Is it cruel or kind to keep a cat in?

[nc8975]

We adopted our kitten back in the summer, she's now 8 months old, spayed, vaccinated, chipped etc. She was semi wild (on a farm) from birth until we got her at about 13 weeks, living with her mum and litter mates outside but fed by someone.

She is keen to go outside; dashes for the door and looks longingly out the window), but we're really worried she won't come back or will get hurt. We live on a housing estate next to a bit of open land, but also quite close to a railway line (not hugely busy one). We have a good sized home but can't help but feel we are cooping her up a bit (I WFH so she has company most of the day and we play with her)

Which option is kinder? Will she just adapt to being indoors?

This

I've only ever had indoor cats after my parents had several run over and they are perfectly fine and content. Have never understood the English obsession with letting cats outdoors. Northern Europe is hardly their natural environment, is it?

Northern Europe is hardly their natural environment, is it?
Er.. ever heard of Scottish wildcats?

Any kind of caged animal just makes me feel sad, keeping a cat indoors is like caging them. The beauty of cats as a pet to me is their freedom and the fact they can come and go as they please. I can’t understand the rescue centre saying they will only let people adopt their cats if they’re going to be kept indoors. Fair enough vet the home they’re going to and make sure it’s safe for the cats to roam the immediate area (they don’t tend to go far) that is what happened when we adopted ours. I’d let your cat out OP, let it enjoy its life rather than being held prisoner. Would you rather be held captive just so you never come to any harm or would you rather live your life to the full and take your chances?

Do they rehome to people with catios or cat proofed gardens?

Also how do they know people will keep them inside, do they check up? Different scenario but when we adopted Harry I lied to the rescue as they wanted someone home part of the day. I told them DH worked part time and was home part of the day. He was self employed and could pop home and I worked close enough to go home at lunchtimes. The rescue never checked up so didn't know any different.

Course it is. There are cats all over the world. What a daft thing to say

Yes, as long as they are happy. And some simply wouldn't be

I don't think it's safe for cats to go outside. If I lived near a railway, no way I'd be letting mine out.

I have ragdolls so they can't go out anyway.

Oh give over. I adore my animals. So much so that I am no selfish with their needs. And I let go of my worries to allow them to live a happy life.

We adopted a cat last summer. His previous owners had to re-home him as they lived in a tower block and he was desperate to escape and explore. The rescue said we must have a garden.
Little cat was terribly anxious for weeks when he arrived. But over time built his confidence. And was loving access to the outdoors. As well as plenty of snuggling inside.
We live next door to a small park and in a quiet cul-de-sac.
He was killed last Monday by a car, somebody saw it happen, but we couldn't find him, as it was dark. An hour later, I checked again and he had made it back to our house, but died alone in our front garden.
He was an explorer and loved the outdoors, but died on the road at two years old. I can understand why some owners are reluctant to let their cats out.

How can an indoor cat be healthier? It can’t run or climb or chase prey. It can’t lie in the sun or smell the grass . Just lie around on a sofa or perch on a scratching post.

My indoor cats are always running about, playing and climbing things, and they absolutely love to sunbathe too.

I get a bit fed up of the whole idea that it's abusive and cruel to keep cats inside. It's normally said by someone who's never owned an indoor cat and who has no idea what their lives are actually like.

I would personally argue that it's worse to domesticate an animal and then let it free to fend for itself outside in an environment that's clearly not safe for them 🤷🏻‍♀️

@DadANDPK

Yes several. They were all outdoor cats and absolutely loved being outside.

My friend's cat was pining to be outside.

For a cat like yours who has a strong instinct to be outside due to the conditions she was born and raised in, I think it would be cruel to keep her in. Some breeds are suited to being indoors, a farm moggy is not.
She's unlikely to get lost. She may get hurt, but she probably won't. Why not chat with your vet.

the rescue we use won’t adopt to people who plan to allow cats outside

Interestingly the rescue we got out cat from, will only adopt to people with gardens and outdoor space.
When we emailed them to tell them that he had died. They said that they believed we were allowing our cat to do what a young healthy cat should be doing.... allowing him the freedom to explore. And it wasn't our fault at all.

Can you train the cat to walk on a lead?

I want to know where all these "indoor homes only" rescues are!

