Do you let your cat/s go outside?

[Vintergatan]

So, this question popped up in many cat-related posts and I thought it would be nice to have one topic dedicated to this.

I grew up with cats, and despite my distaste for it, my family always let them go out as they please. I grew up with this being the standard.
When I moved to Iceland and got my cats, everyone expected me to let them out freely, like most people do here. It took me a long while to let my first cat outside on her own, and I was so incredibly stressed that I just couldn't do it. Since then, people have been treating me like I'm some sort of a criminal for not letting my cats go out (I have 3 now).
This of course bothers me because I know how many cats here get hit by a car (cars are a big problem here for many reasons) and also, my cats get so much attention and love every day, that I really don't believe they feel trapped.

However, my ever brilliant mom realized that one part of our garden is perfect for our kitties, so we fenced it off and now they can go there when the weather is nice outside, so we found a middle ground

I would love to hear people's opinion on this. What do you do? What is usually done where you live?


Some pics of my solution:

This is the area we used. We put the grass on it (the floor was made of concrete) and eventually put nets between the pillars that are sticking out on top of the fence
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And this is our kitties enjoying themselves
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[HavACrumpet452]

When I owned cats they were indoor only. In fact, my family trains the cats to hate the outdoors by squirting them with a water bottle if they go out the open door, after a few times they have no desire to go near the door. I don't believe any domestic animal should be allowed to roam free. We don't let dogs roam the neighborhood unleashed. I've heard that cats who are outdoors have a lifespan of a few years vs the 15 year lifespan of an indoor cat. Outside there are cars, other animals, sick sick human beings who will do anything to a cat, disease, poison, and all sorts of things to kill a cat. Sure if I had my own place with a yard I might get one of those outdoor cat enclosures which is basically a frame with netting, but they wouldn't roam free.

[Like A Tea Spoon]

I don't know about the country in where you live, but here in the United States, Feline Leukemia is a serious problem. There is no cure, it's feline AIDS and it's highly contagious, especially in strays who happen to fight for territory, breeding and such. Keeping a cat indoors helps prevent the chance of them getting infected by cats with feline leukemia.

I absolutely believe it's up to the cat owner to decide between letting the cats out or keeping them strictly indoors.

Cats who are strays or outdoor cats risk a lot of health issues as well as being attacked by other stray animals and getting hit by cars. They also have higher chance of getting parasites and spreading them to humans ( ring worm, which is a fungus infection, I believe ).

I had one cat, spayed female under two years old that I let out one morning and she vanished. She usually never left the patio area or the stair case in front of our home. She just never came back... I always felt that if I had kept her strictly indoors, she would still be here with me. She was super friendly and our Animal Control doesn't pick up cats so I only hope she was taken in as a "stray" by a neighbor.  I don't want to think coyotes ( a problem here in Georgia ) or another animal had something to do with her vanishing though, it breaks my heart.

PS;

I also believe a lot of cat owners simply don't care or think to care about what might happen to a cat that simply vanishes from home. It's so hard here to give kittens away for free much less find people willing to take care of them like they would a caged bird or dog. They figure that the cat is able to care for itself   

We took in a stray mom and her six kittens and I had to practically post kittens for adoption nearly every day and still had a hard time finding homes for them. All I asked was an adoption fee of a small cheap bag of cat food to feed the stray colony mom came from.

[tulagirl]

My cat is a Persian.  He has a disease. I can't let him outside, because if he eats anything it could kill him.  I have seen enough dead cats from dogs that run loose down our neighborhood streets. I wouldn't at this point ever let a cat go outside unless I had a cat play yard with a roof and sides they could not get out of. Plus we have huge owls.  I would never forgive myself if my cat lost its life in these ways.  I grew up with cats being outside also. 

[Icicle]

I haven't had cats for quite a few years, but when I was living at home all of our cats were outdoor/indoor cats. Honestly, while I loved being able to just be out with my friends and suddenly get attention from one of them I hated it. We lost about three or so cats due to them being outdoor cats (two for certain we know were hit by cars and the other got hurt while outside and went missing for a bit and he was just too weak when he came home), and one of them never came back inside (she was skittish to begin with when my dad/sister got her from the pound and she just went out one day and never wanted to come back in). The only cat that remained of the ones I had over my childhood is no longer an outdoor cat (if he's still alive, I haven't spoken to my family in quite a long while) due to my sister and father having to have moved from the house I grew up in and they didn't want him getting lost or hurt from the unfamiliar territory, so there's at least that.

If I ended up with a cat sometime in my life again it will be strictly an indoor cat. The ONLY way I would take a cat of mine outside if it was on a leash or I could set up like a kitty run in our yard (We certainly have plenty of space for one, at least!)

[Vintergatan]

I must admit that I am glad that I'm not the only one believing it's best for kitties not to go roaming outside on their own (I'm definitely in the minority here :S)

Fortunately, we don't have to worry about diseases and animal import is kept under very strict control (this being an island and all) but all other dangers mentioned are absolutely real here too. Plus, a huge problem we have is with cats killing birds - another thing I don't want my cats to do as I love birds!

