British short hair blue desperate to go outside - what would you do?

[30ish]

We bought two beautiful BSH blue kittens last August. We wanted to keep them as house pets as we fear they will be stolen or hurt. Because of the warm weather, children playing and leaving doors open, the cats have been pottering about outside - we bring them in when we come in. They are now desperate to be outside, all the time.

Are we wrong to keep them as house pets? What is your experience? They are so beautiful but slightly dim and I really fear for them outside although we do live in a very quiet/almost rural area. Our neighbours have show worthy gardens and I wouldn't want to upset them by releasing two cats into the neigherbourhood. I will try to post photos.

Ah code I understand your issues then. We are in a new build, large garden but fences on most sides so quite simple.
rubbish a friend of mine runs a cat rescue and her Facebook page was where I got all of my info - it's just cat and kitten rescue - in memory of sassy james. It's not the most attractive as you can see, but it keeps them in and stops my panic. And from in the house you can barely see it - I took the photo at an angle so you can see it more clearly

Our cat is an outdoor cat and he does wander. We'd love to fit a tracking device on him to find out where he goes. I suspect though that he doesn't go far.

He does spend a lot of time staring at our neighbours pond - lounging by the pool .

But. He spends most of his time at home asleep. He comes in by himself about 9pm then goes out again at dawn, back about 8am then a few wanders in and out. He's got a microchip cat flap.

He likes rolling around on the road and scarpers when he hears a car.

In the summer he spends a lot if time sunning himself on the car roof. I have to squirt the screen wash to get him off.

What I'm saying (badly) is that your cat may find his own rhythm and not be that far from home.

As someone whose 9 month old cat has been missing for 6 days I'd say - don't do it. :(

Here's a DIY cat proofing link. www.whosforcats.com.au/assets/documents/DIY-cat-enclosures-and-cat-proof-fencing.pdf

It is really simple though, just look at a few photos and you'll understand how to do it.

wow, in parts of Aus it's illegal to let your cat roam.

Please get cat proofing. We're in the process of proofing our garden as I've just had a missing cat scare and my boy is still missing (18months now). I will never get over losing him. I think about him every day and it's a constant torment. You get used to it, but it's just a horrible feeling.

I've also lost two boys to the road.

Cats are very vulnerable when they're out and about. They can also be stolen and used for dog baiting.

We've just paid around £400 for a medium sized back garden, but you can source the materials cheaper. We're using Protectapuss products and doing it as a DIY job. They will come and do it for you, but it costs obviously.

Going to have this situation in a couple of months with my BSH blue kitten. He went out on a lead in the garden for the first time the other day and he absolutely loved it.

I'm leaning towards letting him out when he's big enough but DP is strictly opposed to that.

Him getting stolen is our number one worry, you just don't see cats like him out and about round here.

Interested to know what you decide to do.

Thank you all for your replies and my sympathy to those of you who have lost precious cats.

Our garden is too large to cat proof and it is also full of trees. DH is strictly against letting them out. His main concerns are them getting stolen (as they are pedigree and cost us a small fortune) and them being poisoned (we have very garden proud neighbours).

Tonight we had visitors and one of the cats made a dash for freedom when we opened the door - she ran through the front door, round the side of the house and was retrieved from behind a bush in the back garden. She obviously knew where she was going!

They have already been neutered and chipped and I'm going to buy them both flea collers tomorrow for when/if they go outside.

Oh I think if a cat is happy indoors it is no problem, but if they want to go out then it would be very unkind not to let them.

The fact you paid a lot of money for them shouldn't be too relevant imo as they're living creatures, not ornaments . Hope that doesn't sound harsh. I had a friend at school whose parents bred pedigree cats in their basement and they weren't allowed out either. It used to be a source of contention between us.

Cat proofing sounds like a great idea.

Btw I have kept indoor cats when I was younger and lived in a flat. They were fostered, and it was that or living in a small enclosure and tbh the cats preferred being in a big flat to being in the cage. So it was better than nothing iyswim?

But if you have the outdoor space then they really, really do appreciate it.

We've decided that if we're in the garden then we'll let them potter about.

We aren't going to put them out and leave them alone when we go to work of overnight iyswim? A sort of happy medium for the time being. I don't want to spend the summer with all the windows and doors closed just in case they venture outside.

I hope they'll be safe enough if they have collars on, are chipped and we're around.

