Letting Cats Outside

David · Site Admin Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Posts: 82

I have heard and read many times that letting your cats outside shortens their life. I'm sure their are exceptions, but we keep our cats inside. That way they avoid things like flees and ticks, as well as nasty stuff like Feline Leukemia and Rabies. We do feel sorry for not letting them out sometimes, but I think overall they are quite happy animals. What do you think about letting cats outside?

squirrel · Joined: 22 Jun 2004 Posts: 155 Location: Bucharest, Romania

I understood you can vaccinate the animals against diseases like the ones you mentioned..

No, I do not let my kitties outside... I live in a block, on the 10th floor, so they'd have trouble getting in and out... besides, they are not used to this and are very afraid...
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Raluca
Salsa es mi vida!
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Jonathan · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Posts: 208 Location: San Diego

Just for the record, growing up we ended up with two cats... one who adopted us (its true! Laughing

) and one we inherited. The one who adopted us went outside almost her entire life and, towards the end, the vet said she was the oldest living cat he'd ever seen. Shocked

squirrel · Joined: 22 Jun 2004 Posts: 155 Location: Bucharest, Romania

wow... how old was she...?
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Raluca
Salsa es mi vida!
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Jonathan · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Posts: 208 Location: San Diego

Hmmm, good question! Keep in mind that since she adopted us we were never sure of an exact age. I'll ask my mom later tonight what the vet thought and I'll let you know...

Jonathan · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Posts: 208 Location: San Diego

Hmm, maybe she wasn't so very old after all... and I realize that I'm not really sure what the average cat's life span is anyway. As far as our outdoor cat, she was close to 22 years old.

squirrel · Joined: 22 Jun 2004 Posts: 155 Location: Bucharest, Romania

that is OLD for a cat to be!!!

geeesh...

I guess the life span is around 10 - 15 years...
_________________
Raluca
Salsa es mi vida!
www.salsagalaxy.com

Jonathan · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Posts: 208 Location: San Diego

I guess we're just good at having old cats then... because our indoor cat, the one we inherited, almost made it part way to 21.

squirrel · Joined: 22 Jun 2004 Posts: 155 Location: Bucharest, Romania

Generally, cats' life span is short... especially if they're allowed to go out... this is probably because they are so curious and nosey... and they get hit by cars, or eat poisoned food or are killed by other animals...

But if they live indoors mostly and have good lives... it allows them to live longer...
_________________
Raluca
Salsa es mi vida!
www.salsagalaxy.com

Purr · Joined: 25 Jun 2004 Posts: 553

Both my cats, Purr and Blaze, are indoor cats. Purr doesn't like to go outside at all - if she ends up outside, she stands by the door and mews until she's let back in. Blaze likes the outdoors, so sometimes I'll let her out for short, supervised periods of time.

Genesius Redux · Joined: 28 Jun 2004 Posts: 26

I don't have cats anymore, but I did while I was still married. We kept our cats inside. The vaccinations are not 100% effective against FIV, and there are always cars, and dogs, and other cats, and poison, and who knows what else. We always maintained a cat friendly environment, with lots of perches and cat trees and scratching posts (to save the furniture). And our cats lived full, happy lives.

Cheers,

Genesius

David · Site Admin Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Posts: 82

We have a huge porch on the upper level and our cats love to go out there. We let them outside but keep an eye on them. There have been 3 incidents so far. Prissy climbed up the railing and up on the roof twice. I had to get the ladder, the carrying case and the treats. I got her to come to me with the treats, stuffed her in the carrying tote, and then handed her down to my wife. The other incident was Captain who jumped down (about 11 feet) so he could chase a female stray. We caught him almost immediately. Anyways, we still let them out (on the porch) and watch them as carefully as possible.

squirrel · Joined: 22 Jun 2004 Posts: 155 Location: Bucharest, Romania

I used to let the window open for my cat to be able to look outside while she was home alone! But not anymore! She jumped out of the window when we were away. Thanks God we were living on the 2nd floor!!!
My roomie told me she didn't find her when she got home from the club and she went down to look for her... I did the same the next day, checked all the surroundings and basements with a flashlight... called for her... I was crying my eyes out! And the worst part was that we had to move out in 5 days! I knew cats come back, but I was afraid she would come later and find nobody!
Thank God I found her in the yard of the block 3 days later! She was more or less ok, I mean she had suffered no major damages... her paw was hurt, her jaw was a little hurt too but otherwise she seemed fine! I called the vet and she turned out to be ok, scared and all... but ok!
Eversince, my cats are not allowed on the windowsill anymore...!
_________________
Raluca
Salsa es mi vida!
www.salsagalaxy.com

Genesius Redux · Joined: 28 Jun 2004 Posts: 26

What a horror story! I'm glad everything turned out okay!