Petfinder.com forums :: View topic - Help! My cat wants to go outside and is an indoor cat. [ ]

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:09 pm Post subject:

I used to feel it was ok to let my kitties out, until 3 disappeared within 2 weeks. It was a horrible summer, I went around the neighborhood callin and calling, but they never came back. We think the coyotes or some predator go them. I still get sad thinking how they may've suffered. We have 6 kitties now, and the minute I open the door, 2 of them scoot out. When I call them, they only run further away. I try to get them back in by evening, but some nights I get out of bed periodically to call them in. My neighbors think I am nuts, but I can't sleep until they are all in and safe. I would love to have all indoor cats, they are safer, healthier, and my group play with and amuse one another. Please try to keep the cat in, although I know how very hard that can be. Good luck.

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:13 pm Post subject:

Rach:

Not to completely hijack the thread here, but.
Dispite personal preference of outdoors vrs. indoors, cats are safer, and on average live longer indoors.

Even if you live in the suburbs, you never know when a cat hating person will roll into town and hurt your outside kitty, or poison them etc. You also have the problem of another animal hurting or killing them, of them going into someone elses yard and the human thinking they have been "abandoned" and will either keep the cat themselves, or turn it into some shelter. Either way, you can loose your cat.

Not every cat stays in the yard, and a lot of owners who "think" their cats stay in the yard, actually roam pretty far away (I'm not saying this is your case, but it does happen.)

Cats are too precious to me, to risk loosing them to some factor I can control, such as letting them outdoors.
To me, it's just very irresponcible.
You don't let a dog wander around town by himself, why would you let a cat?

I grew up with indoor/outdoor cats, we had many of them, and we also had many of them die, from things which could have easily been prevented if they were indoors.

It's not cruel to keep cats indoors, if you never let them live outside, they don't know what they are missing! Millions of happy cats live indoors.

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:14 pm Post subject:

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:15 pm Post subject:

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:18 pm Post subject:

I have to agree with those who say to keep cats indoors. There is a multitude of problems with letting cats out no matter where you live. If you live in the country, you have wild animals to worry about, if you live even on a quiet neighborhood street tragedy can strike, and of course living on a busy street is just a matter of time before kitty becomes part of the pavement.

I grew up on the one of the quietest streets in town - the kind where only the residents went down it. One night one of our cats went out and never came back. He was found a few days later in a neighbor's garden. We don't know if he was hit by a car or poisoned or what; all we know was that his life was cut way too short - he was around 3 or 4 at the time. The year before this happened, he crawled up under the hood of my mother's car; of course she didn't know he was there and started the engine. He disappeared for a week; when he returned, his tail was completely stripped of fur and he had gouges all over. The vet was able to save him, but he had to have his tail amputated.

While taking cats on on leashes or building enclosures for them sounds ideally safe, in my opinion I think it's just a teaser for the cat - he or she gets a small taste of outdoor life and wants more. The next thing you know, Kitty is bolting out the door when you aren't looking, or when a visitor in your home doesn't know the cat is only allowed out when on a leash.

Then there is the small local wildlife issue...cats are natural hunters and will instintictively kill innocent little critters for sport - it's just what cats do and it's not fair to the little victims of the cat's game.

Another issue to always keep in mind that no one has touched upon is consideration for your neighbors. Outdoor cats will use neighborhood gardens as litter boxes, will hang out on neighbors' porches, spray on neighbors' property, and sleep on (and scratch) neighbors' nice warm car hoods.

Of course not everyone loves cats like we do, either. Humans can be incredibly cruel to free-roaming cats. Our old backyard neighbor used to trap neighborhood cats, take of identifying collars and tags, and call animal control saying he trapped a stray. And that's being nice - some people will do absolutely heinous things to outdoor cats, especially friendly ones who will walk up to anyone.

There are just far too many unknowns, too many dangers, and too many risks to let cats outside in my opinion. Keeping them indoors with lots of interactive, varied play (as Marti said) is the best, safest life for a kitty.

~Amy

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:20 pm Post subject:

Any street can have a car on it, and any cat can get hit by a car. Even if your kitty normally doesn't go near the road....cats tend to bolt when scared, and if something happens to startle the cat, and it bolts towards the road...and there just happens to be a car?

I have a cat who is about ten years old. He was an outdoor cat for around six years. In that time he was shot with bb pellets multiple times, was in many cat fights, had his teeth broken..and then was hit by a car. MY car. We stopped, took him to an emergency vet, and fixed him up, and got him better. He's now a happy indoor-only cat.

In another example of the horrors of outside...some friends of mine had this sweet little boy named Lucky. He was indoors only...then one day, he slipped out. They found him a few hours later and thought everything was fine - until Lucky started convulsing and died in my friend's arms. The best they can figure is that he ate something toxic while outside.

I have four friends back home who let their cats out. Friend one's cat was run over by her own father's car, in their own driveway. Shocked

Friend two's first cat just left one day, and was never seen again. Friend three's cat had multiple litters of kittens and was then hit and killed by a car in front of their house..and then one of her daughters was hit, and dragged herself home with a broken pelvis. Friend four's young male kitten was attacked by stray or roaming cats and cut up on his face and head.

I have five very happy indoor-only cats. We have cat trees, many toys, beds, and give our cats as much interaction and stimulation as possible...and they don't get hit by cars or shot or eat poison or just up and disappear one day.

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:16 am Post subject:

OK I get it, there are many dangers, and you guys have many valid points, as the cats we have now are all at least 10 years old I am not going to change the lifestyle they are used to, but any other cats I get in the future I will have them stay indoors. Oh and I live in Weston Ct and I have not heard of any problems with coyotes but I am sure they are around I am not sure where Southington is but if you have them there I am sure they are around here too, we do have them all come in at night, I will try to be more careful.

