I am one of those who allows mine to go in and out. Thankfully, they choose to be "in" most of the time.

With Butter, there never was a thought of making him indoor only. He showed up at my house, one day, and I eventually let him inside. Turns out that he had been fed by a woman who made him stay outside all the time. He was with her about six months. Guess he got tired of it, or just cold, as it was very, very cold when he showed up at my house. When I saw him sleeping in the flowerbed, underneath the exhaust from my gas furnace to stay warm, my heart melted, and in he came. But, had I tried to limit him to the inside, he would have driven me to insanity, I'm sure. Even with a move to another part of town, he has adjusted beautifully, and at this moment, he is sleeping beside me in the other chair.


Mimi was intended to be an inside only cat. Then, I was pregnant and hubby had to clean the litter box. That's the time that it was determined that it was "ok" to let her outside. She has never looked back. We have lived in 7 homes during her lifetime, in 4 different cities. She has always adapted to each location just fine. Mimi will turn 15 on 6/18. She still goes outside just about every day, but more and more of the time, she prefers to stay inside.

The good thing about both of them is that even when they are outside, they hang out in the backyard and on the deck for the most part. And both of them come immediately when called, much different from the dogs who have minds of their own!