Cat Owner's Manual › Chapter 3: Daily Interaction With Your Cat › Keeping Cats Indoors or Outdoors? ›

Keeping Cats Indoors or Outdoors?

Until recently, cats were considered an indoor/outdoor or even an exclusively outdoor system. This is no longer the case. Today, experts on feline maintenance advise keeping cats exclusively indoors. The reasons are numerous. Indoor cats are, for the most part, safe from virulent diseases; from fights with other cats; from antagonistic interfaces with dogs and wild animals; and from myriad other threatening situations. The dangers of outdoor storage are so pronounced that it degrades the performance and life expectancy of the system. While an indoor cat can be reasonably expected to live 15 years or more, an outdoor or indoor/ outdoor system will be lucky to last 10 years. The disparity has not gone unnoticed by animal shelters, an increasing number of which will not release felines to applicants unless they sign a written agreement to keep the cats exclusively indoors.

Ideally, a newly acquired kitten should be raised as an indoor-only cat. This is, in most cases, the simplest way to program a feline for this lifestyle. However, if you acquire an adult cat, there are many techniques by which it can be habituated to life inside. The key is to make sure your feline can find as much stimulation, pleasure, and comfort indoors as it would outdoors.

expert tipEXPERT TIP: If your cat makes a habit of trying to bolt out open doors, the first step is to make sure the feline never succeeds. If it does, the temptation to repeat the behavior will be strongly reinforced. Coach children to be mindful of the cat, and never access an exterior door while your arms are laden with packages. You will be unable to foil an escape attempt.

Comments (11)

Chapter 3: Daily Interaction With Your Cat

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It's also not good to let kitty out because there are people who (sadly) hate cats and would think nothing of harming your precious pet.

purred by Kim Kelly on Apr 29, 2008 AT 3:46 pm PDT
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done of my 13 beautifull kittie's are out door cats.But their were before werecuse them.and their love being inside all the time.

purred by Teresamarie Hathaway on May 8, 2008 AT 12:42 pm PDT
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I dont think its natural to keep a cat inside constantly. I guess its different in the US, but here most people have their cats go out a bit, and this is deemed ok - our cats stay by us in the garden and never go out on their own or at night.

purred by Amanda Cox on Jun 29, 2008 AT 1:22 am PDT
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I am as against cats being indoor/outdoor as I am about declawing them... But I think that allowing your cat supervised time outside with you, provided you KNOW you cat, and know she is not gong to run away, AND have him/her properly ID'd is a different story altogether. Two of my cats go outside with me, the other two we will have to have longer before I can trust them. The ones that go out are over 10 yrs old.

purred by Janelle Dessino on Aug 14, 2008 AT 2:46 pm PDT
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It is not natural to deprive a cat of those things which Nature fitted out the animal to enjoy and to relate with; sunshine, herbs, trees, important running exercise, alertness practice, socialisation with other cats & critters, companionship with the other felines of the area ... it seems that there are people today who are afraid of free spirits, and who exaggerate the "dangers" for the animals to fit their own uneasiness about liberty and one's own dignity in the Heart of Nature -- whether of animals or of humans (especially of males). Mutilation as a form of reproductive control manifests that same unnatural attitude which characterises our day in time --- but not for me or my Companion! Prudence is the keyword, not prohibition. As for birth-control: the cats Thoms don't need it and, for the Queens, there are lady-like panties especially designed for the purpose. This subjext includes all of those natural things which God gives to His creatures for good, and not for block-headed prohibition. "Maybe in America it's differen', " another poster put it; ye gads, don't tell me, I suffer here on account of the "difference". Good is called bad, and evil good; women act like men, and men act effiminate ... but one still is free to choose for himself and his beloved companions, to give them the maximal liberty consistant with reason -- reason, and not neurotic fear.

