Are your cats indoor or outdoor?

[Logan]

Please don't attack me, but I'm going to be honest. I chose "other" on the poll.

Butter was a stray, an adult stray, when he showed up at my house, almost 7 years ago. Butter comes and goes at will. He sticks close to home and we now require him to stay indoors at night because there have been coyote incidents where at least 3 cats have been killed. He's done pretty well with his new restrictions, though, and doesn't beg to go outdoors until around 6 am or so. He has full use of his claws and teeth, and believe me, they are quite dangerous!! I have been his victim many, many times.

I guess we could have forced Butter to be an indoor only cat, but he would not have been happy, nor would I have been. We reached a mutual agreement, long ago, where he and I decided to take the risk and let him have his freedom when he wants it. And he hasn't abused it at all. We've moved once, and he adjusted beautifully.

Mimi, Butter's "sister", who left us last year at age 17, was also an indoor/outdoor kitty. One thing I learned is that it is hard to "un do" the going outdoors thing, once they have experienced it. Mimi became an indoor/outdoor kitty when I was pregnant and married to my ex husband. I think Mimi moved 7 times in her life, and she handled it beautifully. We were lucky.

I know that no cat rescue group would adopt to me since my cats have historically come and gone at will. I have been lucky. These two chose to stick close to home, lounge on the deck with the dogs, and not venture far at all. But I also know that every time Butter walks out the door, there is a risk. I hope it is minimal. We don't have stray dogs in our neighborhood. There are no other outdoor cats that I know of. And I know that our Butter enjoys his time outdoors, but he really does prefer to be indoors with us, especially in the winter time.

I applaud all of you who have succeeded in having indoor only cats. I don't know that I ever would have one to stay inside all the time since there are many days when our doors are open for the dogs to come and go. I guess that is one reason why we haven't added another cat to our home since Mimi's death. I know what needs to happen, but I don't know that I can provide the safe home environment that a cat would need to be indoor only, at this point.

By the way, I have a sassy boy, Butter, right beside me as I type. He is feisty, but he is precious.

Logan

[orangemm]

Since we have had our boys, their feet have never touched outside dirt (or concrete, etc). They were abandoned as kittens, so they lead a very spoiled (and safe) life!

We took in a cat years ago who was used to being outside a lot; we had him neutered hoping it would "calm" him down, made sure he was healthy and had his shots. He kept trying to escape. It was awful trying to keep him in and I was so scared because our neighborhood had a lot of traffic.

Sure enough, one day he managed to escape and I couldn't find him until the next day. Someone had hit him in our alley and he was lying by the back hedge. I remember crying for hours; I wanted to give him a good life and he ended up getting killed.

My guys will NEVER go out.