The indoor/outdoor debate
By TheRealDawn
@dawnald (85137)
Shingle Springs, California
August 22, 2015 3:48pm CST
Somebody on Facebook in a group I'm in had reported that his wife's cat was hit by a car. That wasn't the place to have this debate. That was the place to say "I'm sorry for your loss". Nevertheless, a lot of people got all judgmental on there about how the cat shouldn't have been let outside.
This is the place to have that debate (respectfully, please).
The rescue I volunteer for has people sign a contract, I won't de-claw the cat, I'll surrender the cat back to the rescue if I can't keep it, I promise it will be an indoor cat, etc. We don't do background checks on adopters, or home checks, but if the person says something that convinces us that they will not keep the cat inside, we don't adopt it out to them.
Reasons for keeping a cat indoors are predators, dogs, cars, diseases (there is no vaccine for Feline AIDS, for example), poison, and many more.
I grew up with indoor/outdoor cats, and my first cats were indoor outdoor. I first started keeping them in when we moved to a house that had coyotes on the hill behind the house. I keep them in now because we live on a busy street, and because there are predators and dogs.
Recently, on a political discussion, I mentioned that I keep my cats in and a person (not judgmentally) said she wouldn't do that to her cats, because they love being outside so much. Believe me, I understand that, but I decided to put the cats' safety above that.
Ultimately, I believe it's a personal decision. Your thoughts?
3 people like this
3 responses
@TLChimes (4822)
• United States
24 Aug 15
Depends on where we lived. I won't let them out here because of wild pack dogs... in the city... yes, that's a thing. But when we lived in middle of no where New York or Ohio we had indoor cats and "barn" cats. They kept the pests out and we gave them food and shelter. They would come and go as they saw fit. My uncle was big on making sure they were vetted though. We would end up with a stray or two but it was all good and welcomed.
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
22 Aug 15
If you never let a cat go outside in the first place then they don't know that they'd love it. My current cats have always been indoor cats. They've gotten out once or twice but it's been so infrequent that they're actually scared of being outside. They're perfectly happy to live indoors, and perfectly safe too.
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
22 Aug 15
Yes, most of them adjust to it just fine. It's harder when you try and turn an indoor/outdoor cat into an indoor cat.
