Help with indoor/outdoor cat dilemma!

[arapacis]

We have a kitten around 4 months old and are struggling with whether he should be an indoor or outdoor cat. If I outline below what we perceive the pros/cons to be of various solutions that we've considered, please can you give advice on your experiences! He will be done before any of this comes to fruition.

Outdoor
This is what we originally intended. However I've since read up and am struggling with the average life span of outdoor cats plus the many different issues such as being run over, cat aids, fighting, being fed by neighbours, not coming home, collar or no collar/tracker or no tracker, bring home wildlife dead or alive and all the stress that goes with all of the above. The pros would be that he can just be a normal cat.

Indoor
Husband not keen on the aesthetics of cat trees etc and I feel we would need to increase a lot from the one we have in order to ensure he is active enough. Would also need to play with him a lot and ensure he's happy. I worry about the cats mental health being stuck indoors. The benefit would be always knowing where he is and not having to worry.

Harness trained
We originally wanted a dog. Don't think it's natural to walk a cat and then we are back to being bound by needing to walk the cat every day. Not keen on this idea really.

Cat proofing the garden
My preference however it looks £££ and husband needs convincing. He doesn't like the aesthetics. It seems like the compromise to me.

Any info on experiences, costs and what's best for cat are much appreciated!

Watching with interest!

What is the local environment like - traffic etc?

Ooh definitely split views on this one.

You’ve missed a major downside of indoor which is you will need to be very careful about keeping doors and windows shut so they can’t escape. This is not easy or nice in warm weather, especially if you have DC.

My perspective is: well my children would be safer if I kept them home all day, and I’d see more of them, but I wouldn’t dream of doing that as they’d be bored and would only get to live an incredibly narrow life. Same applies to my cat.

However, there are definitely downsides: in our case, my cat currently appears to have several homes and we don’t see as much of her as we’d like. But, she’s having a great life.

You will get a mixed set of responses on MN from those (like me) in favour of cats having free access outside and others who take a more risk averse approach. Neither is right or wrong.
I'd suggest it really depends on your environment - none of my cats have ever succumbed to an accidental death and the last one died aged 20, but clearly other owners / cats are not so lucky.
So do a risk assessment of your environment (roads, other cats, mad cat hating neighbours etc.) and take a call.
You will get good advice here about providing catios, cat proofing your garden if that's the route you go down.
One other thing - collars are generally no longer recommended because of risk of injury.

@JoanOgden

What is the local environment like - traffic etc?

It's a cul de sac on an estate, fairly quiet but a really busy road at the top and a nature reserve at the bottom, we're sort of in the middle.

Also you haven't paid the litter tray tax (photo of your kitten)

@minipie

Ooh definitely split views on this one.

You’ve missed a major downside of indoor which is you will need to be very careful about keeping doors and windows shut so they can’t escape. This is not easy or nice in warm weather, especially if you have DC.

My perspective is: well my children would be safer if I kept them home all day, and I’d see more of them, but I wouldn’t dream of doing that as they’d be bored and would only get to live an incredibly narrow life. Same applies to my cat.

However, there are definitely downsides: in our case, my cat currently appears to have several homes and we don’t see as much of her as we’d like. But, she’s having a great life.

I think that's the issue, I want the cat to enjoy it's life, but I don't want to be outside every evening stressing that the cat is not home!

Oh yes that’s another major con to indoor cats that you’ve missed! Litter trays. We haven’t had a litter tray since a few weeks after DCat was allowed out - she never used it again as much prefers the flowerbeds. No litter tray is a major upside.

I have always kept cats.

I would only ever have an outdoor cat.
I find indoor cats a bit like birds in cages and rabbits in hutches. Too small and not real lifestyle.

Apart from that, for the last week our back door has been propped open all day every day - just how do you do that with an indoor cat?

You could go half way, which is to shut them in over night, but after a few months it gets harder and harder to make sure they are indoors when you want to go to bed!

The only cat we have ever lost to a road, was my brother's cat. Was an indoor cat in London, went to live with my mum in the country, lasted 3 months before he was knocked down on the road. He had never learnt to be sensible around roads.

But as Grumpy says, so much is dependant on where you live and your environment.

@Grumpyoldpersonwithcats

You will get a mixed set of responses on MN from those (like me) in favour of cats having free access outside and others who take a more risk averse approach. Neither is right or wrong. I'd suggest it really depends on your environment - none of my cats have ever succumbed to an accidental death and the last one died aged 20, but clearly other owners / cats are not so lucky. So do a risk assessment of your environment (roads, other cats, mad cat hating neighbours etc.) and take a call. You will get good advice here about providing catios, cat proofing your garden if that's the route you go down. One other thing - collars are generally no longer recommended because of risk of injury.

I think before getting a cat, I wouldn't have dreamed of keeping a cat locked in. However, I've done a lot of research being a first time cat owner and now joined a Facebook group for advice on this subject and it appears to be only people who think it's wrong to let cats wander and now I'm wondering what's right/best.

@steppemum

I have always kept cats.

I would only ever have an outdoor cat.
I find indoor cats a bit like birds in cages and rabbits in hutches. Too small and not real lifestyle.

