Indoor or outdoor cats

[IRescue452]

Just wondering if you keep your cat(s) indoors or outdoors or both and why. Sonny is always indoors because I don't want him getting hit by a car, getting attacked by a neiborhood dog or getting some disease or worms. He doesn't like being outside anyway if I take him out he runs for the door, smart cat.

[sammy101]

Bear is a indoor cat now.I take her outside once in a while,but she never wants to stay out anymore.She's almost 20 so she cant walk very well.But when she was younger,she was outside all the time!

[jenluckenbach]

100% inside!

The out of doors is simply not a safe place for a pet to be unless you are there with your pet on a leash and supervised. How many pets have dissapeared when let outside? How many have been hit by a car? How many have been poisoned (accidentally or otherwise)? I've heard of attacks by other animals, being stolen, getting an incurable disease from an unprotected free roaming cat.........all of these things are real dangers, and no matter how slight you feel the chances are that YOUR cat will come up against one of them....is it worth taking a chance with their life?
Just my lowly opinion.

[wolfsoul]

Caleb is an indoor cat, but I do take him for walks. My RB cat, Sara, was an indoor/outdoor and she was attacked and killed by a dog.

[carole]

You are fairly new here, and this has been a topic which is rather sensitive to say the least, especially for people from my country and the Uk, where it is considered normal to have indoor/outdoor kitties,it is a cultural thing, infact some consider it cruel to keep a kitty indoors permanently, I am not of that opinion, and since coming to PT believe it really is a good idea,but only if I can provide an safe outdoor area as well, and one I hope I maybe able to carry out in the future, for now it just is not possible, however my kitties are strictly indoors at night times.

An ideal situation would be to have cat fencing, which I have seen here on PT, which means one can keep your kitties indoors and outdoors, but they cannot leave your section and no other kitty can get in, purrfect IMO, but oh the expense,but that is something I consider ideal, I don't like the idea of a kitty being inside permanently, but I realise in some parts of the states, this is the only safe option, I say whatever works for you and your kitties.

P.S the one point I want to raise, there are still some risks to having a kitty indoors as well, mainly the risk of fire, and being trapped, and things falling on them and getting hurt, that has happened here on PT, and of course can happen at any time, but I think a little more likely if the kitty is indoors all the time, and maybe a little bored, I guess one just has to weigh up which is the higher risk in this case, the fire one really would worry me though, also how do the kitties keep cool in the heat, I know if my house is locked up during the daytime and then I come home it is unbearable until all the windows are opened up, does everyone have air conditioning then?

[Desert Arabian]

90% Indoor; Sammy and Dudley are leash and harness trained, they go outside on nice spring and summer days but are supervised while they are outside, they are never left outside unattented!

[LeahMM]

My three newest kittys are indoors only. Quki lives mostly in the garage but comes in sometimes and Hannah split when we started adding animals to our family. She does come to eat but that's it.

[Corinna]

My three have the choice of outside during the day but when it gets dark they are in side like it or not.

[Uabassoon]

I know if my house is locked up during the daytime and then I come home it is unbearable until all the windows are opened up, does everyone have air conditioning then?

In the US almost everyone has air conditioning. I remember last summer when there was a massive heat wave in europe I couldn't understand why it was such a big deal, it took weeks before it finally dawned on me that other countries aren't like the US and air conditioning isn't the norm.

Both of my cats are indoor only, just too many risks. Maybe if I lived in a different area I could take them out on a leash or sit in the yard with them so they could play. Where I live the best sitatation is for them to be inside only.

[carole]

you are so right, it is crazy, my sister owns a million dollar property and even she does not have air conditioning, we do have some homes here with it, but far and few between, a top priority if I ever can afford a new home, a heat pump is what i would put in , gives you both heat and cooling system.

Not one school in NZ has air conditioning either and it gets up in the 80's and 90's here sometimes., and it is humid too, crazy huh?

[jenluckenbach]

Not only are most homes air conditioned, it is also normal to have window screens. Our windows can safely be opened without allowing cats out (or bugs in)

[carole]

Yes Jen I am aware of the screens, is everyone just rich in the USA or are things just darn cheap,? I am so envious, I would love to have air conditioning and screens, would cost a small fortune here.

I presume the fire risk is minimal then? in comparison to kitties being outdoor/indoor in the states?

Do you know here in NZ when I tell people I keep my cats indoors at night, they look at me blankly and ask WHY? and they think I am a little weird, I can tell.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

I don't have a cat but if I did he/she would always be inside unless I was outside with them and they had a harness and leash on.

