why do people keep their cats indoors?

Question

i cant understand it, i have 2 cats andlove them to bits. i think people are being overprotective of their cats! they need to have their freedom, the reasons people give for not letting their cats out are rubbish, like diseases, getting knocked down and so on. its a risk! but its a risk worth taking! cats in fact are much more healthier outdoors and MUCH happier! its bordering cruelty keeping them inside. its such a shame many cats dont have their freedom, theres no excuse for it. our cats couldnt be happier, i had one before them and he lived to about 18, and im glad he experienced the outdoors. being 19, i have lived with cats almost all my life and know all about them. anyone that really cares about their cat will take the small risk of letting their cat out (they WILL come back).

Answer 1

you cut a cats life in half by allowing them to be outside...in my neighborhood not a week goes by that a cat isnt hit by a car...i have two cats and they are very happy well cats that are kept inside...they want for nothing...and although they do try to escape when the door is open..if we carry them outside in our arms..they cry to go back in...the house is safe to them..as for allowing them to go out on their own...no way..one they dont have front claws..two there are dogs in the neighborhood that have killed other small dogs..why would i endanger my babies in that way?

Answer 2

it a preference of choice, no right and wrong and please remember posters that we don't all live in the USA so a lot of your advice is way off!
I let my cats choose, i have a cat flap so they can come and go as they please.
I have had cats since i was a baby and ALL my cats have been indoor outdoor not just on or the other. The only time i lost a cat to a car was when we had moved into the country (very upsetting but it happened). And i lost 2 tom cats that i had rescued before i had chance to get them neutered, i assume they went looking for love and never came back.

My neighbour has 2 Persians and her cats are indoor, they are always trying to get outside and don't seem happy.

There is nothing better than looking out to my garden to see my cats in their various sun spots or chasing each other round the garden.

Also if the life expectancy is 3 then all mine must be nearing the book of records as they are 3 times that pretty much (except for my 2.5 year old)

Answer 3

Ignore all the rude jerks on here hon. The reason people keep cats indoors is because it is dangerous outside. Honestly if I lived in the country my cat would be an outdoor / indoor cat.

I live in a very big city by a busy street and I am too afraid for him to go out. However I do have a collar and leash that I use and I do take him outside at least 3 - 4 times a week. He is given Revolution so he doesn't get fleas and heartworms and loves to run back inside.

Answer 4

If you own a tiny apartment with no fresh air of balcony,cats will go insane, but if you live in a home over 2000 square feet with a balcony, they are fine. Plus, there is a street not 30 feet from my house where people typically go 45 to 60 miles per hour. I am not taking this kind of risk, because when my cats do get out, they run straight for the street. There are also coyote and bobcat sightings in my neighborhood, and 3 cats have already been killed by them. My cats are more than happy being indoor. Also, my male cat Joey got outside for 3 hours, and from only being ou t that long he got sick from drinking bad water, then when we brought him back home, he infected the 3 other pets in my household! Vet bills out the roof! I had two outdoor cats in my old home, who lived to be 8 and 10. They cost me thousands over the years from the cat fights with other cats in the neighborhood and diseases running through the mice they ate and the water they drank. I am 100% for indoor pets. Unless the cat has no fresh air and has minimum space to wander, they are fine. Just take it from the thousands of cat owners all over the world who chose to keep them from running about the streets! Now dogs are a different issue...they NEED the outdoors.....but that IS a different issue!

Answer 5

What they don’t know it can’t hurt them. Ok Cats are born hunters and like to feel the freedom. I have Persian cats and there are all house cats. If I was to let my long haired cat outside god knows what crap they would bring in on their fur...i.e... a sharp twig might rap around there fur which would need cutting out or taken to the vets to be shaved out. There is also the risk with pedigree cats that someone might steal them, there is no chance I’m risking that. I can understand your point of view, but you have to understand people all have their own ideas about things and maybe you should respect what people do with their own animals, at least there taking care of them and not being cruel. All my cats are very happy in doors, when the doors open in the summer they have the opportunity to go out, but they chose not to as they would prefer to be safe indoors, so it’s not just the owner.

Answer 6

I don't really have a problem with indoor cats as long as they are looked after in an appropriate way. For example you shouldn't feed an entirely indoor cat on a regular feed because its activity level will be too low and the cat will gain weight, you need to feed it on a specific indoor cat diet. Also it should have access to 24 hour stiumation - scratch posts, toys other animals and son on. I also don't think its cruel to allow cats outside, after all they stem from wild cats who always live outdoors. Declawing is illegal in Britain for good reason, claws are a form of defense AND attack in cats, you declaw a cat it's like cutting off a persons hands! I live on a main road which is fairly busy and this is actually a deterant for my cats, they are petrified of traffic and spend almost all their outside time out the back of the house despite having a front garden.

