Indoor/outdoor, Free roaming or secure garden

Elaine · 05-06-2009, 11:52 PM

Which do your cats live in and which would you prefer them to live in?
Just got me thinking when i was posting on the FIV thread.
Currently my cats are indoor with access to a secure (pretty much)garden.
I would actually be afraid to let them free roam, apat from anything else we live right in the city centre, but also because I know that Eva just wouldnt cope and would be terribly stressed if she came upon another cat or even a dog. Bernie on the other hand is much too trusting and friendly, that I'd fear for him being stolen or bitten by a non cat friendly dog. Bernie just loves dogs.
I would like to live out with the city at some point but again for the reasons i have mentioned, I still wouldnt let them free roam and would opt for a cat proof garden or a big cat pen for them.

Winston was an indoor cat for all of his 21 years and was as happy as Larry.

farthing · 06-06-2009, 12:02 AM

i would like my cats to roam free.
one of the reasons we picked this house was because we had our own fields on all sides and fairly quiet roads beyond that. It has turned out, due to the type of animal we take in,that they are mainly indoor cats now. Sooty is the only one who goes outside. As I said in the FIV thread our long term plan would be to have runs they can go into during nice days.
I have to say though, everybody claims theirs cats won't settle indoors, we have never had that problem, they may squeak for a couple of days but soon settle down and appear quite content.

farthing · 06-06-2009, 12:03 AM

i would like my cats to roam free.
one of the reasons we picked this house was because we had our own fields on all sides and fairly quiet roads beyond that. It has turned out, due to the type of animal we take in,that they are mainly indoor cats now. Sooty is the only one who goes outside. As I said in the FIV thread our long term plan would be to have runs they can go into during nice days.
I have to say though, everybody claims theirs cats won't settle indoors, we have never had that problem, they may squeak for a couple of days but soon settle down and appear quite content.

Elaine · 06-06-2009, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farthing

i would like my cats to roam free.
one of the reasons we picked this house was because we had our own fields on all sides and fairly quiet roads beyond that. It has turned out, due to the type of animal we take in,that they are mainly indoor cats now. Sooty is the only one who goes outside. As I said in the FIV thread our long term plan would be to have runs they can go into during nice days.
I have to say though, everybody claims theirs cats won't settle indoors, we have never had that problem, they may squeak for a couple of days but soon settle down and appear quite content.

I have to agree, I have had 3 indoor cats and they were fine with it. I even tried to encourage Winston and Woody to come outside when I moved here, they would on ocassion sit at the back door and then scoot back off upstairs.
I think Bernie would be happy either way but Eva.......... well she is THE DIVA after all

pinklizzy · 06-06-2009, 12:09 AM

Imogen is an indoor cat as we live in a flat at the moment. Even if we move in the future however, unless it was to a fairly rural area, I think I would only allow her access to a cat-proofed garden. Partly because having been an indoor cat since she was a baby I would worry about her road sense and also because of the horrific injuries I have seen caused to cats involved in RTAs. I don't feel that she is missing out in any way, this is what she is used to and she gets plenty of interaction and stimulation.

farthing · 06-06-2009, 12:09 AM

Blame the double post on Tabatha again.

pinklizzy · 06-06-2009, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farthing

Blame the double post on Tabatha again.

Must be something in the name, my parents have a Tabatha and she loves to 'help' on the computer! (she also has a degree of brain damage which makes it harder for her to keep upright, often leading to her crashing into the keyboard poor girl)

dandysmom · 06-06-2009, 02:32 AM

As I've said in other posts my cats have been indoors only with outside access limited to walks on a harness. I live on a heavily trafficed street, and have seen too many neighborhood cats victims of RTA. Also, am very close to the woods where we have foxes, raccoons and opossums, some of which are rabies carriers, especially the raccoons. Since leash laws were passed there's no longer the danger of free roaming dogs, although some. people do disregard the law.
I'd love to have an outside run, but the topography of the land and my house make that impractical.

All mine seem to have lived long and happy contented lives as indoors only with walks. Leia is scared of outdoors so the decision with her has been simple. And I do have a screened porch which gives them a chance to enjoy the fresh air and bird watch.

pookyandjo · 06-06-2009, 03:20 AM

When I got Tinky nearly 11 years ago i made a decision to keep him as an indoor cat... I had not had a cat for number of years partly due to the last one being killed by a car...and we were living in an amaprtment for a few years after that..3 years after Tinky came George on the basis of providing some companionship for Tinky because he didn;'t go outside...mind you he never missed going outside and was always stressy cat...Now it's just George and Princess Harri... Harri doesn't make a fuss about going outside... but she does come to the doorand is curious.. but no more than the others were at their age...I am attepting to harness train Harri because i thought it might be nice for her to go outsdie in back yard on a leash.. but that is still a work in progress.. we are going to look into getting a cat run installed when we come back from overseas in time for the spring and summer... but finding the correct cofiguration is proving difficult... George and Harri (and Tinky when he was with us) always have plenty of sunny windows that open with the safety of fly screens to allow fresh air and bird watching... in an ideal world it would be nice to let them out... but i would worry too much abou them and what harm they can come to... apart from that the area in which we live has wildlife issues and as such cats are supposed to be kept indoors... of course it doesn't stop people allowing their cats to roam...

angieh · 06-06-2009, 11:03 AM

The three cats that have been in my life so far have all been "come and go as you please" cats. Smudge definitely preferred to be outside if at all possible; Merlin was much more of an indoor boy by his own choosing even before he got to be a venerable boy. Kizzy is now coming and going as she pleases too. Personally, I admire this about cats - their independence and the fact that they still come home to me and I feel honoured by their presence.

Of course I appreciate the practical and many reasons for keeping your cats indoors too. I have noticed that once a cat gains more independence, a certain "distance" is inevitable between cat and "owner".

Perhaps I ought to add that I live in a semi rural area.

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