I would really like a cat, but...

[canwehaveacatchat]

I have been considering getting a kitten. My DS16 is also now desperate for one.

But... we currently live in a small two bed flat. I don't even have a discreet place to put a litter tray, and we don't have garden.

It feels unfair to get a cat that can never go outside. But this must happen? I had two cats as a child, and eventually we moved house and the second one was able to get out, but until then, they were house cats.

Does anyone here have a similar living situation?

If I was to buy an automated cat litter tray, would it be nasty to put it in the living room (in a corner, under a table, for example?

We are hoping to buy somewhere bigger in the next 6 months or so, but no guarantees it won't still be a flat.

Also, although currently WFH, I'm usually office based. Maybe it's not fair to have a cat and be out 8 hours a day.

Any thoughts appreciated.

MayDay I know that’s reasonably typical of BSH but they do still vary a lot from breeder to breeder and even within a litter. I’ve had ones that sleep on my chest, love being carried around, spend the day following me yowling for attention and also very quiet ones. It’s worth speaking to a few breeders to find out what temperaments their cats have

@RandomMess

Cats are very domesticated now, many pedigrees are clueless and really not suited to outdoor experiences!

I agree that farm cats etc it would be cruel to keep them indoors.

Friends that have Ragdolls describe them as having "fluff for brains"

Most cats if they miss the window of going out as kittens once they older then they are actually too afraid of outside and it just stresses them.

My Ragdoll accidentally got out (he was a kitten.. we stupidly, being new owners.. left the bathroom window ajar!) And he was terrified. He was jumping up to try and get back in the window. Yet we are 'cruel' to keep him inside!?

I do think that if a cat is used to being an outdoor cat, it would indeed be cruel to then shut it inside. But if it is all it has ever known from kittenhood, or is a specific breed, like a Ragdoll (that are unlikely to live if they go out).. then it is perfectly acceptable to have them indoors.

when i brought my boy here i left two girl cats behind with my ex. he lives semi-rurally and there are fields behind the house. my tiny tortie girl roams for miles and is a killing machine. my elderly lady sleeps on the shed roof in the sun and catches the odd slow-moving creature.

i miss them both terribly but it wouldn’t have been fair to bring them to where i now live. my old lady has spent a lifetime being crotchety and unapproachable but my ex is her favourite person in the entire world.

so i brought my boy as he wasn’t bothered about outside, never ventured further than the back step and wasn’t really ever part of the ‘gang’.

i left 2 cats behind to give them a happy life, and brought my boy here where he is delighted to be the only cat.

they’re all different, they’re all very happy. it’s incorrect to state that keeping indoor cats is cruel and against their nature. not all cats have a strong prey drive or the desire to roam.