indoor/outdoor debate between my friend and I

sydney

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My friend and I were discussing the amount of cats I have and I told him how I use to let them be indoor/outdoor cats because at my old house I had a dog door I couldnt block the cats from and at the time I had to have the dogs be able to use the dog door when i wasnt home. So I had put collers on all my cats,made sure their microchips were updated, and let them do their thing.

I was telling my friend how now that I live in a differnt house I dont need to use a dog door anymore, but sometimes I wish i could let them be indoor outdoor agian, because they drive me nuts with the meowing.Now I wont let them outside, but my friend was saying I should open up the dog door, or a window to let them come and go. Besides the fact that it is dangerous, one reason i dont want them outside is because of my neighbors. I have 5 cats and I would be worried that is too many to have as indoor outdoor cats, I know they will more then likely go to the neighbors yard at some point, and I think 5 is too many to have roaming around in my neighbors yards and stuff.

Now I am definitly NOT letting them out, but my friend doesnt think 5 is too many, and doesnt think my neighbors would care, I think they will.

So my question to you is, if you were my neighbor and I started letting my 5 cats outside, what would you think,would u be annoyed? And how many of you have outside cats?Chances are all 5 wont go to the same places, but still Im sure at some point one or all of them will make it to a neighbors house since I have nieghbors on each side.

Agian I am NOT letting them out. Just trying to see how many agree with me or my friend. Is 5 too many for indoor/outdoor.
 

epona

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My mum is really bothered by the huge number of outdoor cats that are around her neighbourhood - I use that term in the loosest sense, because there are only 6 houses in a really isolated area!! A couple of those houses are multi-cat households, and the cats are outdoor only. Now my parents are keen gardeners and bird-watchers, and a) you do not want other people's cats pooping in your newly planted flower beds, b) to get cat poo on your hands when gardening, or c) have all the birds scared away from your garden.

If (it's OK I do understand that this is not happening, but purely hypothetically) I were your neighbour and 5 cats were coming into my yard/garden I would be pretty hacked off about it to be honest. And that's coming from a cat lover.
 

jcat

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I love cats, obviously. We live in an area where the (indoor/outdoor) cat population is very dense, and there are times when I/we wish that the neighborhood cats wouldn't turn our yard into kitty city. We're partly at fault, because we don't chase them, and we have "kitty drugs" in the yard, i.e., several large catnip plants, but the fighting, cat turds, dug up vegetable beds, kittens born in the greenhouse (okay, that was just once), cats exploring the garage at the first opportunity, and so on, can get to you. I think I'd be a bit upset if somebody moved in with five indoor/outdoor cats. The cats don't know any better, so you can't blame them for wandering around, hunting, eliminating, etc., but I'd rather not see the problems added to by a "large cat family".
 

trouts mom

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Your asking a bunch of cat lovers if we would be annoyed to have 5 cats in our yards?
I would
to have 5 cute cats roaming in my yard


I wouldn't let them out, it is so much safer indoors for them
 

catsallover

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Well, we have 4 indoor/outdoor cats, all spayed females, and live in a neighborhood. Only 3 go out regularly, and only 2 leave our yard on a regular basis. However, our side of the street backs up to a large wooded gorge, and that is where my cats usually go out to hunt (we lived in a very rural area before we moved here, so the cats are very used to the woods). That said, the Toms that come around and spray the door frames and holler at the windows are kinda annoying. My next door neighbor (who recently passed away
) liked our cats coming over and sitting on his deck stairs, etc. So I guess it would depend on where you lived, IMHO. (There are also a few spayed females around, that we visit with sometimes when we go for a walk. They tend to stay around their houses, too. It's not uncommon here
).
 

pami

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Originally Posted by catsallover

Well, we have 4 indoor/outdoor cats, all spayed females, and live in a neighborhood. Only 3 go out regularly, and only 2 leave our yard on a regular basis. However, our side of the street backs up to a large wooded gorge, and that is where my cats usually go out to hunt (we lived in a very rural area before we moved here, so the cats are very used to the woods). That said, the Toms that come around and spray the door frames and holler at the windows are kinda annoying. My next door neighbor (who recently passed away
) liked our cats coming over and sitting on his deck stairs, etc. So I guess it would depend on where you lived, IMHO. (There are also a few spayed females around, that we visit with sometimes when we go for a walk. They tend to stay around their houses, too. It's not uncommon here
).
I live right down the way from you in English Village in Mt. Brook and here, there is no way I would let my cats out. No way. There is one neighborhood cat that walks around and I have seen a few others, but just from the cars alone I would be afraid to let my cats out.
 

