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• Reputation: 2589 Q&A: 52 0 4 1611 142 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 2 Geni

  7 0 What about making your house/apartment more appealing to run around and play in instead? An indoor cat avoids dogs, cars, diseases, parasites, catfights and the resultant abscesses, mean people, poisons, getting lost, raccoons, owls, coyotes...and mostly what cats do when you let them outside is go find a sunny spot and conk out. They can do that in the house, too. Get some fun cat posts or furniture, hanging toys, that kind of thing. My cats have never been outside. They never will be outside. I have a screened-in back deck that they're allowed out on under supervision, but I would no more let a cat run around loose than I would a three-year-old; they have no more understanding of dangers. I see a dead cat on the side of the road damned near every single day. :-( There are screened in "pet verandas" you can buy and attach to nearly any window to give the cat a chance to sit and watch birds and bugs and sniff the air in safety. I lost two cats to antifreeze poisoning several years ago, and have never let a cat outside since. The one in my picture is nearly 14 years old, and completely uninterested in the world beyond the screened deck (although she does love the screened deck). Geni answered in Pets over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by Geni… 0 0 To elaborate a little further - a lot of what people think cats "need to do" is either anthropomorphizing or those needs can easily be met indoors. Does the cat need to run and play? Then play with it inside, and use tossable toys that it has to run and chase (laser pointers are great, for the cats that respond to them). Does the cat want to hunt? Use toys that mimic prey - little fur mice are great - and hide them, toss them, etc. The flying toy Da Bird works on EVERY cat I've ever seen to get them airborne and so worked up they're panting. Do they need fresh air? Put screens on your windows and let them sit in the windowsill or get them a kitty window seat. Geni commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  6 1 Letting him outside where you live is the least risky in terms of the cat getting lost -- but if you live near any busy streets, the cars become a danger. That said, cats don't tend to become roadkill. I've known several cats who were indoor/outdoor animals in busy cities, and they got along fine. Even my cat, who I consider a bit slow on the uptake sometimes, survived while lost for several weeks in a busy Chicago neighborhood. There's really no park or natural area to take a cat that wouldn't bring a high risk of him getting lost. Lee answered in Pets over 2 years ago | Report 5 comments by datajunkie, Lee, and protosaurus… 0 0 I agree with Lee, let them roam around your house a little bit while you can be around to keep an eye on them. I sometimes see cats in my neighborhood look both ways before crossing the street. I am thoroughly impressed at that but not all cats are that good. The average lifespan of an indoor cat is ~13 years, outdoor is ~3 years. For an indoor/outdoor cat I don't know but I think it's worth it for them. datajunkie commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I'm not actually saying anyone *should* let their indoor cat out. I'm just evaluating the relative risks of two options. Lee commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 i guess i'm hoping some crazy cat person has built the equivalent of a dog park for cats protosaurus commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I don't think there are any cat parks, because cats are very territorial and it would be a mess of cat fights to put any together. Kristin Bell commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 LOTS of cats become roadkill, actually. Violet DaGrinder commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  4 0 Your best bet is a kitty leash. Yes, everybody in my neighborhood laughs at me when Her Majesty goes outside on her leash, but she's safe from the perils of the busy street. The Humane Society told me when I adopted her that the average life expectancy for an outdoor cat is 5 years, whereas for an indoor cat it's 14. I haven't found any solid data to back up those numbers, though. And frankly, all my wanna-be escape artist does outside is sit around and gnaw on the lawn. She has her own kitty lawn indoors, but apparently the stuff outside tastes so much better. BTW: the particular leash I bought is called the "Come-with-Me-Kitty" leash, and it shows charming photos of people picnicking with kitties nearby, frolicking in the grass. After Her Majesty had a taste of the front lawn, she began crying non-stop whenever we opened the windows, to the degree that I think the "Come-with-Me-Kitty" should be bundled with another device, the "Shut-the-Hell-Up-Kitty." Forewarned is forearmed. TVDinner Redux answered in Pets over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 0 What's your living situation like, house? Apartment? I've heard tell of homes that have diy outdoor kitty tunnels/mazes, keeping the cat from escaping while allowing it to explore. If you're living in a house, that might be an option, but could also be a pain in the ass to set up. The only other option I can think of is to get a harness and leash for your cat, but be prepared for everyone to point and laugh, and