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

🥴

In some parts of the world indoor cats are the norm due to predators etc. and the idea of outdoor cats upsets people.

my rescue cats are outdoor cats. I did keep them in at first in the hope they’d be happy to stay inside but they weren’t. Since then one of them lost a leg after being hit by a car. So I can see both sides of the argument.

Not going by the two currently asleep on a cat doughnut and armchair here. Back door's open, it always is when somebody's in and it's not absolutely hammering it down or freezing.

I wouldn't keep a cat anywhere where they couldn't go in and out at will.

We had a cat flap but our outdoor loving tortie refused to use it. Far better to get your humans to bow to your every whim on demand.

@SabrinaThwaite we have an orange cat-and you can tell the days he doesn't have the brain cell because he forgets how the cat flap works.....

Mind you, I do remember a million years ago watching David Soul being interviewed by children on the Multi Coloured Swap and when asked if he had any pets said that he had a golden Labrador and they had had 3 cats but they were all eaten by coyotes. Noel Edmonds moved him swiftly on before he traumatised any more pre teens.....

This was our solution- there is a company who installs an invisible wire through your garden hedge, forming a circuit around your house. It's based on radio waves not electricity, and endorsed by cats protection.

Cats wear a (large) collar and are trained on it by the company who send someone out.

Works a treat.. I never worry about them, but downside is you can't leave windows or back doors open without them having their collars on.

Our ginger tom wasn't bright enough to learn how to use the cat flap, the tortie (waaay smarter) was just a refusenik.

@CurlewKate We viewed a rental house in Houston and the agent asked if we had any pets - I said no, and the agent said just as well as the alligators tended to eat them (there was a bayou and the end of the sub division).

My cat loves outside. I can't even get him to stay in at night. I didn't get him till he was 4 and he was a foster fail and had been allowed out since he was small. When we moved house I wanted to keep him in for 3 weeks but he broke the catflap and went out anyway ! I had 2 kittens when I was young and let them out at a few months old. I think now I'd wait a while perhaps till they are one ? I have also always got previous cats in at night. But Big Theo makes up his own rules. Sounds ideal where you live for cat adventures

No, because they could attack you and kill you. Unlikely with a cat.

Basically indoor but with a cat flap so he can go outside and sit on or under the table in the garden if he wants to.

Outdoor. I think it's cruel to keep an indoor cat. You wouldn't keep a dog shut in for its entire life, so I don't know why people think that it's ok to do this to a cat.

Mine love being out in the garden during the summer.

Must be a lot of Australian's on Reddit they are so weird about cats

It's the law in most parts of Australia to keep your cat indoors/on your property. It's not that they're being "weird".

I bet most of the people responding were American. They tend to keep their cats inside. I'm on an American cat lovers group on Facebook and if ever anyone mentions letting their cat outside, all hell breaks loose!
Mine goes out. I'm well aware of the risks but I think the benefits to him being allowed outside, outweigh the risks. Every cat I've had would have been deeply miserable if kept inside. I specifically chose a neighbourhood that would he safer for our cat.
As for wildlife, this is the downside of having cats. My previous cat never caught anything. She had no interest in hunting. My current cat doesn't get birds. He gets the occasional mouse. These days it's about three a year. I do feel sad for the mice but most people I know will happily kill any mice that come in the house.

Ours went out freely when he was young, then due to living circumstances had to be indoor for a while (with a balcony so he had fresh air and sunshine to lounge in).

After we moved again he got managed to get lost for a while and on finding his was home he's never bothered wandering again, he'll stretch out by an open window or door in a patch of sun but very much chooses to stay in or right next to the house.

I bet most of the people responding were American. They tend to keep their cats inside. I'm on an American cat lovers group on Facebook and if ever anyone mentions letting their cat outside, all hell breaks loose!

America has different risks though - coyotes and mountain lions and wildlife that will kill a cat in seconds. It's not really the same as letting a cat out in the UK.

Ours are outdoor daytime cats, they come in at night but now the days are getting longer our girl has broken out the cat flap a couple of times

We took them out on harnesses at first to let them get used to the garden

@WalkingaroundJardine "Having had both, the indoor cats are way healthier. They don’t pick up fleas as often or illnesses such as the cat flu. I wish that I had done it earlier."
There are effective cat flu vaccines and flea treatment. Have indoor cats if you alwant to-but don't pretend it's for the benefit of the cat.

Trev enjoying his outdoor life

@fieldsofbutterflies "America has different risks though - coyotes and mountain lions and wildlife that will kill a cat in seconds.@
Yes-my anecdote about David Soul's cats earlier omitted to mention that he was living in Beverley Hills when they were eaten!

No but if they kept them indoors the whole time everyone would say it's cruel.

@CurlewKate I've heard of cats there being carried off by birds of prey before now - it's no wonder they keep them inside or in catios

My girls would be so unhappy if they had to stay inside. I do keep them in overnight though (reduces risk to cats from cars and to birds from cats!) Microchip cat flap works really well.