keeping the cat indoor

Hi,
My name is Sue.
I have 1year old black and white domestic short hair cat.
Her name is Candy, and I adopted her from the shelter about a year ago. Since then she's always kept as 'happy' indoor pet and I'd never let her out.
But something happened last night and she was ableto make escape through
tiny hole of screen door. I hardly slept throughout the night wondering where she is and what she's doing- if she got hit by a car..
However, to my surprise she came back this morning through the same spot she had escaped lastnight.
With mix of joy and concern, I'm typing this hoping I can get answers from you all cat experts- if it'd be appropriate to let her out to satisfy her natural instinct- and since she's experienced'exciting night life' would she ever be happy indoor pet ever again like she used to be?
Please share your experiences and comments!
thanks a lot in advance.

She will be happy indoors. It may take a few days of her whining to go out, but eventually she'll realize her place in the home. You said you spent all night worrying about her, and yes, she came back whole last night, but you might not be so lucky if you make a habit of letting her outside to experience nature.

My family learned the hard way not to let cats outdoors. We had one cat, Katie, who lived a long live being indoor/outdoor. She was aggressive and strong and other cats always backed down from her in a fight. She died in her sleep.

A few months later we got a new kitten named Scooter. We started letting him out at night after he was with us for several weeks. He was maybe 4 months old but big for his age. Everything was okay for a week or so, but one night we heard cats fighting. We went outside and saw Scooter dash for the door while another cat, one that had always tested Katie but backed down to her, stood proudly in our garden.

Scooter had a huge nasty gash on his front leg. We were just thankful he was alive. After that, he only went outside on a harness. No more outside kitties, ever!!!

Anna's mon,
thank you so much for your reply!
Yes- that is what I thought-
Hopefully she will forget about her trip to outside
and readjust herself happy as indoor pet.
Thank you again!

Naturestee,

Thank you for your reply.
I'm glad Scooter made it back in one piece-
Yes seems like chances are you risk too much danger and threat
to give cat their satisfaction-
sometimes not worthy enough..

I have friends that let all of their house cats wonder outside as they please and they haven't had any issue with more than 6 cats. They act just like dogs, they go to the door to be let out and meow and paw to come back in. They're usually only out for a few hours at a time.

I on the other hand, have always been to worried about leaving my cats outside unattended. This doesn't mean they don't get outside time however. Anytime I am out in the yard or doing nothing, I tie my cats out on in the yard with an H harness and let them explore in safety. There are a large number of outside cats in my area so I keep an eye on them, but there's never been an issue. I also take my cats for walks so they can explore more than the back yard. They're still perfectly happy indoor cats all winter but they'll let you know when they want to go outside if it's nice out.