"Indoor cat"

[ilovesouthlondon]

Is it cruel to keep a cat indoors and never let it out? Opinions please!

I think its v cruel to keep them indoors. At least get a cat flap and give them the option.

Would you like to be kept indoors for the rest of your life?

Depends on the cat. I've had 4 rescues, 2 of them never used the catflap and were not bothered. One of them is always desperate to be out and roaming as much as possible, patrolling our garden and the field below. The other used to like going out but then had an illness and became an indoor cat by his own choice after that.

The one that loves to be out, I do keep her in and close the catflap at night due to other local cats trying to sneak in if I don't... and she is very unhappy about that and shouts the place down, no way could I keep her inside in the daytime too

I'd leave it up to the cat and let them have a choice. I had one cat growing up who gradually as he got older went out less and less until he literally went out to do his business and come back in.

My two cats since have been prolific hunters, I would consider it really cruel to keep them in all the time as it's against their nature. One of the cats sadly did get hit by a car at only 4 but the way I see it is he had a wonderful 4 years with complete freedom. Better that than 15 years cooped up in the same 4 walls.

I've got two indoor cats. They are a breed known for having no sense when it comes to being outdoors so the breeder would only sell to us if we agreed to them being indoor cats.

We trained them to walk on a harness lead from when they were very young and now they go for walks around the garden with me without needing to be on a harness.

One asks to go out a few times a day and then walks back in after 5 mins of doing a circuit of the garden. In summer he stays out for longer as long as we are in the garden too.

The other one has little interest in the garden and only really steps outside for a few minutes and hardly moves from the doorstep.

We do have quite a large house so they have room to really run around, jump and climb - I wouldn't have considered indoor cats otherwise.

We also play them videos of birds and fish that you can find on you tube for entertaining cats and they love jumping up at the screen.

We've a mix of indoor and outdoor cats too(we have 4 cats), plus one that was wild and we own her now but she seems to miss the wild life, bless her, and goes to the door all the time, but then is back minutes later scratching to get back in. She doesn't know what she wants anymore As for indoor cats in general, it's different for everyone, I don't really understand people thinking it's cruel if they're happy in. One of our cats sits at the window all day, I'm sure people think we're cruel but she hates being outside!!

@Okbussitout

Personally I don't think it's fair. I know in some countries there's more risk to them from wild animals. But in the UK its not an issue. Yes there's a risk form cars but it's not huge and for me the risk vs how much it brings to their life is worth that trade off.

Whether it's a huge risk or not depends on where you live, surely?

Cats get run over all the time here as we live on the back of a 60mph country road.

@Taikoo

I think its v cruel to keep them indoors. At least get a cat flap and give them the option.

Would you like to be kept indoors for the rest of your life?

Not comparable. I'm not a cat.

My cat was attempting to escape the house from being a tiny kitten. There is no way on earth I’d be able to keep her in although I do feel I’d like to at times (roads).

She attacks the door handles and frames if we try to keep her in. She’s an amazing climber and Hunter (mice) and mainly roams the farmland close to our house. She is following her instincts all the time.

Saying that we do encourage her to stay home as much a possible and often keep her in after dark. Though the roads are quieter at night so feel it’s safer in that sense. No easy answer.

We have two indoor moggies and have many people express negative opinions about it.

They have a catio, they get taken on walks and have a entire large room length of house with shelves and cat trees so they don't have to touch the floor and run of rest of the house. They have huge number of toys and are played with every day. I'd love to put up cat fenceing so they could have whole garden but it's not straight forward due to layout.

I think like a PP says it often harder and more work to have indoor cats but given huge number killed or missing in local area our vet thinks it's best for them.

Plus we've found many commenting have no idea about walking cats or catios or even playing with them daily or cat furniture - I think they image them stuck inside and ignored.

I have indoor cats. It’s extra work as an owner because I make sure I play with them daily with a variety of toys to satisfy any hunting instinct, they get their dry kibble in treat balls to encourage them to be active and work for their food etc.

I think keeping an indoor cat is cruel if the owner isn’t prepared to put the work in to give them additional physical and mental enrichment, but if you’re happy to make that effort then you can have contented indoor cats.

Plus we've found many commenting have no idea about walking cats or catios or even playing with them daily or cat furniture - I think they image them stuck inside and ignored.

I think that's incredibly accurate and is shown clearly in some of the comments on this thread. Like I said previously many who have cats who go outside don't put in anywhere near as much effort into pet ownership or pay as much attention to their mogs but yet somehow that's fine simply because those cats go outside.

If those people only knew how much time, energy and money went into looking after an indoor cat they hopefully wouldn't be so quick to judge and label it as cruel.