purred by Brooks Batson on Sep 5, 2008 AT 2:23 am PDT
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I have a lot of cats here and most of the time they are indoors but they do go outside for an hour or two a day but the area they are in is blocked off from the outside world where they are safe and away from others that would harm them

purred by sandie prentice on Sep 8, 2008 AT 5:20 pm PDT
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I agree with teresamarie , in the US it must be different , here cats are considered an exclusively outdoor/indoor system , my own cat goes outdoors , I never have to clean the litter box , and you have to admit , it feels nice. My cat used to be a stray in this very neighborhood , she knows it inside out and knows how to take care of herself. And the neighborhood is surrounded by a very tall fence and hedge , so she never goes out into the street , the parking lot is undergorund , we dont have to worry about cars since you cant even force her to go down there , dogs arent allowed to run loose or be walked inside the nieghborhood , even on a leash , it is a very safe place and cats are supposed to go out , I think my cat owuld go crazy if she couldnt catch birds , climb trees , drink from puddles or sit in a bush , stalking something or simply run across the grass , feeling free (the neighborhood is huge). It saves me a lot of effort , I dont have to clean litterboxes or make sure she gets enough playtime and exercice , she does it all outdoors. Plus she is super skittish with other hu,ans (even me) when she is outdoors , she wont allow anyone to apporach her , much less catch her , she is always out of sihgt in a bush anyways. And you cant go in the nieghborhood unless you are invited in or live there, so not just anyone can walk in , everyone here knows my cat and loves her.

purred by michis on Sep 16, 2008 AT 4:33 pm PDT
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actually , if you relly care3 about your cat , you should have them fixed , even if its a male , or else he will wander, get into fights and live much less. its for their own good , maybe that was the way things were a long time ago , but now things are changing and cats must adapt to living in this world , being fixed , etc, it is not a mutilation , they dotn even feel it cause they have antestheisa! Also a un neutered tom is an unhappy and destrcutve one. Just my 2 cents , I am not trying to put anyone down , just sharing my opinion and the one of most vets.

purred by michis on Sep 16, 2008 AT 4:39 pm PDT
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It's also important to keep your cats inside so as not to destroy the bird population! I live in a city but we have racoons, dogs and people who think it's ok to harm cats. Mine stay indoors. This does mean I need to spend quality time playing with them. I've started to teach them tricks as a way to keep them happy.

purred by erin oneill on Oct 26, 2008 AT 8:16 pm PDT
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My cat is fixed and declawed in the front. I got him when he was about one. He loves the outdoors and knows exactly where he lives. I wouldn't dream of locking him up inside. Yes, there are a lot of dangers outside but he is smart and if something happens to him I would be upset but him living an unhappy life is worse.

purred by Cobain Cook on Nov 10, 2008 AT 9:56 am PST
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I don't agree with shelters or adoption agencies that wouldn't allow a person to adopt a cat unless they kept them indoors because they feel it's too dangerous for the cat. That's like never letting your kid go outside because he could get hit by a car or catch a disease or get in a fight. My uncle had a cat that I believe was an outdoor cat until she got really old, then he kept her indoors. But she lived to be 20 years old which is pretty old for a cat. And I had a cat that had been an outdoor cat for all of his life, and I wouldn't have dreamed of keeping him indoors. He wouldn't have stood for it either. But he lived to be about 13 years old. The cat I have now I do keep indoors because we live near a high traffic area and a train track and I think she was an indoor cat before we got her. My mom and I did make the decision that she would be an indoor cat while with us too, but I don't believe it would be right to deprive all cats of the outside experience just because we're afraid that they'll hurt themselves.

purred by Sarah Mitchell on Nov 21, 2008 AT 12:00 pm PST
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Quirk BooksThe Cat Owner's Manual is a basic guide to cat care.
The book was written by a celebrated veterinarian and an acclaimed author. It provides cat owners with well-researched and helpful information presented in a lighthearted manner. The creators chose to write the book in a style similar to what you'd find in "operating instructions" for a car or computer. Of course they--and we--respect the fact that our beloved pets are not products or machines!