Indoor vs. Outdoor Cats (article) by Mr. Ed on AuthorsDen

Make the Right Choice

Some people think it’s kinder to keep their cats outdoors; I disagree for several reasons.

Having worked in animal shelters and having live-trapped feral felines, I’ve seen first hand the horrific tragedies that can befall an outdoor cat. I’ve seen brutalized cats missing eyes or limbs; I’ve seen burned cats, victims of someone’s childish prank or viciousness; and I’ve seen cats riddled with disease, fleas, and mange.

In my opinion, the outdoor dangers far outweigh the advantages of letting cats roam free.

Vehicular Traffic: It is a myth that cats are ‘street savvy.’ I’ve personally seen many dead cats needlessly run down on our streets and highways.

Other Animals: A cat is usually no match for a dog or a raccoon in a brawl. Coyotes are increasingly turning to felines as a new food source since their normal food sources are rapidly declining.

Cruel Humans: Cat hating humans do all sorts of vile things to torture felines; including setting rat poison out for them, shooting them, and setting them on fire with gasoline.

Outdoor Hazards: Chemically treated lawns present health risks to felines that spend a lot of time on them, and antifreeze, which drips from many vehicles, is often relished by parched street animals. Antifreeze is extremely poisonous to all animals.

Disease: Outdoor cats can catch rabies, feline leukemia, or feline immunodeficiency virus from other outdoor animals.

Parasites: Outdoor cats will inevitably become infested with fleas, ticks, and other nasty little parasites. These parasites can eventually kill them or at least induce unnecessary suffering and infections; and these parasites can also infest your home when your outdoor cat briefly comes indoors.

The latest feline addition to my household was a tiny feral that I live-trapped. She was riddled with fleas, and had severe eye and respiratory infections. Tuffy is now healthy, happy, and living indoors.

Hunting Small Critters: Your well-fed outdoor pet cat will still hunt even though it does not need the food; it’s just following its natural instinct. I would rather let my cats ‘hunt’ indoor toys than chipmunks, salamanders, squirrels, and lovely little song birds.

Lifespan: Statistics reveal that homeless cats, or cats kept outdoors, have an average life span of 2 to 5 years, while cats that are kept indoors can live to be well over 17 years old.

As a responsible cat owner, you must make the right choice for your furry feline friends, as I think I did for mine.

For more information on this subject, please visit the webpage listed below:

Web Site: The Humane Society

Reviewed by W dem (Reader)

Reviewed on October 26, 2007

Cats are completley at risk in the outdoors. Owners beware. I am a dog person but have no comtempt for cats although my dogs do. Recently my dogs killed a cat that came into my yard. While horrified by this I could do nothing to save the cat. And worse yet the cat was one of the nicest, friendliest cats I have ever known. My dogs are wonderful loving animals but it is their instinct to hunt small animals. This is a very sad and tragic event. I am posting this to warn cat owners that bad things happen to animals when they roam free. I hope to spare anyone the pain of finding a dying cat.

Reviewed by Susan Sparks (Reader)

Reviewed on June 10, 2004

I like Darlene's idea about leash-training a kitten. I might try that with mine when I get him.

Reviewed by Franz Kessler

Reviewed on May 1, 2004

Hello Ed,

Some fifteen years ago I lived for a couple of year in Istanbul, a city that has an estimated population of some 2 million street cats. They dwell on garbage, charity food, fight rats or fish along the Bosporus. The latter fisher cats are truely wild and awesome beasts, one shouldn't get to close.. I've deep respect for these urban survivor cats, and many have only one eye left, tail chopped off. I always wonder to which extent cats can be domestized pets. Franz

Reviewed by Katy Walsvik (Reader)

Wonderful article, Ed and, after having our beloved Bogie-cat, I can attest to the ease with which a cat can adapt and PREFER being indoors, exclusively! One thing I'd add to this great info here is that cats love to graze on grass.. it's good for them and helps loosen and bring up those pesky hairballs.. another reason they are in danger outdoors. As I've mentioned to you, when a cat is kept indoors, the outside world is NOT their heart's desire so cat owners shouldn't harbor the belief that they're muting a cat's instincts keeping them in. We could have the door open all day long and Bogie would stroll past without so much as a sniff. Thanks for being there, Eddy K.. you're at the top of the "good guy" list for humans! (smile) katy xox.

Reviewed by Darlene Caban

Reviewed on April 30, 2004

My cat is an ex-feral indoor cat, but I still take him outside for a walk every day. I leash-trained him when he was a kitten... being able to go outside every day makes him happy, and 'showing him off' to other cat-owners encourages them to leash-train their cats, too. Now that I have an indoor cat, I can't imagine my 'little boy' living outside.

Reviewed by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado

I agree wholeheartedly with you, Ed; my cats were all indoor cats, and I felt safer when I knew that they were inside and out of harm's way! There is just too much danger outside; a cat can quickly get into trouble if they aren't used to being out of doors! A wise write; thanks for sharing!

(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tx., Karen Lynn. :(