Talk me through cats in flats

[TomatoBrain]

So DH has promised DD a cat sometime in the future
We live in a top floor flat with a large balcony. I'm assuming no cat would be stupid enough to jump off a balcony... We have no access to a garden unless walking through the stairwell of the building. Part of the garden is communal with the rest belonging to the ground floor flats. I assume this means the cat would have to be kept indoors?

I've seen pet insurance for indoor cats is more than for outdoor. Is this because of lack of exercise? How do you ensure your cat has enough if it stays indoors?

our flat is open plan, so it would effectively only ever be in one room.

You shouldn't flush cat poo, the litter can clog the pipes and it introduces toxoplasmosis into the sewer system. Bag and bin it.

We live on the 4th floor and the next flat to us had a cat (I assume the cat is still alive; they moved away) it used to climb onto their balcony edge, along to our window ledge and come inside our flat XD

It did it about twice (the first time was a shock!) before they put netting over the balcony. We were all worried that it would slip off. I don't think they would jump on purpose, but slipping is not unlikely.

I would love to have a cat but it would do my head in having netting over the balcony, so I'm going to wait until we have a house.

I live in a flat and lots of our neighbours have cats and I looked into rehoming a rescue cat but they wouldn't let us have it unless we put netting over our balcony which I didn't want to do. Cats do fall off balconies! My neighbour's cat broke his pelvis falling onto a lower storey balcony.

Cats will jump off balconies! We had two cats in a top floor flat and assumed they wouldn’t jump off but one day, one did. Luckily they were not injured, just a badly bruised leg.

I had two cats in a flat - from kittens until we moved to a house when they were five. They were absolutely fine but I wouldn't get a solo indoor cat as I think indoor cats tend to need company more than ones with access to outside.

We had mesh on the windows but I did once walk in the kitchen to find ginger boy had tried to climb it and got his claws stuck 🙈

If you are getting a kitten you could start with a harness and take it for walks.

@sashh how far/long/often does a cat need a walk?
DH's idea is to use a rope and basket to a tree in the communal garden! Apparently his parents did this when he was a child and lived in a flat.

You don’t need to take your cat for walks.

I don’t think your dh has thought this through. Cats are difficult to walk and can slip harnesses if they want to because their collar bones float in their chest so their incredibly flexible and can wriggle out their harnesses.

My girls an older rescue who shows no interest in going out but she’s not interested in playing either. She prefers me to dh.

Having a cat in a flat isn't a good idea. Cats like to roam and climb. A cat could, and would (probably), jump from a balcony. Being in one room all day would be so unfair to any animal. Please don't get one.

Had cats for 42 years

My sons have a rescue cat who's indoor due to cat flu. He's the happiest mog ever. One works from home and cat spends the day on a cushion on the desk, next to the window.

I've kept cats indoors and would not do it again. Cats need to be outside, just like humans they love their freedom and being able to roam and play outside. No amount of play and human interaction can make up for the loss of freedom.