rapunzel47

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We have three indoor/outdoor cats. They do visit adjacent properties, but in fact they spend considerably more time inside than out. The only reservation I would have about a multi-indoor/outdoor-cat family moving into the neighbourhood would be the question of them working out territory with the existing cats. We only had one when we moved in, and have added in pairs three times. I suspect it would depend on how crowded the neighbourhood is already and how many were added to the mix at one time.
 

sibohan2005

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A neibour of my parents let their 4 cats out at night and it is a huge problem. mostly on garbage nights. The cats knock over the bins and rip ioen the bags to eat anything tasty, they also tend to throw things up around the cans. They are worse than racoons they seem to work as a group and it's got to the point where one of the neibors told her he would shoot her can next time he saw it (for being a public nusence)
 

yorda

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The number doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t matter- if someone would not like strange cats in their yard then even one is too many.
 

catcrazyperson

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i dont know. I personally wouldn't be bothered by it, but i'm cat lover.
but i would keep mine inside just because it's WAY safer. it's been proven that indoor cats have a longer lifespan then ones that are allowed outside.
 

proudkittiemom

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we have/had 2 indoor/outdoor kitties and the one didnt come home than again we have 1 nieghbor next to us and one behind us then through the woods a little on the other side of our house is more neighbors
but no on has seen the one cat that went missing but the neighbor has idk how many cats that are outdoor kitties
but i do kno that the other indoor/outdoor kittie here is starting to act more feral..he only comes in for food and sometimes when its really cold
but he doesn get cuddley a little bit but now we are going to have a total of 5 cats or 6 if we find willie
that we do...but the 4 will be indoor, i rather have indoor than outdoor ecspecially with neigbors and people driving and everything and people that are just plain old mean (we dont have any like that i dont think.thank goodness
) But it just all depends on ur neighbors I kno midnight always goes and visits all the niegbors and willie used to sit with the neighbors kitties and everyone loved willie around here...all and all tho im happy with our little community because we got animal lovers for the most part up here except one but hes on the other street and the other animal lover has been dealing with him and calling humane society and stuff because he has a garden so he sets traps and things and then tortures the animals in his yard with spray
 

salemwitchchild

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Originally Posted by Sydney

My friend and I were discussing the amount of cats I have and I told him how I use to let them be indoor/outdoor cats because at my old house I had a dog door I couldn't block the cats from and at the time I had to have the dogs be able to use the dog door when i wasn't home. So I had put collers on all my cats,made sure their microchips were updated, and let them do their thing.

I was telling my friend how now that I live in a differnt house I dont need to use a dog door anymore, but sometimes I wish i could let them be indoor outdoor agian, because they drive me nuts with the meowing.Now I wont let them outside, but my friend was saying I should open up the dog door, or a window to let them come and go. Besides the fact that it is dangerous, one reason i dont want them outside is because of my neighbors. I have 5 cats and I would be worried that is too many to have as indoor outdoor cats, I know they will more then likely go to the neighbors yard at some point, and I think 5 is too many to have roaming around in my neighbors yards and stuff.

Now I am definitly NOT letting them out, but my friend doesnt think 5 is too many, and doesnt think my neighbors would care, I think they will.

So my question to you is, if you were my neighbor and I started letting my 5 cats outside, what would you think,would u be annoyed? And how many of you have outside cats?Chances are all 5 wont go to the same places, but still Im sure at some point one or all of them will make it to a neighbors house since I have nieghbors on each side.

Agian I am NOT letting them out. Just trying to see how many agree with me or my friend. Is 5 too many for indoor/outdoor.
Personally I believe ONE is too many. I know some cats like it outdoors. But for their safety and others safety I believe it's better to keep cats indoors unless on a leash. First of all cats get into the trash around here. That's a big hassle because the trash men will NOT pick up anything on the ground or if the bag is broken open.

Then if a cat runs across the street it can cause an accident or worse..getting run over. I always blame myself if I happen to do that but ultimately it is the owners fault for allowing the cat outside.