I hope so too. It must be a worry if they are perceived as worth a lot. I have only ever had run of the mill cats so of course no one would want to steal one of those!

It must feel like a huge risk. I do sympathise, this is kind of the reason I'd not have an expensive cat though, as I'd be worried about it all the time.

I admire those who are prepared to put in the emotional work

Couldn't you have a run built for them?

Honestly, don't let them out.

Things that can happen:

They get lost.
They get stolen by someone who wants them for a pet.
Knocked over by a car.
Poisoned by neighbours.
Stolen for dog baiting.
Stolen to sell on.
Target practise for local yobs.
Collars can hang them if they get caught up.

Microchipping only works if the finder takes them to be scanned. Some people will just keep a found animal. The person who found my kitten took her collar off and I think she escaped from them and made her way home.

They just disappear and you might never find out what happened. Your imagination works overtime and you get upset particularly in the evenings when you imagine them outside, cold, starving, injured, frightened etc.

Having them neutered doesn't stop them from wandering off - my boys had a huge territory.

Collars get removed or lost.

Do not underestimate the hatred that some people have for cats. They crap in other peoples' gardens and people loathe them for it. People vandalised Pearl's missing posters when I put them up last week. I felt sick when I saw them

People are too thick or selfish to check for a microchip.

Get a run made.

Are those things any more/less likely to happen with a pedigree than with any other moggy?

On balance, I would let them out. They desperately want to go out. Are you going to spend the next fifteen years with the windows closed and frantically shutting doors while your fat frustrated beloved cats pine and yearn like the captives in Room?

Large cat run with lots of seat bits and hidey holes?

I let my cat out but only because my garden backs onto other gardens and she can't get to the road out front really.

Before that we lived in a house on a busy main road and she was an indoor cat. She only goes out for short while and is always in at night by her choice the moment the toddler goes to bed

I really like the idea of a cat run - DH is quite handy and we have the room so this is a definite possibility.

No, I'm not going to spend the next year, let alone the next 15 worrying about open doors and windows which is why I'm wondering about letting them out.

They aren't fat or unhealthy by any means - they have plenty of space, tots and cat trees that they use to the max.

Poor cats, we want what is best for them but we don't want to lose them.

Toys. Sorry.

I had 2 BSH, always allowed out, I never considered not letting them out and it would never have crossed my mind that they should be kept inside all the time.

Pets are precious, no matter how much or how little they cost. It seems mean to keep any cat indoors, regardless of breed.

Totally agree 321zerobaby.

Do people really steal cats anyway? If they were to be used for dog bait surely any cat would do, regardless whether they were a moggy or pedigree? Surely most cats that go outside are neutered and so useless for breeding purposes and those that arent would be pretty hard to sell on without their certificates..

On a side note, flea collars are really bad for cats - I used one once and our cat was really unwell and in fact we could all 'taste' it, really weird and not something I would ever do again.

The drops on the back of the neck like Advocate are much better.

Sorry - totally off subject!!

Any cat can be stolen regardless of whether or not it's a pedigree. People take in lost cats all the time thinking they're strays and without a home.

Somebody down thread has just lost her cat to poisoning.

interesting thread. we have a new 4 month kitten (white persian). the one thing that lies heavy on my mind is about letting her out. she is too young at the moment and won't be chipped/neutered until she is 6 months old by which time it will be the summer. she isn't showing any interest in going outside yet BUT i know she will. our previous cat used to love going outside in the summer, she didn't really wonder further than our next door neighbour. my plan is to do out best to make our small gdn safe for her. i have already been in contact with protectacat, too expensive to make our garden safe using them however they do sell their tools of the trade online so i have told dh he will have to do it . our gds is very small and mostly naturally closed in, i am preying that that is enough. there are ALOT of cats that go missing where we live (east london), regularly see missing cat posters up. only today a friend was telling me how someone (more than once) has tried to pinch her cat who is always out the front, very friendly, it even comes home sometimes with her collar taken off and a different one put on. some people seem to think it is cute to tempt a cat away from real owners by feeding it/encouraging it into their home. i worry tremendously about some old dear taking our cat into her home however i know i couldn't/wouldn't want to stop it going out as i think going out will make her happy. our garden is small but i think lovely enough to make her content, we just have to fill in a few holes and add some netting to the end of garden fence (which i hope doesn't annoy neighbours at the other end, tough really...)