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?

Yes. How they're raised is irrelevant - the desire to roam is bred into them over centuries.

When my cat was young, she was an exclusively outdoor cat. Couldn’t get her indoors, and had
to feed her in the outdoor shed.

When we moved, she became an indoor cat, not wanting to go outside at all.

Shes 10 now and is pretty much an indoor cat. In the summer, when doors are open, she might wander out for a look, but she tends to stick close to home and bolts back in at any noise.

I don’t and can’t have walls high enough and she’d go mad if we kept her in (for instance when we have had to before she started chewing her paws with stress, yowling and clawing at the windows).

All of my cats have been strays. I imagine they started their lives in the streets, so I don't want to restrict them. They always have access to the house, but they like being outside on the verandah, lying on the bench with beds on or in the cat house, along with the farm cats that congregate there.

Well lots of pedestrians and drivers get hurt/killed on the roads every year; maybe we should expect humans all to stay at home. At least then the cats would be safe.

Although presumably the humans would all die then with no food so I think my plan needs a bit of work 😂

I have three and they come and go as they please. Two of them occasionally kill rodents and bring them in as gifts! We live in a quiet place, they have to really try to get run over and they are happier roaming about. They are all spayed and neutered and have a happy life. I've absolutely no intention of keeping them in.

I do it because I want my cat to be happy and because I have grown up and live in England where it had been culturally acceptable and normal for hundreds of years to allow cats to roam freely. I wouldn’t really contemplate any other approach for my cat.

I like seeing other cats roaming when I am out and about and I don’t mind it when other cats come into my garden (although my cat certainly does mind).

I do get that there is another side to the story - and that non-cat owners get annoyed with cats pooing in their gardens etc. Maybe the fact some countries have banned free roaming cats means attitudes will shift over time and one day it will no longer be considered to be acceptable.

My cat lived over 22 years as an outdoor cat in London - out all night. Now I agree that there are issues about wildlife and if this is a significant concern then don't get a cat. But it is cruel to get a cat and then make it indoors only.

every day there is at least one post about cats that are either missing or have been run over.

Is this an exaggeration OP?

I live in a large town, close to the centre, on a busy, overpopulated area, with far too many people, cars, dogs and cats.

It's not common to see that many missing cat posters, or daily posts on the local or town groups.

If you are not exaggerating, I would be seriously considering that you have either people stealing cats to sell/for bait, or one of those nutters who kills cats.

Well mine doesn’t listen to advice and uses his claws to climb over the fence…

We all ‘intrude’ on each other on a daily basis. Children are nuisance to those who don’t like/have them. Neighbours doing DIY. Running a car/taking a flight/fast fashion all pollute the earth. Cats are really rather far down the list. Cats have been here roaming free for thousands of years. They keep the rodent population under control in cities which in turn controls disease transmission of things like the plague! They’re a part of our landscape and culture.

You literally have to go back before the birth of Christ for a time when cats were not in Britain…

My friend has a lovely little rescue cat who’s been a happy indoor/ outdoor cat as she (the cat) pleases for many years. Now my friend’s newish DP, who has moved in and they now have a child together, has decreed the cat must be kept indoors always to keep her safe 🤨. I find this absolutely chilling- so controlling. He has a few other red flags about him too. I feel so sorry for that little trapped cat that used to be free and worry about my friend tbh.

Interesting, I was going to say it was a lot earlier but in fact domestic cats came over with the Romans although wild cats have been here for around 8000 years

Give or take

And all that time, just been sitting by the food bowl looking starving.

Because it's natural for cats to roam. When we were looking for our house we chose this one precisely because of its location, on a quiet cul de sac, down a drive, with fields on 2 sides.

Admittedly I haven't read the full thread but it seems like all the free range advocates have outdoor arrangements where their cats can roam safely. It's easy to say it's the right thing to do when your cat has access to fields and large secure gardens. We have a young male Mau who almost certainly would prefer to have perfect freedom but where we live it's just not safe so he can't . I refuse to believe I am condemning him to a completely miserable life - he still has fresh air stimulation and wildlife interaction but it's managed.

I also saw a post on a local FB group today about a cat being run over. And then someone posted a petition about making it the law that anyone who has hit a cat has to stop etc.
I believe the law is that way for dogs because they are not allowed to roam unattended. Historically, it was because they were working animals.
If you want a law to make motorists who have a hit cat to stop and report it, then that same law will also dictate that cats should not be free roaming.

I have had cats. When I moved in with my DP, he had 3.
They were free roamers but he always lived in quiet roads. The biggest threat I have found, is well meaning people who see your cat in their garden and decide to feed it. Then someone tells them that cats choose their owners and that the "cat distribution system" is at play. I have lost several cats to that. It is theft.

It's instinctive for most/many cats to roam. Not allowing them to do so is cruel.

Equally, it puts them at greater risk, and is bad for wildlife (though tbh I feel that's overstated.)

Increasingly I feel that there's no ethical way to have a pet - even though I love mine.

Just been to Istanbul, the cats are beautiful and so friendly

It's more "civilised" to kill them apparently according to Venice . I think living with them in harmony as communal pets is a lot more civilised. Recall the plague when they were eradicated in middle ages... Highly recommend watching "kedi" (cat in Turkish) on YouTube. It's such a heartwarming documentary, well worth a watch.

Mine would eat me if I tried to keep him in! He was a feral rescue so used to being out and roaming. He would be utterly miserable and wild if we kept him in. He's in and out day and night.

I think having indoor cats is cruel. I would rather a cat had a happy life with the risk it was shorter than a long miserable life stuck indoors or in a garden

Venice started a neutering programme a long time ago
They didn’t kill them !

Stray cats are protected in law and have been move to protected sanctuaries by a group called Dingo who also provide veterinary care

Increased tourism was one of the reasons

It seems to be fairly obvious judging by the majority of posters on here. A cats natural instinct is to roam. I had a roamer who lived to 17 and on the few occasions we moved house and I had to keep him indoors for a while he was utterly miserable and constantly trying to get out. Sadly I did lose him on the road but he’d had a good long life and spent most of it outdoors. I would personally rather take that chance and give them what they want rather than coop them up indoors.

As for cat shit…I know it’s been done to death on MN. Personally it doesn’t bother me. We are rural, there’s all kinds of shit in my garden. And there are plenty of natural cheap deterrents you can put down if it’s bothering you.

Sorry but I'm a fan of indoor cats!
I've lost cats before to road accidents and poison. One cat lost a leg after being caught in a trap. In fact several cats in the area were poisoned, maimed or killed.
This is in a regular average suburban area so I don't buy that it's better for their health to roam.
Besides which cats are the only small pet that is allowed to free range despite the fact it could be argued that every other type, including dogs would want to roam free!

I know when I kept my cats as indoors (with catio) they were all perfectly happy. There was no difference in their health or mental state to when they went out.