Happy Cats: Indoors or Outdoors?

Most cat owners are concerned with their pets mental well being. They want their kitty to be happy. Most feel that since their cat wants to be outside, it must be happier out there, and therefore should be allowed out whenever it wants. When I was 5 I am sure I wanted to be outside a lot too, but my mom set boundaries, pet owners would be wise to do the same.

Cats who go outside face a series of risks, and just because they have not suffered misfortune in the past does not mean they never will. The biggest risk is being run over. The chances of a cat surviving a close encounter with a car is extremely low. No cat is smart enough to avoid getting hit. Studies have shown that even 8-year-old human children cannot accurately judge when a vehicles speed and distance make it safe to cross the road, we cannot expect more from our feline friends.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockmixer/3568615302/  This outside cat clearly is not happy.

Second to being road kill another horrible fate awaits many cats who go outside. Angry Neighbors. When cats go missing with no trace it is often the result of an angry neighbor who picked the cat up and dumped it some place far away. In most areas this is illegal but it still happens. If dumped in the city their chances of survival depends on if they are picked up and taken to a shelter for their owner to claim them, in the country their chances for survival are very slim, most farmers do not need more cats. Either way a lost kitty is not a happy one.

Nobody wants to see a picture of dead kitties here do they?  These pictures were easy to find. 

Worse still are the cat torturers. These are the people who go one step farther than simply being an angry neighbor. They are so disgusted with cats being loose that they torture, poison, or kill them. By letting your cat out to become a pest in the neighborhood you risk actually creating one of these people. It would stand to reason that a cat being tortured is not going to be happy, and to be fair, it wasn’t even the cats fault, it was the owners who allowed it to be put at risk.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/biella/2545017310/ 

One of the risks of cats going outdoors is fights.

Other than that there are many more unpleasant dangers outside, including diseases, fleas, and fights. There are so many risks to cats who go outside that it is commonly accepted that outdoor cats have an average lifespan of 2 years. Many die, or are killed, as kittens. If you have an outdoor cat who is older, congratulations, but it does not mean your can will not run into a problem next week. Is a short, but exciting life, better than a long one?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/altemark/66287126/

Cats live longer lives indoors only. They are free of disease, fleas, and other risks. Are their lives boring? Who says living indoors only has to be boring? Given the right amount of attention, toys, and proper cat furniture, an indoor only cat can be very happy. Given another cat to play with, they will be even more happy (assuming the cats are introduced correctly and at a fairly young age).

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/karamell/2567728955/

Yes, no doubt many cats enjoy going out and find it delightful, who of us would want to be in all the time? But we know the dangers, we know the boundaries, our cats do not. Remember to view cats as if they were 5-year-old children. You would never let a 5-year-old go outside by themselves to wander wherever they want. Their personal happiness never comes before their safety. If you want your cat to go outside have safety measures so they cannot leave your property. The best way of doing this is with a cat fence or by building a safe, secure, cat section.

Photo by Author, she has logs to climb on, grass to roll in and lots of freedom in a cat section, but mostly she is safe.  I am in the country now, but when I lived in the city my neighbor told me he would kill her if she came into his yard. 

In rural situations different rules apply, mostly because cats are there for a purpose, that being to reduce mice. Mice (and other rodents) eat crops, and ruin grain supplies. As such farm cats are invaluable to keeping the numbers of such vermin down. Farm cats are useless if kept indoors only and are most definitely happier outdoors. However not all cats want to be farm cats, most older city cats cannot make the transition. Also note that in the cold of winter even farm cats are happy to be indoors! Sadly it is also a well known fact that many farm cats have short lives, their happiness on many farms is not considered. Not all are well looked after so it cannot be said that just by being outside they are necessarily happy.

To sum things up, while we want our pets to be happy, their safety and health should always be equally important.

Other Links

Risks to Cats who go Outside

How to Build a Safe Cat Enclosure

Introducing a New Cat