Ideal home for a cat

Is it in an apartment or if they can get outside to hunt a bit?
Discuss.

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
Is it in an apartment or if they can get outside to hunt a bit?
Discuss.

I'd say it depends on the area. If you live where it's safe for them to go
outside, I think that is best. I know there are people who will disagree,
and I respect their opinions. However, it is the nature of cats to want to
go out and hunt.

The cats I have now are indoor only, because they were three years old when
I got them, and had never been allowed outside. I figure they wouldn't have
the street smarts to deal with dogs, other cats, or traffic, so they're
safer inside. In spite of the fact they've lived inside all of their lives,
they show definite signs of wanting to go out, and have made a break for it
a time or two.

Up until I got these guys, I've always had indoor/outdoor cats, most of the
time with a cat flap so they could come and go as they please. At one
point, one of them disappeared, and I never found out for sure what happened
to him. After that, for a while, I kept the other cats inside, but they
were obviously miserable.

I gave it a great deal of thought. I've always thought that if I had to
choose between being sentenced to death or to life imprisonment, I'd prefer
death. I decided that, even though there's a chance that allowing them
outside might shorten their lives, that would be better than living a long,
miserable life. How could I make a choice for them that I wouldn't make for
myself? I unlocked the cat door and let those cats go out again.

Joy

"Joy" wrote in message
. ..
"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
Is it in an apartment or if they can get outside to hunt a bit?
Discuss.

I'd say it depends on the area. If you live where it's safe for them to
go outside, I think that is best. I know there are people who will
disagree, and I respect their opinions. However, it is the nature of cats
to want to go out and hunt.

The cats I have now are indoor only, because they were three years old
when I got them, and had never been allowed outside. I figure they
wouldn't have the street smarts to deal with dogs, other cats, or traffic,
so they're safer inside. In spite of the fact they've lived inside all of
their lives, they show definite signs of wanting to go out, and have made
a break for it a time or two.

Up until I got these guys, I've always had indoor/outdoor cats, most of
the time with a cat flap so they could come and go as they please. At one
point, one of them disappeared, and I never found out for sure what
happened to him. After that, for a while, I kept the other cats inside,
but they were obviously miserable.

I gave it a great deal of thought. I've always thought that if I had to
choose between being sentenced to death or to life imprisonment, I'd
prefer death. I decided that, even though there's a chance that allowing
them outside might shorten their lives, that would be better than living a
long, miserable life. How could I make a choice for them that I wouldn't
make for myself? I unlocked the cat door and let those cats go out again.

Joy
I like your thinking. There is not much chance that Boyfie would get run
over unless he threw himself under a rare car.

He can be a real cat, do a little hunting. Pretend to be brave bringing
home 2 little mouze wot he cort last night, and he offered them to me, I
said no, so he ate them himself.
The skulls crunched a bit.

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
Is it in an apartment or if they can get outside to hunt a bit?
Discuss.


Oh, we really don't want to get into the indoor-outdoor thing again, do we?
But okay, I'll play.

It depends on the situation. Persia was front-declawed before she came to
live with me. I was horrified someone let her wander around outside with no
real way to defend herself. It took a little time but she adapted perfectly
to being an indoor cat in an apartment. Even if she'd had claws, she
doesn't really seem to have the disposition of a hunter. I know she is
afraid of mice (unless they are the toy kind that rattle).

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
Is it in an apartment or if they can get outside to hunt a bit?
Discuss.


Oh, we really don't want to get into the indoor-outdoor thing again, do
we? But okay, I'll play.

It depends on the situation. Persia was front-declawed before she came to
live with me. I was horrified someone let her wander around outside with
no real way to defend herself. It took a little time but she adapted
perfectly to being an indoor cat in an apartment. Even if she'd had
claws, she doesn't really seem to have the disposition of a hunter. I
know she is afraid of mice (unless they are the toy kind that rattle).

Jill

It's not my intention to get into an indoor/outdoor argument. If it could
be possible for your cat to be out with little traffic and no alligators or
predators would you do it?

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
Is it in an apartment or if they can get outside to hunt a bit?
Discuss.


Oh, we really don't want to get into the indoor-outdoor thing again, do
we? But okay, I'll play.