Apart from that, for the last week our back door has been propped open all day every day - just how do you do that with an indoor cat?

You could go half way, which is to shut them in over night, but after a few months it gets harder and harder to make sure they are indoors when you want to go to bed!

The only cat we have ever lost to a road, was my brother's cat. Was an indoor cat in London, went to live with my mum in the country, lasted 3 months before he was knocked down on the road. He had never learnt to be sensible around roads.

But as Grumpy says, so much is dependant on where you live and your environment.

Out of interest, how do you ensure that they get a bit of road safety? He's 4 months, so once he's been done to we start letting him in the garden and gradually build it up from there? He still seems so little!

Bar cats I've adopted who medically couldn't go out, I have never had indoor cats and wouldn't. As PP said, it's akin to keeping a bird in a cage.

I've never had a cat run over, run away or get FIV, and I've lived in all manner of urban environments Greedy, neighbour begging cats have promptly had a "do not feed" collar slapped on them.

I love seeing my cats playing in the sunshine on a day like this, and they love it too.

I would cat proof the garden if possible, I plan to do it when we get a bigger garden despite it looking ugly.

If not I'm a strong believer in having an outdoor cat, especially as a solo cat. It provides so much more stimulation than inside and when I see mine outside I know I've made the right decision. They absolutely love it and its wonderful to see how happy it makes them.

However, we didn't let them outside until they were 9 months old and spent time training them to come when we called dinner (obviously they only come when in earshot). We spent a long time calling them back with treats and only allowing them in our garden initially. So far it seems to have resulted in cats that don't stray too far apart from first thing in the morning. We also only allow them out in the day which reduces the danger of getting run over, animal attacks and bringing in wildlife.

Yes! My cat has spent all day watching the bees 😆 She also loves a high windowsill to perch on and watch what’s going on.

Sorry that was in response to JorisBonson

@minipie my girl cat is currently lying on a plastic box thing that is hotter than the sun 🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

road safety - I'm not sure we ever taught it.
They start off just playing close to you in the garden and as they grow they wander further afield.
We got our kitten when living in the country, but on a veyr busy road. Decent sized garden, and he never really went out of the garden across the road, but explored in th eopposite direction over my garden and then neighbours.

Now we live in a town have a huge school field behind and a road at the front. He does go out of the front, but rarely crosses the road, he spends a lot of time in the field.

When I lived in London, in a terraced house, my cat (and all the other cats) went up and down the gardens and not really out of the front to the road.

Neuter them, cuddle and feed them well, and they don't usually go far.

Out of interest, how do you ensure that they get a bit of road safety?
You let them out accompanied at first, and also when they are hungry, then slowly extend the time outside. I usually start at 5-6 months old.
There are no guarantees, but I had outdoor cats when I lived on major roads in both Glasgow and London outskirts without any accidents. I now live somewhere much quieter .

(most) cats aren't stupid and are able to judge risk well.

I say most, because my boy cat likes to pet bees.

Cat proof your garden. Your cat has the best of both worlds, you won't spend the whole time worrying about your cat and as a bonus you wont be pissing your neighbours off by letting your cat shit all over their gardens.

and I agree with training, it is surprising what you can train a cat to do.

Mine comes to his name, always, EXCEPT if there is a vets appointment, and I have forgotten to shut the cat flap, then he flatly refusing to appear no matter what you call, and the only way he could have known is if he could open my diary and read.

I've only ever had one neighbour thief. I found out that she was going in to the house three doors down, who had an elderly dog. Bloody cat would wander in the open back door, sit just in sight ofthe dog, wait until the dog, noticed, wait until the dog, dragged himself up and came over to 'get' the cat, and then turn round a stroll out, just fast enough that the dog couldn't catch him. Fortunately the nieghbours though it was really funny. Dog never learnt

@steppemum definitely, they're clever little things! Girl cat can play fetch, they both come to their names and boy cat knows some very basic commands - he knows sit, no and "drop it". If I ask him "do you want to go to bed?" he immediately runs up to our bedroom.

(Still pets bees tho).

I would never have an indoor only cat.
I have 3 cats and have had 3 previous cats. All of my previous cats lived to 15+. My current cats are 2 young neutered toms, litter mates to their brother and sister who live with a family member of mine and are kept indoors. My two are sleek, muscled and healthy. Their siblings are, no other word for it, fat. Can only be lack of exercise as their diet is very similar. My other current cat is an old lady with an amputation (this happened many years ago in a previous home When she was hit by a car) despite her disability she has had a full, happy, active life and even now at 15 likes to potter in the garden, pretend she can catch the birds (she can't) and visit the neighbours. She doesn't roam far, but she is miserable when kept in.
It's also impossible to keep all the doors and Windows shut at all times.

I've had 5. Have 3 currently one has just turned 1. They all go out and would have been really hard to keep in. The 1 year old used to bolt for the door at every opportunity. I'd never be able to have a window or door open if I wanted them indoors

I have adopted two cats, both moggies so probably not the kind you would naturally keep indoors but they both live happy and healthy lives without going outside. I don't believe they are bored as I have lots in the house to occupy them and whenever I have the door open the sniff at it and turn around to go back inside. I sleep much easier at night knowing where they are and safe.