On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 16:53:54 -0700, blair thompson
wrote:

I recently lost my guy to the coyotes. I live adjacent to a
forested area where they are active, so I am thinking my next best
friend should be confined to quarters

I have been reading the many compelling arguments in favour of
keeping a cat inside---the safety angle, longevity cf to the
free-rangers, etc. I know there is much one can do to make indoor
living tolerable to a cat, such as cat tree, cat grass munchies, toys,
etc.

But I am still wondering what the consensus here might be to
just how pleasurable life really is for an indoor cat, Or am I just
anthropomorphizing human traits onto a cat, and they really don't need
as much stimuli in a day as we do, especially when they sleep 15-plus
hours out of every 24? What about the second-cat-to-keep-the
-first-one-company option?

Thanks for your input.

Blair Thompson
North Vancouver, B.C.

This is just one person's opinion, of course, but I think
well-cared-for indoor cats can be quite happy. I have eight of them,
and very few problems.

You need window space, plenty of toys (interactive toys are important,
too), cat posts/trees (I even have a log that they love to scratch
on). You need to interact regularly with your cats. And yes, two (or
more) is much more helpful than just one (for the cat, that is).
Giving occasional cat grass can help as well.

So I would say indoor cats can have a high quality of life, and it is
certainly better than having one's life cut short by wild animals,
cars, etc.

Ginger-lyn
Just my $1.02 worth.