I joined this site a few months ago for advice on how to care for my parent's cat. He's fully recovered now and coming along fine, but now we're faced with a new problem.
Loki (the cat) was an outdoor cat before he got injured, but since September my boyfriend and I have kept him indoors. At first it was due to his injury, now it's just because we've moved house and we are surrounded by busy roads and we don't feel comfortable letting him out.
My parents are due to come back to the country and are possibly taking Loki back with them, if that's the case, it's fine. He'll be surrounded by woodland and it shouldn't be too dangerous for him to be let out. But, there's another option. My Mum's concerned Loki may be quite attached to us, and pine for us and it may end up we get to keep him here.
If we end up keeping him, I'm just bothered it'll be unfair of us to keep him locked indoors. He doesn't seem unhappy being kept indoors, but by the same account, we haven't risked attempting to let him out. Is it ok for us to keep him as an indoor cat permenantly? Or is that unkind?
And if we should let him out, how would we even go about it? His reflexes don't seem affected by his leg injuries, but then he's never really had cause to have to get away from something. And our back garden backs straight onto a road, so if we let him in the garden to try him outside, I'm really worried if he jumps over the wall...
I'd be really grateful for any advice. Thanks.
Loki (the cat) was an outdoor cat before he got injured, but since September my boyfriend and I have kept him indoors. At first it was due to his injury, now it's just because we've moved house and we are surrounded by busy roads and we don't feel comfortable letting him out.
My parents are due to come back to the country and are possibly taking Loki back with them, if that's the case, it's fine. He'll be surrounded by woodland and it shouldn't be too dangerous for him to be let out. But, there's another option. My Mum's concerned Loki may be quite attached to us, and pine for us and it may end up we get to keep him here.
If we end up keeping him, I'm just bothered it'll be unfair of us to keep him locked indoors. He doesn't seem unhappy being kept indoors, but by the same account, we haven't risked attempting to let him out. Is it ok for us to keep him as an indoor cat permenantly? Or is that unkind?
And if we should let him out, how would we even go about it? His reflexes don't seem affected by his leg injuries, but then he's never really had cause to have to get away from something. And our back garden backs straight onto a road, so if we let him in the garden to try him outside, I'm really worried if he jumps over the wall...
I'd be really grateful for any advice. Thanks.