to think that not allowing a cat out, is cruel?

[StuckInTheMiddleWithYou]

An aquaintance of mine lives in a third floor flat. It is quite small and has small, high windows.

She has a cat and wonders why it is incrediably clingy, in between trying to climb out of the windows everytime they're opened....

Get a goldfish for god sake! grr.

yes they need to let the catout to shit on non owners gardens

meh, free manure!

very cruel...can never understand why people want to keep cats indoors permanently.

Millions of people in densely-populated Asian cities have cats. They are very popular pets in places like Tokyo and Hong Kong, where the majority of people live in flats.

They seem to survive just fine and no one calls them cruel.

A lot of people in other places think letting cats roam is cruel.

It's also illegal in many places.

Some cats are 'house cats', happy with just a litter tray etc. Some aren't...this one does sound like it would like to get out a bit though!

I kept two cats inside when I lived in a flat opening onto a main road.

I think the important thing is that they shouldn't be kept in after they've been used to going out, that would be cruel.

They also need grass (not the schmokin' kind ) and lots more attention.

They're free to roam now, and it's been 10 years since they were kept in, but they're both absolutely fine and fluffy

I'm calling them cruel. Some people regard animals as ornaments as opposed to living beings.

If a cat has never been out, how would it know the difference! It cant be cruel!

I agree with MrsC

I would, OP take issue with the "free manure" argument. My own cat craps in my own garden (clearly she has not read the book that says cats don't poo in their own back yard). In certain heavily- used areas plants will not grow at all because there's something in it that kills them

That's like saying that it wouldn't be cruel to deny a person medical treatment, if they'd been ill all their life. Afterall, they've never known any better!

I guess all pet ownership is cruel to some extent. Unless the cat is being kept in a cupboard, though, I wouldn't think it was particularly cruel.

I think it depends on the cat, that cat sounds like it wants to be out. I have an indoor cat, he refuses to go outside.

I don't know if it's cruel because I'm sure their owners do love them, but it I feel very very sad for them and think they can't be living a joyful, fulfilled life. They must yearn for something, but they don't know what it is.

I think it can be cruel and would personally never get a cat who didn't have free reign outside, but likewise, it can be necessary, too.

A friend of mine has two rescue cats who were declawed and they have to be kept inside for their own safety.

It genuinely does depend on the cat, some ARE house cats. Maybe her's is? Have you owned many?

And I too would take great exception to the 'free manure' joke, our neighbour's cat will not go in her garden...so guess whose is the litter tray! It is nasty stuff, and contains far more nasties than dog poo. It also dogs up all our plants. Shame she couldn't have chosen a house cat! (As the owner of 2 well trained dogs I always get cross that dogs are seen as the 'dirty' ones when I don't see her offering to come round and pick up after her cat.)

@ De-clawing.

I've had many cats. I'd never get one if I lived in a flat.

It depends on the cat - we had a cat that lived indors for a few years when we lived in a 1st floor flat with a balcony in a city.

we built him a lovely tree trunk/perch thing in the corner of our living room so he could still climb and scratch if he wanted to - but most of all he loved the airing cupboard! Cats sleep for something like 80% of the time - well ours seemed to.

Much better than a dead cat run over on a busy road - our neighbour has lost 2 cats in the last 3 years.

Depends on the cat - we had 2 kittens (brothers) and lived in a flat and we didn't let them out for the first 5 months or so as there was work being done on the tenement and there was no front door onto the main road. One of the cats went totally stir crazy despite not knowing anything different. He spent hours howling at the door and trying to escape, the other one had no inclination to explore the wider world at all. When they did get out the weird cat transformed into a really calm puss. Different strokes and all that.

5DollarShake, I had a rescue cat who was declawed and quite elderly (they didn't know how old, but my vet thought around 13. I had him for 4 years so he had a good life with me!). When I adopted him from Boulder Valley Humane, they specifically made me a sign a form saying he'd not go outside (I don't know how they'd enforce that, but I lived in a flat and also, you could get a citation for 'cat at large' if your animal were caught roaming off lead anywhere but designated off-lead dog parks, and they did enforce this well, so it wouldn't have crossed my mind to let him out, anyway).

My cat is basically an indoor cat. She only goes outside to poo and wee (in our garden) and eat a little grass. Occasionally she brings in a mouse that has died of natural causes and had rigor mortis, and tries to convince us that she killed it

Has it been neutered?
It could be in season, hence desperation to get out and incredible clinginess.

I breed siamese, and although I keep calling queens in, the rest of the cats go out (we are on our own on an acre, so no-one else to worry about). I do take the queens out on the harness once a day for fresh air when they are in season.

Lots of people keep cats indoors because they are frightened of them getting run over/catching diseases, and it can be ok, but the Swedish did a study on minimum requirements for indoor cats and I'm afraid bedsits don't quite cut it. The cat must not be able to see most of its terrain from any one point (ie, there should be a few rooms, not just two) there should be lots of vantage points and lots of toys and play. And grass is important too.

I think it's cruel. Though I know people who do it, the "never go outside cats" all seem to be a bit demented.

I love cats but I've not had one since moving to UK because of this very reason. Plus cat boxes indoors are incredibly dreadful (beyond the initial kitty stage which is necessary).

I know someone who keeps her very expensive cat on a long piece of string so it doesn't run away isn't stolen - distressing & sad

Isn't declawing illegal? I'd like to declaw the people who do it!

DH also took in a stray that was a purebred, a Persian.

He was living in a flat at the time and this cat was indoors-only.

Persians would need to go outdoors in quite a controlled environment due to their fur and also their cobby bodies.

He didn't buy him like that, but took him in.

We were also given a cat that had been in a flat (a maisonette) all her life. She's quite happy in our maisonette, which admittedly has mice .