Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Opinions on indoor cats please!

97 replies

Anon7777 · 11/05/2021 08:52

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!

OP posts:
Babdoc · 12/05/2021 13:21

I suppose it depends on the cat, but I have had BSH cats for the past forty years, and every one of them has been a keen outdoor type! They have refused litter trays, preferring to toilet outdoors even during blizzards, and all were enthusiastic and successful mousers.
I have a good sized garden with lots of hunting habitat (wild shrubbery and weeds, hem!) backing onto barley fields, with an endless supply of field mice. My last cat was 21 when he died. Short of nailing the cat flap shut, I couldn’t imagine how to keep a cat trapped indoors, and I wouldn’t want to. I realise circumstances differ, but I wouldn’t keep a cat if I lived on a main road. I like an animal to be able to express normal behaviour, and for a predator that means being free to hunt.

Pidgythe2nd · 12/05/2021 13:30

@Babdoc that sounds like an ideal location for an outside cat and a no brainer.
It’s much more difficult if you live in a more built up area.
I’m not even sure a catio is a good compromise...they’re often too small imo.
Our road isn’t a main road, but our cat was still hit. If we move I’m looking for open fields and no cars! Dreaming now!

cupsofcoffee · 12/05/2021 16:08

I would much rather my cat had a full and active life, allowed to roam with some risk, than a long dull and unnatural one inside

Comments like this are so unnecessary.

Going outside isn't always the best option and it doesn't always lead to a "a full and active life with some risk". For many cats, going outside is a huge risk (for many reasons) and imo, it's really unfair to judge owners for choosing to keeping their cats indoors, especially when you don't know their circumstances.

cupsofcoffee · 12/05/2021 16:10

I would much rather my cat had a full and active life, allowed to roam with some risk, than a long dull and unnatural one inside

Comments like this are so unnecessary.

Going outside isn't always the best option and it doesn't always lead to a "a full and active life with some risk". For many cats, going outside is a huge risk (for many reasons) and imo, it's really unfair to judge owners for choosing to keeping their cats indoors, especially when you don't know their circumstances.

cupsofcoffee · 12/05/2021 16:14

I would much rather my cat had a full and active life, allowed to roam with some risk, than a long dull and unnatural one inside

Comments like this are so unnecessary.

Going outside isn't always the best option and it doesn't always lead to a "a full and active life with some risk". For many cats, going outside is a huge risk (for many reasons) and imo, it's really unfair to judge owners for choosing to keeping their cats indoors, especially when you don't know their circumstances.

TeamMummy · 12/05/2021 16:17

Cats LOVE to go outside. I feel sad for indoor cats

Shmithecat2 · 12/05/2021 16:27

I guess if you get a kitten and always keep it indoors, they won't know any different? I've had multiple cats for 20+ years, but they've all been in or out as they please. I've got 6 currently, and they'd all but one go potty if they no longer had access to outside. Saying all that, I live rurally, in a hamlet on a no through road, and the biggest danger they have is the bin men once a week.

cupsofcoffee · 12/05/2021 16:30

@TeamMummy

Cats LOVE to go outside. I feel sad for indoor cats
Not all cats have an interest in the outdoors.
LST · 12/05/2021 16:38

@Shmithecat2

I guess if you get a kitten and always keep it indoors, they won't know any different? I've had multiple cats for 20+ years, but they've all been in or out as they please. I've got 6 currently, and they'd all but one go potty if they no longer had access to outside. Saying all that, I live rurally, in a hamlet on a no through road, and the biggest danger they have is the bin men once a week.
Didn't stop my kitten wanting to go out. She used to try and bolt out of the door and you couldn't have windows open. She loves her freedom now.
Bbq1 · 12/05/2021 16:46

Indoor only rescue cat here. Our girl was found age 1 outside caring for her kittens. While at her Foster carers the carer said Holly had free access to the outside as did her other cats and she actively chose not to go outside. In the past Holly has had opportunities to get outside and just isn't interested. Having said that, I don't agree with making outdoor cats stay in, I think that's crueland I don't think raising them as indoor from Kittens is particularly good. If an older cat through choice or circumstance has become an indoor cat then that's different.

Thunderdonkey · 12/05/2021 16:53

I would avoid a kitten, because you just don't know what personality it will have. We have two cats, one who was desperate to get out as soon as he was a few months old. We nearly lost him several times as a kitten, as he would dash for the door the moment it was open. It would be cruel to keep him in. Our other cat chooses to rarely go outside, and I'm sure would be quite happy as an indoor cat. They are all very much individuals, and what suits one, won't suit another.

Sparticle · 12/05/2021 16:54

Can I jump on here OP? This is something I've been thinking about as we've just moved house from a rural area with lots of fields and woodland around to a house with a moderately busy road out the front and a 40-mile-an-hour A road at the end of our garden.

We've been here three weeks and our 14yo moggy hasn't been out yet. He seems happy enough, sits on windowsills etc but I think he wants to go out as he's escaped once but we got him back inside quickly. I don't know what to do as I'd prefer him to be an outdoor cat like before but we (especially DH) are worried about the road. Advice please :/

Fluffycloudland77 · 12/05/2021 17:15

Can you catproof the garden?.

