Do you let your cat/s go outside?

[LadyMoondancer]

My cats are indoor only, although I do take one of them out on a harness and leash once in a while.  The other one doesn't like the harness and doesn't really like being outside so he pretty much stays indoors all the time.

Additionally, my cats are dumb about plants and I'm sure they'd accidentally eat a lily or something and die if I let them outside.

[scarlettkitty81]

My kitty Scarlett has always been an indoor kitty. She is happy to just sit in the window and watch the world outside. on occassion she will travel the halls of my apt building but that is as far as she goes. She pretty much freaks out once outside her comfort zone so I have no worries of her ever escaping to the great outdoors lol

[Glacia471]

Mine are strictly indoor cats. If I had them on leashes, I wouldn't mind taking them outside for walks, but definitely not without one. We have raccoons, opossums, coyotes, deer, skunks, wild turkeys, various other stray cats, and a busy highway near my house, and there's no way I would put my cats at that kind of risk

[Koudoawaia]

Outdoor cats do not last long on my street. I think all the stray dogs running around are to blame. >=/ So, my cat is entirely indoors because I want her to live a long and safe life.

[Galactica]

Indoor only- but we built them a cat run that they love- not nearly as nice as the op's- just a converted chain link dog run that connects to the basement.  Cats love it- and it keeps them safe.

Outdoor cats just don't live long and I love our furbabies...

[Eviecorn]

My cats are indoors only.  Too many predators around.

[CrimsonEtClover]

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This picture makes me so happy<3 A black kitty in the sunshine always warms my heart! Your other cat is beautiful as well.

[kellyponyfeathers]

All my cats are indoor-only, though my siamese mix enjoys going out for walk on her harness and leash, and I take her out pretty frequently.  Cats that go outdoors DEFINITELY have a MUCH shorter life expectancy due to the dangers of the outdoor world (cars, diseases, cars, dogs/coyotes, cars, stupid people with guns, and especially cars).  During my years as a vet assistant, I saw a heartbeaking number of hit-by-car kitties.  However, I do think that being able to go outside is good for kitties psychologically, as long as they can be kept physically safe.  I hope to buy my first house or condo soon, and when I do, I definitely want to have some sort of fenced enclosure so they can go outside.  I'm not exactly sure what I want yet, either a fenced enclosure (like a "kitty run"), or a whole fenced and kitty-proof backyard, or at least a porch with animal-grade screening.

kitten pic of my gorgeous Nebula
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[Summerlycoris]

We used to let our cats outdoors during the day, but now we have a cattery for them. It's a lot safer since so many dogs roam our suburb.

[Beldarna]

My cats are indoors. We live on the sixth floor for one, for the other we have the short lifespan of an outdoor cat, we have deseases, dogs, other cats, humans and traffic and the list goes on. I want my babies to be with me for many years. We also have a law here that states that cats and dogs are to be supervised and controlled when outdoors and how easy is it to controll a loose cat? Not that everyone follow that law or even know it exists but oh well..

I do take them out on a leash during summer. One is a bit scared to be out. He likes the feel of the wind but prefer to sit on my knees, the other one stalks around and the third one just sits on the spot I placed her and eat grass. We also have a huge glassed in balcony where they spend most spring and summerdays and they seem to enjoy life very well.

[SALTY5621]

mhm. mine live outside while im at school and come in at night

[lose]

I have 3 cats and they all lived inside only for years and years. Now i live in a sort of country area and on a big block, they go outside only during day light and only for a few hours. There is a huge paddock surrounding my house and they love to play in there and chase the feral rabbits, but mostly they love being inside getting cuddles and attention. Also they are the biggest sooky cats i've ever seen! I think keeping them inside for so long has made them very loving, i don't know anyone else who has 3 males cats who get along like my furbabies do.

[Aflame]

mine go out in harnes as there is a path behind the house that alot of dog walkers use and as we dont have a catflap they dont go out without us  xaflame

[Rhini]

This picture makes me so happy<3 A black kitty in the sunshine always warms my heart! Your other cat is beautiful as well.

Aww thanks!  Glad he warms someone else's heart as much as mine. He's my little ham, I've never met a cat more intelligent and funny. He's also a big snugglebunny, he has to get a certain allotment of kisses a day!


Kelly-Your baby is so beautiful!!

[Mandy85]

My three furrballs are indoor, though they're all trained to walk on a harness. Noisy in particular, loves going for walks:

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Noisy Smile by WhiteNoise_85, on Flickr

If he so much as sees me reach for his leash he will chirp, jump up on the back of our sofa and wait, so he can shove his head through the harness while I hold it up for him. In our old apartment, we lived on the second floor and he would literally pull me down the stairs because he was so excited to go out, lol.

We live in a small town, and people here probably think I'm nuts to see be being pulled around by a fluffy white cat, walking on a leash as well as any dog. Sometimes I'll take him to the local beach on the off-months, as long as there's no dogs around. He's a purebred Turkish Angora, which is a very high-energy and inquisitive breed by nature, so he likes seeing new things.

I honestly would never let my cats roam free outside, there's just too many dangers. My town is swarming with coyotes and fisher cats and I hear of small unattended dogs and cats going missing constantly, there's always new flyers posted to the local businesses. One of my cats is so goofy and trusting of other animals that I wouldn't put it past her to walk right up to a predator and try to befriend it.

That's not to mention the potential diseases they could pick up, the risk of being hit by a car, getting stranded between tides on the beach or trapped somewhere, eating something toxic, some creep harming them, or someone taking them into their home where I'd never see them again. They're all microchipped, but that only goes so far if they're never scanned.

There's also the destruction of property to consider. In my old place, our neighbors' cats were an absolute nuisance. Fighting in our driveway in the middle of the night and waking up half the block, killing birds around our backyard feeder and leaving body parts strewn everywhere, marking on our back door and stairs, picking fights with our cats through the windows, and using our veggie garden as a litter box where we had to throw all of our plants out.

Some of the neighbors were having the same issues with the same cats, even thinking they were ours at one point and came over to complain (hey, there's always cats in these peoples' windows, it has to be them!). We commiserated along with them and insisted our cats would never be allowed to roam. Last summer, one even tore a hole in a screened window and got into our basement, where my housemate's (indoor) cat promptly found him and got into a pretty nasty fight where my friend's cat needed stitches.

We were at our wits end and we could never track down the owners. Most of the cats wore a collar, so we know they belonged to someone, but they were always quick to dash away when approached. I imagine their owners were none the wiser at what their pets were up to and how much aggravation they were causing for others. Maybe they didn't care?