Keeping Cats Indoors

[lord_seagrave]

Chaps,

So-called house-cats - I can’t help thinking that the moggy’s natural instincts are being compromised. Are some breeds truly domesticated, and do any PW-ers own an “indoor cat”?

I disagree strongly with the concept of “outdoor” “pet” cat “ownership”, but is keeping an indoor cat just as morally repugnant?

LS

[12gauge82]

Wrong in my opinion, a cat is a natural predator and like a dog that never gets walked, would be extremely unhappy and frustrated.

[team tractor]

My best friend .currently in this position as I write .

 she rarely goes out and uses the tray toilet . I have to throw her out but it lasts minutes. 

[Wymondley]

Nope, cats shouldn't be confined.

I find cats highly amusing  but they're not really domesticated.   They live with us because "they" choose  to.

My current pair are sixteen and have outlived two other cats and the dog.

They don't go out now because they can't be bothered any  more.

[team tractor]

8 minutes ago, Wymondley said:

Nope, cats shouldn't be confined.

I find cats highly amusing  but they're not really domesticated.   They live with us because "they" choose  to.

My current pair are sixteen and have outlived two other cats and the dog.

They don't go out now because they can't be bothered any  more.

22 but lost her this year.

i was 14 and it’s crazy I’ve had 4 kids , a house and she out lived my sister . 

She broke our hearts

[Retsdon]

Don't talk to me about cats! Mine is shortly about to meet his maker - just as soon as I can arrange a time with the vet. If I had a proper gun here, he'd be gone already. Came back from holiday the day before yesterday to find that he'd been crapping under the sofa - the whole house is stinking of cat. To be far, it's not entirely his fault because there's a big male taken up residence in the neighbourhood and he (my cat) gets a hiding every time this thing sees him so he's been loath to go outside. But I'm not tolerating a cat in the house 24 hours a day and a litter or whatever. If he won't go outside to do his business - it's tickets.

[hawkfanz]

my partner has a bengal,rag doll,main coon and an exotic unplanned from 2 of em on list,they cost loads of cash and are very old now oldest 17,they have never been outdoor cats,they go in the garden with us but are never left out,

[Jaymo]

Pet Rabbit, Fish, snake, Gerbil etc - all naturally outdoor animals who adapt to their surroundings, same as Mr Moggie who if kept from a kitten knows only one thing, what’s to say your ‘hound’ who spends most of their day confined to your house with maybe a walk or two a day is any happier as after all a canine wasn’t bred ‘domesticated’ 

Rehoming an ‘outdoor’ cat possibly has psychological problems when being confined to indoors only and I wouldn’t be quite so happy to advocate this.

Can see this developing into the usual PW Cat thread ?

[Dan7626]

Going back a couple of years we looked after a Bengal cat for the wife's brother while he went travelling.

We were told he was strictly a house cat and he didn't likeit outside and that he shouldn't be let out. About a month in to us having him I could see he wasn't happy in the house so I let him out. 

He was like a different cat. He would go off for the day and come back inthe evenings with mice, rabbits, even magpies! 

The wife's brother went mad when he heard he was outside ?

Since then he has gone back to his owner and is stuck inside again. I think it's very very wrong to keep a cat indoors.

[Hamster]

It depends on the breed and of course the house itself and its suitability, most exotic cats that have for generations been bred for certain aesthetic peculiarities aren't in fact suited to the rough existence of a typical tommy. You can argue the ethics behind breeding to type but then you'd also have to put the dog world to rights which includes the many fieldsports varieties. 

Many breeders of pedigree cats will openly advise (and even demand) that their kittens are to be sold as indoor pet homes only, yes they can go outside and even become 50/50 as mine were but the breeders will often tell you they're simply not hard or street wise enough. There's also the simple question of theft because of the crazy price tags of some of these breeds. Back in 92 I paid silly money for my British shorthaired silver tabby with a huge pedigree lineage behind him, the prices have now gone up four fold. I had him neutered because I didn't want him to spend every night outside mating and if I'm honest didn't want others using his free stud services and selling his beautiful offspring to random homes. It may sound snobbish but if I were a cat I' d sooner live indoors in a millionaires mansion complete with granary with occasional access to a yard than live in a scruffy, smelly flat with a cat flap that opens out to a concrete world of rubbish and stray dogs for company, cats like clean environments. 

