If you still do it, why do you allow your cat to free roam?

[TreacherousPissFlap]

To be clear, we had cats all through my childhood and early adulthood and they were always free to come and go as they pleased.

I've just seen yet another post on the local FB page of a cat being run over. Now we don't live in a massively built up area or have particularly fast or busy roads, but every day there is at least one post about cats that are either missing or have been run over.

DCat is the love of DH's life and doesn't leave the garden. She's naturally lazy, we have 8ft high walls and we've actively discouraged her going out. She wears a tracker in case she does make a bid for freedom but she doesn't really seem bothered (she was a stray from the RSPCA and had clearly been a much loved house cat that had managed to get out and get lost, so I think that maybe plays a part in her being such a homebody) She's therefore easy to manage and hasn't required a catio or additional fencing, although I absolutely would do that now if she was more determined.

I'm certain my previous cats have decimated the local wildlife and shat in my neighbours gardens and I'm a bit WTF that I ever thought that was ok. Personally the risks now feel too great to allow my cat to free roam so any future models I have will also be confined to barracks.

Ive just cleaned up cat shit from my front garden and it got me thinking, why do people still allow it and will you continue to do so when you have new cats?

Its cruel to keep cats indoors unless they literally are a danger to themselves in some way or they have a particular layout of home and even then its not ideal

At a recent vet appointment we saw someone we hadnt seen before, first question she asked was 'is she an outdoor cat' and when we said yes, she said she was pleased to hear it because 'indoor cats are so sad'.

There are also other people and animals living nearby barns and also roads

Cats are at higher risk of being poisoned in the countryside.

I'm with others - keeping a cat indoors is just cruel. If I lived in a flat or somewhere they couldn't go outside I wouldn't have one. They deserve better.

As for wildlife and poos - it's the circle of life. Birds poo in the garden. Foxes poo. All manner of creatures eat, sleep and defacate outside. We share our planet with a whole world of nature, we can't expect to live in sterile boxes without any contaminants whatsoever.

And just like I don't get stressed when a robin eats a worm, or a frog eats a fly or a fox catches a bird... yes sometimes cats hunt, just like humans do (though these days we call it farming). Obviously it's not great when it's cute birdies they kill, but it's also super helpful that they keep the local mouse population down.

Well, I suspect if we had an 8ft high wall, ours wouldn't leave the garden either, but we don't and nor do most people....

So what’s the alternative, just banning them
as pets? Because all that will do is vastly increase the feral population.

Every cat I've had throughout my life would have been thoroughly miserable being kept indoors. They've all been allowed to come and go as they pleased, and every single one of them has always returned home when I've called them and not wandered far from home. Only one ever had an accident with a car, and he was fine luckily - minor scrapes and no serious injuries. All the others have never wanted to go anywhere near the road. They've all got such pleasure from being able to potter about in the fresh air. We're currently without a cat after our beloved boy died in February, but we will be getting kittens later in the year and they will be allowed out when they're old enough.

I live on a very busy road and I’ve lost a few cats in the past. I now have a Ragdoll, which I chose because of their relaxed nature who has the whole of our garden to roam. Our garden was easy to enclose, even though it’s big. She climbs trees, climbs on the climbing frame and loves being outside. She’s very happy as she is very lazy and not a hunter. It wouldn’t suit all cats though. If we couldn’t enclose the garden I wouldn’t have had her though. She would hate to be completely indoors and I wouldn’t blame her! We are planning on moving to a more rural area in a couple of years. The house we choose will be safe for her and we will let her have more freedom.

My cats like human company so during the day when we're at work they go and hang out at the neighbors house as they are retired. Everyone is happy with this situation - the neighbors don't feed them but just give them a fuss when they walk in.

I popped round the other day for something and my cat was in the lounge and looked at me like a partner that's been caught cheating - like 'what are you doing here???'

The alternative is not having a cat if you live somewhere that’s not suitable for them to be outside.

I agree with this. If I didn’t live somewhere where it was relatively safe for my cat to be out, I wouldn’t have a cat. Some cope better with being indoor cats than others do, but I know some who are most definitely not happy being kept in.

Well, who’s defining suitable? And what’s the alternative - putting them all to sleep? 🙄

Keeping cats as indoor cats is so cruel! How would you feel being trapped in the house for your entire life? Yes accidents happen, but again it would be like you never going out coz someone else got hit by a car. As for decimating the wild life, the soul reason I got my first cat was so he would decimate the rats in my garden. He done his job extremely well!

Because despite living in a city I live in an area with no through traffic and my cat rarely leaves the garden. Been perfectly safe for the last 13 years. Biggest risk is passing dogs but most people round here walk them on leads.

I’ve always had cats and they’ve always been allowed outside to roam. I have two cats now. One just sleeps on the sofa in the garden all day. The other one fucks off from morning til evening and I’ve no idea where she goes.

