Do you let your cat/s go outside?

[Vintergatan]

OMG! that is absolutely horrendous ... I don't even know what to say

If someone is more worried about their furniture than about their pets' well-being, then they should restrict themselves to pet rocks, but not some living animal. Period.

Absolutely

[Roccoriel]

I don't currently have cats.  MY cats growing up were indoor/outdoor, but since then my mom has kept all of her cats indoors.  It's just dangerous for them out there, with cars, other animals, and even people who like to do nasty things to poor kitties.  Also, with so many bird populations being negatively affected by outdoor and stray cats, I think it's just environmentally irresponsible to let cats wander outside.  If I get another cat, it will definitely be indoor only.

[Melodia]

I keep my kitties inside, I have found a way to keep them from kicking litter out of their litterbox and it keeps the house nice and clean I would like to share:
Get a plastic storage crate, ( the ones they sell at walmart with lids for like 6$) That is big enough to hold your kitties litterbox inside of it. Then, cut out the front of one of the sides of it  so the kitty can go inside. you can throw away the lid. The three walls of the storage bin will be so high that kitty can't kick her litter out of the box. this is what I use ^^ it has saved me alot of sweeping hehe just thought I would share.

[FantasticFirefly]

The youngest is turning nine, so in the mid 2000's when I got her and her mum spayed. I thought it was strange the vets were pushing me to get them both declawed at the same time. "it'll be easier with recovery doing both at once" I kept saying no. This was in the GTA (big city, just outside of Toronto Canada). I didn't want it done period.

I haven't had much issues with picking, even with the deaf girl. Big posts, Tall enough for the cat to sit and fully extend and stretch solve most problems, they LOVE extending their front legs and pulling down. Also being consistent with a water-bottle when they pick at things they're not allowed solved the rest. Mom was outdoors and litter-trained when I got her but had many bad habits. even being deaf and a little over 1 year old when I got her she was actually very easy to train -sign language kitty. Her kitten on the other hand will behave when we're around and will attempt mischief when she thinks we can't see her. Not picking, but hopping up on counters. ugh. I have sanitizer and sanitize the counters before I make anything. But I have some nice furniture, solid wood TV stand that's beautiful and a linen covered chaise they haven't touched- but could easily rip up both to ribbons if I didn't leave them a proper space to do their picking.

Here's older pictures of them. Mom and baby are filled out, more fluffy. I love their little manes they got.
Baby:
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Mom:
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[Salli]

I used to think that cats were evil and destructive and incapable of not being destructive. After watching a couple of seasons of 'My Cat From Hell', Jackson Galaxy totally changed my mind. I realized that I knew nothing about what cats needed (and why they destroy things). So, I implemented the lifestyle that Jackson recommended for cats and then we rescued 2 from the Humane Society.
I LOVE my kitties. LOOOOVE.
They were a bit skittish at first (I also have 2 kids) but are turning into quite the lap cats Thanks to Jackson G, I feel like I have 2 lovely, furry friends instead of 2 giant, destructive pests. I HIGHLY recommend watching the show (especially season 1) if you are stressed out by your cat or if you are thinking about having them declawed. Your cat is filling a need when it is destroying something. The fix may be easier than you think

Anyway, my kitties go in and out as they like. They usually come in at night. We live in a pretty quiet suburban area and they are pretty street-smart. Although they mostly hang out in our yard (1/3 acre) and the yard of the nice older lady next door. I am so grateful that I had the chance to have cats in my life and enjoy their company (and their mousing abilities ). Thank you, Jackson Galaxy!

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[bagheera86]

um. Mine live exclusively outside, she hated being indoors and would become terribly destructive, she lived to be 20 though. But she did have her own kennel and blankets and cushions to  keep her warm, luckily there's no snow here and in the winter I made sure she had extra blankets, warm food/hot water bottle. She passed away from a thyroid problem.

But I was lucky with her, she was always at home, she would visit our neighbours garden but she never wandered too far from the house.  It all depends on the cats really, and your local weather conditions and what not. I guess I lucked out with her.

Don't shoot me

[kellyponyfeathers]

um. Mine live exclusively outside, she hated being indoors and would become terribly destructive, she lived to be 20 though. But she did have her own kennel and blankets and cushions to  keep her warm, luckily there's no snow here and in the winter I made sure she had extra blankets, warm food/hot water bottle. She passed away from a thyroid problem.

But I was lucky with her, she was always at home, she would visit our neighbours garden but she never wandered too far from the house.  It all depends on the cats really, and your local weather conditions and what not. I guess I lucked out with her.

Don't shoot me

It depends on the cat. Some of them really are miserable inside and become destructive. I reay think they'd rather take their chances outside and be happy, instead of being stuck inside and miserable.

