Indoor cats

[Asleanna]

I'm contemplating getting a cat but it would not be able to go outside. I'm torn on whether this is cruel?

YABU - cats are not OK just indoors
YANBU - indoor cats are fine.

I don't want to make a selfish decision so want what's best for hypothetical cat.

Ragdolls make good indoor cats and you can adopt cats with FIV that are not allowed to be let out because of their illness. Or a blind cat or a three legged furbaby

I agree with PP's suggestion of getting two indoor cats so they are company for each other.

My boy likes to go out about 30% of the time, but also loves to curl up indoors and snooze a lot (he's inside overnight). I do have a problem in that my 80 yr old NDN has an open door policy for all the cats in the area and keeps a constant supply of cheap cat food and 'treats' out for them, so my cat has put on weight and i keep getting told off by the vet.

i have seriously thought about keeping him in, but he's 9 and just loves going out (and wandering in to see NDN). NDN refuses to just lay out food when cats appear or close his door and there really isn't anything i can do about it other than be careful about how much food my cat has under my watch (NDN swears blind that he doesn't give my cat food or treats but I know it isn't true from what other neighbours have told me) I've tried to explain that he's putting my cat at risk of diabetes and other health problems but he just tells people I'm the mean one who doesn't feed her cat properly (he's over 5 kilos!).

Anyway - the upshot of my little rant is that if I get another cat it will definitely be a rescue who prefers to be, or needs to be, an indoor cat.

And as for litter trays, mine uses his sometimes depending on his mood (it's a covered one that's kept in the bathroom). It's no problem at all to scoop up waste and keep it clean for him every day. I find it weird that anyone with cats would view litter trays and cleaning them with horror.

I've had lots of cats in my life and would always have doubted that a cat would thrive restricted to the indoors. But one of my current three boys totally refuses to spend more than a minute outside. He has free access through a catflap and open doors and windows all year round but he's just a home boy.

Also I know that cats with FIV struggle for forever homes

Have an indoor cat who has been indoor from a kitten so doesn’t know any better. However he does have cat flap access to a fully enclosed outdoor area which he loves, he’ll sleep there outside in the enclosure at night when the weather is nice and he likes to go and watch heavy rain there too. He is also allowed into the garden on a lead, and if he gets better in that and manages car travel we are going to take him on the boat with the dog.

It’s good for him to have the dog too as a companion, they play fight a lot and enjoy wrestling together.

However I would not try and make a grown outdoor cat indoor, it is likely to just make the cat distressed. I have had plenty of cats over the past 30 plus years, this is the first indoor cat I’ve had (kept inside for his safety ie snakes, cars, dogs and for the safety of native wildlife), and I can’t see how this would have worked with other cats I’ve had that already understood outdoor life. Also I dont think he’d be happy without his outdoor enclosure and being allowed to spend time every few days in the garden in a lead.

My girls are indoors only and they have no issue with it.

One of them is white so is at risk of skin cancer if outside for too long.

Our cat can and does go out, but we don’t (through choice) have a flap so she is always in overnight and has set - by her! - times she likes to go for a wander. She never goes beyond our neighbours’ gardens and is always in shouting distance.

Would she be happy indoors? I think yes, but I also love to see her sitting on the shed roof or lying in a flower bed on a sunny day. Would she be going out if we lived on a busy road? Definitely not.

want to make sure I'm doing right by the animal.

However you come to your decision, and whatever decision that is, that sentence alone speaks volumes! You’ll make a fantastic cat slave

My cat is indoor only, she was 3 when I got her and doesn't actually like going outside. I do have a balcony that we go on when the weather is nice (she wears a harness).

I would say that you need to set aside time to play with them, I have a mix of toys. Ones she can play with alone (balls, an automatic laser pointer, a treat dispenser, play tunnel etc.) which I rotate in an out of so she doesn't get bored, and ones where I interact with her (teasers, balls, laser pen, bags, boxes, bits of yarn, she loves batting a bit of dry pasta around the kitchen floor). I also have cat trees which I move to different parts of the room regularly.

She also loves grooming time where I brush her twice per day.

@Notdoingthis

I couldn't have an indoor cat as I can't cope with litter indoors. Just something to consider.

This is a big considation. The smell of cat poo is vile and the litter doesn't really cover the smell. Dealing with that a few times a day drove us mad. We now leave the back door open with the litter tray in the utility room just inside the open door. Kitten can come and go as he pleases. He'll probably be moved out to sleep in our shed (cat hotel) after Halloween with our older cat.

Lots of rescues say their cats must be kept as indoor cats and our indoor cat was fine and had a lot of happy healthy years.
When we moved we got two cats who could go outside , one has been missing now for 6 months and the other was knocked over last summer and got a shattered pelvis so he’s mostly indoors now :(

@Notaroadrunner you’re taking the piss right?
Why have cats if you make them sleep in the bloody shed??
And litter doesn’t smell if you empty the tray and change it regularly.

The animal shelter will have cats that need rehoming that are already indoor cats.
You could give a cat that is already an indoor cat a good home as they can be hard to rehome as some people prefer not to have a litter tray etc.
If you only want an indoor cat, then you are the perfect owner for a cat that is already an indoor cat sitting at the shelter needing a new home.

Indoor cat is absolutely fine. I have had both indoor and outdoor cats . My 2 are 90percent indoor these days but will sit out in the garden in the summer but are happiest inside.

