Outdoor Cats

You watch your outdoor cat as he romps in the grass, feeling the breeze, smelling for all the bugs. You watch, as he has this child-like fun with joyous abandon. You tried to make him an indoor only cat, so he can stay safe, but he just wasn’t happy enough. So you let him out, and this is the result.

Except it isn’t. As you watch him play, a neighbor’s dog jumps his fence and runs right toward your beloved kitty. Before you know it, your kitty is gone. Taken right before your eyes. Or perhaps, as you watched, he got a little too close to the street. Before you know it, he’s been run over. Did that not happen? Perhaps he was kicked by teenagers walking by, rocks thrown at him as he laid, dying. Another cat could have gotten to him, even. Some stranger saw that the kitty looked homeless and took him home to keep. He ate something that had poison in it.

Either way, your beloved little kitty is gone. Being an outdoor cat is dangerous. Anything and everything could happen. And if none of this happened, think about what your outdoor cat is doing to someone else’s indoor cat. You watch as your cat has so much fun outside. They watch as your cat terrorizes their cat.

Is he doing anything? No, he’s playing. But he’s already marked in the neighbor’s yard, sending their cat into a frenzy. Frantically pacing back and forth at the window as she sees this other cat. Marking everything she can, even if it’s the wall or that new carpet they put in. They clean as much as they can, knowing it’s not her fault. You were in that house a few days ago, it smelled like cat pee. You didn’t say anything, though, because you didn’t want to sound rude. They tried to tell you it was your cat doing it, but you weren’t really listening. All you could do is try not to smell the pee.

This neighbor is at their wit's end, but they keep trying, not wanting to give up on this poor cat. All because you let your cat outside. What can you do, though? You tried making him an indoor cat, it just didn’t work out. They’ll just have to get over it, right?

Wrong. One day, someone will smell that pee and call animal control. AC will take that cat and likely put them to sleep. I doubt you wanted that, and I’m sure you’ll be upset about it. But what can you do? You tried, right?

Cat enclosures. A cat enclosure will give your cat the love of the outdoors, as well as safety. And it can only travel the perimeter of the enclosure, so he can’t mark in your neighbor’s yard anymore, thereby making your neighbor’s cat a lot less anxious. As well as make your cat an indoor/outdoor cat. Indoors some of the time, in the enclosure some of the time. You can even get your cat a harness and leash and walk him!

If you want to make him an indoor cat, bring the outdoors in! Build a super cat highway, lots of shelves, cat trees, etc. Make cat trees out of specialized tree branches, get cat grass for the cat to eat! Open windows with animal screening. You don’t need a yard or an enclosure to make your cat happy indoors. Just make sure he has enough litter boxes, you bring the outdoors in, he has places he can go to be alone and de-stress, and lots of places to scratch and rub his face and body on. When your cat is rubbing his face on things and scratching things, this is another way to mark his territory. And this way is perfectly acceptable for indoor cats!

All of this should make a happy indoor cat out of your cat and your neighbor’s. Be kind and think about what your outdoor cat could be doing to others.