exhibited any want of going out, even now that his "brother" spends the daytimes outside (both cats stay indoors overnight). He'll occasionally sit on the windowsill and look outside, but never tries to get out of the door, or exhibits distress - I figure that it's almost like TV for him!

I think a lot depends on the mentality of the cats which you have. If you're getting them from a young age, and they've never been out, it's possible that they'll never exhibit desire to venture outside of your home. If you get an older cat who's been an outdoor cat, or been feral, then outdoors may be more of an option. Either way, by having stimulation around the house (bookshelves to climb on, scratching posts, toys which you 'cycle' around so there's always something 'new') I believe that cats can be just as happy and stimulated indoors as out. But take your lead from them.

Indoor cats also have the advantage that you're only likely to receive 'presents' of spiders or woodlice though...since outdoor cat has been outdoors we've had a pigeon. Not nice.

daisykinn1

Thanks for the replies!! Still not sure whether we should get one or two cats but I think we're leaving that up to fate.

But we have finally decided to 'cat-proof' the garden fence and let the cat have free roam of the flat & garden. AND that we're going to get an old cat rather than a kitten. Our home is very quiet so we can offer any cat that's had a hard life a lovely relaxing home. But it means we have to have another home check from Cats Protection, hopefully they'll give us the green light!! Fingers crossed