Do you allow your cats outside?

[sirrahved]

Okay... this is NOT to start a fight... (if you wish to debate with someone PLEASE start a new thread in the doghouse or PM!) Do you allow your cats to go outside? Under what circumstances?

[Edwina's Secretary]

The E's are allowed outside in our enclosed backyard under the following conditions....

- harness on (at least Eddie and usually Edwina)
- adult supervision
- daylight hours.....

[catmandu]

With the Murders of Orange Blossom,Orangie and Scratchy,I will never allow my Cats outdoors.
I worry about Lucky/Nugget as he is older and I think daef.

[lv4dogs]

My cats can go in or out whenever they want. Well I have no doggy door so they have to wait for me but still.
Would that be considered free roam? :confused:

I ONLY let them out because I live in a trailer park where the speed limit is 5-10 miles per hour & everyone obeys it too. We are also set back quite a ways from the main road & I never see my cats go too far away from my home. They are both microchipped too.
They were also both rescued from a complete outdoor lifestyle and I did try to to keep them inside for months & months & months. It never worked, they are so fast & sneaky & my door is set up in kind of a weird way.

Now if I notcied them walking closer to the main road or if I moved or any other possible danger came about they would be inside only cats.

[jenluckenbach]

Never. Not EVER.

[moosmom]

Although my cats are strictly indoors, I DO take MooShoo out for rides in the car, walks around the green (in a harness) and shopping at PetSmart. Other than that, they only sniff the fresh air from the open, secured windows.

[sirrahved]

My cats can go in or out whenever they want. Well I have no doggy door so they have to wait for me but still.
Would that be considered free roam? :confused:


I would consider this "free roam." They're allowed outside, without a fence, and are checked up on rather than constant supervision.

[orangemm]

Since we adopted our boys, they have never set foot on grass or concrete! :D

[Laura's Babies]

Mine are never allowed outside and they express no interest in going out... not even Samantha who's former Mom swears she use to sit at the door and cry to go out. Samantha likes it a lot better inside. Giz knocked a screen out one day and fell out the window and ran streight to the front door and cried/screamed to get back in. Chester runs when someone opens the front door and Amy just has shown NO interest in the outside, other than looking from the window....

[The Cat Factory]

No, mine are not allowed outside.

[LeahMM]

Mine are never let outdoors. It is very unsafe outside.

[Donnaj4962]

My girls are only allowed outside under supervision. I live in an apartment complex, and NO ONE obeys the speed limit, so I am with them at all times! They mainly like to lay on the cement (warmth) and to gobble a piece of grass or two. Tabitha has been known to sneak out, and run to the side of the building, but I can always get to her right away.

I do, however, have a funny story to tell about my friends' cat, Punkin Patch Raptor. I was watching Punkin (5 months old) and his dog sister Roxie over the weekend, and both are allowed outside in their chain link fence enclosed yard. Well, Punkin must have missed his family so much that he decided to go look for them... and he squeezed between the fence and the gate and he was gone! :eek: Little guy is FFFAAASSSTTTT! :eek:

Of course, I kept thinking he would come home. I was getting quite worried after about 1/2 an hour when he was still MIA. So I took off through the neighborhood, calling his name. No Punkin. I had gone around to another street, was circling back, and was about 3 houses from his house, feeling heartbroken that I may have lost their precious little Punkin Patch Raptor. I looked behind me, and there he stood, on the sidewalk.... FOLLOWING ME EVER SO QUIETLY! Little stinker! :mad: I stopped, called him, and he came right to me! :) Needless to say, his outdoor privileges were removed for the remainder of the time that his family was away! Poor little one, he must have missed them so much, couldn't find them, and decided that since I had come looking for him, that maybe I was okay after all! :rolleyes:

[smokey the elder]

I live on a very busy street. Mobius wouldn't go outside for all the 'nip in Catada. :p

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

The ONLY time my cats are let outside is when I'm out there and they either have a harness on or are in their little pen. Even when they're in their pen, I will not let them out of my site. With Tubby & Peanut, I wasn't quite as strict about leaving them in the pen unattended because they were both old and were content to just lay and sniff the breezes. CJ, on the other hand, I don't trust, so if I have to go inside for any longer than a minute, he comes in with me, then back out with me.

