Opinions on indoor cats please!

[Anon7777]

Ok, give me your opinions on indoor cats... we had been looking to adopt a cat possibly through rescue to join our family and had been looking for one who had been used to / wanted to be indoors as we are on a busy main road. Didn’t want to be actively keeping one in if they wanted out but thought we could give a home to one that for whatever reason needed to be inside. We hadn’t found anything and are now looking at buying a kitten from a litter on a farm nearby. The mother cat has access to outdoors but chooses to be indoors almost all the time, and the breeder thinks the kittens would make lovely indoor cats and would be happy for them to be that. From the reading I’ve been doing some sources are actually passionately pro-indoor including one rescue near us but some advise it’s not fair.. would you recommend having a cat who’d be kept indoors at least for the first couple of years while we’re in this home? Thanks for all advice!

No cats naturally want to be outside. Our cat came from the RSPCA and she had been taken buy them from a place where she had been kept indoors. She was very timid when we got her at about 2 to 3 years old. She could go outside with us and loved it. She is now elderly and very deaf and now only ever really goes out for a short period when we are also outside as her own choice.

I understand the reasons why people think it is ok to keep inside but I don't think it id's fair for a living being that would naturally spend part of its time outside to spend a life shut in. Humans have struggled with the limits on their freedoms this year especially during the first lockdown and I do think that until you move and can give a cat a safe home you shouldn't have one, unless it is to a cat that must be kept inside.

I have indoor only cats. A feral colony was trapped when mine were a year old, and there's a very good chance that even 6 years later (one at the rescue, 5 here) they would go feral again. Plus Boycat has "issues", and probably wouldn't survive 5 minutes outside - he would definitely panic at something & run then get lost, he is a cat of very little brain.

As there are 2 of them, a bonded pair, they entertain each other pretty well in the house and they have free run of most of it. They do like watching the world go by from the windows, and if I could afford it I would have a catio built, but they are pretty content cats.

I also have 2 rescue house cats. They weren't supposed to be house cats but it's just happened like that (my eldest dd has some MH problems and this became her non-negotiable).
They are very content. They play with each other, have a cat tree etc. The youngest (they are mother and dd) has learnt how to climb on top of the wardrobe and enjoys jumping on to us in the middle of the night . They are very affectionate.

I am considering getting a cat harness to get my dd to let them out into the back garden. The neighbours aren't cat lovers and have joked in the past about electrocuting and shooting at cats so I wouldn't want them loose out there now anyway.

The only negative is the cat litter. Not the emptying it. But it gets every bloody where! I've tried special mats-doesn't help.

I wouldn't get a kitten and try to keep it in. Our kittens were desperate to go out. They are now 10 months and spend as much time as they can outside (when it's not too cold, windy, rainy or wet!). They chase bugs and butterflies. They play with the neighbours cats. They climb trees. They play in the garden and roll on the grass. There is no way I would want to stop that.

I would look for an older cat that has to be kept in for medical reasons if you want an indoor cat.

It depends on the cat, one of ours rarely left the house.

Cat proofed garden is the ideal.

I have three indoor Persian cats. The breed is more docile and suited to being indoors, so I don't know what 'normal' cats would be like. Two of them very much enjoy going in the catio and sitting on their shelves in there. The other isn't bothered and I do let him in the garden occasionally when he asks, as he doesn't try to climb out (he isn't very agile!). I do think that outdoor cats have too large an impact on wildlife, along with being at risk themselves. Some countries keep cats indoors as the norm, and I do agree with this. Outdoor cats can be a real pest to neighbours too.

Thanks all for all your advice so far, this is so helpful! That’s something we are really considering as well, I think it wouldn’t take too much to cat proof at least a section of the back garden or we had thought of building a catio - one of the cats we’d hoped to adopt who ended up finding a home more local to him was FIV+ and had to be kept in for that reason but had previously loved outdoors so we had checked out making a DIY patio just out our back door.

Please get a rescue that needs to be indoor or an older cat that spends most of its time indoors.

I used to foster and foster cats need to be kept in, this is easier in winter than it is in the middle of summer.

My son recently adopted an 8 year old cat with cat flu who had to stay indoors. He was a stray and is perfectly happy to stay indoors and has a lovely life, spoilt rotten. He occasionally needs antibiotics or a nebuliser. He's a standard British short hair moggy from a rescue.

I have two 6yo indoor cats that we got from a rescue as kittens. I live in Australia and the only responsible way to own cats here is to have them indoors as they absolutely decimate the native wildlife. We also live on a busy road so when my DD (who owns the cats) read the stats on life expectancy of indoor vs outdoor cats she was determined they would be indoor. One of our cats is pure white so the vet also said she needs to be kept indoors or she will get skin cancer.

They are very happy cats who sleep most of the day and occasionally run through the house like maniacs. We have insect screens on our windows and they love to sit on the window sill with the window open enjoying the fresh air and watching what goes on in the garden. They are bonded siblings and share the same bowls and litter trays and sleep curled up together which is is very sweet.

My friend got two cats around the same time as us and thinks it’s cruel to keep them indoors. Within a year she only had one as the other got hit by a car.

My cat prefers to be inside, as she's a nervous wreck a lot of the time. She pops out for a few minutes when she's feeling confident, but I always have her in my sights and she doesn't go far. All of my other cats, now gone, all of which were strays, I wouldn't have been able to keep in, even if I tried. They just loved going out, but they were always inside at nightime. I think a catio will give you peace of mind.

