It's a personal decision, you have to be comfortable with whatever you decide. Take all the points people have made on here and weight them up in your own mind to see whether you would be happier keeping him in or taking the risk of letting him out. I totally agree that there is a risk with letting him out, and he will sooner or later find his way to the road although hopefully he might decide it's more interesting in the gardens. Ours were already outdoor cats before we rescued them and it is clear to me that they are happier being able to come and go particularly as me and my oh both work full time so are not able to keep them entertained in the way I would want to if they were indoor. I do worry about them a lot but I love to see how happy they are being independent, hunting (even took the neighbour's goldfish out of the pond ), enjoying the nice weather when we get it, making new friends of both feline and human variety (not the neighbour with the fish though) and generally enjoying life.

Re collars, my view is that as long as you use a safety collar it should come off if needed. I know there are mixed views about that but my cats have been known to go through 3 in a week so I hope it will be ok. Being rather friendly I am always worried that my cats will be adopted somewhere else and this nearly happened so I think it's important to keep them with a collar. Also, if one of them were to be found injured or even dead (god forbid, but there is a chance) I think having a phone number makes it more likely you will be contacted as otherwise the person would have to take them to a vet to get scanned. There was a story about this on the forum not long ago.

I have 3 cats - 2 of which are allowed outdoors when I say they can go out. It is not a 24/7 facility. My little girl is only 11mths and she is not allowed out at this time.

If I could turn back time, however, I would never have introduced Merson to the great outdoors because I worry myself silly EVERY SINGLE TIME he is out of my sight!!! Being white & fluffy makes him an easy target for anyone who is of bad intent. I am working on minimising his outdoor time but he adores going out and I feel really bad & nasty for keeping him in. I must be the only person in the land who celebrates rainy days as I have got a justifiable excuse for not allowing him out. Abby is desperate to go out and often runs for the back door when it opens but we hope to try and keep her as an indoor cat if we can. We are also considering the various options of providing a cat run in the garden for them.

All three cats have collars & the 2 youngest are chipped. If (god forbid) anything were to happen to them outdoors then non-pet people who may not know about microchipping would still be able to contact me. I recommend the Ancol safety catch collars as I have first-hand cat experience of their quick release action which prevents a tangled cat from hurting itself (or one that decides to chase another cat out of a first-floor window......)

I can fully appreciate how difficult a decision this is and your OH is not helping you either. I'd say to go with your gut instinct. How do YOU feel inside about letting him out?

Good luck.

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The main reason he wasn't allowed out in the beginning was because he was a very sickly kitten with a low immune system but he has surpassed all expectations - the vet was amazed when seeing him as he is now - he said he never thought that Rio would grow up to be so big and *touch wood* healthy.

Also, since allowing the stray cat in, Rio has become increasingly more aware that there is a whole world outside the house and he kept trying to get out, which is why we take him out into the garden for supervised outings. However, his behaviour has always been quite aggressive - we've tried everything - toys, cuddles, leaving him to come to us when he's ready, the best food, lots of places to sleep and chill out, feliway etc but nothing's ever worked - well, the feliway did after a while.... His background before we got him is somewhat of a mystery but due to his behaviour, we have our suspicions that he may have had no positive contact with humans - we also think he was the runt of the litter. Which is why now, seeing how happy he is when he's in the garden - and the fact he hisses when he's brought back in and sulks maybe it would do him good to be a semi outdoor cat.

As for anything else changing, my worries are still the same - I know all the horrible things that could happen, I'm just fighting with what's best for him - keeping him inside where I know I can keep an eye on him all the time and know that he's safe but pretty darn miserable OR allow him out do do everything that's natural to him - hunt, climb, explore etc but worry myself something silly until I see him and know that he's ok, knowing all the things that could (but hopefully wouldn't) happen.

I just want him to be happy, he's so loved and cared for but as my OH said maybe he's just not cut out to be an indoor cat.

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