Is your cat an indoor or outdoor cat?

[LiveLifeToTheFull2]

Just that really....

I posted a post on Reddit about advice and tips on how best to let 6 month old kittens out for the first time and got an absolute roasting 😳
Apparently it's a thing to not let your cat outdoors and it's bad for the environment and dangerous for the cat etc

I'm already so anxious about letting them out for the first time soon but am also aware they are cats and have an instinctive nature to explore and enjoy the outside world
They keep looking outside in the garden at the birds, bugs etc and I can tell they desperately want to get out on our garden.
We live in a semi rural area with fields surrounding our harden garden and I hope that is enough to keep them out the back and not the front where there is a cul de sac road
Neighbours are all lovely and cat owners so not worry about any weirdos farming the cats

🥴

Indoor during the winter with a litter tray. He has a cat flap but chooses to stay in😀 Outdoor in the summer, comes in for food then straight out again. Luckily our garden is safe for him and he never goes to the front near the road.
Here he is enjoying the weather.

Indoor, she does have a lead so she can go into the garden on a longline.

Depends on the cat. My current cats go outside but generally remain in the garden. They are both trained to return when called (with treats) and are kept in overnight.
We live in an urban area so there are quite a few cats around. If they were more adventurous I'd worry about them but neither are !

My cat comes and goes, but I do keep her in at night. She once had to be an indoor cat for a few months while we were having building work, but she became grumpy and quite scratchy. She was much happier when she could go out again! I believe a lot of indoor-only cats in the USA are declawed (which is actually removal of the last joint of each toe, not just the claws) because of behavioural issues such as scratching.

We tried to have indoor cats but mine were having none of it. They don't tend to go far, although my parents live 10 doors down and I often pop in for a visit to find my cats lounging around.

Cats do hunt and are bad for the environment, mine stopped bringing things in at around 3 years and what they gifted me was always alive and seemingly unharmed. There are laws about them only being indoors in Australia for that reason.

Toileting I used compostable wood pellets indoors and then put a raised bed behind the shed and tipped it in there so they had the scent and they are pretty good at using that as an outdoor litter tray. I occasionally turn it over and top it up with fresh soil.

Lots of the cat subs on Reddit are American and having outdoor cats in America is much much rarer than in the UK.

We were open to the idea of an indoor/outdoor cat but our current cat is scared of pigeons and also gets bullied by a resident robin. So she comes out with us if we’re in the garden but usually spooks and goes back inside long before we’re done. She has absolutely no hunting instinct, was the runt of her litter, and is really happiest lying on a patch of sunlight inside. She also won’t sit on our laps but hovers right next to us purring - this seems to be the level of attention and fuss required 😂

Indoors with access to a secure garden.

I don't let them out properly as we have a 60mph road running across the back of the gardens and if they go out the front, it's straight onto the street where I've had several near misses with cats darting out from behind cars.

I see social media posts most days from people whose cats have gone missing or been killed on the roads and I can't imagine the heartache. Someone on here posted not so long ago that their cat had been run down by a car at barely six months old - I felt horrendous for her

Depends on the weather- which is incidentally my fault!
Very much outdoor cat at the moment, but when it snows I give her an indoor litter tray as she only has stumpy little legs and does not like getting her undercarriage wet! Our garden is pretty enclosed with walls all round and being an older lady she does not venture out of it.
Photo yesterday enjoying the sun

I kept my kittens in until they were both neutered/spayed. Then let them out in the day and kept them in at night. Now they are about 9 months old they come and go as they please. Really they stay pretty close to home, hanging out in the garden but mostly happy to stay in doors. I guess the novelty of outdoors has warn off for them!

Definitely outdoors. I found him under a bush when he was a kitten. He was already hunting out of necessity.

I live in an apartment and deliberately adopted two elderly cats who had been indoor cats their whole lives. You can create enrichment inside your home with plenty of places to climb and be up high.

I scoop the litterboxes every morning (they only go at night) and I can keep a close eye on their food and medication. I don't need to worry about them being run over and they have no opportunity to hunt endangered birds.