See there are just too many variables to allow it....

I realize not everyone thinks the way I do... But if my neighbor just let her kitties run as they pleased those cats wouldn't stay running loose for long. But since you asked there's my .02 cents.
 

kaylacat

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I Wouldn't do it. Not so much aboutannoying the neighbors but so many things could happen its just not worth it. There are alot of mean crazy people out there plus cars, dogs, stuff that they could get into that could make them sick, or someone could see them and think they were strays and "rescue'' them. Just too many things that could go wrong. I hd an indoor/outdoor cat that just didn't come home one day. I also had a cat that was an indoor cat and got out somehow and never came back. All mine will be indoor from now on (except for the strays, I can only take in so many).
 

clairebear

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I have 5 indoor/outdoor cats. I think whether or not you allow your cats outdoors depends on the area that you live in. My family has a small farm and a decent amount of land. Our cats can roam around, and never have to leave our property. Were also far enough from the road that I don't have to worry about them getting in the street and getting hit by cars. Now I think it's perfectly fine to allow your cats outside if you live in an area where it is safe to do so. If you live in a densly populated area, or close to a busy street or something I would keep them indoors for thier own safety.
 

gailc

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My four cats are inside/outside. For the "long time" TCS members they know what happened to Sheba and others in the past (Yes I have a neighbor that USED TO SHOOT CATS-not any more since the sheriff's dept busted him (long story) I also feed birds and garden ALOT!! The cats love to roll around in the soil in the veg garden. Ox being almost 18 doesn't stroll far from the house anymore-far being 30 ft!! Grizzly at 10 will follow us around but doesn't go more than 100 ft from the house. Bakker either sits by the woodpiles or in the fenceline by our neighbor's property to watch the horses. Once in a while he might go onto the neighbor's property behind ours. Bobs is the only one that travels a bit further off our 5 acres. All the neighbor's know our cats and don't mind them-one likes that they hunt on her property!! This time of year they are lucky if they are outside at all-maybe 10-15 minutes. Bobs might be a bit longer again. The time lengthens in the warmer months. They are in when we are not home and at night. We do have Tom's hanging around and spraying too-as no one close to us has cats-they are traveling a ways to get here. I like it in the summer when I am outside in the veg garden weeding and the cats come around looking for some attention!!
 

catsallover

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Originally Posted by Pami

I live right down the way from you in English Village in Mt. Brook and here, there is no way I would let my cats out. No way. There is one neighborhood cat that walks around and I have seen a few others, but just from the cars alone I would be afraid to let my cats out.
Most of the neighborhoods in Gardendale ( we have a lot of ridge tops here
) are way more of a rural setting than English Village
, and the woods and lots have lots of old trees- they left them when they built this neighborhood 20 yrs. ago, and they are so pretty! Plus, we live on a dead end street, with a 20 acre wooded lot at the end of our street. That's one of the reasons I was so happy to find this house- the cats could hunt like they were used to when we had acreage, and it was about as close to living in the country as living in a neighborhood could get
.

Mine also come in at night, and stay in the house when we are gone (seperated, as Meggie terrorizes Bird when she doesn't get to go outside for more than a day
).

I wouldn't let my cats out either if it wasn't a setting they were used to, and we had a lot of traffic
.
 

sharky

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I have always had indoor outdoor cats..

currently Zoey is trained to the back yard and I can aways see her ... Kandie is 18 and like Ox 30 ft is a long way to her ...
 

lakeriedog

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My kitties are all indoor outdoor too, but I know there are some who are very annoyed by roaming felines. Luckily the neighbors are cat people, and not bothered by visits. I think you should do what you think is best.
 

punkygirl0101

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All of our cats used to be indoor/outdoor.. and our neighbors never cared about it, they all have indoor/outdoor cats as well. But now the cats are indoor with access to the backyard which has a fence topper on so they cannot leave. A couple of our cats have figured out how to get on the roof, and back up to the front..so we are working on something to keep them in the yard for good!

Cats sure are slick! lol
 

swampwitch

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Originally Posted by rapunzel47

...The only reservation I would have about a multi-indoor/outdoor-cat family moving into the neighbourhood would be the question of them working out territory with the existing cats...
This would be my concern, also.

Cheers, from
SwampWitch
 
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