I am just way too paranoid to let them out unattended, or even out without some sort of "confinement" such as a harness or pen - since we don't have an enclosed back yard.

[Rie Rie]

Annie goes out whenever she feels like it, but she never stays long. She has never once used the bathroom outside either, I don't think she knows she can.
As far as Chester, he tries to get out when he's here, but I think it's only because he sees Annie do it. So I have to watch closely when he's here that no stands with the door open too long, because he will go out given the chance.

[k9krazee]

Yes :( :(

Jasper does go outside, with free roam :( We tried sooo hard to keep him indoors but when he wanted out he would find a way out, with 5 dogs and 6 people going in and out all day it was REALLY hard to keep a cat in that desperately wanted out. The kittens Motchka and Batman are NOT allowed to go outside but I know its only a matter of time :( Motchka has been increasingly interested in the outdoors and has occasionally tried to sneak out, as of now Batman has no interest. I really wish Jasper wouldn't go outside...I am so scared he will meet the same fate as my Lucky girl did :( :(

[G535]

Only if he's with me and has his collar and leash on, he likes to walk outside but he prefers to stay inside.

It's just not safe for cats to run loose any more, too many cat hating vermin out there. :(

[Medusa]

My cats are all feral rescues. Letting them outdoors would be disastrous, esp. the younguns who haven't been w/me all that long. Besides, too much out there to worry about. Every once in a while, Puddy will make a dash outside. (Of course, who else.) But all in all, my fur posse likes it indoors.

Blessings,
Mary

[Jessika]

NO. There are way too many dangers in the area that I live that I would never think of letting my cat outdoors unsupervised! There are too many cruel teenagers (and kids) that would torture the poor thing, too many teens who speed through the neighborhood... ugh. Mine will all stay indoors where I can keep an eye on them at all times! And that way I know they won't get into a fight with any wild animals or risk being run over!

[kb2yjx]

I agree with the majority, all of our 8 cats are strictly indoors. However, Ralph enjoys going out in the snow on the harness and leash. I have taken some of the others out on the harness and leash, they either just sit there, looking at me as if I have lost my mind OR they run back to the door dragging me. In Hunterdon County, there is a rabies problem. We have foxes, skunks, raccoons, ground hogs, other assorted wildlife, and the occassional BEAR that comes into the neighbourhood. I have bird feeders up and the cats really enjoy WATCHING the birds, not killing them. Indoors is definitely the only way to go. No fleas, ticks, no feline aids or leukemia from fighting(the last two).

[bleupurrs]

Outside? What is that? My two girls, Zoe and Phoebe have never been outside and have no interest in going out. They each have a window seat and enjoy looking at the birds, rabbits and other critters that invade the neighborhood. Outside, heavens no!!

[animal_rescue]

Yes, Lily was a stray, we can't keep her in! She'll sit at the door and cry and cry. It's very sad since she was hit by a car when we found her, but the neighborhood is a pretty quiet place. It's a private street so the only people that really come down it is the people that live here. Yes, two of my cats died outdoors, one was an accident the neighbor hit Max, he came right over and told us, but sadly Max had passed away almost immediatly after he got hit. The other one, Poppy, well we don't know what happened, but he was found in the woods almost a week after he had been missing...
Colin used to go outside but doesn't like it anymore so he's an indoor only kitty. Binx goes outside sometimes but not usually and Zaynah doesn't go out at all(Good News Zaynah found a home, she's leaving in 3 weeks for it!).