Cats should be failr protected from disease as long as you have been a responsible owner and had them vaccinated correctly which so many people do not do.

However there are certain breeds which i feel benefit from indoor life for certain reasons. A lot of pure breed cats get stolen so it's understandbale people want to keep them inside and the Munchkin breed doesn't fair too well outside due to its tiny little legs. For the most i think entirely indoor cats is more of an American phoenomenom, having worked in a pet store for nearly 8 years i've rarely encountered people with cats who live entirely indoors!
My friends cat was 23 when it died and it spent most of it's life outside - he died of kidney failure so essentially old age.

Answer 7

I've had cats all my married life......that's 27 years. All the cats we had that were allowed to go outside, lived notoriously short lives. There are entirely too many dangers out there. Four got hit by cars. One of them got poisoned in some mysterious manner, probably by getting into something he shouldn't have, or somebody poisoned him intentionally. At least 3 disappeared and never came back. And two were eaten by Coyotes, in a nice quiet suburban neighborhood. As far as I'm concerned, none of those thing are small risks.

We now have 3 cats, all pure breeds that we paid quite a lot of money for. They are all 9 and 10 years old, which is a lot longer than any of our other cats have lived. They are safer and healthier, and happier, and we still have all of them. Frankly, I think it's borderline cruelty to let them outside to take their chances.

Answer 8

I have three cats, and I keep them all indoors. The reason? We live on a busy street, and the risk of them getting run over is HIGH. When I was growing up, my cats were indoor/outdoor and could come and go as they pleased. But we lived in a quiet neighborhood, so the risk was much lower. In the neighborhood where I live now, the risk is much higher than the enjoyment that the cats would get from being outside.

Answer 9

lots of reasons:

-the cats live longer when kept indoors
this is prooven by the fact that an outdoor cat's human years are older than an indoor cat's human years at the same cat age

-the cats are not exposed to diseases
outside the cats can get diseases (like rabies) from infected animals outside. inside cats won't catch diseases because they won't be interacting with wild animal. this can also save owners money from spending it on disease treatment, vaccination, or diagnosis

-the cats can't get killed or injured by wild predators
if you let your cat outside, it's on its own. meaning that if a larger animal comes along it might have a hard time defending itself, be defeated in the fight, or even killed. i heard a lot of stories about cats being eaten by coyotes (so sad:()this won't happen if you keep you cat indoors (im sure!!)

-the cats are much cleaner
if the cats go outside they get more dirty which means you might have to give them a bath which they hate and if there is something toxic on thier fur and they lick themslevs they could get very sick. it's just more sanitary
-the cat might not come back
its a small chance you're right, but i heard about it! some owners do not want to take that chance

-and most important
the bond between cat and owner won't be as big. since the cat is outside most of the time, it won't have as much time to be with you and bond. it will probably love the outrdoors more
don't you want to bond with your cats?
thought so

the lilpuddycat has been here =^..^=

Answer 10

I will explain why I don't have my cat outside and I have a good reason not to have her outside.
Cars
People should not have other cats in their yard messing in their yard.
mean people that don't like animals
I don't like my cat killing birds that have the right to live and fly
around without getting killed by a cat.

In the News paper people get in the mail and it will have in it LOST AND FOUND and also COYOTE SITEINGS.
One of the notes that says in the News paper is " Have you found your PET today."
Where I live it is near the mountains and when it is around 3:00pm or a little later I can hear Coyotes and they come down where I live and they will jump a 6 foot fence and go into other peoples back yards and drag over the fence a cat or a dog and people in the area will see this. People have found coyote dens in their back yard and also mountain Lions. There are Bears that have been found in peoples backyards,oppussoms,skunks. People have been told that they have to go in their own back yards and supervise their own pets and also while they are going for a walk on the trail.
these are the reasons why I don't have my cat outside. Any way the live longer inside. I have had a cat to live to be 24 years old. I also forgot Raccoons. My cat is very happy inside the house. I don't consider it abuse.

Answer 11

You know, I agree with you about letting the cats go outdoors, but they are at much more risk going out. Their lifespans drop drastically. However, I used to let my cats out all the time because I lived on a quiet cul de sac and I'd rather have a happy cat with a shorter life than a lifelong miserable one. But now I live in an apartment where my yard is a parking lot and my front street is a busy road and there is no way I'm letting them out on there own. I do ocassionally go out with them on my little patch of grass outside and they're in heaven. But, I can see why some people keep their cats in doors. Would you really let yours out if you lived in a huge apartment complex?