Indoor cat

[VicksJunkie]

Having had dogs throughout my childhood, I’m getting a cat as my first grownup pet. It’s mostly for my daughter, but I’m also looking forward to having a new energy in the house. We’re getting a ginger male, it’s currently with its mum for a few more weeks.

I’m not too worried about the mess or the smells (within reason!) but I am worried about it being an indoor cat. This wouldn’t be my preference, but we live on a main road and whilst the back of the house has a garden and leads out onto fields, we are right next to a train track, and other pet owners I’ve chatted to have suggested the life span of the cat would be relatively short if I let it out, especially with the (very busy) road. 😬

So, TL:DR, I’m looking for advice on how to manage an indoor cat, when my natural preference would be to let it out. Do you have to keep windows closed all the time? How does it work?

You can keep cats indoors but IMO it’s only kind to do so where they either have health conditions which mean they can’t go out, or if they are a breed which doesn’t particularly want to (eg ragdolls). I’ve never had a moggy which didn’t want to go out and would have been happy indoors. Even my current two incredibly lazy boys would be miserable if they couldn’t go out for a stroll round the garden each day. Cats live for 15-20 years - that’s a long time for an intelligent creature to be confined to the same four walls and never have a change of scenery, plus although they use litter trays, given free choice the majority prefer to toilet well away from their living space. Mine have litter trays but might as well not as they never use them.

My lovely female cat died recently at the age of 9 - she had to be put down following serious injuries which she sustained outside. We’re not sure how, either she was kicked or run over, most likely. Despite that, I still wouldn’t keep a cat indoors. She would have been utterly miserable if she’d been a house cat and although I am very sad her life was ultimately cut short, I know that she wouldn’t have had the same quality of life as an indoor cat.

I would go to a rescue and get an indoor cat. I got two kittens last year and kept them in for the first year as advised by the rescue. We have a big house and they had plenty of toys and each other. However, the transformation when I let them out was visible. They are so much happier now and love being outside on adventures. I would never keep cats indoors unless a specific breed or reason. Cats are not really domestic the same way dogs are.

mine just isn’t interested in outside. He likes sitting in the window with his head outside, or if I’m in the garden he comes and sits next to me. That’s about it

Is the kitten from an indoor cat family as it often works less well if you are just buying some random cat . Our family has had various indoor cats , they have a large catio and lots of indoor poles , wall walks , realistic trees etc and there is always either someone at home for much of the day or another family member goes in for a few hours . A family member always goes to stay for any holidays . You really have to treat an indoor cat in the same way as a dog ie not being alone for hours .

I would love to keep my cats indoors as it would save me a lot of worry and anxiety. But I look at how much they enjoy going out and I can't be that selfish.

However all mine (I've had a dozen over my lifetime) have lost interest in going out as they get older. Once they hit 8-10 they might go in the garden on a sunny day but have no interest in roaming further. Adopt an older cat or two instead of a kitten.

I have a house and garden, and on every sunny day my back door is open, and we open windows all the time.
During the summer we have big patio doors open all day and the back door etc etc.

I cannot imagine having to not do that, or to have to screen those in order to keep a cat in, or worrying about a cat escaping round my feet every time I get the shopping in from the car or pop in and out to the back garden.

The change to MY lifestyle is not worth it!

But that aside, I have always had cats, and they have always been outdoor cats. I would not choose to have a indoor cat anymore than I would choose to keep a bird in a cage or a rabbit in a rabbit hutch. I love looking out of my bedroom window and seeing my cat playing in the long grass or sleeping in the sun. My cats tend to spend most of the winter curled up indoors and most of the summer curled up in the middle of my favourite plants.

Every outdoor cat we have had has lived until a ripe old age, my mums last cat just died aged 19. One of my current cats is 15. None of them have ever had a serious accident/illness associated with being outside.

If you must have an indoor cat, please consider cat proofing your garden. Catios are too small and no different to being shut indoors.

Just one serious point though. My brother had 2 indoor cats in London, and he gave them to my Mum when they moved. My Mum gently let them out over a period of weeks until they were used to going in the garden. Both were killed on the (quiet country) road within a year. They had never learnt to be safe around a road and they didn't seem to learn it as older cats (about 4 years old I think). So if you start with an indoor cat, and then move, they might not learn to be an outdoor cat.

I live where we are required to keep our cats on our property. The easiest way to do this is a catio and keeping them indoors. They are happy busy boys.

We know we have a redbellied black snake in the front garden. I'd be terrified if they were allowed to go out there and hunt.

You can use fly screens for the doors and windows. The metal ones are scratch-proof. A catio would be useful as well.

As you are getting a kitten, have you considered lead-training him? The younger they are the easier it will be to get him used to a harness. That way you can take him for walks, like you do with a dog, and he will get the mental stimulation from the outside without you having to worry about him getting killed by a car.

I have a house and garden, and on every sunny day my back door is open, and we open windows all the time. During the summer we have big patio doors open all day and the back door etc etc. I cannot imagine having to not do that, or to have to screen those in order to keep a cat in, or worrying about a cat escaping round my feet every time I get the shopping in from the car or pop in and out to the back garden.

This always puzzles me too. I can't imagine not having windows/doors open or putting up fly screens on every opening.

I grew up on main roads and we always had cats. Now live on one with a cat.
With all our cats, we “introduced “ them to the main road when they were kittens by taking them in our arms onto the street as the buses etc rumbled by at 45mph. They all avoided the front like the plague and just went into the back garden and neighbours’ gardens.

In some ways a large “side” road can be more dangerous as it’s not so obviously off putting for them.

I have everything open but my cat has no interest whatsoever in outside on his own
he came out with me for 10 mins this morning, sat at the door and yelled at the birds then took himself back to bed
he might actually just be a stuffed animal…
he likes his TV shows, his snacks and the sofa

He's gorgeous! Casually showing off the murder mittens.

He wouldn’t know what to use them for spends all day demanding his belly rubs and bird TV

I have flyscreens on every window in my house and I don’t even own a cat , nothing weird about it at all , I don’t want bugs and flies indoors .

We have indoor ragdolls - after 4 years vet suggested we let them out the male (neutered) cat was peeing everywhere near windows to protect his territory - when let out he would march up and down perimeters of the garden to leave his scent to warn off other male cats. Female cat goes out a bit but mostly stays in.