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.

It cant hurt. I wonder if she was spooked and has run for cover?.

She limped home last night. We took her to the emergency vets. She's got a suspected pelvic fractureand has obviously been hit by a car. She's in an oxygen tent, on antibiotics and painkillers. They've xrayed her without sedation and there are no obvious signs of fractures. She's being sedated later and the will X-ray her again to make sure there's no deeper fractures. They are also going to shave her legs where there are injuries to get a better look.
We're still worried and by no means out of the woods yet but so glad she came home.

She is never ever going outside again.

Ohno, poor darling, that's terrible. I'm so sorry. Where did you find her?

Sorry just saw she limped home. What a worry. Hope she is on the mend very soon.

Clever lady to come home for help. I hope she gets well soon

At least she's home and getting treatment. She probably won't want to go out again.

I wonder if she was laying low until she felt well enough to get home.

She's got a couple of pelvic fractures but doesn't need surgery. Strict cage rest. She can probably come home tomorrow if she eats and drinks normally. Just off to buy a cage and shallow cat litter tray. So pleased she's going to be ok eventually x

let them out. They need the outdoors. Theyre animals, not possessions

That's good news, You can always cat proof the garden or build a run for them.

She's home!

We've been so lucky this week (lol, dh didn't put his handbrake on on his very new car properly on Thursday, which in turn caused a lot of damage to the garage door lol but who cares?), it could have been so much worse!

We're getting cat harnesses and building a cat run x

Fluffycloudland77 I know that cats should be free to roam, that is what this whole thread has been about.

But, after the turmoil and absolute devastation of this week (just like my children) the cats are only allowed to play out where and when I can see them. If I'm busy (housework, marking, cooking etc) they are not going out. We live in an area near a country park, on a quiet little dead end street yet Elsa still got hit by a car. She was still in pain, in the cold and dark, alone for approx 54 hours.

My kids don't like vegetables. They hate early nights and when I don't get them an ice cream from the ice cream van that drives past our house at 7pm every night. The cats won't like being confined to a cat run. Tough xxx

Sorry, not fluffycloudland77 (you're comments are lovely) please forgive me.

Branleuse

How's the patient?

Oh I'm so glad she's home, I'm so sorry you're going through this. Mine are house cats until the fencing is done - I am having protect a puss to do the lot, as keeping my kits safe is worth more to me than anything.

I will post pics when it's done for people to see.

Big hugs.

She is doing really well thank you. The Vet said that her great recovery is due to the fact we've been really, really strict about cage rest. She's now allowed out of her cage (in the living room only) for 20 minutes each day. She still sort of over balances, she desperately tries to correct herself with her tail. She still seems wobbly and has yet to try to jump on any furniture.

Unfortunately, when she is out of her cage, we have to keep our other BSHB (her sister) out of the room as she pounces/jumps on/fights with her. Not sure it's just playful either - seems a bit too rough. Not sure what to do about this.

She's getting fed up now and looks a bit sad when confined to her cage, but (slightly selfish I know) I'm really happy just to know where she is!

I think it's better to be strict with her and get better sooner than lax and drag it out for months.

I wonder what her sister makes of it all?.

I think cats struggle when their playmate is sick.

Our girl had an operation this summer and needed the cone of shame for two weeks. Her and her brother normally get on really well but they spent the whole time avoiding each other or hissing at each other. But as soon as the cone came off and she'd groomed the vet smell off her, they were fine.

I think as soon as she's better and out of the cage properly, her and her sister will be best friends again. They're both scared/wary of what's happened and don't really understand it so they act out of fear.

I'm glad she's doing okay.

Glad your cat is feeling better.

On the original question, I think it is quite cruel to keep cats indoors. If you don't live in an area where you think it's safe to let them out, why on earth did you get them in the first place?!

One of our cats when I was a child was run down, and one of our current cats was mauled quite badly by a fox. After being patched up and appropriately cared for, both went back outside without hesitation. They aren't made to sit indoors doing nothing.

I'm glad she is alright. Fwiw I struggle with people buying extremely expensive cats and then not wanting them to live like real cats, because of their beauty or value or preciousness - do you think you would feel like this about an 'ordinary' cat? Would you keep it in all the time in case something happened to it?

Do you think there is something in their character that makes them particularly unsuited to outdoor situations though?

If so then I expect they will be safer in a run, sadly.

I don't want to be horrible to you as you sound like a nice person, but I suppose I was brought up on those fairy tales about beautiful princesses kept from the real world in case it somehow spoiled or damaged them.

They were never happy until the good old prince came along and set them free

Wishing you and your pusses all the best.

If my cat was knocked down I'd build a run too. Ops done nothing wrong.

Any of us with cats who go out could have this happen.

