Indoor cats

I have 9 cats and 6 of them are indoors. If you're are not used to going outside I wouldn't worry. Just make sure you have plenty of scratching posts!

My first ( and last ) cat was an outdoor cat by nature. The friend who fitted the cat flap, spent a few minutes showing him how to use it. Saying that Mothers showed babies how to open doors so cat flap fitters should show cats how to use them.

I think keeping a cat indoors is totally unnatural. Cats are hunting animals and need somewhere to hunt, also they are semi-wild and always will be. In Australia all cats are indoor cats as it is a compulsory rule out there. I would NEVER have an indoor cat. Cruel and abnormal.

I agree absolutely BlueBelle. So very well expressed.

It was only when I was working from home before I retired that I discovered how much cats slept! Previously they'd been active around us before work then again when we came home. It never occurred to me that they slept almost all day!

oh gosh this is the best thread for me. I have had cats and dogs all my long life, never kept a cat as an indoor cat.
now I have one, but she is in at night.. during the day she can go out if she wants to , which seems to be only when the weather is acceptable to her, ie good weather! there is a cat door, but I cannot get her to use it.. all my previous cats have been allowed to be in or out by access with a cat door.

she is sleeping a lot, and that has worried me, now it seems that is what cats do! thank you for that.

I have bought her toys and scratching posts, (she is 5 years old now , a rescue cat, found as a very small kitten born in a field! from a feral cat)
but she doesn`t play with toys or use the scratching post.. she does, however love my chair! I don`t mind so much as due to my age, it can easily just be discarded when I am gone

I love the idea of catio.. anyone give links please? and as for the cat litter tray,, she always manages to do "it" on the side!

and I have the largest try sold by Amazon. again any links?

It's horses (or cats) for courses. Some love indoors. Others like the outside. And some change: I recall two British indoor cats who moved with their owners to rural France and became indoor/outdoor cats - they quickly adapted to catching mice!

If a cat has been used to being an indoor one that is what it knows and expects. I have had some experience of indoor cats after my best friends cat was literally ripped apart by a greyhound and died and the remaining two became indoor cats with a run from the back door with branches and ladders and all sorts of play things and they loved it. They were like little lions lying on the branches and tearing up and down the run. They were safe and happy.

Aveline - such beautiful cats, they are stunning.

There are a number of rescues in my area which now only adopting to 'indoor only homes'.
I think mainly due to a number of horrendous incidents with cats in particular.

We can only speak from our own experience, but I think keeping your cats inside is an indication that you love them, and want to protect them so you will get them vaccinated and chipped as part of your care for them. Mine didn’t try to escape, if we took them out in the garden they would stay with us, but I guess that like people, all cats are different.

All our cats have been vaxxed and chipped (when that became a thing) irrespective of whether they were outdoor or indoor cats.

All cats need to be vaxxed because they may need to go to the vet or to a cattery even if they don’t go outside your home. Other cats can also get into your home.

Why are indoor cats vaccinated if they don't go out to come into contact with other animals please?

I meant in general Aveline, not yours in particular. This is our experience 'on the ground'.

Exactly Aveline.

Of course indoor cats are chipped! They're fully vaccinated too. Belt and braces. Whatever keeps our cats safe and well we'll do it.

But that's not what you posted is it. You said "who one day manage to escape and just don't want to go back".

In all likelihood, a house cat that's got out is unlikely to be able to find it's way back home or be comfortable being outside.

In 20 years, none of my cats have ever tried to 'escape'. They are well cared for, dearly loved members of our family and are treated as such, as well as always being micro chipped in the unlikely event they were to get lost.

Of course owners are tracked and cats returned- but once they know there is an 'out there' many become obsessed with it all. Some are just happy to go back and stay.

One problem we have is that most outdoor cats are chipped or tatooed, indoor cats are generally not.

How do you know they don't want to go back Kali? Have you managed to track down their owners, taken them back and seen them put up a fight so they don't have to stay?

I loved the story of Minou.
Better than any thriller I've read.

Beanutz2115

Cats kill many birds and are responsible for the decimation.

The only reason I would hesitate to get a cat again. But Minou was badly injured and in massive pain and infection, and I just had to do something. And he is a great hunter- very very rare for him to get a bird, maybe twice a year. But what a mouser. In this old farmhouse in the country, he does an amazing job.

I belong to a cat rescue- and so many of the cats we get are indoor cats who one day manage to escape and just don't want to go back, but don't have a clue.

Why not watch TV Channel 40 at 0800 “My Cat From Hell.” It’s on all this week, The channel is called Quest Red.
There’s lots of fantastic information to learn from Jackson (the presenter ) about how to keep cats happy, indoors!
Lots of toys, playtimes until they’re breathless, hunt, catch & kill exercises, equipment tips & how to catify your home,
Personally I think it’s cruel to keep a cat indoors but hey ho, each to their own,

Cats kill many birds and are responsible for the decimation.

I guess it depends on the cat and how clever they are at avoiding danger. We had 2 farm kittens in France who grew up running through the fields and climbing trees. When we moved to a busy London street next to a tube line, we tried to turn them into indoor cats for theitr won safety, but they weren't having any of it. They used to wander off for two or three days at a time and, judging by their weight, they were clearly helping themselves to discarded takeaways by the station. They regularly took on the urban foxes, you could see that their claws all worn down with fox bristles between the pads! We just let them get on with it!
They both died together last year aged 17 years.

Cats and dogs have very different basic features and needs.

Aveline ''They have far better lives than the lives of the poor, infested starving feral cats that can be seen scavenging around.''

you are not comparing like for like surely. All our outdoor cats have had the best of both worlds- freedom to roam, climb trees, lie in the sun in the borders or in the shade under a tree- and the choice to come in, be well fed, loved and stroked and lie on laps or our bed ...

We can agree to disagree of course - but none of our cats have ever been poor, infested, starving or feral ... well Minou was, until we rescued him. He certainly is not now- but does what he wants, where he wants and when he wants. Suits him very well.