Best indoor/outdoor cat

Hello

When I was younger, my brother and I used to have 4 indoor/outdoor cats... From kittens to adults.

Anyways, I am looking for the best breed for an indoor/outdoor life.


They'd be indoors most of the time, but outside to do their business and get some fresh air.

Any ideas?

Any ideas on how to train them to go out when they need to do their business?

The obvious question I have is why do you need the cat to ever go outside to do it's business? Most cats do fine as indoor only with a litter box or 2. Cleaning the litterbox is no trouble whatsoever...especially now with all kinds of clumping litters. My cats are indoor only so I can't answer you regarding training a cat to go outside....I do hope however that if you go that route that you please have your cat tattooed or microchipped so that it doesn't get lost and end up at animal control. Another thing to consider is that if you have neighbors that live close by....they may not want a free roaming cat (as cats that go outside do tend to want to explore)....so you may want to invest in some cat friendly fencing to keep the cat only in your yard. Even better...you could build it a nice outdoor enclosure.

Katie

I agree with Katie. My 2 boys have never been outside in their life. They have 2 litter boxes and are content sitting in the window. They're also healthier than any of my outdoor cats. They don't have to worry about fleas or ticks or cars or nasty neighbors.

Sandy

I have been trying for years to get mom to keep cats indoors. I have only been successful once...with the persian...I couldn't even get her to keep MY cats from going out. You want a cat that is not declawed and one with short fur to go outdoors. Also the cat should know that your house is its home before you let it out. Also regardless of if you let a cat out you should have litter boxes in the house...as during the winter they won't want to go out as much...and do you really want to let you little cat out during a thunderstorm? Also make sure your cats are fixed before going outside...they tend to wander more if unaltered...and you don't want unexpected pregnacies....even if you don't see any strays you can bet there are some.

My girls are indoor/outdoor and I guess that makes me a minority here. They are spayed, not declawed and trained to come when I call them. They are also very territorial. When outdoors, they will not approach a stranger even if that stranger happens to know their names.
You are asking about purebreeds and in that subject I cannot help you. Maybe you can read about the individual traits of cat breeds and choose one that will be most suited to the life you want them to have.
Good luck!

For the past 10 years, up until Grizzly 3 years ago, we had cats that were indoor/outdoor. All of them had litter boxes, but they were free to go outside when they wanted. Of course, we made sure they understood that our home was their home before we let them out, and they always returned home. With Yoshi, the very first cat, we made the mistake of not neutering him in time, so he "ran away" as I used to believe (being a child). Sasha was from the shelter and he stuck with us for about a year. Then we had brought Grizzly home, a result of my friend/neighbour's cat "getting it on" with one of the neighbourhood's outdoor cats. Sasha tried to stick with Grizzly, but Grizzly was too playful and wouldn't stop jumping on Sasha's tail. So Sasha started staying outside longer and longer, and eventually found a new home with a house down the street. He would still come home every week, to see us and to have some food (but he would always turn tail and run away when Grizzly came into view). Eventually, Sasha started switching homes, not staying with one for more than a month. He soon made a home a few blocks away, and the last time I ever saw him was a couple of years ago, when he was sunning himself on the sidewalk in front of one of my friend's house (a couple of blocks away).

Now, we had Grizzly for 8 years, and he loved being outdoors. Unfortunately, he ended up getting caught in a cat trap that sprang up somewhere nearby, and we never saw him again (we checked the shelter and Animal Control, and he just simply disappeared). Then we got Willow and she was strictly and indoor cat. Buffy came 2 years later and she's an indoor cat too. The other cats were allowed outside because my parents didn't know any better, and all our neighbours on our street had cats who went outside. Unfortunately, since that cat trap appeared, there haven't been as many cats coming to our house.

I would advise you keep your cat indoors. If you would like them to go outside, they should only do so under supervision, and with a leash on (I let Buffy and Willow play in the front yard once a month, and they have to be on leashes because they've learned how to run away from us and hide under low cars when we want to bring them inside). Plus, it's kind of better, since if they get to go outside fewer times, they get even happier when they go outside. Grizzly would jog out and maybe jog over to the neighbour's house, but Buffy and Willow just start rolling on the sidewalk by our steps and then they go crazy in rolling in the grass and on dirt.

You want an outside cat, adopt a spayed or neutered feral that has been socialized. Used to being outside, it will prove no hardship for the older cat to stay outside and socialized it will come indoors when it wants to. There are certainly plenty enough ferals to provide this type of home for.



You state in one of your posts that you have had 4 cats and they all have run away. Just for that reason alone, an outside cat is a bad idea for you, and an inside cat would be a better choice. If you go with a pure breed, not many catteries will sell one of their kittens to you. Whatever type of cat you do end up getting, neuter or spay the cat or you will very likely lose number 5.