Letting cat out is it a British thing?

[EachandEveryone]

Well, I live in a flat on a busy street. The back way is not busy and the cats next door are old boys and have survived this long going out. Mine would have to share the cat flap with them and the hallway til I let her in. I've just been to Amsterdam and the guy in the pet shop said 95 percent of theirs don't go out. What do you all think?

Lots of towns in Canada have by-laws which require cats to wear a lead when outside. Partly it's due to laws around protection of endangered wildlife and partly due to policies requiring owners to take responsibility for pets - dogs off leads even in parks is enough to get your dog license revoked.

I do think that we should keep our cats in at night, and probably make sure they have bells, they are one of the biggest problems for birds, particularly at night. But all-day indoor cats? Unless it's for the benefit of the cat, I don't think that's right.

www.softpaws.co.uk/?gclid=CPWIsIjq6M4CFRBsGwod5SECyA really ??

I don't think it's fair to keep cats in all the time. Ours would complain bitterly if we did that.

I couldn't or wouldn't keep mine in. He's asleep on the lawn just now. We had to keep him in when we first got him and he got really fat, and I played with him a lot
He can get in/out of upstairs window too so no chance of keeping him in.

Yes Each that's what my SIL puts on her cat's feet! What a hassle. Mind you we do have to replace our carpets and sofa every two years...

I'm in Finland and in towns and cities people tend to mostly keep cats indoors (taking them out on leads for walks is not that unusual here), while in the countryside they let them out. You can't have cat flaps in doors here because of the winter so its more hassle letting them in and out too.

My cat is an indoor cat as we had a big dog next door to us that was sometimes out back without a lead (all our backgardens connect) when we first got her, and we live right by the train tracks. We're moving in October to a quieter place right by the forest so we might start letting her go outdoors, haven't decided for sure yet.