Hi
I am new to the forum and new to cats, I have a 14 week old torti called Sassy, I have lots of pets but she is my very first cat (apart from having family cats when little)
I am really unsure if she should be an indoor or outdoor cat, I would love her to be an indoor cat BUT how on earth do you keep them from darting out the back door ?????
She will be spay aug/sept so will be indoors until then, so i have time to work out what i will do,I have a stable door, which has been great up until yesterday, when i found her perched on the top, little minx lol.
She is already trying to dart out everytime the door is open,if i wanted her as an indoor cat, how on earth do you stop them???????

We have a busy road at the front, which does concern me BUT we have an extremley huge long garden, which she would love.
my friend has year old kittens and they don't venture any further than her garden, does this depend on the cats character??????? i know some cats love to roam.
Any advice would be much appreciated

I keep my cats in because I have a busy main road out the front and I have a huge garden that backs onto MOD land but I know that they won't stay out the back and that they will venture near or over the road because they are cats and as the saying goes about curiosity killed the cat and it's such a fast road that they will get hurt/killed at some point, you just have to keep doors closed, if building a cat run on the back of the house a possibility.

It depends on the owner and the cat. It is a matter of personal prefarance. My cats are indoor cats. their choice). imo It also depends on where you live. Cats that live in a big city are PROBABLY better off as indoor cats, but not nessarily so.

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Not everything that goes up comes back down. Your age for example.
My pets (sorry I can't upload any pics yet)
Cats
Candy (12) Neo and Simba (10) Del Boy (7))
Cockatiels
Undertaker (My OH's choice)(10) Souxsie(10) Sid(9) Rimmer and LIster(1) Ruhbarb and Custard(hatched july 2010)
Rats
Frosty and Jack(1)
Gerbil
Pepper(almost6) Pepper sadly no longer with us RIP pepper.
Its almost a zoo at home,but we love them all.

Unless you can confine her totally to the back garden and only you know how feasible this is in terms of cat-proofing building a cat run etc I would definitely keep her in. It would only be a matter of time otherwise until she finds her way onto that busy main road, or any road for that matter. Kittens have absolutely no road sense and sadly the same applies to most adult cats as well.

I agree it's difficult keeping cats in-especially in this weather-but you're going to have to be extra vigilant! Also providing her with lots of toys etc should help to keep her occupied and hopefully less interested in the outside.

Welcome to PF by the way!

We have almost an acre of garden, so urs will definitely go out at some point, but it'll be this time next year at the earliest, when the kitten has had a chance to calm down a bit. If I put him out at the moment he'd shoot straight up a tree! For now, we operate a lock system at both ends of the house. Back door only gets opened when the kitchen door is closed, with cats confirmed to be on the other side of it. Front door only gets opened when the porch door is closed, and the cats are confirmed to be on the other side....

The next phase will be to build a reasonably large outdoor run, accessed via the patio doors, and they'll be allowed out there while we're in the house. Then we'll pick a nasty wet day next summer, make sure both cats are feeling a bit hungry, and let them out in the back garden.

hi welcome to pf congrats on the new baby. My OH is from Ipswich

If you are in the town itself I would advise keeping the lil one indoors. As for only going in the garden that is entirely down to the cat. one of my cats doesnt go any further than the front or back garden. My old cat though used to go into the next road and beyond .

xxxxx

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RIP : Tabby, Bonnie & Herbert.

Proud furless mummy of Luna and Maggie - GO MOGGY MONSTERS!

Thanks,
I have no problem keeping the back door closed myself, but my husband will really kick up a fuss, it's driving him mad even now that he has to remember to close the door if he goes into the garden, I know he won't agree to it if it's permanent, especially summer time.
having a run built on the back of our house isn't an option with the way our house is layed out.
a few of my neighbours have cats too, they are outdoors but always to keep to the back.
I know i will worry if she goes out, but i dont see an option, i don't suppose you can train a cat to just stay in the garden??? surley it will depend on the cat, is there a way to keep her away from the back door???

It's a hard decision and upto you at the end of the day, my cat cried alot to go out, so in the end we let him. For him he was just not happy indoors and even though I do worry, I know he has a better life being able to go outside. If you cat is happy indoors then great keep it that way, what they don't know cant hurt them! By the time I rescued mine he had already been outside and seen what there was to offer!!

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Hi and welcome to the forum.This subject comes up quite a bit and some members have very strong views on the subject.I personally think that it is far to dangerous in most areas for cats to be allowed to "free roam"Traffic,dogs,idiots who get great fun from injuring/terrorising cats poisons ect the list is endless,but ,having said all of that it is your decision,only you can judge whether you feel it would be safe to allow unrestricted outdoor access.Your cat may not venture far,or they may wander quite a distance away you will never know until you open the door and let her go.I would suggest that if you do decide to let her out that you wait until she is at least 9/10 months old ,older if possible,as she needs to be strong enough to fend for her self.As GreyHare says building a run or cat proofing your garden is another option that many members have gone with.I have had 3 indoor cats and have not,as yet ,had anyone "escape"You develope eyes in the back of your head and become more aware of where your cats are before opening a door.I'm lucky in having inner doors both back and front so can leave and enter without danger of anyone escaping.You may be advised to keep the top part of your "stable door" closed now or you could build a mesh guard to the bottom part so that if you open the top half she cant escape.Sorry this seems to have turned into a bit of a "novel".Good luck with what you decide and we would like to see some pics of your kitten .

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thankyou, you all have great tips to give me, if i lived alone i wouldn't have any problem having them as indoor cats, but with a husband , 3 kids and 2 dogs
in and out, i am sure they will not share my repetative procedures of ensuring to keep her in.

buffie says:
"You develope eyes in the back of your head and become more aware of where your cats are before opening a door.

but i would have to have eyes on my eyes in the back of my head, watching the rest of the familys actions too lol,

if i do decide to let her go out eventually ( this will depend on how adamant she is) i think doing it at a later age as possible.

would be nice if she just didn't want to go out