It’s the best of both worlds for them.

LST · 12/05/2021 17:26

@Fluffycloudland77

Can you catproof the garden?.

It’s the best of both worlds for them.

My cat would disagree there. He'd just be trying to escape the garden to get to his other feeders!
AlfonsoTheTerrible · 12/05/2021 17:56

Another data point: I have a rescue cat who is an indoor cat, except for a few times when he has got out an open window and spent a few nights wandering around roofs. I think he likes to go out and explore but in a safe way as there are no cars or dogs or predators. I suspect he wouldn't really be bothered if he never went out again.

He has no interest in going out the front door (I have an enclosed porch so he wouldn't get very far) or out the back door to the garden.

He is happy and healthy and in no way leads an "unnatural" life.

Bbq1 · 12/05/2021 19:11

@TeamMummy

Cats LOVE to go outside. I feel sad for indoor cats
Most cats ivsee outdoors in my quiet residential area seem terrified when they are out, shooting to hide underneath cars and eyeing everything and everyone with great suspicion. Most seem genuinely fearful.
AhNowTed · 12/05/2021 19:21

Cats are hunters, roamers, and have
e a big territory that you may not even realise.

Ours is a fabulous mouser, with the occasional rat thrown in.

It may be controversial but there's no such thing as an "indoor cat". You may condition a cat to stay indoors but that is not their natural instinct. Or you may have a cat that chooses to stay indoors but that's not the same as keeping them indoors.

For me it's like whales in a theme park, and dolphins in a aquarium.

It's cruel and unnatural.

Trinacham · 12/05/2021 19:43

@AhNowTed

Cats are hunters, roamers, and have e a big territory that you may not even realise.

Ours is a fabulous mouser, with the occasional rat thrown in.

It may be controversial but there's no such thing as an "indoor cat". You may condition a cat to stay indoors but that is not their natural instinct. Or you may have a cat that chooses to stay indoors but that's not the same as keeping them indoors.

For me it's like whales in a theme park, and dolphins in a aquarium.

It's cruel and unnatural.

You are basing your opinion on your own cat.

My cats don't have predatory instinct (Ragdoll cats generally don't). They've lived happily alongside pet rats and guinea pigs and shown no interest. So no, not all cats want to hunt.

Keeping an outdoor cat inside would be cruel, if it had been an outdoor cat (unless, like my parents' cat, they turned blind with old age or something), as it will want to go out. It's not cruel to keep an indoor cat in though. If it's all they've known they are usually afraid of the outside.

HerRoyalRisesAgain · 12/05/2021 19:49

I have 3 male indoor only cats. All different ages. My youngest is a 10 month old rescue who is blind in one eye. None of them ever try to escape despite the rescue being feral before I took him in. They are content and happy, loads of toys to play with, a huge cat tree that they love.
And all 3 are obsessed with DS1 who's 12. They flock around him for pets and attention. It's quite funny seeing him surrounded by floof Grin

AhNowTed · 12/05/2021 19:51

@Trinacham

“If it's all they've known they are usually afraid of the outside.”

Equally if you keep a dolphin in an aquarium for long enough, they will probably be afraid of the ocean.

What’s the difference between this and a bird in a cage?

Sadsiblingatsea · 12/05/2021 19:59

I think it can be quite cruel to deny an animal it’s natural instincts.

ProfYaffle · 12/05/2021 20:01

We cat proofed our garden with this system www.secur-a-cat.com/ if you look at the pictures carefully you could probably copy it quite cheaply.

LST · 12/05/2021 20:01

I've had 5 cats all at different stages and ages and they've all wanted to go outside to some extent. Some from kittens couldn't be contained

LotLessBovver · 12/05/2021 20:18

My cat has had free access to the outside world since he was a kitten. He will only leave the house if he has a human slave nearby and the door left open.

When birds land inches away from him, he doesn't even twitch a whisker in their direction. Anyone looking to keep the rat and mouse population down would be seriously disappointed in him.

Not all cats are into hunting and roaming. Some are better suited to life as a large furry doorstop. The problem is that you can't tell which one a kitten will turn out to be. If you want one that will definitely be happy indoors, you'd be better off adopting an older cat with an established personality.

Fancymcpantsy · 12/05/2021 22:52

People who say it’s cruel to keep cats indoors have never had indoor cats. I’ve had cats all my life, and all but two have died prematurely on roads or met some other awful fate outdoors. When I got my current pair (kittens 5 months apart) I decided to try the indoor thing and they’re perfectly happy! One of them has no interest in outdoors at all and is happy to sleep on the windowsill and chirp at the birds, the other now comes out into the yard with me (enclosed but not cat proof) now and then and has a roll around, chases flies, watches the birds then happily follows me back inside. They adore each other and play together a lot, and have a mountain of toys and cat trees and high-up places for them to perch. We work from home so are in most of the time.

It’s perfectly possible to have happy indoor cats if you know how to take care of them. I’m not sure how fair it would be to have a solo cat and be out most of the day if it couldn’t go out, but two together with plenty of stimulation, zoom space and company are quite happy!