Cats Inside or Outside

silliegillie

I have a kitten, She is just 7 months old. She has recently been spayed. she so cute. I live in a 3 bedroom ground floor apartment. there is plenty of room for her and my GF spoils her rotten. My concern is whether to let her out or keep her indoors. Alot of people tell me its cruel to keep her in, but cats dont have good road sense either. At the same time alot of other people vets ect.. tell me there is nothing wrong with keeping her indoors. I feel so guilty keeping her indoors but then I tell myself its for her own safety. Has anybody any advise. Ive even taught about getting her a lead but then id be the weird guy who walks cats ( maybe when Im retired and grumpy and just want an excuse to shout at irritating kids and hit them with my walking stick i might lol).Another option is to get her a friend. Has anybody any taughts on keeping a cat indoors ?

Ruu_Old

Is there anyone at the apartment when the cat is there, or is she alone most of the time? You could consider getting her a playmate. Keeping a cat inside is not cruel, I have two that I keep indoors but I do bring them into the back yard every once in a while on a leash to run about and play.

inspiron6000

Emmm??????

silliegillie

She is at home by herself during the day but she has plenty of toys to occupy her. But mostly she sleeps during the day anyway, even when we are there all day with her she just sleep and comes alive in the evening. its not too long of a day that we arent there either. No mad long commutes or anything, plusd I ghet home for lunch a good bit , not every day but some days. I also just realised I posted this in the wrong section sorry

srdb20

Sorry but why is this in the Emergency Services Recruitment Forum?

Dr_MaSoN

wrong forums i think.

silliegillie

Yes it is, How can it be moved ? Was reading in this forum and didnt realise i had posted it here.

srdb20

Nods agreement......

I seen the title and I was trying to think of what the post would be about....!

Sorry i cant help on the topic at hand, i have no experience with Cats.

One of the mods will be along shortly and im sure they will move it for you.

I think you should keep her inside for her own safety if you are in a city/apartment situation.

Cats adapt to the way that they are raised, often i have had people tell me that is cruel that I keep mine outside.:rolleyes:

Cats are self sufficent creatures, most all won't need interaction from other creatures. Mine just about put up with other.
They are able to get enough affection by using humans when needs be.
Cats sleep up to 18 hours a day, so that is normal.

shakin

cats? whos takin the pi$$?

TheNog

i have pm'ed PSNI to have it moved

Shield

Moved with redirect.

mikedragon32

TheNog wrote: »

i have pm'ed PSNI to have it moved

I see it's the Mod you PM'ed and not the police force. That would have been over the top!

On-topic.

It's not at all cruel to keep your cat indoors, it's becoming more commonplace nowadays, particularly with apartment living.

It's good that you have plenty of toys for your cat, but I think she would be happier with a pal. Even if all she does all day is sleep, they do need company. Our two keep each other occupied all the time. Sometimes I think it's us pesky humans who are in the way!

stovelid

Ours live between the two, and I personally like the idea of cats having access to the outdoors. However, I know someone with two indoor cats and they seem contented. I'm sure it will be fine if she is used to indoors and you keep her occupied.

As Ruu said, a playmate for her would be a great idea.

silliegillie

Im thinking the Best option is to get a Pal for here and only let here outside if I move to an area where there is plenty of land for them to roam and little roads nearby

MsFifers

I have 2 indoor only cats living in my apartment with me for the last year and like you I have been feeling really guilty about keeping them inside. So lately I decided to give them the option and have left the front door open to see what would happen.

The male cat Pugs won't go outside the front door at all - he is really freaked out by the thought of the outside world. (He hid in the hallway just peeping out every now and then until I closed the door - so cute!) The girl cat - Millie - likes exploring though, and once or twice went sniffing about outside. However, the minute someone came along she came running back in.

I reckon they are just used to being inside now and don't realise they are missing anything. Your apartment sounds big enough - so just make sure your kitty has loads to keep her interested (toys, boxes, climbing and hiding places etc) .

hadook

Have you checked out the Kitten Adoption website? They have some links and info on keeping cats indoors and reasons why etc.

Links here

I can highly recommend things like the Da Bird toy for indoor cats as well as laser mice - mine go mad for them.

AntiVirus

I got 2 kittens last year so they could keep each other occupied while I was at work and they'd spend the whole time chasing each other around the house.

When they were about 7 months old I got a cat flap put in for them but they spend most of the time sleeping in the house?? When it's sunny they like to lie in the back garden.

JasperKat

Our two ginger boys are from the same litter & now ten yrs old, but for their first 2 yrs we lived in uk in various different places - g/floor flat when they were tiny kitties & were let go outside; then we moved to a sm. house & they stil went outside but one was v. nervous & the other v. adventurous; moved to a bungalow with lovely big garden when the nervous one decided he didn't want to venture outside anymore & was happiest indoors.

