Thread: Indoor cats
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Old August 17th 05, 07:58 PM
Jennifer
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wrote:
snip
It seems natural for a cat to want to venture outside, and to me it's
cruel to keep them inside (unless they're not interested).
snip
It's interesting, do you think it's a cultural thing? How long have
people in the US been doing these things? Perhaps it's not the general
population, just people in cat groups



I live in the US, close to DC, and I keep my cats indoors because:

- There are lots of animals out there that may cause physical harm.
Foxes, feral dogs and cats, skunks, etc. Rabies is relatively common
all throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Lyme disease is also very
common in my area.

- There's a lot of native wildlife that I don't think should be
pillaged by my non-native cats, including birds and insects.

- I see it as my responsibility to keep my pets off of other peoples'
property. My choice to keep pet cats should not affect my neighbors -
no pooping in their gardens, no digging up their potted plants, no
antagonizing their pets, etc.

- On a related note, there are people who do not take kindly to having
their yards and gardens disturbed by loose animals, and they can and
will call animal control, or deliberately poison wandering pets.

- There is a ton of traffic everywhere in the DC area. Even if traffic
was slow, it only takes one car to flatten your cat. In fact, one of
my aunts lives in farm country where traffic is light, and she's had
two cats killed by passing cars in the last five years.

When I decided to adopt cats, I took responsibility for their welfare
and their behavior. I provide an interesting, continuously-changing
indoor environment for them (luckily, that often means moving cat trees
around. As far as they're concerned, if it's in a different room, it's
a brand new toy . I make sure they get a healthy diet and plenty of
exercise, and I'm still debating building them an outdoor enclosure.

Outdoor enclosures really seem to be the best solution. They allow the
cats access to the outdoors, which many seem to enjoy, while protecting
them from most of the dangers.

I don't think it's really cultural; it's just practical. Unless
feeling responsible for your cats health and for not bothering your
neighbors is a cultural thing

Also, keeping cats indoors really doesn't seem cruel at all. Seriously
- I know many many indoor cats, and the only ones that seem "unhappy"
(anthropormorphizing, I know) are the ones that seem bored, but indoors
does not have to equal bored.

It really is most common (and recommended) in the US to keep cats
indoors, or at least in outdoor enclosures.

--
Jennifer