It depends on the situation. Persia was front-declawed before she came
to live with me. I was horrified someone let her wander around outside
with no real way to defend herself. It took a little time but she
adapted perfectly to being an indoor cat in an apartment. Even if she'd
had claws, she doesn't really seem to have the disposition of a hunter.
I know she is afraid of mice (unless they are the toy kind that rattle).

Jill

It's not my intention to get into an indoor/outdoor argument. If it
could be possible for your cat to be out with little traffic and no
alligators or predators would you do it?

Still probably not. The reason would be fleas and ticks most likely.

Jill

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Joy" wrote in message
. ..
"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
Is it in an apartment or if they can get outside to hunt a bit?
Discuss.

I'd say it depends on the area. If you live where it's safe for them to
go outside, I think that is best. I know there are people who will
disagree, and I respect their opinions. However, it is the nature of
cats to want to go out and hunt.

The cats I have now are indoor only, because they were three years old
when I got them, and had never been allowed outside. I figure they
wouldn't have the street smarts to deal with dogs, other cats, or
traffic, so they're safer inside. In spite of the fact they've lived
inside all of their lives, they show definite signs of wanting to go out,
and have made a break for it a time or two.

Up until I got these guys, I've always had indoor/outdoor cats, most of
the time with a cat flap so they could come and go as they please. At
one point, one of them disappeared, and I never found out for sure what
happened to him. After that, for a while, I kept the other cats inside,
but they were obviously miserable.

I gave it a great deal of thought. I've always thought that if I had to
choose between being sentenced to death or to life imprisonment, I'd
prefer death. I decided that, even though there's a chance that allowing
them outside might shorten their lives, that would be better than living
a long, miserable life. How could I make a choice for them that I
wouldn't make for myself? I unlocked the cat door and let those cats go
out again.

Joy
I like your thinking. There is not much chance that Boyfie would get run
over unless he threw himself under a rare car.

He can be a real cat, do a little hunting. Pretend to be brave bringing
home 2 little mouze wot he cort last night, and he offered them to me, I
said no, so he ate them himself.
The skulls crunched a bit.

It's interesting the way different cats deal with their prey. Nanki-Poo and
Lindy (both RB) liked to bring their prey into the house to kill it. I used
to keep a shoebox with lid handy. I called it the "critter box", and used
it to try to rescue whatever they brought it. I was usually successful with
the birds, if I could catch them. Sometimes I managed to rescue the rodents
as well.

If they managed to kill something before it got there, different critters
were treated differently. Rats and gophers were left apparently untouched.
Mice were eviscerated, usually leaving me with a nice mess to clean up.
With birds, I usually found nothing but a few feathers. Once there was a
wing with the feathers.

Joy

"Christina Websell" wrote:

Is it in an apartment or if they can get outside to hunt a bit?

They each have their own opinions. I've heard of cats who have lived
outside, foraging for themselves for several years, and when afforded a
chance to come in, never ventured out again despite an open-door policy.

In contrast, I had intended my previous pair, Flicka and Zubie, to be
indoor-only cats, but I only managed it for the first year and a half
before I caved in. Flicka, who had never been out in her life, was
breaking her heart to get out there. She spent her days yearning out
the windows and trying to dodge out when someone swung a door.

When I finally opened a door and let her go, she was absolutely
terrified by the unknown and ceiling-less outdoors, but so determined to
go that she bolted for the nearest low-hanging tree cover and never
looked back. From that time onward she considered herself an outdoor
cat who only came in to chafe through the long winters because there was
(hissspit!) *snow* on the ground out there.

Eleven years later she went missing in action, probably killed by a
coyote, but we could never regret letting her out there, she needed it
so much.

Will and Heidi are nominally indoor-only. Heidi is more interested in
hunting than Will is and watches each year for the mice to move inside
in the fall -- but she wouldn't go outside if her life depended on it.

Will, after 13 or 14 years as an indoor-only cat, was ecstatic when I
trained him to go out on a leash. Then, finding him so sedate and
disinclined to wander, I began to let him out unsupervised for a few
minutes at a time, so he got to go out more often. He loved it and
frequently asked to go. But this summer, he has decided it really isn't
all that. He still appears to enjoy his time out, yet will more and
more often decline to go when offered the chance. He's averaging to go
out for an hour or so about once every three days.