Does anyone here maybe have some statistics on the life span of cats depending on this? HavACrumpet452, do you know where you heard that? I would really love to have some facts to show to all the people that bugged me for "not letting my cats feel freedom" :S

Oh, and just a note, if you "accidentally" post a picture of your kitty here, I won't complain ^^

[HavACrumpet452]

I think its pretty much taken as fact on a lot of vet and pet sites. All you have to do is look up life expectancy of an outdoor cat on google and it will come up with lots of sources saying they have small lifespans.

http://www.petco.com/Content/ArticleList/Article/13/2/181/Reasons-to-Keep-Your-Cat-Indoors.aspx

http://www.cat-world.com.au/indoor-vs-outdoor-cats

http://pets.webmd.com/cats/features/how-to-care-for-an-outdoor-cat

As for diseases, no matter where you live cats can pick up things like mange, ringworm, and toxoplasmosis. Anything parasitic.

[OLumeVaSti]

Quite honestly,  my cat is just kind of dumb. I don't trust her to go outside.  She has already been ran over once.

[Vintergatan]

Thanks for the links I just don't like googling stuff like that for fear that something really bad and graphic might come up

As for the disease, they can't pick it up if it doesn't exist in Iceland. Not saying we don't have any though, we still give shots to our pets once a year, but only for very specific things (for example, rabies doesn't exist here so we never give them shots for it)

[Skeen]

My cats are indoor only, but recently we've been letting Ember outside under our direct supervision (and on the suggestion of our vet) to let her work off some of her anxiety.  It keeps her occupied and interested without the interference of any of the other cats, and she is much calmer the rest of the time.  She does like to pee in the flower beds.    We're not letting her out on her own though, and there's no way we can get a harness on her. 

Since Ember goes outside all of them will be getting flea medication within the next month, and I keep them fully vaccinated already. 

[CrimsonEtClover]

My cats come in and out all day, and are put outside for the night. They stick to our property for the most part. I don't know who explained property lines to them, but they have a pretty good grasp of it. They have their updated shots, and just *love* basking in the sun and eating grass... plus, Wolverine chases strays out of the yard to protect my chickens and outdoor bunnies.

[mylittleponylover92]

My cats are indoor, poor things! They both are abroad in the middle east.

The reason is quite a legitimate one....our first cat was a rescue and was found with a large abscess on her head. My dad found her lay in the street howling....he picked her up and she flopped and went really weak. He found a discarded box and took her with him to the vets. She was only a few weeks old...we think her mother abandoned her.

At first we thought she was blind since she didn't react to hand movements in front of her eyes. The vet kept her for a few days, she had to have fluids injected into her stomach as she was so dehydrated. He then went to treat her abscess....he ended up scooping it out quite far down - so she was left partially brain damaged. Anyways, when she got stronger my parents brought her home...since shes been with us shes improved lots but her co-ordination is no where near as good as a normal cat. She cant track objects quickly and misses jumps.

She escaped once and we found her after an hour or so....she was panting like crazy. Basically the vet said she was panicking and although she wants to go outside she cant handle it and gets lost.

So she cant go out since she cant find her way home...also Im not sure she would go tinkle outside either! Shes wayy to used to her litter tray! I compare her with our other cat and there is a big difference to their capabilities, the kitten is lightening fast and can jump amazingly!

The other cat is a rescue (just coming up to a year with her!) but we dont think its fair to let her out and not the other! She's improved our other cats life, she has company now and they play a lot! 

Oh and the new rescue has no tail bless her....she lost it but my mum saved her life. The infection had grown so far down she now has a stump left. But shes healthy and normal now! 

[Skelletonimp]

We used to have four cat's who could all go out when they wanted.
We live in a very small, green town, and cat's are pretty safe to walk around.
We only have one cat since all the others passed away.
Since she's alone she prefers to stay inside, and only goes outside when she has to ... use the loo, or when she likes to get some fresh air. Most times she stays in our garden, but sometimes she walks up and down the street.
When I walk the dog though the park she sometimes follows us there and find her own way back.

[Rhubarbpie]

My kitty is an inside kitty.  She has been all her life, before I met my boyfriend, she lived with me on a 3rd floor flat, then a ground floor flat in the centre of town, again unsuitable for indoor kitteh's.  Now we (me, Honey and the BF) live in a house, but its right on a main road with bus route and since I believe her to have the road sense of a squished hedgehog, I don't let her out.    As far as i can tell, she has only escaped once, during a heat wave we had a couple of years ago, one of us left the kitchen window open, I realised I had not seen her for a while so I went to the kitchen to rattle the bikky box and she came sauntering in through the window with a look on her face that said "Mom, did you KNOW that was outside??"  I nearly dropped dead from shock!!!  She's never been out since, though these days she is getting on a bit in years and she's perfectly happy snoring gently by the fire or,if its sunny, on her back with her feet in the air!!

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2011_1221FF20130009 by Rhubarb Pie1, on Flickr

Here she is niffling Lucky!!

[FantasticFirefly]

Ours are indoor 99% of the time but I answered "under supervision" we have a deck off the living room they can sun themselves on when we're home and the weather is nice. It's up high, has a high railing so they're not wandering off.

My cats are indoor only, but recently we've been letting Ember outside under our direct supervision (and on the suggestion of our vet) to let her work off some of her anxiety

Huh, The vet suggested that for one of ours.... she had piddle problems so thinking it could be an infection we booked her at the vet. They said it could be due to stress but there was nothing medically wrong and perhaps letting her out would make her feel better. But crating her at night for a few months and replacing floors went a long way to correct her habit. Once the back is fenced safely I'm not opposed to getting a harness and letting them play. We didn't want to let her or any of the others to wander off on their own as they could get eaten by a cougar (yeah, we have them!), in a fight, hit by a car, poisoned or catching a disease that could spread to the other girls.