When we moved over here we found there were so many feroucious dogs in the next door gardens that it was far too dangerous to let them outside - we agonised long & hard about the question 'do we let them out or not?' & finally asked the vet - answer 'better they be inside & learn to get used to it than squashed or chewed by said dogs, it will take approx. 6mths for them to learn to accept inside is their home'. 8yrs on the adventurous one would still make an attempt to escape out any open door if he got a chance but the nervous one wouldn't. They're quite content & happy with their toys & us fussing over them!

hth,

Jtk

wyk

I used to keep a large Greyhound that I rescued in my back garden back in Texas. He kept all the varmints out of my back garden. Unfortunately, he also considered cats fair game as well. He has killed 4 of them. When you allow your cat to roam, bear in mind that there are plenty of things out there that can keep the cat from coming back...
http://www.pbase.com/wyk/image/8113449
WYK

silliegillie wrote: »

I have a kitten, She is just 7 months old. She has recently been spayed. she so cute. I live in a 3 bedroom ground floor apartment. there is plenty of room for her and my GF spoils her rotten. My concern is whether to let her out or keep her indoors. Alot of people tell me its cruel to keep her in, but cats dont have good road sense either. At the same time alot of other people vets ect.. tell me there is nothing wrong with keeping her indoors. I feel so guilty keeping her indoors but then I tell myself its for her own safety. Has anybody any advise. Ive even taught about getting her a lead but then id be the weird guy who walks cats ( maybe when Im retired and grumpy and just want an excuse to shout at irritating kids and hit them with my walking stick i might lol).Another option is to get her a friend. Has anybody any taughts on keeping a cat indoors ?

Dr. Loon

we have a thoroughbred bengal cat, Shirah, and there's no way we can let her outside. She'd either be stolen or run over. She's well used to the house now, and when I tried to bring her outside (in my arms) her heart was thumping, We were advised by the seller/breeder and the vet to keep her as a house cat, and that convinced me it wasn't cruel.

I'm probably going to build a little run for her out the back garden at some point, but if I was in an apartment I wouldn't be worried about keeping her in all the time. Provided there's toys and food they're grand.

http://www.jonandperrine.com/bengals
she's girl number 1 on that site.

Alfasudcrazy

My two cats are different. One likes to be inside most of the time and the other won't come in at all but stays on the property outside. He has a nice warm shed to sleep in.
My female cat likes to be left out for a few hours each day once the weather is fine.
While I have two dobies and a collie the dogs are now used to our cats and actually protect them while on our property by chasing other cats and dogs away.

Orlee

Inside - Definately inside

I used to think it's cruel to keep them indorrs 100% of the time but once I got my kitten home I couldn't bear the thoughts of her not coming back one day so she'll be soon getting a friend to play with and in the mean time I try to keep her active!

This was my main turning point

http://www.kittenadoption.org/indoor.htm

cotton

I'm so happy to read this Orlee!!

Orlee

Thanks cotton - Ignorance is bliss but when I really thought about it, there's no way my little darling is going outside that door

And she's more than happy being inside with lots of places to hide although getting a little curious about all the birds outside!

cotton

Will pm you.

EimearMCD

I thought this was gonna be about the CATS committe in Templemore!

I had a cat that I kept indoors until he was about 8 months old because I was scared that he would run away or get knocked down.. then I started letting him out in the garden when i was there to supervise him..
then one night he was crying to get out so I went down and let him out cause I thought he was used to it and knew where he lived.. unfortunately the next day he wasn't back and I spent a week looking for him and put up posters etc and after a week we got a call to say someone found him dead :-( unfortunately he just wasn't street wise and couldn't find his way home and he starved..
So I think at this stage you cant let your cat out. I since got a new cat and let her out from pretty much dday one and she comes and goes and I know she will never get lost!

Still dont know why this thread is here!!!

LegacyUser

Okay .. this is entirely up to you guys ...
From my experience- out of 5 cats, we lost one to the roads. Can't say the experience was nice .. seeing as the caretaker in a public school in Dublin 15 put the cat in the bin while it was injured without ringing a vet or the number on the collar "Becuase he didn't want the children to see it". It was one of the children who took the cat out of the bin and rang me to let me know.

Thats the kind of ignorance you are looking at..
So if you can keep your cat indoors, I would!!


If you were to let the cat out, would you provide a catflap for coming back into the apartment? Would you be pissed off to come home and find your cat had murdered a bird in your kitchen .. having to clean up feather city before you do anything else in the evening . I take it, living in an apartment that you do not have a garden where you could throw together a decent run? These are all options.

If you do let your cat out, just realise that not everyone likes cats, and be prepared for neighbourhood kids chasing them, people driving over them and not giving a toss, getting lost etc

But have you ever watched a cat outside in the sun lounging on cat grass you have grown specially for them?? Being in the garden is something they enjoy emensely. Between watching birds in trees to chasing leaves and plain sun bathing ...

We took the risk with ours becuase they don't stray and we have ours microchipped??

I could go on for ages on this topic ... but I reckon the above is enough to get you thinking.
It really is an owners decision to make , there are pros and cons.