--

Wayne M.

"Wayne Mitchell" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote:

Is it in an apartment or if they can get outside to hunt a bit?

They each have their own opinions. I've heard of cats who have lived
outside, foraging for themselves for several years, and when afforded a
chance to come in, never ventured out again despite an open-door policy.

In contrast, I had intended my previous pair, Flicka and Zubie, to be
indoor-only cats, but I only managed it for the first year and a half
before I caved in. Flicka, who had never been out in her life, was
breaking her heart to get out there. She spent her days yearning out
the windows and trying to dodge out when someone swung a door.

When I finally opened a door and let her go, she was absolutely
terrified by the unknown and ceiling-less outdoors, but so determined to
go that she bolted for the nearest low-hanging tree cover and never
looked back. From that time onward she considered herself an outdoor
cat who only came in to chafe through the long winters because there was
(hissspit!) *snow* on the ground out there.

Eleven years later she went missing in action, probably killed by a
coyote, but we could never regret letting her out there, she needed it
so much.

Will and Heidi are nominally indoor-only. Heidi is more interested in
hunting than Will is and watches each year for the mice to move inside
in the fall -- but she wouldn't go outside if her life depended on it.

Will, after 13 or 14 years as an indoor-only cat, was ecstatic when I
trained him to go out on a leash. Then, finding him so sedate and
disinclined to wander, I began to let him out unsupervised for a few
minutes at a time, so he got to go out more often. He loved it and
frequently asked to go. But this summer, he has decided it really isn't
all that. He still appears to enjoy his time out, yet will more and
more often decline to go when offered the chance. He's averaging to go
out for an hour or so about once every three days.

--

Wayne M.

Yes, it definitely depends on the cat.

I can understand why some people think cats should never be allowed outside.
I don't think all of those people understand the opposite point of view.
They might gain an understanding by reading Maya Angelou's "I know why the
caged bird sings".

http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Maya_Angelou/13474

I've read it numerous times, and it still makes me cry.

Joy

"Joy" wrote in message
. ..
"Wayne Mitchell" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote:

Is it in an apartment or if they can get outside to hunt a bit?

They each have their own opinions. I've heard of cats who have lived
outside, foraging for themselves for several years, and when afforded a
chance to come in, never ventured out again despite an open-door policy.

In contrast, I had intended my previous pair, Flicka and Zubie, to be
indoor-only cats, but I only managed it for the first year and a half
before I caved in. Flicka, who had never been out in her life, was
breaking her heart to get out there. She spent her days yearning out
the windows and trying to dodge out when someone swung a door.

When I finally opened a door and let her go, she was absolutely
terrified by the unknown and ceiling-less outdoors, but so determined to
go that she bolted for the nearest low-hanging tree cover and never
looked back. From that time onward she considered herself an outdoor
cat who only came in to chafe through the long winters because there was
(hissspit!) *snow* on the ground out there.

Eleven years later she went missing in action, probably killed by a
coyote, but we could never regret letting her out there, she needed it
so much.

Will and Heidi are nominally indoor-only. Heidi is more interested in
hunting than Will is and watches each year for the mice to move inside
in the fall -- but she wouldn't go outside if her life depended on it.

Will, after 13 or 14 years as an indoor-only cat, was ecstatic when I
trained him to go out on a leash. Then, finding him so sedate and
disinclined to wander, I began to let him out unsupervised for a few
minutes at a time, so he got to go out more often. He loved it and
frequently asked to go. But this summer, he has decided it really isn't
all that. He still appears to enjoy his time out, yet will more and
more often decline to go when offered the chance. He's averaging to go
out for an hour or so about once every three days.

--

Wayne M.

Yes, it definitely depends on the cat.

I can understand why some people think cats should never be allowed
outside. I don't think all of those people understand the opposite point
of view. They might gain an understanding by reading Maya Angelou's "I
know why the caged bird sings".

http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Maya_Angelou/13474

I've read it numerous times, and it still makes me cry.

Joy


I have always said I would keep them indoors from the dangers out there. I
would love to make an indoor enclosure that would resemble the outside to
give them the joys of nature. But with man being man my furballs stay
inside till I win the lottery :-)