thanks for your reply jen, nz is a obviously a lot safer than the large us of a, but there ares till dangers too, thanks for addressing the fire thing, i guess you are right, caged animals have the same risks, as i said i am sure you have decided outdoors poses more of a risk for them.
I am certainly not for or against indoor only cats, i think what works best for you is the way to look at it.
I do strongly advise those with indoor/outdoor cats to try and keep them in at night, that to me is the most dangerous period for them.
Both my cats tend to stay around the section most of the day, they may wander to the neighbours now and then, but not too often, the neighbours have lovely treed sections, with lots of interesting things for them to c and enjoy.
Ash ususally suns himself on the verandah or outdoor set all day, and sometimes on the carport roof, Lexie runs up and down the tree, explores the section and stays with me most of the day, she is sleeping on the couch right now, as much as she would love to be out at night she is NOT allowed. Ash is a bit more sneaky and i have to really practice tough love to keep in at nights.
Anti freeze is a real problem in usa it seems, we dont need to use the stuff here much, as we dont have very cold winters.
Yes i am thankful each day that nz is so safe in comparison and that most people love cats.
I wish it could be the same for everyone.
They used to call it Godzone here once, but believe me things have changed here too and its not as great as all that.
I am glad soledad has been able to back up what i have been saying, also she is an american with a different outlook than mine, but she also agrees with me, that its just the way things are here, outdoor /indoor is the norm.
Well folks we have probably exhausted this subject somewhat, it kinda only started as i was asking when i should let lexie out, of course i never expected that there would be any oppositon to me doing this, as its normal here.
Just in closing i respect everyones opinions and i know everyone loves their kitties and does what they consider is best for them. There is no right or wrong way here in my opinion. By the way statistics wise they were saying indoor live longer than outdoor/indoor, well that is in america, obviously it does not apply here as we are mostly outdoor/indoor.
Yes traffic does pose the biggest threat to the cats i think, oh and by the way we dont have wild dogs either i mean such as coyotes, i was reading someone lost cat that way. but stray dogs always pose a threat, i always keep my gates closed to help prevent a stray dog roaming on the section and maybe attacking my cats, however they do have many safe outdoor places no dog can get. Also we dont have hand guns here, i believe your gun laws are very different than ours, and it would be easy to have one and shoot a cat that annoys u, not so here, our police are not even armed as such., we do have special branches of police, armed offenders squad etc, but not the rest.