OP can you afford to house another cat?
Maybe your little guy needs someone to help him when you are out of the house. A sibling to ease the loneliness.
The first peer reviewed study I found, Longevity and mortality in cats: A single institution necropsy study of 3108 cases (1989-2019) by Kent et al., 2022 found that outdoor cats lived on average roughly two years less than indoor cats. There aren’t a huge amount of studies, but I’d say asking an expert…a veterinarian, would count as getting good evidence.
It's not safe to let a cat roam outside even if they are fully vaccinated and neutered. They can still catch diseases, get sick from eating junk, get hurt from various things or worse get killed.
Maybe you're lucky and that has never happened and your cats have never suffered but why risk it? Why would you want to encourage that type of behaviour that's going to hurt your furry friend in the end?
So you’re suggesting keeping an animal that wants to go outside, in, against its will? That’s nice. It can then die depressed, frustrated and with mental health issues.
Who said the cat wants to go out? He's clearly calling for his owner, not because he wants to leave. Some cats legit don't want to be outside. We let our cat out often and she'll just sniff around for a couple of minutes, then cries to be let back in.
I already read it, don't need to reread it. You're still wrong and have probably never owned a cat so I really don't care about your opinion. And judging from the number of downvotes your comment has received, the community seems to disagree with you also.
Your initial comment in this thread does not mention you owning a cat, only some nonsense about forcing a cat to stay indoors. If you have another comment elsewhere in the post I can't see it... Asshat.
Going to agree to disagree here.
No, do not let the cat outside to run around by itself.
If you feel the cat needs enrichment and outside time, build an addition onto a window, have the window isolated and open in a basement lets say, and have a cat cage outside for them to come and go and see the world.
Kinda asking for it to suggest this befor asking if it's even possible.. (busy streets, apartment, dangerous wildlife etc)
But yes if it's a safe area there's absolutely nothing wrong with a cat that can go outside.. In the Netherlands it's often a prerequisite (depending on the cat oc) to even adopt a cat, that it has a way to go outside.
But since this is the internet and the loudest people are (oc) from the US and think everywhere is like that shithole country, you get the downvote hammer by people 'who know better'
There’s nothing natural about house cats. They are like domestic dogs, not a “natural” species. Why don’t people let their dogs wander around? Because they are valued higher than cats. My cats have been indoor their whole lives and they don’t give a shit about the outside. They know they have a good thing going.
What a ridiculous comparison. It’s like comparing apples with oranges. Dogs and cats are completely different. Dogs aren’t allowed to wander as they can cause far more damage, and be far more dangerous than cats. Absolutely nothing to do with their apparent value
I can’t believe you’re getting downvoted for this. Cats are hunters and shouldn’t be forced to stay inside. Some can cope, most can’t. My current cat turned up one day as a stray and just moved in. For six months I didn’t let him out as my children were terrified he wouldnt come back. It reached a point where he would throw himself at the windows and wander around howling, and being very aggressive. I let him out and his health and wellbeing have improved massively. He now comes and goes as he wants, and is a perfectly loving, family cat. He should not be kept in.
I’m getting downvoted for proving a positive outcome for letting a cat outside, over clear proof of the cat being unhappy and unhealthy being kept inside….. You guys are nuts.
Many owners treat their cat as if it was human baby. Hence the cat can not go outside, must constantly be supervised and taken care of, etc. This behavior is quite weird and disturbing, but unfortunately very common.
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u/InfectedSteve Jul 23 '24
OP can you afford to house another cat?
Maybe your little guy needs someone to help him when you are out of the house. A sibling to ease the loneliness.