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:27 am Post subject:

Rach: Even animals relative to the size of a cat, can cause injury and ultimate death. Other cats, stray dogs, raccons, rabid squirls. You name it. Every spot has some kind of wild life!
But I'm very glad to hear that you will keep your future cats indoors from now on.

Another point I wanted to make, was that having dogs and cats outside off leash like that... it can encourage wild life to come to you.
Some times wild life, like coyotes are already driven away from their hunting spots, and need to find an alternative food source. That kitty roaming around, or that little dog in your yard is EASY pickings.
You might not have a coyote problem now, but that could change at any time.

Growing up in Maine, sure we have lots of dangerous wild life! But we didn't see any predators very often.
Then all of a sudden, a couple years before I moved out of state, we started to have this HUUUGE coyote problem all through out many towns.
Nightly, the coyotes would come out of the woods, and circle my house (they could smell the cats), they fought with and killed my neighbors chained up, outside dog (many other dogs also met the same fate). The coyotes also took down a deer in my friends DRIVEWAY!

All of it just suddenly happened, with in a matter of 3 days there was so many coyote sightings in peoples yards, it was soo out of control.

We invite wild life, into our yards and homes when we leave "tastey morsels" outside to play off leash.

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:36 am Post subject:

I feel that cats should be allowed to go outside, they are not dogs and want constant companionship. They like to hunt and play that is just being a cat. I let my kitty Garr ousitde when he wants to go out. He comes home every night (expect when the nieghbroos keep him in their homes too late. We live a little off the main road so he is pretty safe. Aobut 90% of the people in our neihbrood like him and the ones that dont ignore him. I would recocomend if you let your kitty out make sure you have a good collar with tags (not thoes slipone soff. My kitty gets out of thoes in a second) and have kitty mircochipped so that if he looses his collar you wont have a problem with him being put alseep. I know that indoor cats live longer lives but its not as enjoyable for most cats. If you deicde to make your cat and indoor or outdoor kitty then you should make sure he has all the shots and is on a fleeand tick preventative. Espically a Maine Coon. My Garr is a Main Coon mix. We do have to shave him during the summer but it makes his coat so nice and thick for winter. He is turly happier outside then he ever was inside.

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:45 am Post subject:

Smedley, that's your opinion. Not a fact.

Cats are not "happier" outside. That's just how you see it.
Allowing your cat into random peoples houses should ring a lot of bells, that's called bad cat ownership to me.

Most cats, when RAISED properly, like the companion animal that they were bred to be, adore constantly being around their humans. It's only when you treat and raise a cat "like some stupid ball of fur" that they will ignore you, and not want to be around you, and just all around not the best cat in the world.

Cats can practice hunting, and can play indoors just as well. Only minus the deseases they can catch from hunting real prey outdoors. Deseases which can kill them.

Using regular collars, collars that are not (break away) are very dangerous. Cats can be caught on them, stuck some where and starve, or can be strangled.
Break away collars are the best to use, for indoors or outdoor use. In conjuntion with a microchip.

I'm sorry, but watching a cat frolic in the sun (which you can do with them on a harness and leash) does not compair to watching your cat get run over by a car, or eaten by an animal.

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:57 am Post subject:

I strongly agree to keep your kitty inside or outside with you on a leash!

Out of my 3 kitties, only one will cry to go outside. I've taken her out on a leash a couple of times last year but that just seemd to make her worse. I don't anymore.

We have coyotes as well. The stray cat population is very high and there is no way I would let my babies out in that big, bad world!

To me letting one of my cats out would be like letting a 2 year old out to play with no supervision. I would be worried sick about them all the time. Wondering if they were suffering on the side of the road, in a fight with a big tom cat, bitten by a rabid wild animal, etc.......
Just a chance I will never take.

And the cats that do roam our neighborhood tend to pee on my steps, poop in my yard and walk on my car! To me that is being a bad neighbor to let your cat out to wander around marking everyone's house!

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:04 am Post subject:

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:57 am Post subject:

I would say that our six cats LOVE our human companionship - they constantly follow us around when we're home, sleep on the couch with us when we're watching TV, and are just always around us. We make time every single day to play with each one the way he or she likes to be played with because - of course - they all enjoy different activities. They are also great at keeping themselves occupied by the wide variety of toys we have when we're not around to play with them. Our house constantly looks like the cat toy department of PetSmart exploded in it.

By us becomming active participants in their lives, they are extremely happy, indoor-only cats who never make one effort to head outside for entertainment. It's our job to protect them, and keeping them safely indoors is a big part of that....

~Amy

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:32 am Post subject:

I am not a BAD cat owner because people like my cat so much and actualy allow him into thier homes. He is a very good cat and I take exteramly good care of him.

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:50 am Post subject:

Aside from the safety, health & well-being of the cats, there is another reason to keep your kitties inside or in your yard under supervision. Cats that roam can become a problem to your neighbors. I am, and always have been, a cat lover. All my cats have always stayed indoors, with the exception of exploratory walks through the yard on a leash. On the other hand, quite a few neighbors have free roaming cats. It's common to hear them fighting (and mating) on the hill behind my house. My doors, above ground pool & other areas have been repeatedly marked. The cat poop in my yard is graciously "disposed of" by my dogs. Rolling Eyes

I think it's pretty arrogant to expect other people to have to put up with the behaviors of a pet that is not their own.
I am no fan of "let's pass a law" but I'd love to see leash & licensing laws expanded to include cats. Maybe that would help diffuse the prevalent view that cats are "more disposable" than dogs?

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