Outdoor cats or indoor cats?

[Jenny0787]

I’ve always had outdoor cats, however after having one run over and killed last year I am extremely fearful of letting my remaining cats out.

So much so I have been getting CBT in order to cope with the worry and panic I feel when letting them out. It’s helped but it’s a low process.

If it was up to me I would have indoor cats however my partner does not agree with this and wants them out especially with a LO on the way.

What would your stance be?

I have 2 kittens who will have their second vaccs on Monday. They won't be spayed till July so they won't have proper outdoor time till after that (3 active feral toms in the area). At the moment they go out in our garden under supervision and they don't have contact with any other cats. One absolutely loves it and is way too bold where the other plays closer to the house and then scuttles in.

I couldn't make a cat that wanted to be outdoors stay in all the time and I'm not sure we could cat proof our garden. I'd like to keep these ones in at night but DH doesn't agree and I'm not sure they'd cooperate in summer!

It is always such a worry, living here one of my last pair was run over and killed (no road sense, she'd sit and wash her bum in the middle of the road) and they've been run over where my parents live too. It was the biggest thing putting me off getting more cats, thinking that they could get run over. I know I'm going too get so stressed about it (the bold one is currently going on walks in the garden in a harness and lead because she kept disappearing next door) but i think I'm going to have to deal with them being cats and accept that that sometimes gets then into trouble they can't get out of.

I hope your CBT works, OP and good luck with the baby and the cats getting on. My last cat and my DD had the most lovely relationship and it was very special to see them together.

Liz38 You really shouldn't be letting them out before they're spayed! If they come into season they WILL escape and go looking for a tom to get mated. Please don't add to the cat overpopulation by irresponsibly letting one or both of them to have kittens.

Liz38 - I know what you mean!

My sister is friends with someone who bought a £300 Persian cat that was strictly an indoor cat, unfortunately she was not spayed and while she was having some work done at her property one of the workmen left the window open and she escaped!

She went missing for a month! The family did the whole poster and knocking door to door that you do, but no sign.

She came back covered in dirt a month later and after a few weeks they found she was pregnant! It’s actually quite a funny story, they keep saying they are gonna put her on Jeremy Kyle because she does not know who the father is! But all joking aside mine a spayed and neutered. X

My cat was always an outdoor cat (in fact we rescued him as a tiny kitten who’s asshole owner used to leave him out in the car park all night!) We moved when he was 7 to a very busy road, loads of traffic, cats, foxes. I kept him in for a bit but he just lost interest in the outside world and is now a very content indoor cat. I dread to think how I’d have coped if he’d wanted to go out. The M25 cat killer has struck in this area and nearby so I don’t think I’ll get another cat unless it is already an indoor cat. Just too much worry :(

I’m sorry that you’ve lost your girl.

I think your partner is utterly wrong. I do wonder how many of their pets owners are willing to see killed before they accept the road they live on isn’t safe. One loss should be enough.

It’s not this quaint ‘losing them to the road’ death. It’s a horrible violent death, usually happening to a fairly young and healthy cat. It’s completely avoidable, not just one of those things.

I don’t think you need CBT to learn how to let them out again. I think your brain has correctly identified that it isn’t safe and is trying to protect your much loved cats. Cat proofing isn’t pretty to look at, but it is infinitely preferable to the death of your pet. More and more people are keeping cats and not allowing them to roam. Not just pedigrees, moggies too. Hopefully the tide is very slowly turning and we’ll have a very different attitude to looking after cats in a decade or so.

Just to let you know ita entirely cultural.

When i moved to france i specifically chose a ground floor flat with a view to getting two rescues.

But all the rescues were absolutely horrified and wouldnt let me adopt, saying it was completely inacceptable and cruel to allow cats to free roam in an urban setting.

I was like coming from the uk where the opposite was true.

That made me rethink my own policy.

I now live in a rooftop flat and have built a massive catio on the roof, with an access tunnel that runs the length of the flat via the window.

Im sure there are days when one pf my cats would love to frolic freely in nature, and one day when i live in the countryside he will. But i rescued them both from a home where they were shut in a corridor, that was their life. Now they have a big flat with loads of toys, and a secure access space with plants and a huge climbing tree and platforms where they hunt insects and sleep in the sun. They seem happy.

If they were left to roam here they wpuld be killed by cars or taken in by someone as people here arent used to seeing random cats chilling on pavements.

I think the view that cats should roam dates back - it isnt the 50s anymore, we now have almost five times as many cars on the street, its just not as safe as it would once have been.

I totally understand the idea of "but they should be freeeee" because i once had that view. But if its giving them the freedom to be hit by cars or poisoned i guess you have to wonder whether thats really the right call. We wouldnt allow a dog to free roam.

I do however believe all cats should have access to the outdoors - just not to roam, at least not in towns or cities.

VogueV above is right, it's a very British thing this letting cats roam attitude... I too lived in another European country where people only tend to let their cats out if they live in the countryside or otherwise in a very quiet location. Other than that, it's not at all usual to see owned cats on the streets like you see in the UK.

I can't quite understand why anyone would not want their cats to be safe. At the charity where I volunteer when we adopt out cats to homes with outdoor access it tends to be terraced houses where there's a network of gardens around, and make it very clear the cat must not be allowed out at the front of the property. For any other type of property/location we try to only choose a street smart cat (an ex stray over 5 years old, for example), require cat proofing or recommend an indoor cat.

I completely agree with backtothefuscia. You don't need CBT OP. You are completely, objectively correct that letting the cats roam is dangerous for them.

You need cat proofing ideally. If my partner put the appearance of the garden (and cat proofing isn't much of an eyesore) above the safety of my cats and my own peace of mind, well they would no longer be my partner.

Our cat was killed on the road last year, and our other cat was hit but recovered. We had always let cats outside and thought it was safe because we live in a quiet area but now feel very nervous about it. The cat which recovered now goes out in the garden for short periods either with us or when we are at home, and a kitten we got earlier in the year is currently indoor only. The plan is to keep her in until she's at least a year then try letting her out for short periods, but keep them both in at night. It's very difficult to know what to do for the best.

Mine used to go out all the time, front and back. The only problem we had with it was one fight when he ended up with an infected puncture wound. No car accidents. We live in London, albeit a quiet residential street. The size of the territory depends on the closeness of the housing and how many other cats live locally-as our street is densely populated (mixture of terraced housing one end and our end is also terraced but flats)and a number of other cats, so his territory was small so he never went more than a few yards away.

We had him PTS on Monday, but only because he was 18 and went into a rapid decline in the last few days and was clearly on his way out.

I don't regret letting him be an outdoor cat, he used to love going out.

Our girl came to us having been largely indoor, but we gradually started letting her into the back garden after a month or so. She never goes far, next door on either side, and always within a distance where she will come if she’s called. Mainly she likes to either lie in a flower bed, or sit on the steps mipping at the birds, but I love seeing her pirouetting around after butterflies. My partner always lived with true roaming cats previously and he laughs when I get anxious if I can’t see her - if she follows one of us out the front with the bins or similar I am so on edge, even though we live on a really quiet, one way street.

Outdoor.

I know what you mean op.
One of my cats went missing 2 years ago Its heart breaking not knowing what has happened to her.

I have 2 more and I like them in at least an hour before dark and then they are in till morni g. One doesn't roam very far in fact the furthest I've seen her is next doors tree where she got stuck

The other however is a bit more catish and does like a small wander always comes back with 5 mins of rattling treats.
Am currently getting disgusted looks coz I've told her it's bedtime