I haven't had a cat knocked down tbh so I don't know what I would do. It would depend on whether I thought it was safe for them to go out originally or not. And on the character/physical ability of the cat, too, which knowing nothing about pedigrees, I can't comment on in this instance.

Maybe BSH cats are not very accustomed or suited to outdoor life, maybe their sense of balance and agility isn't like other cats?

I didn't say the OP had done anything wrong. It just feels sad, to me, with my background. I struggle with it.

MrsNucky It doesn't really take much imagination to see why some people keep their cats indoors. House moves during ownership, changes of circumstances or just plain choosing they no longer want their pet free roaming. When I moved house I had 5 rescue cats who had all previously been allowed access to the outdoors in a safe cul-de-sac. So, so many houses were turned down because they weren't cat safe. The house we moved to, was mainly chosen because it appeared cat safe. On moving in, it soon became apparent that the road is used as a cut through and despite being a narrow country lane, as it is fairly straight some people go through at break neck speeds. What would you have suggested?

I can only titter at your suggestion that my lovely happy and indulged indoor cats are being kept cruelly. Considering traffic accidents are the biggest killers of cats, I wonder who is crueller, the person who exposes their cat to such a risk, or the person who protects them. The second biggest killer in young cats is viral infections - another outdoor risk. I'm glad your cat survived being mauled by a fox, yet I sadly know of cats who have been mauled by dogs and not been so fortunate. A painful, terrifying death but hey, saving them from such risks would be cruel, eh?

Siting around doing nothing? I wish they would

Anastasie My indoor cats are very much real cats

In the UK there is just a cultural problem IMO of people letting cats outside so that's seen as the norm. In other countries, like the USA, house cats are far more common.

I have both moggies and pedigrees and they're all equally as precious to me. I wouldn't dream of letting the moggies outside because they're cheaper to buy/ more common.

Equally, two of my pedigrees are ragdolls (they were still rescued though) and absolutely would not be able to keep themselves safe from harm outside. They are not the sharpest tools in the box, and tend to flop rather than escape from risky situations. The first time they met my lively, excitable dogs they mewed pitifully and either stood stock still or flopped onto the ground. Luckily, I know my dogs are cat safe but can't say the same for any dogs they would encounter outside. I can't imagine them running out the way of a car in time either.

30ish None of my above comments are aimed at you. I remember posting on your thread and am so sorry to hear what happened to your beautiful girl. Pleased she is recovering, and just want to reassure you that restricting them to a cat run is in no way cruel and they'll soon adapt.

I'm not sure it's cruel as such. It just seems counterintuitive to me, to 'own' a creature for its beauty and rarity.

I don't like the whole idea of pedigree animals, not unless they are bred for a purpose or for better health and in so many cases it seems they are bred for artificial standards such as prettiness, regularity of colour/pattern or similar.

That upsets me. It's putting material/aesthetic value on a creature, sometimes in preference to its health or robustness.

Glad she is recovering. My rescue tabby Huntercat was knocked down one afternoon and spent 4 months with metal pins holding his shattered front leg together on cage rest. We got through a lot of dreamies and £4k of pet plan insurance to fix him up with some complex orthopaedic surgery.

Huntercat is an absolute lover of being outside. After he healed up I let him back out again and he continues to roam the fields near us and bring me mice, rabbits, shrews, bats (!) and assorted birds. He is at risk of being hit again by a car yes, but it was a low risk before where we live and I think lower now he has more caution. I believe that it would be a cruelty to confine him in a house sized cage, he is a natural explorer and spends hours out and about in all weathers and snoozes under the hedge or car as well as pondering the world from the top of fences and sheds. He knows this world and spent part of today lying in the sun on the kids trampoline grooming himself before heading off over the field to eat mice.

I understand your concerns, but I think see how your cat is once she recovers. I am happy to trade Huntercats outdoor physical risks against his positive outdoor mental health, good exercise and overall wellbeing. He will not live forever, none of us will! I want to give him a great quality of life and minimise any suffering. I don't think he is anxious or afraid when out or pondering his close shave with death before, he just lives in the moment. So I let him explore his world and if that means a short exciting life over a frustrated but long one then I am ok with that. He is 5 now and I hope he will live for many more years but I don't want quantity of life over qualify for him when he has no awareness of time and no regrets at all.

I appreciate some cats are different, and some people live on main roads or have FIV+ cats that can't go out, but for ones that know and love being outside I think weigh carefully what they risk with what they gain - even if it means more worry for us as their staff.

it is incredibly selfish to keep cats indoors. They are independent, roaming animals, and that means they are at risk of accident- and we have to live with that. Keeping them in because we can't deal with the possibility of losing them is the height of selfishness. They can't understand why they are being kept in- all they know is that they are trapped and looking at the world through th window. If you can't deal with the nature of cats, don't have one.