Should cats be kept inside or allowed to roam?

[Rainyrunway]

I've always thought it's cruel to keep a cat indoors all the time unless there's a health reason but my gorgeous friendly sweet Siamese got hit by a car yesterday and didn't survive. Now I'm thinking it's my fault. I shouldn't have let him out. Is there consensus? Should cats be allowed to go out? If we get another cat one day what should I do? And should I try and keep his companion cat who has always been allowed out indoors now to keep her safe? I just don't know

The options aren't limited to keep them indoors or let them roam for miles.

They can go outside in a secured area. Eg a 'catio' or in a garden with cat proof fencing.

Would you rather stay indoors and live long or enjoy life go out and risk the dangers? Keeping a cat in is for your interests not there's.

My cats are indoors from kittens. They have plenty of toys and each other to play with and they are fine. They accidently got out recently when someone left the door ajar and I didn't realise for a couple of hours. When I opened the door in a panic, they were waiting just outside and couldn't have ram back in faster if they had tried!

I let my previous cat out but something happened which caused him injury and severe trauma. He wasn't the same cat after that and died a few months later after his skittishness caused him to have a nasty accident. Never again.

It's also much better for the environment and wildlife to keep them in.

I agree with the PP who said get a female cat as they tend to be less adventurous.

One of my neighbours had a couple of male cats that both got run over. They now have had a female cat for about 5 years.

One of my siblings got a male and a female kitten. The male kitten got run over. So they got another young male cat as they thought their female cat needed a companion but he got run over. The female cat is now about 15 years old.

In regards to needing a companion don't bother. Both my sibling's and DP's female cat before they got old and stopped going outside so much use to have at least one cat mate you could see them regularly with. The cat mate would try and get into the house.

I'm sure your cat is fine and settled in his ways now, but for anybody else reading - it used to be advised that FIV+ cats were kept in, but then lots of research was conducted that showed it's actually pretty hard to transmit FIV. It takes a very deep bite, so if an FIV boy is neutered and not extremely aggressive, they can go out and live full lives.

I am so sorry you lost your lovely cat. But you gave her the best life. We keep them in for our benefit, not theirs-in almost all cases it's selfishness that makes an indoor cat. We have to take the risk.

You will probably get as many different responses as there are posters on here! I have an exceptionally content indoor only cat, and her brother was too. They were adopted with the condition that they were kept indoors, and turned out that Boycat had issues that meant he was a LOT safer indoors than out (probable brain damage through an accident as a kitten)

We are waiting to see if Tobias is going to be happy as an indoor cat, he had a very bad time as a stray before the rescue got him so hopefully he will be OK with it and it was a requirement of the rescue. When I've gone to get cats, I've always asked for cats who need to be indoor only due to my own anxieties.

There seems to be 2 main attitudes in different countries about cats. On one hand places like Australia and the US cats seem to be indoors by default, whereas most Mediterranean countries they roam anywhere & everywhere. The UK seems to be somewhere in the middle, and moving slowly more towards indoors only.

Cats who have been raised as indoor only tend to be content to stay that way, and obviously there are cats who can't really be allowed to roam due to health issues e.g. FiV, Boycat's mental issues & lack of self preservation, many physically disabled cats. You do need to bear in mind that indoor only cats need more enrichment provided in their homes e.g. climbing places, toys, being played with etc.

In my ideal world, I would have a catio or a highly secure garden so a middle ground, but finances and the layout of my house/garden don't permit that sadly.

I'm so sorry about your lovely boy. It's a hard one really. I have had 6 cats in my life, over many years, and not one of them has been run over.
I have always believed in letting cats out. It's in their nature.
My present cat was born on the streets, has been with us for 7 years now, he's 9 years old, and would be utterly miserable if we tried to keep him inside.
He's been neutered since he was 2.
When we kept him in for 6 weeks after we rescued him, and subsequently tbrough illnesses, he has been very aggressive and destructive. He is a different cat and looks depressed.

I am so sorry for your loss.

Our old cat had to be PTS after a car accident. She lived her best life for 13 magnificent years, exploring, making friends at the nearby nursery, sniffing smells and shouting at birds. Better 13 years in her terms than 20 on mine, IMO.

We have two cats now and I let them out - one in particular would be very unhappy at home or confined to a catio even though both are neutered females.

I'd rather they were kept in a cat proofed garden. If you don't have a garden then don't get a cat - or keep it indoors.