that's assuming your cat doesn't do what mine does: play dead as soon as I put the harness on her. keshmeshi answered in Pets over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by kibbies… 0 0 Google cat leashes before trying this -- there are good ways to make cats get used to cat leashes and a lot of things to think about when using a leash with a cat that aren't completely intuitive (like TREES and FENCES - avoid them!). kibbies commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 1 You can't really let a cat wander around like a dog. I mean, I hope if you try this your cat is slow and you are incredibly fast, because it sounds a little crazy. I live in the 'burbs and I have just started letting my new kitten outside, but I go out with her and watch her closely and try to keep her within a visible range. We also have a large fence. But, there is a dog next door and one day the dog ran along the fence and scared the kitten up into a tree and my brother had to come get her down with a huge ladder and by climbing in the tree. It was pretty darn scary! She wasn't hurt at all, but we couldn't coax her down. She really loves climbing trees and experiencing the outdoors, but we mostly want her to stay in the back yard, because the street side has a small bit of traffic. Compared to a city though, it is very safe AND we don't have coyotes in this area. Also, we have gotten her all of her shots, except for the last one that she will get in about a month when we get her spayed and microchipped. Really, you shouldn't be letting a cat outside if they don't have their shots, a collar, a microchip and are spayed or neutered. My kitten isn't old enough to go into heat yet, so we do let her out for some playtime, but then bring her back in. I really wouldn't recommend taking a cat to a park or anything, because there are just too many things that will spook the cat and you'll probably never see it again. You could try a harness I guess, but cats don't really walk on leashes very well. It is also a good idea to let the cat out right near your home, so the cat knows it can go back into the safety of the home at any time. A cat who has only been indoors may think they want to go out, but once they get there, they will probably be scared or ... they could be so unafraid that they will get into trouble, because they don't know any better. If you live in an apartment and there isn't room around where you live to let the cat out, you should probably just keep the cat indoors. Cats are very fast, skittish and they pretty much don't come when you call them too well, so yah, I hate to be a downer, but it doesn't seem possible. Kristin Bell answered in Pets over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by Geni… 0 0 By the way, two cautions: one, you probably DO have coyotes in your area. They are everywhere that people are. You just haven't seen them yet. Two, a cat can go into heat as early as 16 weeks. I kid you not. And if she's going outside, she'll be pregnant before you even know she's in heat. I am a strong proponent of early spay/neuter - my cats were all speutered at 11 weeks. My Yankee surprised me by going into heat before she was 5 months old, and it was miserable trying to get her to cycle back out of heat so she could safely be spayed. Geni commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 Before I had a little back yard, I used a harness and leash. My cats didn't like it at first, but once they realized that leash = outside, they'd come running when they heard me get the harness and leash out. Once we bought our house with it's tiny, fenced back yard, we installed cat fencing. http://www.catfencein.com/ It keeps our cats in the yard and keeps other cats out. We also had to put up some chicken wire around the bottom of the fence where there were possible escape holes. Our cats absolutely love this. They spend a lot of time out there, especially in the summer. Anna L answered in Pets over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 We got our cat when he was 12, but we were easily able to train him to wear a harness and leash. All he ever wants to do, though, is eat grass (we never put any chemicals on the lawn). Then he comes back in and throws up endlessly. Lovely! We couldn't possibly have him outside alone, though, because of the coyotes. He's escaped several times, but mostly to eat grass. Just Asking answered in Pets over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 I moved from an apt. to a house on QA when my brother/sister act, Froth and Phoebe, were about 4 years old. I put in an electronic "cat door" and they each got little magnetic "keys" on their collars so they could come in or leave at will. Froth lived to 13 years; Phoebe almost reached her 20th birthday. My next bro/sis pair, George and Gracie, have had the same freedom their entire lives. They're 11.5 years old now. I've never had any worries over my cats' freedom. They often walk guests down to the street. George especially seems to wait for me to come home. Neighbors know them by name. George has more friends in the neighborhood than I do. I've found notes in my mailbox from people I don't even know asking me if George is ok because they hadn't seen him lately. If you live in an apartment, though, this isn't possible. Randal answered in Pets over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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