Plus we've found many commenting have no idea about walking cats or catios or even playing with them daily or cat furniture - I think they image them stuck inside and ignored.

Yep, I would agree with this.

They imagine us being out all day and confining the cats to one room or something, and it's nothing like that. I work part-time so I'm at home with them more often than not. There are three of them so they have plenty of company. They have scratching posts, toys, cat shelves to jump over, radiators to sleep on, free access to food and water and when I'm out, they have access to the whole house. The only time they're "confined" is overnight so they don't run over our heads at 3am

They get access to the garden in the summer but they're not really interested in going out, to be honest. One likes laying on the wall and sunbathing but she won't go any further.

Depends on the cat. My two are indoor cars and have never expressed an interest in going out. One sometimes runs down the few stairs into the garden if you open side door and then quickly runs back in again when she feels how cold it is . However if they seemed unhappy or like they wanted outside I’d reconsider.

Depends on the cat... Some are just lazy little oiks who prefer to be in the warm, and some like to be out and about!
Our cats have always been outdoor cats. One would stay pretty close to home, and the other would range for miles!

It’s difficult because I can see an argument for inside cats because at one point I had pedigree cats and they were dim! First time I had problems with them going outside. One of them injured by a car. This was in a rural suburban area.

I now live in a city, with a street cat from Hackney. He is a much more intelligent animal and goes outside without an anxiety. During the first lockdown I realized he had more freedoms than I did!

I think you have to leave it up to the cat (except where there are health issues. I’ve had 5-6 cats over the years and they have all come and gone as they choose. My most recent rescue really, really, really doesn’t want to go out. She just wants to stay inside where it is warm and comfy. She occasionally goes out if I’m outside and she can keep an eye on me, but otherwise stays indoors. I think it stems from being abandoned by her previous owners and associating outside with being alone and hungry. I’m just letting her come to her own conclusions in her own time.

My friends cat is an indoor cat, they move between two flats , both of which are well above ground floor level so her usual view of the world is limited. She comes to stay with me when they are away . The last time she came she discovered ground floor windows and the outside world! I have always had to be very careful about keeping doors and windows closed, but doubly so now.

ilovesouthlondon

How do you cat proof a garden?!

Cat proof fencing.
Catios.
Only let the cat out on a lead/harness.

Thanks!

even Better, I asked how to cat proof a garden because I can and I got a sensible answer. If I wanted to use Google obviously I would without the need for permission!

@ilovesouthlondon

ilovesouthlondon

How do you cat proof a garden?!

Cat proof fencing.
Catios.
Only let the cat out on a lead/harness.

Thanks!

You're welcome!

I don't think the official companies are cheap, but my DH is pretty handy so he made some cat-proof fencing for us :)

I've got 3 cats, 2 fo out and one who is 3 had never left the house. I put him out a few times and he scratches the door while loudly meowing and runs straight back in. Never tried to go out since.

My cat stays in of her own accord. She toilets outside by choice (she has a litter tray) but other than that she very rarely goes out. She might come out to investigate if we're sitting out in the summer but she never stays.

We have an indoor breed cats called ragdolls. We kept them (a male and a female) inside for the first few years when we lived in the country but when we moved into a village the male cat was getting stressed by the other male cats coming into our garden so we secured the garden and they started going outside so he could patrol his grounds. He has a 24hr cat door and there was a point where the male cat spent most of his day outside but the novelty seems to have worn off now and he spends a lot of time inside again. Early on the female cat decided life inside is much more preferable and rarely goes outside. She will sit at an open window and look out. She may occasionally jump out and do a 5min lap around the house but come inside very quickly. I think she prefers the heated underfloor heating to sitting on cold grass.

I have 5 cats. 4 can go in and out through cat flap and all get along well and enjoy.our large garden especially in the summer.The other one is new to us and we had it as my sons colleagues marriage broke down and none of them wanted/could have the cat. It is a beautiful Bengal but a bully. It spends part of each day in laundry room and part of day in lounge/fining room with door shut to kitchen where other cats are. I have tried this cat in a 1-1 with other male cat and new cat growls and hisses and attacks him. I tried with both male cats and 1 female he attacks them all. He even hisses at our 2 dogs. He has been with us a month now. I am sure he wants to go out but until he calms down with other animsls I feel I can't let him out. I might get a cat lead and let him go around garden on lead. I so want him to get on with other cats and dogs. I hate making him stay in.

Where I'm from cats are not allowed to roam free in cities. Therefore a lot of cats are indoor cats that occasionally gets walked in a leash if they enjoy that.