I'd love to get a Pixie bob next but starting at £1500 how likely is it he'd be snatched within weeks ? Apparently they like being walked like a dog which is just as well. 

[team tractor]

My cousins cats both died before 7 years old. Both were house cats and it killed them in my eyes. 

[guzzicat]

9 hours ago, team tractor said:

My best friend .currently in this position as I write .

 she rarely goes out and uses the tray toilet . I have to throw her out but it lasts minutes. 

That's black & whites for you,not like other cats

[team tractor]

1 minute ago, guzzicat said:

That's black & whites for you,not like other cats

My old black one used to go out for days /weeks . Unfortunately she caught leukaemia 

[Walker570]

Am I the only one on here that hates the ###### things ?  YES! they should be kept indoors and away from indiscrimately killing wildlife and defecating all over my garden.

[Bobba]

Visited by son when he worked in Manhatten, New York. Many, many high rise apartment blocks so lots of indoor cats. Often saw cats being walked on leads. The worst thing about indoor cats we saw was in a large pet store where a charity against the drawing of cats claws was collecting to ban the practice. Yes, afraid of scratch damage in furnished apartments cat owners have their cat claws removed. A cruel practice. Hopefully it will not spread to UK.

[John_R]

Bobba, declawing is illegal in the UK and much of Europe. 

Some US states also outlaw it. 

[Houseplant]

I took in a kitten that was found abandoned on a farm. What was I thinking? Lucky animal as feral cats are considered more than legitimate quarry by firearms users here. Anyway, fast forward 6 years and we have a lovable moggy that literally won't leave the house. Cruel to keep them inside? Depends on the animal.

[Hamster]

Indoor cats don't get run over or shot by people assuming they're feral. 

[team tractor]

1 minute ago, Hamster said:

Indoor cats don't get run over or shot by people assuming they're feral. 

They don’t assume they are feral but sport  sick . 

[henry d]

Setting aside the killing of wildlife, the major thing in Scotland with cats going outside is interbreeding with wildcats.

[12gauge82]

5 hours ago, Retsdon said:

Don't talk to me about cats! Mine is shortly about to meet his maker - just as soon as I can arrange a time with the vet. If I had a proper gun here, he'd be gone already. Came back from holiday the day before yesterday to find that he'd been crapping under the sofa - the whole house is stinking of cat. To be far, it's not entirely his fault because there's a big male taken up residence in the neighbourhood and he (my cat) gets a hiding every time this thing sees him so he's been loath to go outside. But I'm not tolerating a cat in the house 24 hours a day and a litter or whatever. If he won't go outside to do his business - it's tickets.

I do hope this is a joke.

[rimfire4969]

I am not a fan of cats, they are fantastic hunters and this means the decimate fledging bird numbers. I think all cats should have a bell on their collar so if they are hunting they might make a noise and scare the birds off before the kill.

I know of a cat that was taking chickens it was seen at the time in the act, the second time it was scared away. It was shot, again in the act a night or two later with a lamp. Unfortunately it had a collar, name tag and number.

[Retsdon]

1 hour ago, 12gauge82 said:

I do hope this is a joke.

Why would it be a joke?

[Jaymo]

39 minutes ago, rimfire4969 said:

I am not a fan of cats, they are fantastic hunters and this means the decimate fledging bird numbers. I think all cats should have a bell on their collar so if they are hunting they might make a noise and scare the birds off before the kill.

I know of a cat that was taking chickens it was seen at the time in the act, the second time it was scared away. It was shot, again in the act a night or two later with a lamp. Unfortunately it had a collar, name tag and number.

May be you should wear a bell around your neck when your out shooting? Mr moggie is doing his hunting for sport/ food, just like you ?

[loriusgarrulus]

I have a catflap. My 18 year old rarely goes out now. The others do go out, apart from my spynx who has never shown any interest in going out. The only one that hunts to my knowledge is the great white hunter who catches pigeons, crows, squirrels, rats and mice then leaves them on the doorstep. Not seen him catch any small birds yet unless he eats them before coming home.