Intothesea

I think 'in' is better for a densely occupied/
high traffic area (but not impossible) and both
is good for anything else. If you have an enclosed
garden (to general reader) you can get your
kitten used to dealing with the outdoors by
supervising its activitities outside. If kittens
are inside beyond 6/7 months it's probably a
little too late to give them failsafe confidence
when dealing with outside threats, but you
could try?

/0.02

cotton

Many moons ago, we became a multicat household overnight. We took in an old cat that was pregnant. She had 5 kittens & after long arguments, we decided to keep them all. We were so attached to them, as was the dog! Poor Suki was so old, she fed them but didn't so much else. It was down to our lab Ozzie to do the rest & he was a fantastic mother/father. So, Chester, Tilly, Soda, Milo & Maisie became permanent residents, along with our other oldie cat, Jasper. I was paranoid about letting them outside, I'd watched them being born, they were so precious to me. My oh thought it was cruel to keep them inside & we fought about it. So we came to a deal. They got out for an hour or so a day while I was there. We lived at the top of a quiet cul-de-sac, surely nothing could happen to them.
My oh went into hospital but I kept to my end of the bargain & let them out for that one hour, as he was right.
A day before their first birthday, Chester went missing. Out 10 minutes & that was that. I searched, cried, begged, screamed, but he was gone. He was found dead, poisoned. I cannot start to tell you how I felt.
But, it was cruel to keep cats in, Chessie was bad luck & they continued to get out for that one hour a day.
Then one day a month later, I let them out & remembered I'd forgotten something at the shops that Ray needed in hospital. I raced down & back in 2 minutes. There was a note in my door. Tiny Tilly had seen a dog on a lead, raced up to it as she loved dogs & it promptly broke her back. She was in Nutgrove & she'd no chance of survival. To tell a vet to put your young, beloved cat down is something I never, ever want anyone else to go through.
Ray then came home from hospital & that one hour seemed ok as he was there all the time, keeping an eye on them. We'd gotten 2 more dogs & another cat, Reuben, we had a great little family that all looked out for each other.
Then one day he was out with the dogs & Bonnie our rescue shep got knocked down whilst still on a lead by a drunken driver. It could have so easily been Ray. She survived but we vowed to keep the cats in all the time, it really shook us up & knew if it was one of our cats, it wouldn't have.
One of the kittens, now cats, Soda, was so so special to us. He was larger than life to say the least. He'd serious kidney stone problems & we'd spent a fortune on him, keeping him alive & getting him right. It's never right to have a favourite but we did. He was the boss & all the cats followed his every move. He was the dogs b****x, a cat in a million. He slept between us every night & was an absolute joy.
We were in the process of moving. We were moving to a much larger place but on a main road. We decided to build a cat run so the cats would be safe. Everything was about Soda, what he liked, what he didn't like as he was the one that led the others & everything boiled down to him. The layout of the house, everything was designed with him in mind. The builders loved us!
Then one night I was working late. I knew something was wrong & had to come home. I rang Ray on the way & said I'd a horrible feeling that something was wrong. He told me I was silly, everything was ok. I knew he was lying. I pressed him & he told me Soda & Reuben had gotten out under his wheelchair while he was letting the dogs out & he couldn't get them back in. I thought grand, I'll be home in a sec & I'll nab them.
I was driving up the hill to the house. I saw Soda chasing a butterfly. It was a lovely scene. Then a teenager in his suped up car overtook me & killed Soda on the spot. I picked up his beautiful little white body & went screaming into the house. We tried everything, but he was gone. I never, ever, ever want to feel that pain again as long as I live. I don't want anyone else here to ever go through that either.
What nearly finished us off were the other cats. They sat at the window & screamed constantly for him. Their brother & their boss was gone & they literally didn't know what to do without him. Those cries will stay with me forever. To this day, Milo is still not right because of it.
If I'd listened to kitten adoption & other rescues, my babies would be alive today. The others that thought they knew better, they didn't. If they did, I wouldn't have a massive hole in my heart today.
Indoor versus outdoor, I hope even one person reads this & saves their cats life & the agony we went through, it'll be worth it.

silliegillie

Well Holly is 9 moths OLD now, We havent let her oputside and she doesnt seem to be bothered. I let in a month or fly every now and then and she goes ballistic running around after them. Its quite funny. Will Prob end up getting her a friend but at the moment she doesnt seem bothered plus. Thanks for all the advice ont this

ncmc

Cotton, I know exactly how you feel, I have had two cats and a puppy knocked down and killed in the last six years. The first cat I had to bring to the vet and make the decision to put him down, the puppy was killed over at my in-laws house, she followed one of their dogs out on to the road, I can still barely talk about that. Then two weeks later my cat got run over and died the next day in my arms after the vet saying he should be ok. It is an incredibly hard experience to lose a beloved pet. I am now so paranoid about my current dog, I am terrified the same thing will happen to her and I really don't think I could cope if I lost her. I don't have a cat at the moment, but would like to get one. if I do get one, I will def keep it indoors. They get used to whatever they are brought up with and once they get plenty of love and attention, it is certainly not cruel.

As an aside, you can buy special grass to grow inside which cats like to nibble, it helps their digestion. You can get it in per shops.