House cats

[Babyroobs]

A colleague of mine has 3 cats which never go out, one is a kitten less than a year old. I feel sorry for them. They don't even have full run of the house just the upstairs as there are dogs downstairs. This all stems from the two older cats going missing for a few days. I just think its so wrong. Am I unreasonable ??

Depends on the breed. My Persians only go into the garden. And they don't care. They don't miss it if they don't go out.

I was so looking forward to letting our cat go in the garden. He's such a big personality that I thought he'd be bounding around and exploring in no time. I felt sorry for him when he was stuck in the house.

Well, he got spooked by another cat that prowls the neighbourhood and has since refused to go out unless we are also outside. This was several months ago! We've tried leaving him outside but he just meows for ages outside the door and gives us another series of cross noises once he's in again. He seems happy being a housecat.

I have mixed feelings. There is no doubt that house cats are safer. Many cats are perfectly happy being house cats. But of course many aren't.

Also of course there is such a shortage of homes that it really comes to a choice between rescue organisations either homing to flats etc, or not homing the cats at all (meaning either cats are put down, or many others can't be rescued). So as long as they are rescue cats I feel it's all part of the greater good.

Yes, it's unkind. I happen to believe that all animals should have access to fresh air.

I've always (for 38 years) had cats, and they've all been able to go outside when they've wanted to. I've never had a catflap, but when I'm at home (I used to work shifts but now I only do part-time), the door is open all day. My cat goes out and comes in for his food/to sleep whenever he likes. He's usually in all night though.

I have a three month old kitten. She is very keen to get outside - but can’t until she is spayed (she had just finished her jabs). Part of me would love to keep her inside and away from all the dangers. But I can already see she gets bored and it wouldn’t be fair to keep her in.

But I hope she will only go out for short adventures and come back for cuddles!!

I'd feel a bit sad that they didn't have the run of the house as that must be quite a small space for three cats to share? I don't think it's cruel to keep cats in though if there's a reason or they show no interest. Our two rescues are indoor only (they've never been out which is why they were happy to rehome to an indoor only home) and show no interest. The only room in the house they're not allowed in is the cellar, and I've seen them balancing on the handle to try and open it before they're so eager to get in! The front door and back door are not even glanced at.

My sons pedigree cats are happy house cats but my lot would go insane if they weren't allowed out and they choose to spend nearly all day outside sunbathing and checking things out.
They are not allowed in my bedroom as one of them likes to pee on my carpet and they spend a lot of time trying to break in there. Typical cats.
I'd feel bad if my cats couldn't enjoy nature and take in fresh air.
I feel sorry for indoor cats unless they choose to live inside. I think it's better if they have that choice.

All my cats have been free to go outdoors. We started to let the latest kittens out at about 4-5 months. They were becoming such good escapologists we couldn't have stopped them anyway. I've never had a cat that didn't show an interest in the outside world and I do think it's cruel to restrict a cat that clearly wants to be out.

Mine are indoor cats, as required by the rescue when I rehomed them. They have the full run of my (3 bed terraced) house bar the spare bedroom & the loo and seem pretty content. Being a bonded pair there's plenty of sleeping, playing & fighting together, and I have mesh or netting on the widows & french doors so we get plenty of fresh air. I'd like to build a catio or fully cat proof my garden, but finances and the garden layout don't allow that.

The closest they have shown to wanting to go out is when neighbouring cats come to visit & have a chat through the mesh, otherwise they are happy to watch the world go by & kill the occasional moth or spider that is unwise enough to come in the house.