I adopted a cat last year and he is an indoor cat! I make sure he has lots in the house to stimulate him and he has no interest in going outside except occasionally into the garden to burn some energy off before he runs back in. All about how you train them good luck, adopting a cat is the best thing ever!

We have an indoor only cat. We bought him privately as we tried for over a year with rescues who wouldn't rehome to us in my local area due to the fact we live on an extremely busy road and don't have a big enough garden to accomodate a catio.

We tried for nearly 12 months and every home check failed because they only had outside cats available.

We have a Persian and he is absolutely an indoor cat. We try to take him in the back garden occasionally (really tall brick walls, no chance of escape) but he hates it, he panics and runs straight back inside to sit on his tree in front of the french doors which look out to the back.

He would rather be in the front room or our bedroom (he has free roam of the whole house apart from the bathroom and the back bedroom (which will be babies room when he arrives in June).

I would say if you were going to get a completely indoor cat then speak to different rescues and see what they recommend. Like a PP said there may be older cats or FIV+ cats that need a loving indoor only home :)

Mine are all outdoor. One likes the door open to gone and go but the other 2 it's hard to keep them in. If you want an indoor id go for an older one that's used to it

I have a rescue cat who is a house cat. She refuses to go out as she prefers the luxury of heating and her bed. The RSPCA did say she was a cat who has previously been allowed out but they would not recommend I let her out even though she is happy staying in doors. She occasionally follows me into the garden but quickly goes back indoors.

We have indoor cats had them from kittens - they have access to a catio and we walk them on a harness in the back garden.

They are more work as they need a lot more interaction and playing with - plus the house is full of cat furniture and toys.

Ideally I would love to get to point we could cat proofed garden for them.

Our cats seem find with their set up so guess we were lucky with their personalities.

I wouldn’t have my cats free roaming ever again. They used to, but having witnessed first hand the state they’re left in having been hit by a car/ poisoned/ attacked by a dog I will never allow it again. They have the road sense of a toddler and yet we let them out to take their chances.

I actually think it’s more cruel to subject them to a untimely and violent deaths outdoors. Mine are allowed in my garden when supervised and have 24 hour access to a catio. They are content and don’t have any behavioural problems, despite previously being allowed outdoors.

We have an indoor cat, she came to us from a rescue as an adult. I don't know if she has ever been outside but by the time she came to live with us she was an indoor cat. We don't force her to stay in, she's welcome to go out if she wants to but she's never tried. She will sit in the garden if we're out there, but as soon as we come back in she follows along.

I have two indoor cats. They are Persians and just not bright enough to go into the big wide world. They go in the enclosed garden but aren't that fussed.

I have a rescue cat who had to have safe indoor home.

A few years ago she started venturing just outside the back door and now she absolutely loves being outside in the sun. She doesn’t choose to go further than a few metres into the (enclosed) garden but she seems happy with that.

I wouldn’t raise a healthy kitten as an indoor cat. There would have to be a good reason they needed to be kept from roaming.

@TrendingHistory The RSPB don't necessarily agree with you.

From their website: "Despite the large numbers of birds killed, there is no scientific evidence that predation by cats in gardens is having any impact on bird populations UK-wide. This may be surprising, but many millions of birds die naturally every year, mainly through starvation, disease, or other forms of predation. There is evidence that cats tend to take weak or sickly birds.
We also know that of the millions of baby birds hatched each year, most will die before they reach breeding age. This is also quite natural, and each pair needs only to rear two young that survive to breeding age to replace themselves and maintain the population.
It is likely that most of the birds killed by cats would have died anyway from other causes before the next breeding season, so cats are unlikely to have a major impact on populations.
Those bird species that have undergone the most serious population declines in the UK (such as skylarks, tree sparrows and corn buntings) rarely encounter cats, so cats cannot be causing their declines. Research shows that these declines are usually caused by habitat change or loss, particularly on farmland."

Blaming wildlife depletion on cats takes attention away from the real main cause - loss of habitat due to building, intensive farming and other human, rather than feline activities.

We got our girls 3 years ago as 8 week old kittens and they are happy, healthy indoor cats.

The have a huge cat tree and get lots of attention and love sitting at the windows swearing at the local birds and squirrels .

We've take them into a the garden a couple of time for a look at they've headed straight back indoors as soon as their paws touched the ground.

My two are indoor only (have had them since 9 weeks) they have access to a catio all times and only use it if we go and sit in there with them
They're happy to watch the world go by on window sills, but run away to another room if you open an external near them.
One recently jumped (possibly pushed by his brother!) out of the window and now won't go in that room!
I think it really depends on the cats...

Thank you all so much, really appreciate all the comments from all perspectives! This is such an interesting conversation that neither of us had really given much thought to before we started looking to adopt - we automatically thought at first that the only fair reason to keep a cat inside would be a medical or behavioural reason but there’s so much information out there and differing opinions. One thing I was really shocked by and am looking into it more was the disparity between life expectancy indoor vs outdoor even in the UK - and the idea of fully cat proofing a garden or building a catio was a new one to us too. I think that’s the way we might go, although we’ll continue researching just now, and really appreciate all your help.