I play with them plenty though. For everything else, they love cuddles, eating and sleeping. 😁

My girl loves the outdoors. Has breakfast then goes out for the day whilst I'm at work but if I'm WFH then she's In & out. She normally sleeps In overnight but has been a pain as weather has got warmer, refusing to come in or not till the early hours of the morning! I think she's taken to sleeping on nextdoors outdoor sofas as she always comes flying over their gate when shouted! Coincidentally the neighbours have 2 indoor cats that never go out but sit quite often on the windowsill watching my girl in the garden.
She doesn't go far & generally is back within 10 minutes when shouted. I do think it's cruel to keep cats indoors 24/7 as it's their natural instinct to be out exploring & enjoying fresh air. They need to have access to fresh air whether its a catio, leash walking or free roaming. You wouldn't get a dog never to walk it so why inflict such a miserable existence on a cat?

Her majesty in the garden ❤️

I should that I walk the youngest of the two on a harness and leash, but the eldest has no interest, she also has a bad knee.

They go out but they don't go far. I live on a court, and they mostly go in the communal gardens, sometimes to the neighbours. They are older spayed females so don't have the urge to roam. I do have GPS trackers on them and they stay in at night. I think it really depends on the cat. I did once lose a young male to the road, but he absolutely was not a cat you could keep in, he would have been miserable and frantic. That's why I prefer to have girls now, they tend to stick closer to home.

Mostly indoors. Might come and sit with us in the garden but no interest in going out there solo. He’s 13 though and spent a lot of his youth living indoors in our apartment in the US, so perhaps he’s too old to change his ways.

Indoor. But I chose a breed that are meant to be indoor. They are Ragdolls. Some owners risk letting their Ragdolls out and are lucky. I can only hazard a guess that their Ragdolls aren't as 'Ragdolly' as others. By nature Ragdolls are typically very laidback, 'stupid', and non-streetwise. I know my cats better than anyone stranger on the Internet. One of my 2 Ragdolls would definitely flop (Ragdolls are famous for their 'flops') in the middle of the road and not budge. And there are many idiot drivers who speed up and try to aim for cats. I'd rather he lived to a good age. Some say a shorter life is better with free roaming, but I think that's down to the individual cat. A cat that had never known that life doesn't miss it. Ragdolls were bred to have housecat traits. In the US it is common to have housecats (where Ragdolls originated).

You wouldn't get a dog never to walk it so why inflict such a miserable existence on a cat?

You'd be surprised at the number of people who never walk their dogs.

Not saying it's okay, of course, just that it most definitely happens.

Mine are rarely in when it's warm, they have a cat flap, woods on one side and fields on the other. I can usually spot mine sleeping in the field when it's hot 😅I couldn't imagine keeping them indoors when they can see a cat playground from the windows.

We have 3 and they are indoor & outdoor. Rural Irish countryside here. No one has a fully indoor cat. Mine come and go as they please. If they want to stay in at night grand, if they look to go out that’s also grand.

All the cats I have ever had have been outdoor. Current cat Arthur has a chipped cat flap and comes and goes as he pleases. He catches and eats at least a mouse a day, we are left with bottoms, a stomach, or sometimes just a smear. He has rarely caught birds. Recently took him to the vet for his jabs, and the vet said he is the healthiest, mostly fit and muscly, cat of 10 years old he has ever seen! Proud Mum 😂

The reason I got my lovely cat from a rescue at 4 and a half was because he was desperate to go outside and the previous owners lived in a small terrace on a busy road. He lived with his brother but there was no issue with him wanting to go outside.

I blocked up the cat flap planning on keeping him indoors for a few weeks to let him get to know his environment. However I do sleep with the bedroom window open not really thinking it through. First night off he went and he's never looked back. He loves being able to go out an roam. He sleeps in next door neighbour's greenhouse and has learnt how to open the door!

I personally think it's cruel to keep cats inside if they want to go out but some cats will and some won't just like humans!

Mine has the option to go outside whenever we are home - which is a lot, DH is WFH.

She mostly doesn’t, but does like sitting in an open window.

A feral kitten wandered into our lives. She wouldn't come in and vanished one day. A month later she was back with a kitten and never left. We had her spayed. She will in good weather stay out all night otherwise she lolls around the house and garden.

I know a ragdoll who's a real hunter, loves mice. Lives near a school so is always around at bell time for cuddles and fuss when the children pass the house.