What will happen if I keep him in?

[Parmaviolets13]

My cat is about 7 months (although I suspect he may be older). He's neutered.

I've never had a cat before and I bought him to help with my anxiety and depression and I love the bugger to pieces, im not sure how attached I've become to him?!

Anyway, he currently doesn't go outside. He's been in the garden but once when he tried to escape, he was so scared and in all honesty, I haven't let him out since.

Will he go crazy as a house cat? I hear bad things about Tom cats but is that just un neutered cats? I don't want to let him out because I'm worried he'll go missing, or get run over, or taken in by a 'helpful' old lady to feed him. - sorry, very stereotypical!!

I have a few friends who keep theirs in but they're girls.

So yeah, any advice? 😆

Shouldn't make much difference being a boy rather than a girl, some cats are happy as indoor cats and some aren't. If yours is happy as a house cat & was frightened outside, and if he's never been out properly, keep him in

The only potential issue is if you are out a large amount then he may get bored - that was my excuse for getting two .

You'll find some people are very intense on the issue that it isn't natural for cats to be kept in, but IMO getting run over by cars, poisoned by slug pellets/rat poison/anti-freeze, or tortured or even killed by some nutter also isn't natural for cats.

If he's tried to escape once he may well try again. I think generally cats that go outside are happier, but some seem to cope fine being indoors and some can't go outside at all. I'd probably start to let him out when he's hungry but train him to come back, and then keep him to a curfew.

Cats that want to be outside but aren't allowed are perhaps at greater risk of harm because they're likely to dart off and not have the street smarts to deal with danger or find their way back.

Hello, thanks for your reply!
He was frightened but sometimes does yearn to go out into the garden. My DP is just worried he'll get depressed or stressed and spray.

We try and keep him entertained, he's got loads of toys and I even made a fort out of blankets this morning before work! (I'm also not allowed another cat 😂)

I do agree though that surely it's nicer than being run over. We live in a cul de sac but right on the road end to a massive housing estate where buses come through ☹️

My cats have a great time outside.

I've had cats for 20 years, and apart from fights with other cats no harm has come from having access to outdoors.

Oh, apart from the odd "gift".

It totally depends on the cat, I've had some that got clostrophobia after 30 minutes and some that think you're crazy if you open a door. If your boy is used to being inside he'll be fine as an indoor mog.

My white female cat is more of an indoor cat. She only goes into the garden with me, but spends most of her day inside. She's an extremely nervous cat, so is better off inside and I'm very happy about that, as it saves so much worry. My other female cat will not be kept in. She has access to the outside via her catflap and she goes in and out all day long. She is kept in at night. She would go crazy if I tried to keep her in. I live in a rurl area, if that makes any difference.

I'm not really sure what he wants to be honest, I feel we should've made a decision when he was a kitten whether to keep him in or not, but thought if we just kept him to the garden he would be okay. He hasn't been out in the garden in a few months and he hasn't gone crazy (apart from at night when we're trying to sleep!) he also stays in while we're at work, and to be honest he isn't totally sure how to even use a cat flap! I don't know what to do 😭

Another option is to try him outside with a harness and lead, and if he seems to enjoy exploring the back garden invest in either building a catio or cat-proofing the garden. Only reason I suggested trying him on a lead first is to prevent you spending loads of money & effort on a catio or cat proofing & he turns out to hate it.

He'll definitely like being outside in the garden so il have to look into cat proofing. What's a catio? Il google 😁 I bought a harness but he won't let me anywhere near him. Same with a collar

A Catio is a sort of enclosure for the cat attached to the house, so they can go out of a normal cat flap or window into a large sort of caged area - like a giant aviary sort of thing.