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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Guess I'm the only person here who has a contrary viewpoint. Our first cat - and the only one still living - has been an indoor/outdoor cat most of his life. He's almost 20. I finally put him outside when I couldn't handle the spraying anymore (he's spayed). He was always let in during hot and cold weather, and he has a nice warm cat house on the deck. Now that he's old, he spends almost all of his time inside. But he used to love being out. He got into a few standoffs with neighboring cats, but nothing serious happened. We also have foxes in the nearby woods - again, nothing happened.

One of our other cats was always trying to get out, but we wouldn't let her - she just didn't have the same survival instinct. She became obese and lethargic, and developed diabetes. Finally, in what we knew would be the last month of her life, we let her outside - supervised. I'd never seen her so happy, despite debilitating illness.

This will undoubtedly sound really weird, but I liken the indoor/outdoor argument to old folks who have to be put in assisted living and nursing homes. We do it to protect them, but they are miserable. We do this to make them safe in what both we and they know are their final years - and to assuage our guilt. Personally, I'd rather go on my own terms than be forced to live a diminished existence. I feel the same way about cats.[/quote]

Indoor/outdoor is fine. This lady wants outdoor only in the burbs. Probably too fastidious to change a litter box.[/quote]

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