[LauraT7]

If i had CHOOSEN my cat, Pixel, from a shelter or home litter, I would want him to be an indoor cat - as I also think that 'loose in the great outdoors' is not a safe place for domesticated animals.

Though I like cats, i've never had one because I'm allergic to some cats. I can never tell until I spend time with one, however, whether a particular cat would make me sneeze or itch - some reactions have been really severe. (one cat made my throat close up and my face swell up - I could not breathe)

I'm so softhearted, that if I DID get a cat, and then found that it made me allergic, it would break my heart to give them up.

I also know that i am not a very good housekeeper - and that properly maintaining a litter box would be a constant fight between me and my son. Our yard is big enough, that the doggy poop is not a problem, and our dogs have always stuck to two spots in the yard for 'toilet' purposes, making cleanup only a once or twice a month chore.

However, Pixel choose us - by wandering into our garage over Christmas. He was obviously an 'outside' cat, and had been for quite awhile. He already knew the neighborhood, and the dangers of traffic, animals and fending for himself. My first intention was just to provide him with food, water and the shelter of our garage in winter - possibly get him fixed if I could catch him. but he worried me, as he would come in late at night - obviously having been fighting with other animals - scratches and ears chewed, etc. After awhile, he would let me pet him, but not much. I figured he was a young feral, or 'lost' pet - as he had apparently been stealing dog food from us for awhile, was familar with our garage and yard, (despite our dog - he came in and out thru the hole in the back of the garage for our golden)

When the weather turned bitterly cold one night, he willingly came into our warm laps and the warm house.

since then, Pixel has decided that he's mostly 'house' cat, with a little 'explorer' in him. He seldom stays outside more than an hour - though he can come and go at will. I think he's decided he has the best of both worlds - protection from the elements and nasties that want to pick on him, and lots of food, attention and warmth - the only negative from his viewpoint is the big hairy dog. (who very pointedly ignores Pixel - as Pixel is RUDE to the very nice, polite doggy!)

Pixel makes life easy on us - as he taught himself to use the dog's plexidoor to go in and out on his own - and he potties outside - usually in the sand of the large dog run - so we don't need a litterbox inside. (we can clean up his droppings with the dog's periodically)

Luckily for Pixel, he causes NO allergic reaction in me! Once it was obvious he was going to stay indoors - I even pushed the envelope by burrying my face in his fur and letting him sleep on my bed - nope, not a sniffle or itch! (He now thinks that "I" sleep on "his" bed! LOL!) "Prince Pixel" thinks he rules the house!

occasionally, he'll wander - usually in the early evening, and from my knowledge of the neighborhood, (and the burrs and seeds he brings back on his coat) Pixel mostly goes down to the dead-end of our street and wanders the creek bed down there. There's another feral i've seen him with - a larger, long-haired version of him - who I think is his mom. But she/he won't come anywhere near us, and will run if we even look at her. ( but I've been leaving food out for her in the garage, too, and have seen her around our house more often)

Anyway, Pixel is mostly house cat now - because that's the way HE wants it.

laura

[LauraT7]

As for the A/C issue -

Most homes in the US nowadays are BUILT with A/C - I don't know how it is in other countries, but the US is big on their perks, even if they can't afford them! ( they just add them to the mortgage! LOL!)

In a typical house, with a forced-air (usually gas or sometimes electric) furnace system - the ductwork is already in place for heating- so adding a whole-house AC system is only another $1000 (to the builder) for a basic system as it uses the same ductwork as the furnace. Of course you can go much higher than that for bigger houses or fancier systems. (I just replaced my whole house AC last summer at a cost of about $1300 - take out the 20 yr old unit and put in new - for about a 900 sq ft ranch house)

I think in some other countries (from what I've seen on the remodeling shows in England - BBC's "Changing Rooms", etc ) your heating systems are different - baseboard, electric and radiator heat - which means you would have to add the cost of all that vent piping and ductwork which our homes already have for the furnaces. THAT would add a ton of material and labor expense.

The cost of running it isn't that bad - esp if you don't keep your house refridgerator cold, and also insulate well and use ceiling fans.

In the northern US - most houses also have 8' basements (not common in the south) as the foundations have to go below the 4' frost line anyway. For my pets, I leave the basement door propped open when I'm gone in the summer - they often go down in the cool basement and lie on the cement floor - usually it's a good 10 degrees cooler down there ( or more!)

Houses in the south are often built on cement slabs - so I guess what they save on the cost of a basement, they can spend on AC! LOL!


Laura