[luvofallhorses]

Well, I live with my parents and they go outside. :rolleyes: It's their house, their rules..I guess. I always talk to them about it and it goes through one ear out the other.. :rolleyes: my parents say they want outside and they let them out...however I try not to let them out. We live by a busy street and it scares me what could happen to them. :( they do not stay outside very long, though..but it still scares me. :(

would that be considered free roam? :confused:

[Alysser]

I don't have a cat. But IF I did I would NEVER even think of letting him/her out. Neither would my parents. To manu teenagers and cars. Fleas,ticks,rabbits,raccoons,dogs,ect.

[Grace]

The boys - yes.
The girls - no.

Two of the boys were strays who adopted us, and they would make life a living he!! if we tried keeping them in all the time. That is not an excuse, it's a fact of life.

We live at the end of a private, dead-end, dirt road. I could sit in the middle of the road all day and never have to move for a car - traffic is no problem.

I couldn't answer your poll because there was no response that fit our situation.

[Glacier]

We have an enclosed kitty area--fenced up to roof height, blocked off so the dogs can't even see it. They are allowed out in it during the warmer months pretty much at will. During the winter if it's nice out, I'll open the access window for them, but they don't have much interest in going out in the snow for long.

[Uabassoon]

My cats are indoor only.

[K & L]

Only in our outdoor cat run,

[Killer Kitten]

Mine don't even get free run of the house. I have a cat room with scrubbable walls and laminated floors, and the only furniture is cat furniture, which I change out when they skank it up. A carpenter built out the closet with ramps leading up to lounging shelves and two hanging 'baskets' for them to nap in. I replaced the door with a screen door so they can talk to us and don't feel isolated. In the summer the securely screened windows give them all the outdoors they need.

It's amazing how happy and secure they feel in there, it's truly their place. And I don't have to get nuts every time my husband leaves a door standing open. All of my cats are handicapped, they wouldn't stand a chance outside and I'd even be worried if they had access to the whole house. One of the blind ones would probably fall into the sump pump or something else horrible. They stay in their cat room, where they're happy and safe.

[CathyBogart]

Cupcake coes and goes as she wishes. If I get a cat of my own, it will be indoor only.

[Chilli]

Indoor only for my two. We live way to close to a highway for them to be outside.

[Alysser]

Killer_Kitty, that is a really awesome idea! :D

[carole]

As I have explained many times it is normal practice in my country to let cats roam free, anything else is considered cruel, however i also have stated myself that i think keeping them inside with an outdoor enclosure is the best of both worlds and the dream i hold on to oneday, my kitties are indoor/outdoor but are NOT allowed out from the moment it starts to even look like getting dark.

[Vermontcat]

Samantha follows a couple of Edwina's rules when it is warm outside.
She is only allowed outside with supervision and daytime only.
She has a curfew and she sticks to it.
She is very good about sticking close to the house or close to family members when we are out in the yard.
In the winter, she is totally indoors. She hates the cold and the snow.

[shais_mom]

Only b/c they are escape artists. Kylie used to try to escape - now that she's older she is content with where she is. Kloe is always trying to get out and succeeds a lot! She's a turkey!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Mine are all indoor only cats and quite happy being pampered kitties. :)

[chocolatepuppy]

Mine are indoor only. :)

[TopCat3]

There didn't seem to be a category for me, so I voted "in the enclosed back yard" - however it is just a walled balcony one floor up. The walls are 10 feet high at the sides and about 6 feet at the front, it's quite small, and they just sit in their baskets and sunbathe or watch the birds in the trees. Sometimes Colette sits on the table. Their pot of catgrass is out there and they go out to eat some nearly every day. I think it's important to have some fresh air and sunshine. I used to walk them on leashes but they never felt relaxed. They are only allowed on the balcony if I am home, and they can enter and leave via a catflap in the flyscreen.

[Abby&Buddy'sMom]

Indoor only here too :) too many dangers outside! :mad: