Cat owners - advice please

[Cheesesconesfortonight]

My DD (almost 5) adores cats, she always did. We've recently been abroad to see my mum who lives in the country side in a large house with lots of land around the house who's got 3 cats and a dog and DD was mesmerised. She adored the cats and would love to have one here.

We live in a medium sized house with a small garden near Richmond Park. We don't have the space that my mum's cats have and I do find it dangerous for cats to live outdoors around here, lots of traffic and wildlife at night. I'd worry a lot but I wouldn't want an indoor cat as I think they need to be free and they'd much happier outdoors. Plus we travel a lot on holidays so cat will have to go to a cat sitter.

Cat owners please let me know how do you keep your cats and all the pros and cons about outdoors vs indoor cats. And what else do I need to think about before getting one.

Ours are dumped as tiny kitten rescues at the lower end of the cat intelligence spectrum so
are allowed out in daylight hours (quiet area) but locked in when it’s dark. If it was a busy area I’d make a catio for them.

@Seaswallow
utterly beautiful 😻

@user1471548941
I love him what a magnificent boy ❤️

I wouldn't recommend a cat for a 4 year old. Some cats are friendlier than others.
We got a rescue kitten when DS was 12. The cat is not remotely affectionate and gives nothing back though DS adores him. He's as likely to bite or scratch you as purr. DS is 24 now and left home but I still have the cat. He quite likes DH who is permitted to stroke him once but would be very unpredictable with a small child.

Lovely cats on this thread!

Ours is always in overnight, and doesn’t really roam - she’s either in our garden or the immediate neighbours’, and is pretty good about coming to her name. We don’t have a cat flap, so she is generally out first thing, in through the day if we’re out at work, out after her dinner, and a final patrol about 10pm. She’s spent the last hour sitting under the patio chairs watching moths, and is now curled up on DP’s work chair. She’s a very gentle soul, hugely chatty and entertaining, and we love her very much.

If we’re away MIL comes in twice a day, and will let her out for an hour each side. She hates using the litter tray but will use it if really stuck.

Something I wish we had done much sooner is shut her in the kitchen overnight, because she is a total pest mithering for breakfast from about 5am. It took me years to agree, and only then it was because of lockdown/WFH and much later human get-ups. She’s greedy/a scavenger so we give her four small meals a day (one pouch split in two, and two half portions of biscuits) and don’t leave dry food for her to graze on because she wolfs the lot.

Ragdolls are apparently more.naive.than stupid!

I know even friendly child breeds may not conform but going for a well loved kitten with some child friendly breed in them is a good start?

We have a female British shorthair. Can apparently happily be indoor or outdoor. We choose to let her out in the day and she doesn't roam far at all, goes over the fence but only into the next garden or two, always comes when we call. We don't let her out the front at all (road) and keep her in at night for similar reasons to those you've mentioned. Works well for us. Not saying there aren't exceptions but believe it's fairly typical for the breed.

We also shut in kitchen at night as per pp. have taken her away but only to certain properties and only because she travels well. That seems to be very cat dependent from talking to friends. Will probably do less as she gets older.

@Cheesesconesfortonight Some Airbnb places accept pets. Our last host said we could bring our house cat. But she hates leaving the house so taking her on a train or in a car for any length of time would have been stressful for her. Instead we rope a family member who appreciates visiting London on the cheap in to catsit her, and she is more agreeable to that.

An alternative is finding a cattery but finding the Gold Standard for your kitty can ve hard. Our puss once stayed a week in a cattery near our place in SE London and wasn't very well cared for. You need to visit lots and lots of catteries before deciding which one is the best for your kitty. Be prepared to travel out of London if you think it's the right place.

I have three indoor cats aged 7, 6 and 2 - would never take them away on holiday with us though!

My main concern would be accidents and scratching or damaging the furniture of the holiday home. My SIL looks after them while we're away but if she's not available I hire a cat sitter.

I have cat proofed my garden with a fence like this so they can come & go into the garden but no further!

That's brilliant, I can see our garden being cat proofed this way.

Yes, I see your point. Like some of pp posters said, the cat would probably quite distressed too.

Free to go out through the cat flap during daylight hours but keep them in at night when the vast majority of road fatalities occur. Sensible compromise as far as I can see.
FWIW, foxes are pretty unlikely to attack cats - it does happen, but it also is just as likely they'll co-exist quite happily. My friend's cat snoozes in the sunshine on the shed roof with their local fox.

Would also recommend a reflective collar, especially if cat is dark furred.

Most of my cats never kept them on but some do and they do, they're worth it. Just get quick release, elasticated ones and keep them loose so cat can escape them easily.

Some cats probably wouldn't care, but yes, others would become distressed and could even become quite unwell.

The other issue would be that if the cat escaped from a holiday home, you may never ever see them again. They'll not know their area or their surroundings. It's a big risk to take.