Both of them have done disappearing acts over the years causing us extreme heartbreak and anxiety obviously. Both turned up eventually without a scratch on them. We also have the regular local Facebook page posts about cats that have been found at the side of the road, etc.

It’s heartbreaking but I do feel that if you sign up to have a cat - which is an animal that likes to roam - then you also sign up for the potential heartbreak. You never really own a cat - you just sort of negotiate living arrangements with them. But ultimately they will do as they please.

I’ve known cats that have been kept indoors their whole lives and I’m sure their owners believe they are fine and happy. But compared to my outdoor cats, they all seem miserable and neurotic. Sitting on the windowsill chittering at birds for hours. It’s really not fair and goes against their instincts.

I don’t think it’s fair to get a cat and then expect it not to act like a cat. They do roam, they do shit on other people’s doorsteps and not their own, they do kill things, and yes, occasionally they do get squashed on the roads. If you’re not prepared to be okay with those things then don’t get a cat! Cats will never change. Get a fluffy toy you can cuddle instead.

There are some places where cats are restricted eithe whole year or at times to roam. While I love a cat cuddle, no one sane can deny their enviromental impact

My current cat is the laziest cat in the world. She is more like a cushion than a cat We used to allow her to go out freely when we lived in a house with a garden and she…mostly chose not to. She did not enjoy it. Now she is a very happy house cat. Alternatively, a previous cat I lived with would have fully HATED being kept indoors, and it would have a significant detriment to her quality of life and mental health if we had even tried. We know this from the wailing and scratching and general unhappiness which resulted from the few times we HAD to keep her in for necessity.

Cats getting run over is very sad, but cats being forced into being a house cat when they are utterly unsuited to it is even sadder.

Mine roams because keeping him in would be selfish.

He would have an utterly miserable life indoors.

My previous cats have been natural homebodies but this one hates being locked in. It drives him mad.

After him, I don't think I would ever get a kitten again unless living somewhere where it's relatively safe to roam (we live in a village). In a heavily built up area I wouldn't risk it.

Better to take in a rescue who wants to be indoors than risk a kitten having to live a miserable life as a prisoner when all they want is out.

Caging cats? God, society just keeps going backwards.

I grew up in the country so it just felt natural to let the cats out. They got injured from fighting with other cats, came home with all sorts of prey from shrews and voles to once a magpie and a canary. We tried to keep them from the main road at the front but it was nothing but fields out the back. As they got older they didnt leave the garden so much. We had 10ft stone walls, Frank was diagnosed with feline diabetes and FIV positive so we harness trained him. I love in a less rural area so my current cat us indoor only. The horror stories you hear about people deliberately running over cats or shooting them with air rifles plus there was a spate of mutilations in the local paper a while back, I couldn't bear it of anything happened to her, so she stays in.

I have 4 cats, 2 who go out and 2 who only go in our garden under supervision. My older cats always went out. Older girl just hovers about the garden and a grassy bit at the side of the house. Her daughter is a bit more wild and roams. Our 2 tabby girls we just wanted to be house cats but they are desperate to get out. So they have garden time which seems to be enough for now, one is quite timid outside but they play with the dog etc outside. He rounds them up so they don’t try to leave.

I have had three attempts at indoor cats.

Cat A: I tried to stop him and he ripped the cat flap out the door in his desperation to be allowed out.
Cat B: He started urinating in baths and beds when I tried to keep him in.
Cat A, B and C: If I had open windows, they used them instead and found a way out via the roof.
In general, because I have a large garden surrounded by trees with a stream through the middle that would be impossible to fence. And a catio wouldn't work (see windows), I am not covering my windows in mesh and making it look like a prison.

I adopted two cats and they were kittens when I got them. At first I was absolutely petrified of letting them out. I’d seen a few stories on my Facebook page about cats going missing but since I’ve started letting them go out I’m so glad that I have because they get so much enjoyment from being able to go out in the garden.

One of them has only been over the neighbours fence once but the other one has been in the neighbours garden a couple of times. And we have a field behind us but neither of them have ventured further than the neighbours garden so far.

I think it’s worth a risk, because it enhances their life so much more. Before I let them out of the first time I did have a chat with our vet and he said the on balance he feels it’s worth the risk.

I feel it would be cruel to keep them inside for the rest of their lives or in a caged catio. I’ve noticed that my cats act differently when they are outside. They are far more active, pouncing, exploring and chasing each other, sleeping behind a shady bush when it’s sunny, exploring. All they do when they’re inside is sleep.

Because I would rather she lived a full and happy life doing cat things and take the small risk of losing her than have her miserable and bored and cooped up in my house driving me nuts and weeing every where.
I’m sure some cats are fine in doors but mine would hate every minute.

Poor cat B, that's a sign of stress. Glad you let him out in the end.

Fully agree.

I love my kids but I'm not going to lock them in the house forever lest they get hurt in the big wide world. Because that would be mental.