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My cat wants out.

He's only about 10 months old so to young anyway.

He's a munchkin so quite small and the big bully cat next door might get him.

We live on a quiet street but close to a busy road.

There is no way to cat proof the garden so he can't get out.

He's nice and friendly and I don't want him to turn half wild.

I don't want him to go out. But right now I'm sitting in the garden and I can hear him crying at the back door. He wants out.

Do you let your cat out?

I live in the woods and we have coyotes here. My kitties have harnesses and go out on a 30' tie out (it's actually 2, 15' hooked together). My crazy girl who is a tree climber, her tie out is attached to the clothes line in the back yard. She has full run of the back and she loves it outside. The harnesses that I use are a no choke figure 8 style. I have put 4 different kitties out on the harness/tie outs and they love it and especially since your guy is so young? He'd never know the difference

eta: i keep a close eye on them when they're out. I never leave them unsupervised because they can escape if they want to bad enough

[This message edited by ZooMa at 10:06 AM, April 19th (Friday)]

I had cats for 40 years. The ones who lived lovely lives were the housecats. The cats who were outside died from various causes, none of them pleasant. If I ever get a cat again it/they will be housecats only. I feel very strongly that cats need to be indoors, not just for their own protection but also for the protection of the wildlife in the area. Cats wreak havoc on native birds. And then there's what they do in flowerbeds

All of the cats I have had wanted out so bad that I let them. And now I don't have any cats. The last one was on the smaller side, but I still see him roaming the neighborhood every now and then. I did make sure to get him fixed, though. He used to come to the door when he wanted in. Then he stopped doing that, so I put food on the front porch for him. After two weeks and bowl was still full I stopped doing that. One of my neighbors actually "adopted" him. They leave their garage door slightly open for him, feed him, take him to the vet. I walk by and see him laying in their driveway. When I say hi kitty-kitty, I swear that damn cat puts his nose in the air and looks away from me, lol. I have two boys and they have a girl, so kitty must have just liked girls better. *Whateva* Lol

I still miss the cat we had that disappeared in '02. We had him since '95. He just ended up missing a few weeks before we moved to HI. I had dreams about him for nearly 2 yrs and would wake up crying. Attached to him a bit...

Our current cat we do NOT let outside. He wants to, and has gotten out, generally staying close to the house. Then we go get him and bring him inside.

I've also read that having outdoor cats messes with the local wildlife (birds, rabbits and so on). While I wouldn't mind him getting the house sparrows that have taken residence up in our vents, there are species he shouldn't hunt...and he wouldn't know the difference. So he gets to hunt the mice that try to turn our basement into their winter home instead.

Our 7yo cat goes in and out, doesn't stray too far. We back up to forever wild and she never ventures back there - I think she's a big scaredy cat!

The other one is about 4yo and she has only gone out when she manages to GET out. She rarely even tries any more - and if she does all I have to do is shake the can of treats and she comes running!

NO! I use to, until one of my cats was poisoned by an evil neighbor.

After that, all future cats were strictly indoor. My most favorite cat was run over by a car. She was an indoor kitty. We had a guest who let her outside for some reason. She was killed shortly after whilst I was at work and didn't know our houseguest let Other outside.

We have a beautiful Maine coon cat/mix right now. He oftentimes wants to go outside. Once he ran out the door but stopped pretty quickly on top of a snowbank and cried piteously until someone rescued him. Silly kitty!

We do not, but my parents do. My cat is too much of a weenie, but she has been out on a harness before. She likes it, but gets herself sick- she eats grass, eats this plant, chews on that tree...

My parents cat however does go out and doesn't wander too far. She likes to go to the bathroom outside and, much like a dog, will go out, do her business and go back in. They live in a pretty quiet neighborhood.

We have always kept our cats inside.

UNTIL...we got Pookie. He wanted out. Would run for the door, scratch at screens, meow (the kind of howl-meow that is creepy).

He became miserable. The VET told us some cats are meant to be outside...

So we let him go. :( I must say it has made a huge difference. He is so much happier, runs out every morning and comes home every night about 11.

It's just who he is I guess....

I have two cats and I am allergic to them (recent years) but I do NOT let them out. It is way too dangerous out there. Please reconsider.

No, never. My sweet little darling just isn't prepared for the big, mean world out there.

Both of my sweet boys are indoor only. One has no desire to go out, preferring his high perch near our patio door to look out.

The other once got out into our back yard by accident, but he has since stayed away from open doors.

No. If cats go out here they turn into lunch.

I solved the problem by getting two kittens at once. They entertain each other and are not very interested in going out.

You guys are making me feel so much better. I was feeling really guilty and selfish for keeping him in. Here in the uk most people let their cat out, it's seen as cruel and unusual to keep them in.

Thanks to ZooMa he has been out for about 20 mins on the dogs harness. He was a bit unsure at first but then seemed to enjoy it. That's as much freedom as he's gonna be getting and only when I'm out in the garden with him.

Thanks for all the replies.

My cat is too scared to walk outside. She does like it if I hold her and stand with the door a few inches open. She likes the breeze and purrs in my arms.

All the time, but usually bring them in at night. We have two 10 YO barn cats (brother & sister) that we got when we owned our ranch to keep the mice down (actually, that's why we got the female, the male was just too cute so we grabbed him as well). They've always been indoor / outdoor cats - the only time we have to put them indoors is if we go for a long walk, because they'll follow us. Learned that the hard way back in Texas when we were about 1/2 mile down the road and here comes the gray female meowing to keep up

We are lucky that we live out in the country a bit, and have a couple of acres for them to roam on, even though they both just stick close to the house. I worry a bit about something happening to them as we do have fox, bears, etc. but I don't think there is any way that we could keep them inside, it's just not in their nature. I can understand wanting them to stay in though. One thing is both of these were originally obtained for utility purposes, and no one else in the family had ever owned cats. My wife wasn't keen on getting them at first, so I told her don't worry, they are just barn cats, they're disposable (the males name is Bridgestone like the tire - our vet hated it). But they are family, even though they can be a pain at times. I think it's more up to the nature of the cat (and the owner to some extent) if it should be an inside or outside cat. Plus, your environment (neighborhood, roads) plays a factor.

In addition to safety concerns for your cat, think about the birds. Outdoor cats are the bane of wild birds.

Pet cats should be fed quality food, have the opportunity to exercise on cat-specific toys, given lots of love and attention, and kept inside.

Is your little guy neutered yet?

I had 3 cats with my ex... He still has them... well, two of them, one moved with his ex girlfriend when she left...

Anyway - All three of them wanted to go outside... the girl cat was adamant about and there was no keeping her in. She was tiny, but feisty and she did just fine out there.

The two boys were brothers... both huge... like 15 to 20 lbs each. They go out but hang around the house mostly.

They were all miserable indoors... I guess it was in their DNA.

I solved the problem by getting two kittens at once. They entertain each other and are not very interested in going out.

We did this too. Our cats are brothers from the same litter and we've had them since they were 8-9 weeks old.

They're 7yrs old now- healthy and happy!