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!

*diddy, not daddy.

Marmalade’s a lovely name for an orange boy!.

I knew a neutered one called Jaffa.

I would be worried by the description of your road. We lost our lovely ginger boy to the road in front of our house. I adored him and had to pick him up after he was hit.

Our road is similar in that it’s a quiet road in a residential area where the odd driver goes way too fast. There can be no cars for half an hour and then one lunatic at 40-50. I’ve subsequently read that it’s the worst sort of road for cats. If it’s a busy road they learn to avoid it.

I would invest in cat proofing, please learn from my mistakes.

Also, I think it’s interesting reading about differences on indoor / outdoor cats from country to country. It seems unnatural in the UK but seems to be accepted in lots of other places. It makes me think of holidays in developing countries where you see dogs allowed to roam around freely, that’s not something you would see in the UK but is accepted as a cultural norm in other countries.

@53rds

Also, I think it’s interesting reading about differences on indoor / outdoor cats from country to country. It seems unnatural in the UK but seems to be accepted in lots of other places. It makes me think of holidays in developing countries where you see dogs allowed to roam around freely, that’s not something you would see in the UK but is accepted as a cultural norm in other countries.

My dog would love to roam. And tbh with you he would be fine doing so if it was accepted!