To think it’s cruel to keep cats indoors?

[awomensworkisneverdone]

I have two cats.. two females both 12 years old and both intelligent,affectionate and lovejy.
I couldn’t imagine confining them to just the house or garden.. now I know there are exotic breeds of cat that cost a lot of money and they are supposed to be kept in, but I can’t help think this is cruel! Cats are naturally inquisitive and have natural predator instinct they kind of come and go as they please and are intelligent animals. Someone educate me please. Is an indoor cat deprived? Do they have the same instinct as a cat who has a choice to explore? What would happen if they did accidentally leave the house? Do they use a litter tray or go in the garden? Has anyone ever had an indoor cat and then they decided to let it out? Me and my other half have discussed getting a more exotic breed when our two girls have gone.. but face having to keep it inside but I don’t think I can do that..

I always thought keeping cats indoors was cruel. That was until I got my two rescue Persians. Who are way to thick to be let out into the big wide world. I have an enclosed garden but they barley go out in it, even with the door open. They are mire than happy staying indoors.
My parents adopted a cat that was supposedly an indoor cat. It quickly became apparent that he wanted to go out. So he does. It all depends on the temperament of the cats.

My neighbor also loves our cats :)
They keep the mouse population down!

My colleague lives opposite to rag dolls that are allowed out and she is terrified they are going to get run over as they just aren't safe to be out!

A friend of mine has an indoor cat. It's very healthy and very happy.

Quite frankly, the amount of cat shit I get in my garden when I don't own any cats tends me to the view that all cats should be house cats.

Unless your going to go outside with your cat and follow it around with poo bags or cat proof your garden then YABU. you wouldn't let a dog just roam shitting everywhere till it got hit by a car or stolen so don't do it to a cat.

I wish all cats were house cats, or that people were obliged to ensure that their cats couldn't get out of the owners gardens.

Then maybe the fucking bastard things would stop catching birds and shitting and spraying everywhere. Two birds in the last couple of weeks that I've had to take to be euthanised because they were so badly injured they couldn't be saved, and another which died overnight. All in horrible pain. One was a blackbird who I know has young chicks at the moment.

I hate them.

Laughing slightly at the idea cats should be kept in so they can't kill other animals

Yeah, it's hilarious that your pets roam into other people's gardens, shit and spray all over them and kill the creatures that wildlife lovers go to the trouble of caring for.

Why not fence your garden well enough that they do all that on your property only?

Or just don't own a cat if you can't take care of it

We'd have an awful lot more rats if pet cats were not allowed out!

My cat was a stray, we adopted her from a rehoming centre. She's an indoor cat by choice - I'd far rather she made use of the ample facilities in the garden to go to the loo, but will she? Not on your life. She wants nice clean litter under her paws, and privacy, and for her human slaves to clean up after her. She pops out to glare at birds now and again, and to sun herself, but in general remains a resolutely indoor cat despite my best efforts. She pretty much refuses to leave the house between October and April, and looks personally affronted when it rains. She's a bit like a pensioner who goes for their week of sun to the Costa del Sol every year, but otherwise wants to stay at home. She's taken to sitting on a particular window sill, so I'm going to make her a little cushion to rest on so she can sit in comfort all day, passing judgement on other cats' unfashionable whiskers, and glaring at the birds from the comfort of her own home.

Laughing at the idea that any fence bar a 10ft barbed wire one will stop a cat going where it wants...

You can get special cat fences with rollers on them.. I have them in my garden for my cats because im not a twat who lets their cat ruin other people's garden's

nanny I don't even have a cat I am simply bemused at the numerous posts suggesting cats should be kept indoors in case they kill other animals.

I'm not sure why these people have missed how the world works.

My cat is indoor only as I live in a flat (but allowed on the balcony) he has never had an issue and I think he's perfectly happy!
My mum has had cats over the years and all bar 1 has been knocked by a car and killed, and her road isn't even a main road.