About 2 years ago I started feeding an orange cat that had been dumped when his owner moved. At first he acted scared and lost. But after he had a reliable food source, he seemed to get used to the outdoor lifestyle. He learned to hunt and seemed confident and happy. Eventually I found him a home with a family that wanted a pet/working barn cat who would hunt mice in their small barn. They had a few acres with a house and small barn set well off the road; it was the perfect match. He's extremely happy at his new home and doesn't even want to come inside; he gets the best of both worlds, familt pet and working mouser.

[Vintergatan]

I agree It's not necessarily the best option to keep a cat indoors. The orange tabby on my pictures above, he was a foster kitty we had for a few months and he was extremely energetic and grew up used to the outside, so we let him out ^^ There was really no other option for his well-being as well as the well-being of my other kitties and my house

[Rhubarbpie]

Gotta say, much respect to the ladies and gents who have leash trained their kitteh's!!  I attempted to train Honey on a leash and i still have scars on my arm from when I tried to put a leash on her!!

[Flitter]

My boys only go out on leashes and closely supervised by me.
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

I try to get them out about once a week if the weather is nice and usually will do their nail trims and brushing on my back porch. They seem to enjoy lying in the grass experiencing the different sights, sounds and smells of being outside but typically tire of it after about 45min and want to go back inside. 

[okiegurl1981]

Meet Nibs the Cat.  Her hobbies include sleeping in strange places, sitting in the middle of whatever project I have going on, and plotting world domination.
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

She comes and goes outside as she pleases, and she's pretty much house trained.  As in, she's trained us to open the door for her when she sits in front of it and meows.  She's really supposed to be an outside cat, since mom is allergic, but that doesn't stop her from sleeping on my mom's bed every chance she gets, lol.  We live kinda out in the country, so we don't really have to worry about cars.  She's current on all her shots and spayed, and she likes to chase the neighbor's weenie dog out of our yard.  

[BlackCurtains]

My oldest kitty is declawed It was at my mother's insistence and one of the conditions for her to allow me to get a cat. I was in highschool and had wanted a cat for years (this was in the 90s). At the time it wasn't something I thought much about and was still a pretty normal thing to do, everyone I knew with cats had them declawed. Luckily, she hasn't had any of the major issues that can develop from it.

That said, I'd never do that now and my other kitty has claws... in fact she likes to pull the old sheaths off and spit them in my bed

[Refuse to Dance]

My Kes is declawed so if she goes outside it is only on the harness with the leash. It's not bad, but with living in a rented apartment you don't own and the carpet cannot be switched for another three years, everything was tried. I didn't want to do it but she scratched up my parents upper floor carpet My father is retired and my mom most likely not long after him, so like me they cannot afford new carpet right now. It doesn't help that the carpet was wrongly installed. I love her and I didn't want to give her away.

[nollilols]

At the time it wasn't something I thought much about and was still a pretty normal thing to do, everyone I knew with cats had them declawed. Luckily, she hasn't had any of the major issues that can develop from it.

I still can't believe it's normal practise anywhere. I know that's easy for me to say, living somewhere it's pretty much illegal, but it seems incredibly inhumane, and I have to agree with what numerous other posters have said - if someone's living conditions require a declawed cat, they shouldn't have a cat, absolutely end of. I understand though that unfortunately even cruel practises can go unconsidered when they're really common practises - I used to assume because pet shops sold hamster cages of a certain size that it was okay to use those cages (I wouldn't dream of using a petshop cage now!) - so I just hope it becomes less and less common. And I'm really glad your kitty hasn't developed any issues!

[BlackCurtains]

At the time it wasn't something I thought much about and was still a pretty normal thing to do, everyone I knew with cats had them declawed. Luckily, she hasn't had any of the major issues that can develop from it.

I still can't believe it's normal practise anywhere. I know that's easy for me to say, living somewhere it's pretty much illegal, but it seems incredibly inhumane, and I have to agree with what numerous other posters have said - if someone's living conditions require a declawed cat, they shouldn't have a cat, absolutely end of. I understand though that unfortunately even cruel practises can go unconsidered when they're really common practises - I used to assume because pet shops sold hamster cages of a certain size that it was okay to use those cages (I wouldn't dream of using a petshop cage now!) - so I just hope it becomes less and less common. And I'm really glad your kitty hasn't developed any issues!

You forgot the first part.

It was at my mother's insistence and one of the conditions for her to allow me to get a cat. I was in highschool and had wanted a cat for years (this was in the 90s).

It was the 90s. I was 15-16 years old. I feel bad about it now, but I can't take it back. It's one of those things you learn from. My mother was wrong about a lot of things, that one included.