Indoor cats

Yes, I had two indoor cats (brother and sister). They’ve both died now, aged 14 and 15 but they were quite happy and contented staying in, they had lots of toys and ping pong balls to play with. I’d had a previous cat killed on the road, and asked the vet what he thought when they were kittens, he said he had 5 cats himself and kept them all in, so he recommended it!

We fitted a catio for my step daughters cat because the cat is deaf and has never been outside.
She loves it. She has a big climbing frame in there.

Our last three cats have been indoor cats. They were/are all rescues. The first was a tiny kitten with a heart defect. We kept her in because of that and she had a lovely, fun-filled life until she died at age six.

We then took in two Russian Blue brothers, who’d always been indoor cats. They showed no interest in outdoors whatsoever, they just wanted to be with us all the time, cuddling up. We lost one last year and now his brother has become blind so he leads a very sedate life with us, thoroughly pampered.

My neighbour’s have one in my block of flats. She is happy although I do get rather stressed when I see her resting on the balcony wall two floors up.
Another family have two cats, which lived for several years in a flat and when they moved to a house, they were just as happy to go into the garden.

I had an indoor cat. She was a rescue kitten, only 5 weeks old when I had her, and absolutely terrified at first, but was cheeky and sweet indoors, and if I was outside in the garden she would sit in the doorway and watch me but never venture outside.

She was happy and affectionate, and I let her do what she wanted to do, and that was to stay indoors.

Russian Blues MUST be kept indoors. They hate to be outside. Apparently, this is because the original race were cave-dwelling creatures. My daughter chose this breed specifically as she livesw in a flat with no terrace. They are perfectly happy.

Oh, that’s interesting, Guilia! I have to admit, our boys are so dim, I doubt they share a brain cell between them, so going outside would be very risky indeed.

When we moved to this house I opened the patio door to show our spoiled, comfort loving and rather elderly Burmese cat the garden. He shot me a look that plainly said “Are you insane?” and pelted back upstairs to his favourite sunny window ledge.

Our two Maine Coons are rehomed breeding boys. They've never been out and have settled very happily in our flat.
We have special litter trays with filters which work well. The 'boys' are absolutely house trained and very clean
I'm typing this with one on my knee.

Here he is.

I would recommend having a pot of grass available, nature's expectorant for fur balls.

He’s a beauty Aveline!

Your Maine Coons are gorgeous boys Aveline.

Sorry for posting pic twice. It didn't seem to attach first time. The boys are indeed gorgeous. Retired from breeding at six. Have been neutered of course. The poor souls were well looked after by the breeder but she said the two boys pacing the house were unnerving their previous, er, girlfriends and their kittens!
Here they both are vying for a space on my knee.

Aveline I have seen them before and they are just gorgeous.

Floof balls, Aveline! ❤️

Absolutely gorgeous Aveline

They are gorgeous Aveline. We have 2 rescue kittens and have kept them in for 6 months but now they go outside. We used to take them for walks round and round the garden on leads for a several months ( more they took us for walks!) so they were familiar with the boundaries and so far, so good, they seem to stick to where we took them for walks. All they want to do is catch skinks and flies and hunt.

We used to let our cats outside during the day but after one of them was taken and either got away or was left by someone quite a way from our house we decided that they would be safer indoors. We did however build them a cat enclosurejoined to the house that they could access when they wanted. We have 4 cats at the moment and have moved to a much quieter area and we now have an enclosure across the back of the house that they can access through a cat flap in our French doors. They are perfectly happy and have the run of the house. One of them goes out in the garden when we are out there as she never tries to climb anything so no danger of getting out. She is very good and when I’m going in I call her and she follows me.

I will annoy you all now because I think the idea of indoor cats is a cruel notion it’s changing a cats normal personality to be a human appendage, a playmate, our captive and I feel in my heart it’s wrong
A cat however domesticated should be able to keep its own natural instincts to explore, hunt, and wander it’s territory To keep them inside or even in an enclosure is going against this, it’s changing it to fit our human needs

Most of you would be anti zoo or circus but really no difference however loving you make its home it’s still for you not the cat although you will believe it’s for their safety

Anyway I ve got my hard hat on and expecting an avalanche of crossness but that’s my feelings

Have you lost cats BlueBelle? Do you know how it feels when a much loved pet doesn't home?

Not from me, BlueBelle
I feel the same about caged birds.

When I downsized to an apartment my cat had to become an indoor cat. She adapted well. I have a big sunny balcony and bought some artificial grass. She would spend hours on the balcony. Lived to 15.

What magnificent moggies Aveline. We too had a rescue Maine Coon - Charlie - daft as a brush. He could go out, but preferred to stay inside and had totally lost any interest in hunting he’d been born with, he just couldn’t be bothered with much. He was fabulous and we loved him to bits.