I live in the city so mine are, most definitely, indoors only. They do have access to a screened in balcony though.

 

I think it is much more common in the UK.
I had never heard of keeping a cat indoors until I came here.

I live in a rural place, the only traffic on my road is to the houses as it is a dead end, and behind my house I have fields. My cats come and go as they please via the catflap.

 

Customs vary with location.

In the US, it is more common for cats to be indoors. Many (most?) rescue groups and animal shelters require the cats to be kept indoors for their safety.
For instance, I live in a suburb of Dallas. The park across the street is connected by bike paths and walking trails to other parks in our city. We have possums, raccoons, snakes, ducks, geese, rabbits, fox and the occassional cougar in our park. It's not only the predators we are concerned about, it's also diseases such as rabies or venon from a snake bite.
Traffic is also an issue. Unlike some cities, Dallas is very spread out. Public transportation is available, but unable to cover the 340 square miles that makes up the DFW area. It is common for every family to have a car - and most have a car for every driver. Traffic is a huge hazzard for the cats.

That said, there are farm/ranch cats who live their entire life outside. There are also people who believe that cats should be inside and outside, free to roam. And some people build their cats outdoor enclosures so they can enjoy the out of doors safely.

 

Hehe that is interesting where rescues require you keep your cat indoors. When we looked at rescues for someone one of the requirements was a garden.

 

yup mine are both indoors they'd get run over pretty fast here plus I'd never see them. My friend with an outdoor cat (who is allowed in) could care less about his people, they almost never see him which always saddens me since my kitties are my shadows.

 

My cats are indoor also. For me it wasn't even an option because when we got them we lived on the 5th floor of an apartment building so there was no outdoor access, and now that we live in a house I'd be too worried about their safety to let them out. We live near a nature reserve where I've seen foxes and coyotes and LOTS of raccoons, and there are a lot of neighbourhood cats around already - I wouldn't want mine to get into fights with them over territory. Plus they're fraidy cats - they're sometimes curious of the outdoors, but I think they'd have a nervous breakdown if I stuck them out there!

But, I don't know if I agree about the shelter laws saying that you can't adopt a cat if you're going to put it outside. I think it should be on a case-by-case basis - one of my mom's coworkers who lives in a rural area has 2 indoor/outdoor cats already. He wanted to adopt a shelter cat but he couldn't guarantee it wouldn't go outside because of his other cats, so they wouldn't adopt one out to him. I'm not sure if sitting in a metal cage for who knows how long is really better than being an indoor/outdoor cat, especially because I know this guy really loves his cats.

 

Most of our kitties will be indoor kitties, because of a death in the road to the first cat of our marriage. However, we have had several 'barn kitties'. These were kitties who would not tame or did not mesh with the indoor kitties.

Eventually, I'd like to build a cat-run onto the side of our house so the kitties can enjoy fresh air and sunshine safely. We are too close to a 55mph road to allow our non-traffic wary cats outside at all, unless closely supervised.

 

When I lived in a rural area the cats that I had where indoor/outdoor. Now, I live in a city and the kitties are indoor, with backyard priviledges (supervised visitation). We are working on a secure enclosure so they can have some more outdoor time, and we don't have to worry about continually counting 7 kitties.

 

Jack is indoor only--he is being trained to walk on a harness and leash though.

There are two reasons why he is indoor only--the first his safety, and the second is if I'm paying for food, litter and vet bills I'd like to see the pet I am spending money on.

Leslie

 

. When we looked at rescues for someone one of the requirements was a garden.

A friend of mine from England told me that also. She was in Leicester at the time.

I keep my cats indoors. Years ago I allowed them out. Then I lost a beloved cat to a car. She was 15; my heart broke. It was my fault, as well as that of the person who hit her and didn't stop.

 

....I'm paying for food, litter and vet bills I'd like to see the pet I am spending money on.

Leslie

Thanks for the laugh!

Almost everyone else on my cul-de-sac owns dogs. If my kitties got out, I don't even want to think about what might happen.