I would suggest an older cat who is used to being indoors or alternatively get 2 kittens to keep each other company and grow up together.

Re the comments on litter...get a good clumping litter and scoop morning and evening and you willl not have any smell. My house is immaculate and I wouldn't tolerate any smell.

Hope you find perfect cat for yo

Ours were indoors for about 10 years and then we moved house and they become indoor/outdoor cats, mostly just staying in the garden. Having seen how happy my girl is lying in the garden in the sun or chasing butterflies through the grass, I feel a bit guilty for their years inside. I think it made their world very small. I won't be getting any more cats after this, but if I did I'd want them to at least have access to the garden. Quality of life, not quantity is important IMO. I'd rather a cat with a full life that didn't live as long than one who lived 20 years that weren't as joyful. But that's just my own opinion. And there are plenty of cats who need to stay inside for various reasons, so I'd look for one of those rather than picking a kitten with the intention of them being an indoor cat.

I have two semi feral cats that came from a rescue and we were told they can't go outside. We've had them 10 years and they have no interest in going out and to be honest are so jumpy they'd be useless outside.

They are completely spoiled and we adore them. They follow my DH round everywhere and they are total characters.

We have a ragdoll who started off as indoor only due to living near a main road. Years down the line we are in a cul de sac far away from a main road and he is outdoor all the way. He has his territory and isn't afraid to defend it, and isn't trusting of strangers in the slightest. He will also very vocally demand his outside time (human butlers to open the door as his pedigree lordship is too good for the catflap!)

Our other one is a shorthair rescue cat, goes out for toileting, chills out close to the house then straight back in, very much a homebody.

So I would go with a cat with healthcare/age reasons to stay indoors.

My two cats are indoor cats - one since we got her from the Cats Protection at 18 months (she's now 7), and one since we got her at 10 weeks old, now just about to turn 3. We trialled letting the older one out once she'd settled with us, she was horrified and came running back in.

All our cats before were outdoors cats, and all of them died because of it - hit by cars or contracting illnesses because of fighting or being fed by strangers. If we lived more rurally, I'd consider letting a cat outside again, but not in a busy town and I don't know if I could go through the worry of when they go missing for days at a time.

There’s a reason why cats have ‘a right to roam’ because that’s normally what they like to do. Yes, it’s becoming more of a trend to keep them inside because we are all, as a people, becoming more risk averse or we have an expensive cat that might get stolen or live near a busy main road but we keep the cat inside to suit US not the cat. Most of the happy indoor cat stories here are because they’ve never known any different. If you have had a cat locked up for a while and later on give him the option to access outdoors and then say , ‘oh look, he’s now not bothered about going out’ , does that means he was perfectly happy cooped up or does it just mean he’s used to staying in?. Yes, there are rare occasions where it might work with ill or very elderly cats or cats with certain conditions but I disagree that most cats are happy confined to a flat/house. Ask yourself if you would be happy stuck in for a lifetime? I think not. If you must get a cat, choose one that has to be confined for some reason, I’m sure the charity will advise. Mostly our cat charity will only rehome to people with outdoor space but there are some exceptions.

@Hopeisallineed

There’s a reason why cats have ‘a right to roam’ because that’s normally what they like to do. Yes, it’s becoming more of a trend to keep them inside because we are all, as a people, becoming more risk averse or we have an expensive cat that might get stolen or live near a busy main road but we keep the cat inside to suit US not the cat. Most of the happy indoor cat stories here are because they’ve never known any different. If you have had a cat locked up for a while and later on give him the option to access outdoors and then say , ‘oh look, he’s now not bothered about going out’ , does that means he was perfectly happy cooped up or does it just mean he’s used to staying in?. Yes, there are rare occasions where it might work with ill or very elderly cats or cats with certain conditions but I disagree that most cats are happy confined to a flat/house. Ask yourself if you would be happy stuck in for a lifetime? I think not. If you must get a cat, choose one that has to be confined for some reason, I’m sure the charity will advise. Mostly our cat charity will only rehome to people with outdoor space but there are some exceptions.

We have “rights to roam” for cats because you cannot control them, not because they should be outside. Australia don’t allow cats to roam outside.

@Asleanna

Wow thanks for all of your input, I really appreciate it! It's just me and I work shifts, quite long, but then I get chunks of days off and would be around. I have a 2 bedroom flat with big living space, my spare bedroom is basically unused so I would happily turn that room in to a room for a cat - I'd buy plenty of toys, a little bed, etc... (although I know they end up sleeping anywhere haha)

I think first port of call is head to a rescue place and see what they think.
I'd happily get 2 so they have a pal.

It sounds like you will be a great cat parent OP.

Jackson Galaxy has some great ideas for "catifying" your home and enrichment for indoor cats. I'd recommend watching some My Cat From Hell episodes on YouTube for inspiration.

Good luck! 😻

Are we talking about Australia or the U.K.? I’m confused. In the U.K. cats have a right to roam because they are outdoor animals who should be free to wander where they like…in Australia it’s completely different, mainly because there who ecological structure has been f*cked up by introducing non-native species so they have to try and mitigate that by controlling the species they have. Not the same.

*their whole

I live in a flat and keep my ragdoll in she's happy she pays on the balcony cats have to be indoors in my area or else they get taken by the council something to do with them killing native birds as others have said a older cat will be happy indoors

Animal shelters will often have cats who are FIV positive, so aren't allowed outside, and of course you do get some cats who don't like going out.

A rescue shelter would be your best bet.