Hi..

I visit this forum everyday, few times a day actually and within 1 week there has been numerous amount of threads about missing cats, hurt cats, killed cats etc.. It makes me very angry reading about these kind of things, I feel sorry for owners but on the other hand they are the ones who let cats out! if they didnt do it their cats wouldnt get hurt or even sometimes killed..
Why on earth would you let your cat out to roam free? Fair enough having secured garden etc but if you expect your cat to go and then not turn up you shouldnt be letting it out in the first place! most of threads on this forum are about missing cats and owners need a advice regarding missing poor thing Once cat is missing i think its a bit too late for advice, dont you think? You should have thought it through carefully when you were making decision..
i dont believe in such a thing as "my cats has to go out" - why? why does it have to? What can it get out there - in danger! - and cant find indoors? Why do cats owners expect sympathy and advice? If you think you dont have enough room for a cat in your home why did you get it in the first place? It is a very selfish behavior!!
Im sorry if I hurt anyone by this thread but it is very difficult not to notice new threads about missing cats if they somehow appear nearly every day!
I just had to get it off my chest!

You could argue that if you don't live in an area where it is safe enough to let cats out then you shouldn't get one

Most threads on this forum aren't about missing cats, I've been here long enough to know that!

Some cats do HAVE to go out, some are more than happy being indoors. I have had a couple of rescue cats who all went out in their original homes, one could not have been forced in to living indoors, it would have caused him alot of stress & imo cruel to enforce this on him.

Sorry but your post is your opinion about owning cats & pretty narrow minded, this debate goes on & on at times. If you want to keep your cat in then fine, personally I don't. My cats are free to go where they want & I am more than happy with my decison to do this.

Hmm. I understand totally where you're coming from but I think most owners of outdoor cats realise the risks but want to provide their cat with a rich and fulfilling life. Reading all these threads has convinced me to keep mine indoors but it's down to the individual really. I think your post is a bit harsh.

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I would rather my old boy didn't go out but there is absolutely no way I could have made him an indoor cat, it would have stressed him and been cruel. So sorry but this is the right decision for him and I don't apologise for his choice

Indoor vs Outdoor is a hotly debated topic. Both sides have very valid arguments to be made and it's a little bit arrogant to suggest that the conclusion you've reached is necessarily the RIGHT and only logical conclusion.

I have no problems with an indoor proponent telling me why they have decided to have indoor only cat's or trying to convince me that it's the best way, but that's not what you're doing.

On top of that, you seem to be reveling in a certain amount of "I-told-you-so" glee at the misfortune of people who came to a different decision than you.

Don't get me wrong, there are certain things about Cat's that we can all agree are universally true and as a result, when someone says they aren't following the widely accepted approach, we can, as a community, attempt to direct them appropriately.

But the issue of indoor vs outdoor is not a settled one and as such, it's a bit on the harsh side to make the kind of post you have. Especially when you consider that there will be people reading it who have recently lost their cat's.

Do you really think that what they want to hear is you telling them "well ... you brought that on yourself didn't you?"

I could have spent my post debating with you indoor vs outdoor, but I think everyone's heard the arguments before.

[Edit] Didn't originally intend for it to come out quite this bad tempered, I must admit to having drunk a little this evening and also spent the past hour watching David Mitchell - Soapbox on youtube. It's made me quite argumentative

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"Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it."

you seem to be suggesting that letting cats out is selfish.
i disagree, and i am one of the people with missing cat threads on here.
some cats are happy indoors, some eventually are not - even with a climbing post and toys.

Am so sorry to hear that, hope he turns up soon

I'm pretty new on here (and pretty new to cats).Mine haven't gone outside yet-they haven't lived with me for long enough.I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do as I'm finding it a really really tough decision to make.Each individual person makes their choice.Most of the regular posters on here are very responsible cat owners who do not make their decisions lightly and when they do decide to let their cats out do it for the best of reasons.I always feel really really sorry and upset when I hear about a cat that's got hurt or gone missing and my heart goes out to the owner who is invariably upset and distressed.As long as the owner made a careful decision in the first place I think the best thing we can do on here is help and support the person in a constructive way when they're going through such a worrying time.

I've got two cats (both born as strays so outdoors ALL the time until they were 4 months), and at the moment one goes in and out the cat flap until I keep him in at night, the other is mostly indoor as he doesn't use the cat flap and I've decided not to teach him as he doesn't really like it outside anyway.

I kept them in for about 4 months until they were a year old and the one who now goes outdoors was miserable and really grumpy until he started going out. He's a big muscular moggy and I just can't provide him with enough exercise or entertainment inside, now he runs about chasing flies and playing with his new friends in the garden. He is like a completely different cat now and when he comes in he is so relaxed and purry that I just think it's the only way for him. His brother is happy staying in apart from the odd little stroll outside the back door, but he's a very different cat.

I really hope he never goes missing but I think it would be horrible for him to be inside all the time.

Most people who have a missing cats come on here for support during a very tough and worrying time and for advice on the right way of communicating that fact to their neighbours and the right agencies i.e. Vets, rescues etc
As well as the Sticky at the top of this thread, they get genuine support from people who care and love their cats to the same level as the owners of the lost cat. They don't come here to ask for judgement about the decision to own an outdoor cat. I think the level of support and advice given by people here is mostly fantastic.

None of us expect our neighbours to be capable of deliberately feeding our animals poisons, or to shoot them with BB's or to deliberately run them over. Therefore, when you read about cats being injured in this way, not only is it shocking to have your beloved animal injured/killed, but also to know you are living amongst such heartless people.

Therefore I don't actually see the point of your thread. Your decision to keep an indoor cat does not make you a superior cat owner. I just find your post sad, unnecessary and cruel.

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