When I first got mine, cats that needed to be indoor only was at the top of my list; I don't live on a busy road as such but I know plenty of people who have lost cats to cars, we have urban foxes here, at the time we had a very aggressive local un-neutered tom who beat up all other cats, we have people doing car mechanics (anti-freeze is deadly to cats), and of course a reasonable population of thuggish little scrotes roaming around who I wouldn't trust near any animal let alone a cat.

My garden isn't cat-proof-able except at great cost (mid-terrace, assorted conservatories, various other factors), and a catio would be even more expensive due to living in the side of a hill with a terraced back garden. So indoor it was.

I spent AGES trying to find a pair of cats who didn't need access to the outdoors according to the rescue. I was happy to take special needs, elderly, FIV/FIP positive etc. Ended up going about 50 miles to a rescue that was open to letting me adopt indoor cats - in fact mine had "must be indoor" in their adoption contract - while I must have around a dozen or more good rescues in a 15 mile radius.

My pair have been content since they moved in. A little curiosity about outside yes, but no trying to get out, dashing for the doors etc. They have the run of most of a 3 bedroom house, plenty of places to get up high, stay low, hide in, stretch out etc. Loads of scratchers which they use, assorted types of toys, play time every evening (if they want), a mahoosive cat tree. Each other to chase, play fight & wrestle with, snuggle up to etc.

Over time it has become clear that Boycat is ND with "issues" - thick, no attention span, clumsy, nervous, scared of everybody except me, my DSis & Nephew no. 4, and especially terrified if any other man comes in the house. He's got a scar on his face, and we think he had an accident or was hurt when younger and he would NOT be safe for 5 mins in his own back garden. Vet refers to him a special needs and says it's a good thing he's indoor only.

Over 6.5 years apart from their MoT up until this autumn they had a total of 2 visits to the vet between them. Girlcat was doing loads of foamy vomiting so took her in just in case - worked out later that it was probably the enormous spider she'd eaten. Boycat had cherry eye, knowing him he'd walked into something! Unfortunately since then Boycat has been diagnosed with CKD, but the vet has assured me that it's despite his lifestyle rather than because of it and probably genetic. At their MoTs every year they have been pronounced as exceptionally well and healthy.

Two of mine are farm moggies and neither have any interest in being outdoors. One got out once when DH wasn't paying attention and she screamed and screamed until she was allowed back in 🙈

It doesn't necessarily follow that farm-born cats want to remain outdoors.

Yes to be fair farm moggy is probably a bit of a stretch, they lived in a hedge just outside the front door and I don't think they ever ventured further than their little group of hedges in the garden. They were fed twice a day, with regular daily interaction (playing and cuddles) with people. So I'm not sure how feral you could reasonably call them. Their mum was also raised there from birth so I don't know how much hunting they really did (she had them very young, when still a kitten herself...they're all home and neutered now including mum)

How can an indoor cat be healthier? It can’t run or climb or chase prey. It can’t lie in the sun or smell the grass . Just lie around on a sofa or perch on a scratching post
aside from the chasing prey , which you simulate through play and toys , ours do all of that . They have a catio for sunbathing , grass , fresh air and indoors they have floor to ceiling poles and wall climbers as well as their cat scratching posts , it’s literally like a cat playground .

Exactly this.

Growing up, every cat we had that was allowed outside either disappeared or got run over before they'd reached the age of four.

My ex and I got a rescue cat who was quite anxious and showed no desire to go outside. Ex's mum was catsitting for us when we were on holiday, but one day she was sick and sent her idiot sister to feed the cat. She decided it was unnatural to keep the cat in and put her in the garden to 'get used to it'. Cat got spooked by a barking dog, ran away and disappeared. We were absolutely livid.

She appeared two weeks later almost starved to death and severely dehydrated. Thankfully she recovered.

So tell me what's more cruel, starving for two weeks or living in a safe warm home with access to food and toys?

It depends entirely on the cat and the local environment I think. Three of mine like to go out, but are locked in overnight. The other seven all hate outdoors and are happier in a very large catio. With proper enrichment they are fine, the seven indoor cats are all ex ferals who survived the hardships of outdoor only life, it seems they've decided themselves which side of the bread is buttered!

Just to add that they have free access to the catio from the house, they aren't in there all the time!

Have always wondered how people air their houses if they are worried about an indoor cat escaping

You use these .

We have top opening windows.

They can actually jump up there (and out onto the roof if they choose) but they've never actually done so - despite me often going out all day and leaving the windows open for 6-7 hours straight.