Last week, the car in front of me hit a cat that ran out in front of it - there was nothing they could do. Hugely distressing for the humans and animal concerned.

I'm so sorry you lost your cat.

We have always had cats, none of them have ever been killed on the road, some of them have died early due to illness. I think it's mean to keep cats indoors so we have always taken the risk of letting them roam.

My sister lives in a part of Australia where cats are only allowed out in daylight. There are other areas where they are not allowed out at all. It's to protect the native wildlife, which I understand, but I think it would be better to ban cat ownership, so the current generation of cats would be the last.

Out of interest, when people say that keeping them in was a requirement of a breeder or a rescue how does that work? What sanctions could possibly be imposed on the new owner and how?

How awful for you. I don't think what happened was your fault at all. A cat that has been allowed out will not usually like being suddenly kept in and will find a way out (open window for example) anyway. It really depends on the cat, some are happy indoors others are very definitely not. Some breeds also like to explore more than others and definitely male cats are more adventurous/ roam further perhaps than female cats.

So sorry for your loss. My 8 year old has been an indoor cat all her life. I do as much enrichment for her as I can manage guided by Jackson Galaxy's recommendations - US cat behaviourist. She gets plenty of play time. Plenty of plotting world domination time. Plenty of hiding places and up high spots. I have no doubt she's living a satisfied life.
He says cats like to Hunt.Catch.Kill then Eat.Groom.Sleep - we are guided by this with playtime and snooze times.
He also says that cats like to scent mark places where you hang out. We have scratch posts by the sofa which she loves. So that's her scent marking spot. She's never once scratched the sofa.
Litter tray is scooped daily and changed weekly. Never any problems.
Water is not near her food because they don't like that.

Sorry for your loss, it truly is heartbreaking 💔

I have two that don’t go out, one because she has no sense of danger and would almost certainly be killed by a car or a dog as she will happily approach both and one who is temporarily indoors until her fur grows back in post-shave.

The third goes out during the day because he’s miserable and destructive if he stays indoors, he’s quite happy to come in at night and snuggle up in bed after a day of exploring 🙂 I call out to check on him every couple of hours if I’m home and he appears within a minute or so, so I’m reassured he doesn’t wander far.

I do (did!) have cat proof fencing up which boy cat has worked out how to fully clear but he pulled half of it down whilst trying to work out how he could get out of it. I need to put it back up so my dimwit girl can still go outside and enjoy the sun.

Usually there's a very good reason why a rescue says a cat needs to be an indoor cat, could be anything from history of getting lost, physical issues, conditions that need a special diet or meds. You will have signed a legal contract agreeing to the terms of adoption including things like this, that you won't rehome without going back to them first etc.

If you agree to rehome a cat that the rescue has deemed needs to be indoors only for a good reason, then why would you let that cat out? There are plenty of cats needing rehoming who are fine to go out so take one of those.

Judging by the number of posts on my local Facebook pages about dead/injured/missing cats, I'm beginning to think keeping them indoors and maybe having a catio is better. I have 2 lots of friends who have indoor cats and they have none of this stress.

It's not a legal contract Allergictoironing.

@Allergictoironing If there are good reasons, then of course a responsible cat owner would keep it in. If they aren't a responsible cat owner then a completely non-enforceable legal agreement isn't going to make a blind bit of difference!

We have a cat, she is 9yrs old. We got her on the condition we kept her inside. She does venture into the garden but only if we are there. She seems happy.

I’ve seen and heard about too many cats killed in a road traffic accident, I want a happy cat but I also want a safe cat.

@ohtowinthelottery "I have 2 lots of friends who have indoor cats and they have none of this stress."

The owners may not. But this shouldn't be about them.

@CurlewKate I expect injured cats get pretty stressed too!

They can go outside in a secured area. Eg a 'catio' or in a garden with cat proof fencing.

We do this but we have a front row seat at desk in front room to all these road safe cats here and see so many near misses.

Even so they are much harder work than roaming cats as you do need to do so much more input.

So sorry to hear about your cat.

Despite traffic accidents, I think the majority of cats need to roam, its in their nature to do so and to have a territory.

Often owners of pedigrees keep their cats inside but think we need to stop breeding those cats. They’re more prone to all sorts of health problems and they end up having a sad life being kept indoors, over grooming, having breathing issues, heart problems and eye issues amongst others. Poor things. Just so humans can say they’ve got a pedigree. 🤬 Idiots.