Is Your Cat An Indoor,Outdoor or both?

Both of my cats are indoors. I would have to agree that indoor cats are more or less likely to catch diseases and get ahold of unwanted parasites. I would also think that indoor cats would live longer. I love them being indoors and plus I don't have a fenced in yard, I live in an apartment so letting them out would increase the chances of me losing them, or them being injured or killed.

My cats are generally indoor cats. I used to let them out when it was warm, but I've decided to stop doing that. They just get too dirty, bring in too much dirt, and not to mention the fleas! One still asks to go outside every once in a while, but they both seem to be alright with staying inside. And I'm glad! And how true is it that you can't keep them off of wherever they want to go??

An indoor cat can live to a very ripe old age; my Mom has has several cats that were 18-19 years old before they passed away.

Here's an interesting piece:

Given proper care, nutrition, and regular veterinary visits, a cat kept indoors can live as long as 21 years or more. (The average age of cats is 12-15 years) This is, of course, barring any serious medical conditions or untimely accidents.

Cats that are indoors-outdoors usually don't last to the the average age because of traffic accidents, fighting with other cats, intentional acts of violence, poisoning (accidental or intentional), diseases caught from other cats, being picked up by animal control and subsequently euthanized if not claimed, and death caused by predators.

http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement101/f/lifespan_cats.htm

My town actually has a city ordinance prohibiting cats from running loose; they must be on a leash if they are outside.

This is because we have a large population of albino squirrels, and cats are natural predators; the albino population was beginning to shrink, and since passing the "leash law" several years back, there has been a marked increase in the number of albino squirrels in town.

I have a LOT of cats and they are indoors - now, we do have a screened porch they can go out on, but they can't GET outside from it so we do have fleas, but at lest they aren't out running about in the street

I have two cats and they are both indoor cats. There's too much that can happen to an outdoor cat and I don't want anything to like that for them. I think is so funny as my second cat is named Jinx, but for different reasons. He was named more that towards my boyfriend and the sitiuation that I ended up taking the cat in and he really didn't want it. Lol. There are some cats out side that I feed because people who moved just dumped them outside and left them like they were worthless. I'm taking care of them as best I can and hoping to find a home for them. I might take one of the kittens as a third cat, but he'll be an indoor cat too.:D

The last cat I've had lived to be 17 years old.
I've always kept my cat indoors for fear of the raccoons roaming outside.
Keeping my cat indoors assured me that my cat would be safe from outside predators and from other stray fighting cats.

my baby pepper is an indoor cat he has only been outside twice in his life and he is about a year old now. The first time was when we went to get him to bring him home as a baby and the second time was about a month ago when we moved we made sure he was in a carrier when we brought him to our new house. I dont think he could handle being outside it's funny cause he makes sure he stays clear of the door he hates it when it's opened his favorite spot is on the back of couch which is close to the door so everytime someone comes in he will take off and go in our bedroom. I dont know why people think that cats need to or have to go outside that is something me and mom agrue about all the time she doesnt like cats and she is always telling me I need to put my cat outside well Im sorry he is my baby and Im not doing that so just to shut her up and keep the peace whenever she comes over (which thank God isnt very often LOL) I put our kitty in our bedroom until after she is gone just cause I dont like her the things that she says.

All of our cats have always had free access to the outdoors. I have a large garden for them to go in, though they quite often go beyond it - fences are no barrier to a cat. They don't often get round to the front of the house, but the street there is pretty quiet so there's not a lot of chance of them getting run over. There's not many hazards for them out there and in the 60 - odd years that there have been cats living here, there have been only two or three cases of cats coming home injured and these were all males who had been fighting with other cats, and one recently got herself covered in motor oil. There have been at least two cats who lived to be 18 years old. Both of them we had from kittens.

Being in Britain, there are no predators apart from foxes and dogs that are likely to attack a cat. One of our old cats was attacked by a dog while she was sunning herself in the back garden. It just jumped over the fence and went for her. It jumped back over the fence a good deal faster after the old cat slashed it across the nose!

I have recently rehomed 2 11mth old kittens/ cats...

Their previous owners had them as indoor cats, but they hadn't had any vaccinations, neither had they been neutered... All of this was done very swiftly once they were adopted!

But... I live in a very rural area, the only street near me has maybe 30 cars a day, and those belong to the people that live here... So the cats are going outside... further each day and with more confidence!

My cats are rapidly becoming good tree climbers and are having great fun in the garden, they are so much more alert when they can run around outside and they really do have fun:o)

Keeping them inside is no guarentee of no fleas, ours picked them up when they were inside the house, they can live in carpets, clothing etc... or could even jump from another animal at the vets.

Misty

All our 4 cats are inside only. They don't even want to get out. As was said, it's much safer for them inside. We have foxes, raccoons, snakes, hawks and who knows what else? I wouldn't sleep if they weren't sleeping with me.