Do you let your cats run at large?

[Pinot's Mom]

Ok-my two cents...

I have had an outdoor/indoor cat (out from 7am till dusk, rescued from a parking lot, we couldn't have kept CK in ... period). We did get him neutered. His choice of lifestyle (believe me, his, not ours) WAS what got him killed. He was hit by a car; he wasn't very old.

Then, we had an indoor/ some outdoor cat (Jamara was let out when she wanted, and we were home, mostly she stayed in our yard, but sometimes she roamed a little). She was rescued from a home where she was abandoned; she was mostly indoor and, as she got older, the deck was as "outdoor" as she cared to get. We had her spayed as well. She died at the age of 18, PTS due to complications from a cancerous growth.

Now, we have an indoor/very little outdoor cat. Pinot only goes outside with a chaperone and a water pistol. We call them "romps" - she has a great time trying to chase birdies and bugs; if she goes to the yard border she is squirted with a water pistol to bring her back and that works quite nicely. She was a rescue shelter kitty and has obviously had lots of exposure to outside in her past life. She has been spayed. Keeping her totally inside would not make her happy.

The point of this? IF the kitty is "owned"; generally the kitty chooses the lifestyle of indoor or outdoor. They can, and will, make the human's life hell if they are outdoor kitties being converted to indoor. I know this can be done successfully, and I applaud those that are able, but it cannot always be done. The problem is not generally those kitties; it's the ones who have yet to be rescued. There are masses of them in some areas and they will create problems. My neighborhood does not, to my knowledge, have any strays. If there were any, they would not live. We are next to a state forest which houses Red Fox, Coyote, very large Owls, & Hawks-all of which could kill a cat. There are also BIG herds of Whitetail Deer, which are my yard pests, but that's another thread...they'd probably step on a cat - stupid suburban rats...

I agree cats are better off if, from birth, they are kept indoors. Unfortunately, many cats these days are not given that opportunity and we that take them in do the best we can. If you would like to resolve your problem, join us and give them a home, or take them somewhere that will.