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Anyone have an indoor/outdoor cat?
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Anonymous
| We live in a quiet neighbor that is not near any busy streets with a 2 acre yard. I know my cat is dying to go outside. I have seen several neighborhood cats out from time to time. He would get alot more activity. I would not leave him out at night or when we are not here. Growing up everyone had outdoor cats but now it seems everyone says they need to be inside. |
Anonymous
| they kill birds. |
Anonymous
... and are hit by cars. |
Anonymous
| I used to. Then he was mauled by a neighbors dogs who escaped their yard. Very traumatic for everyone, and VERY expensive. |
Anonymous
| We do and she's fine. We kept her inside for a long time, years and then realized that she might want to explore outside. Get a bell for her collar and she might still kill things but it's ok. Our cat loves it. |
Anonymous
| We have an indoor/outdoor cat. He used to be indoor exclusively because we lived on a busy street, but we moved to a low traffic, heavily wooded area and we no longer fight him when he wants to go outside. He spends most days outside and comes in for the evenings, though sometimes he's outside during the night. Very safe neighborhood and most of our neighbors know too that he is our cat so they keep an eye out for him. FWIW, he is a MUCH happier cat because of being outside. He definitely wanted to be outside and loves going out. His sister, on the other hand, stays inside. |
Anonymous
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Oh let the poor cat out... I mean its great going out and not being able to sit on my front porch because my neighbors lovely cat loves to sit on my porch furniture. I am allergic to cats. Its great how he use to use my old car as a scratching post. He use to poop in our flower beds until we switched to rubber mulch. He teases my dogs by sitting in front of the fence. He is a great cat honestly. He is friendly always wants to rub himself on my legs and come and see me.
I am okay with having cats outside truthfully especially is you are in a less busy area.... Just bring them in at night. |
Anonymous
...and pee and poop at the house next door. Disgusting!! |
Anonymous
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Your cat is not dying to go out. Please keep it inside, cats are not wild animals, they are pets. Cats who are let out have significantly shorter lifespans.
Plus you should check the laws in your area, in some places cats (like dogs) are not allowed to roam free. |
Anonymous
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Growing up, we, too, had an indoor/outdoor cat and lived on over an acre. The cat had a litter of 4, and we kept one before having her and the daughter fixed. She lived to be 18 years old before we put her down. The daughter was a year younger and died a year after her mother did.
I'd say they were happy b/c of their freedom and very able to protect themselves. Unless you live by a busy street in a 'hood that's ruled by HOA, go for it!
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Anonymous
| I do. My cat is very happy. The best of both worlds, for the past 6 yrs. |
Anonymous
This happened a few months ago to lovely stray cat we'd adopted but who lived outside. We could never coax her in and it made me so nervous. The dogs practically ripped her head off. (Sorry to be so graphic, but imagine finding your beloved pet like that.) Another cat of ours got out a couple of years ago during a busy holiday gathering. We finally found her a month later, but she'd contracted feline leukemia and died in a couple of weeks. Our vet said feline leukemia is really prevalent in this area-- about 80% of outdoor/feral cats carry it. Apparently the vaccine is only moderately effective. Think hard before you make this choice, OP. |
Anonymous
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My parents have always had cats who they let in and out, but they live in much more rural area than DC metro area.
There are cats in my nieghborhood who do this and seem fine, but we do have a fair amount of traffic and we have seen foxes at night, deer, etc. because we aren't far from the trails and woods of sligo creek. I feel horrible that we don't let our cat out, but he was such a tiny kitten and though adorable, never struck me as all that bright. He is now four and overweight. My parents' cats were never overweight because they get such great exercise outside. I wonder now if we let him in our gated backyard, he would stay there. We have him on special food we get shipped in and really monitor his diet, and try to play with him, but I think it's hard for strictly indoor cats to stay fit as they age. |
Anonymous
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I have two cats that are out for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. We live on a non-busy street, and my cats don't roam far.
Do you have only 1 cat? I can't imagine having just one cat and leaving it inside by itself all day long without any stimulation. I would say if you want to go the strictly indoor route, at least get another cat. |
Anonymous
| Your cat might be ok and live happily going outside. But the reality is that outdoor cats are often killed. Most likely your cat will just disappear one day and you'll never know what happened. If you are comfortable with that, then sure, let the cat out. |