I don’t think Iv ever In my life seen cat proofing is this a popular thing? Do people actually put all that wiring up just to stop a cat! That’s actually bizzare to me! But interesting. Isn’t that a little zoo like?? Or cage looking? Il be more concerned of birds being caught on the cage
I wonder if the people who are saying about the wildlife being killed would still feel the same if they had a rodent issue.

Cats killing birds is a slight red herring, I think.

The RSPB says 'there is no clear scientific evidence that such mortality [being hunted by cats] is causing bird populations to decline' and that 'Those bird species which have undergone the most serious population declines in the UK (such as skylarks, tree sparrows and corn buntings) rarely encounter cats, so cats cannot be causing their declines.'

MrsElla I wish my neighbours had your mindset.

I like cats, but I don’t have any and l don’t want to be clearing their crap out of my garden, especially with a toddler who wants to be out there constantly. IMO people who let their cats roam anywhere they like are irresponsible - towards their pets and other people.

I’m not sure if keeping a cat indoors is necessarily cruel, but there are ways to keep them in their own garden if you do want them to have time outdoors.

@MrsElla I didn't know about that. I live in a rural village - pet cats, farm cats, stray cats, many working dogs, foxes, badgers, hedgehogs, mice, rats, weasels, otters, ducks, sheep, cows, pigs, horses... and a LOT of poo, from all those animals, all over the place (muck spreading last week - LOTS of poo!). I think my neighbours would think I was a bit weird with a cat fence! But I can see how it might be different in an urban area. Even when we lived in a big city, though, the outside is... well, outside! Animals poo, and wee, and eat each other - even if the garden is empty of cat poo, it's still full of bird poo - and rat poo, probably. It's not a sterile clean environment.

If I kept my cats indoors, it would be cruelty towards me rather than to them because they'd destroy the house in the attempt to get outside (my older cat once split the cat flap door in two pieces trying to get out). They love being outside, especially now in nice weather. Contrary to the picture of them killing birds in thousands, they prefer the ground vermin like mice and rats.
And when it comes to natural predators, I just saw two dead badgers, three dead crows and even one sparrowhawk on my way to work. All alongside a motorway so unless the cats learned how to drive, those animals were killed by the biggest natural predator on the Earth - Homo Sapiens Sapiens.

When we got our cat 18 years ago, we could never have predicted that by 2018 we'd be living in a 2nd floor flat, and not a house with a garden. I spoke to the Cats Protection League when we moved as I thought the move would be traumatic and she'd be happier re-homed but they wouldn't have her back (she was from CPL in the first place) and said she'd be happier to stay with us.

Re: Predator instinct. Mice have been known to eat from her bowl while she is in the same room.

She is over 20 years old. She mostly sleeps.

No way we have the loudest cats in the world so I’m glad when they out. Our big cat, (Norwegian forest cat) will go out for days at a time.

YABU. My cat is an indoor cat and I'd be selfish to let her out to be honest. She is a rescue cat with a serious hatred for other cats. Literally squeals and howls whenever she sees one walk past the house and throws herself at the window. If I let her out she would get in to fights all the time and would probably kill other cats in the street. I take her out on a lead in the garden several times a day and she is fine with that. There are lots of reasons why cats need to be kept in.

I know people don't want to admit it because they love their pets; however, forcefully keeping them in is not on. Mine are on the bed now and would hate to go out because I could not be arsed to switch off the rain for them. They are resigned to this now and will stay there happily all day.
One sniff of the sun though and they both want to be out, lolling on their luxury, reclining, padded sunloungers and bimbling about while DH and I perch on our dilapidated old director 's chairs

People two doors down should have an indoor cat. Given they've now lost it 4 times in the past 8 months.

I've given up helping to look for it after they were insanely aggressive over me refusing to open my shed when I was on crutches

But do you think it’s helping the situation by you keeping your cat in? Have you tested the fear you have by your cat killing other cats? Cat lover 87? Has your cat ever killed a cat? My two cats won’t tolerate other cats and will act up like yours all the time. But it’s pretty normal and common for cats not to all get on. It’s pretty much the same with most mammals especially territorial mammals such as cats.