Outside cats- inspired by another thread.

[Robinrs]

I've owned cats for 30 years and never let them go outside.

My vet once told me that an outside cat is subjected to too many diseases, perils and pests. I can control my environment, cannot control the outdoors completely.

I have a co worker who gets the biggest kick out of the fact that her cats are indoor outdoor cats. THEN she comes in crying when one is hit by a car or runs away... what the...

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

I really get po'd myself at people that allow their cats to roam freely throughout the neighborhood. I don't understand why people think that's ok. We have a little parrot which I put on our screened front porch and I have found cats continuously around our porch, and also literally hanging on the screen. Even tho she is in a cage, I constantly worry about the cats. We have a tiny dog who does keep them away but only slightly as she is smaller than the cats. Now I see there is a pic up all around the neighborhood of one of the cats that is now "missing." I think cat owners that do not control their cats are very irresponsible, not only for others but for their pet.

 

[lillygator]

I hate that cats roam free.....our neighbor has so many cats that all live outside (she has some dogs that live inside)....they are always wonedering in our yard, on our pool deck and like to taunt the dogs by walking the line of the fence...hope they don't fall in one day.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Hate me or not, I don't care: my cats go out whenever they want to. They only go about as far as our yard, our neighbor to the right, or our neighbor across the street, both who feed them every once in a while. We do that to our cats also.

We've never had any of them hit by a bar before. The only ones that ran away were 2 boys from a litter from a cat that wasn't officially our who was living under our porch and later on, that cat was adopted by another family. They're really good cats, a couple of them hardly ever leave the house where as some of them we hardly ever see because it's summer and they sleep in the gardens.

But, we also have a big house and a big yard, as do our (above mentioned) neighbors, so they have plenty room to run around on. I have never seen them in any other property before, except the road when they cross. If someone told us it was a problem, we'd re-evaluate our situation but only one neighbor doesn't have at least one cat and he just doesn't care... all of the other neighbors let their cats out too. He's young, wealthy, plays drums all the time and just worries about the ladies .

They don't go far, as I said before, usually I can call them and they'll pop up in about 2 seconds... if they're not being stubborn of course.

 

[Mermaid02]

Hate me or not, I don't care: my cats go out whenever they want to. They only go about as far as our yard, our neighbor to the right, or our neighbor across the street, both who feed them every once in a while. We do that to our cats also.

We've never had any of them hit by a bar before. The only ones that ran away were 2 boys from a litter from a cat that wasn't officially our who was living under our porch and later on, that cat was adopted by another family. They're really good cats, a couple of them hardly ever leave the house where as some of them we hardly ever see because it's summer and they sleep in the gardens.

But, we also have a big house and a big yard, as do our (above mentioned) neighbors, so they have plenty room to run around on. I have never seen them in any other property before, except the road when they cross. If someone told us it was a problem, we'd re-evaluate our situation but only one neighbor doesn't have at least one cat and he just doesn't care... all of the other neighbors let their cats out too. He's young, wealthy, plays drums all the time and just worries about the ladies .

They don't go far, as I said before, usually I can call them and they'll pop up in about 2 seconds... if they're not being stubborn of course.

Of course I don't hate you- but I think you are totally naive to think your cats don't leave your yard.

 

[Gigi22]

DH and I had 3 cats, all of whom went outside regularly, and lived to a ripe old age. Bless them! We currently have 2 cats who are exclusively indoor cats. What changed for us? We also have a bird feeder and we came to feel that we couldn't in good conscience let the cats out and feed the birds. Birds have a tough enough time these days. And, in truth, our wonderful neighbours. Some of them don't like cats, years ago one came over to my house with his brother, both of them drunk, one night and yelled at me. Charming. So--the tone of my neighbourhood has deteriorated to the extent that I do not trust my neighbours not to harm my pets. That's it.

 

[Jennasis]

I have three cats. They live exclusively outside. Barn cats.

They're spoiled rotten, get all of their shots, deworming, are spayed/neutered, fed and snuggled with. I often joke that they are spoiled housecats who happen to live outside.

We also have no immediate neighbors (we're out in the country and closest neighbor is about 1/4 mile away.

They're quite happy and healthy. They have tow brothers from the same litter who my sister adopted and took to NY to live in her apartment. Those two cats never go out. They are three times the size of their brothers here and have been to the vets office with more ailments than I can count.