David Chang wrote:
Keep this in mind:

Outdoor cats have an average life expectancy of 4 years
Indoor cats have an average life expectancy of 15 years

Having said that: Why not make your current indoor/outdoor cat an indoor cat
only and get rid of the cat door completely? I don't think there's currently
a door on the market that has "selective animal exiting".

While I think, for practical reasons, it is safer and easier to keep a
cat indoors, there is a valid argument that from a cat's point of view,
this is not a great situation. (FWIW, my cat is an indoor cat. She isnt
street smart.)

To persuade an indoor/outdoor cat to stay in is hard on the cat.

If a cat never knew different, then of course a cat can be happy
indoors. Our cat is thoroughly contented as long as there's company.

But cats I had years ago who were indoor/outdoor lived very different
lives and I personally think of higher quality. They would not have
chosen to stay indoors all the time.

Its like a person who spends their whole life in one village. Someone
who has wandered around the world might consider it limiting, but there
are millions of perfectly happy people who do it.

DB