 

I'm in England and I have indoor kitties - strangely my friends and family all seem to defy local custom as no one I know lets their cats out. I do have a nice big run for them in the garden though with a catflap from the kitchen so they can get out and have a bit of fresh air when they feel like it.

 

Mine are indoor only. I am in the process of screening in the back porch so they can get some fresh air without being in harms way. Between the cars, the dogs the kids the coyotes and the risk from other cats of FELV or FIV, I just couldn't rest a second if my cat was out there.

 

My cats are all indoor/outdoor. By some miracle we've never lost a cat to cars, but it's true that they do come into our lives for a while, then leave us and we never know what happened sometimes. Spayed females always stay though. And we could never conceive of making them stay indoors...they love their independence so much, I'd feel like I was killing off the part of them that is the cat. But that's the way they were raised.

 

My cats are indoor and outdoor cats. They go where ever they want.

 

mine are strictly indoor. we live in a city, tooo many cars & cruel people to risk it.

 

Mine stay in, but do have a very nice screened porch to hang out in. None of them even thinks about bolting through the door, no interest what so ever. I could never feel comfortable about letting them go out, between cars and predators including coyotes, fisher cats and hawks this area is not safe and I'd be a nervous wreck.

 

Arianwen is an indoor kitty, but I do walk with her outside at least twice a week. I live in an area that has too many dangers for an indoor-outdoor cat. She loves the forest so much, and is so at home there that I couldn't deprive her of that. And she stays near me when we're outside so it's a good compromise.

 

Greetings to all you seasoned cat chatters. Just going to make my first weigh-in on this important cat matter. For years now, we've felt better having our cat indoors. Our trials with injuries, diseases, fleas (don't get me started on fleas!), and the always lovely abscesses from cat fights - all pointed in one direction for us -->indoors. I find that if you give your little furball a lot of playtime and affection, as well as loads of sisal scratchers (to work off excess anxiety and energy so they can go back to those 16 hours of sleep), and some nice solid platforms to jump up & gaze out at the natural world, then a full and healthy life can be expected for them. At least that's my experience. By the way, I recently adopted a kitten and found this site helpful in naming her (. It was lots of fun to read these names and stories, too: http://www.felinedesign.net/catnames.htm

 

I have had cats my whole life and we have always done the indoor/outdoor thing. Luckily, like Trinity, we have never lost a loved one to a car (knocks on wood). We live in a quiet neighborhood in Sacramento so I don't worry too much now. Tao can't jump the backyard fence lol. Sophie has a run of several connected backyards and George was livin' on the streets when he found us, so he likes to go out too. I totally agree with keeping them inside in the city, though. When I was a kid growing up in S.F. we lived on a 2nd floor flat and we built a ramp from the back window to the backyard for the cats, and they loved it! Then one day, one of our cats went missing and we ended up finding him 3 days later, hungry and mad, stuck under some stairway down the street! Just too many hazzards in city life for kitties. 8O

 

Mine are indoors only. I don't want them getting into fights, lost, or hit by a car. Cats also get eaten by coyotes in our area as we are close to a mountain preserve. I've seen them running right in our neighborhood several times, usually in the early mornings or evening but I've seen them in the middle of the day as well. Sometimes more than 1 travel together.

 

I did fail to mention that my cats are never allowed out at night. They have to be in by nine at night.

My cats are only moggies, if they were a bit more expensive they would never be out of my sight. But no-one would consider taking my cats they are nothing special. And it would be a case of good luck if they tried they dislike strangers. Even Cleo the oh great thick one doesn't like strangers.

 

My cat is strictly indoor only but only because he has to be due to his compromised immune system. Generally speaking, I'm a very passionate believer in allowing your cat freedom to roam outdoors (but only during the day).

 

Mine are indoor cats only but they do have access to our enclosed pool/patio area via cat door and also have access to the garage via cat door. Too many dogs and wildlife where I live (hawks, owls, eagles, bobcats, foxes)

 

Indoor only with access to my small enclosed yard out back! It is a big bad world out there and I want them around for a good long time.