What is your opinion of cat owners who allow their cats to roam outside unrestricted? Do you feel owners who do allow their cats to roam freely outside are actually demonstrating a lack of love or concern for their pet's well-being? Would your opinion be more flexible if the animal was vaccinated and wearing ID tag, or if you felt the roaming location offered a degree of safety?

PLEASE TAKE A SECOND TO COMPLETE THE POLL ABOVE.
THANK YOU
GINNY

This is such a difficult topic and I think there is no right answer. You must take into account so many factors and it also depends on the individual cat. If I lived in a country where there were predators - coyotes etc I would probably keep my cat as an inside cat, with a run. However, in England, where there are no natural predators most people consider keeping a cat inside as cruel! I let my cat outside during the day and keep inside at night when foxes are active. I am sure lots of people will have strong views on the subject! The shelter where I got my cat wanted him to go to a place with a lot of land for him to be able to roam and would not countenance a cat being kept indoors unless health required it ie feline hiv + or deaf/blind etc. I don't think it's a black or white subject as there are just too many variables - cat neutered?/ age/busy roads/ aggression/ territorial/ health/chipped or not/vaccinated or not.......the list goes on.

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

Absolutely agree with everything Melissa said in her post. I also allow my two to roam, but only during the day and I always get them in at night. A very difficult subject but in the UK it is very normal for them to be able to roam.

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Thank you for your response. I'm very interested in hearing how people feel about this subject especially in different countries. The tide is changing quickly in the U.S and I'm interested to see just how much it's changed. Please take a second to answer the poll I posted on this question. I hope I get numerous responses that actually provide me with a clue as to just how much it has changed here in the US.

I'm in the US where a lot of people keep their cats indoors. When I got my bengal, he was 6 years old and his previous owner allowed him to roam free. There were vicious cat fighting going on and several trips to the vet for infections. When I took him after a horrific cat fight, I decided he could no longer roam free. We back up to a lot of acreage and there are coyotes back there. I've also seen cats dead on the side of the street that comes into our subdivision. I've had cats for over 50 years and never restricted them to the indoors and pretty much they all disappeared at some point. A beautiful, HUGE, stray found me a few years ago. I befriended him and he was the most affectionate, lovable cat that I've ever had. I knew he needed to be neutered and vaccinated, but he would not let me pick him up. I finally trapped him, took him to the vet, had him neutered, microchipped, vaccinated. Two weeks later, at 1:13 a.m. he wanted to go outside. I let him out and have not seen him again. My heart aches not knowing what happened to him and I constantly have dreams that he returns and actually gets along with Raiden. I've always treated my cats like children -- the loss is great. I learned my lesson about letting cats roam free.

Raiden walks on a harness and leash and we take two walks a day. He has a 12'x12' enclosure on our deck that he can access 24/7 that has a 3-room cat house, cat tree, steps, table and chairs that he can lay on.

My biggest problem are the other free-roaming cats. My homeowners association covenants state that all dogs and CATS shall be confined at all times to the lot on which the owner resides, but it's never been enforced. I had a neighbor's cat who loved to watch and kill the birds in our yard and antagonize Raiden when he was in his enclosure. One day. out of nowhere, the cat attacked me, and I wear three scars of teeth marks -- and paid medical bills. Thankfully, the neighbor moved, but now I have a black and white cat who is in my yard every morning when Raiden and I go out for our walk. Raiden wants to kill this cat and I do my best to stay clear of this other cat, who clearly wants attention and tries to walk up to us. I am terrified of another attack. I wish this cat would go home and stay home. All Raiden wants to do is lay down and keep an eye on this cat. We used to enjoy walking down to the park -- but now we don't leave the yard. Most days, I have to pick Raiden up and run to his enclosure to get away from this animal. I have no idea where this other cat lives or even if it has a home. It looks well fed.

So, I may be the only person on here who feels letting your cats roam free is not a good idea. Not just for the cat, but for the neighbors who may be bothered by the cat. I have to laugh when those in the UK talk about no predators for the kitties. I guess other cats don't pick fights, or neighbors who hate cats don't try to trap and kill the cat. This happens every single day all over the world.

The good thing is, that you and only you can decide what is best for your kitty. It's a personal decision and you shouldn't be swayed by anyone but yourself. You know your cat and outside environment better than anyone else. You asked for my opinion, and this is my opinion. I know many on here will not agree. I respect their decision to allow their cat outdoor access without restriction and I'm glad your kitties return home at night. Unfortunately, I'm part of a Facebook group on lost pets and read every day about missing animals who did not return home.

I don't think there is a right or wrong. It depends on where you live and what your cats are like. I am in a gated development with a 20 MPH speed limit, but I couldn't let my cats roam freely. I would worry about them constantly. One of my neighbor lets her cat roam and she was hit recently. She survived, but still it took it's toll on her.

I try to keep an eye on my cats when they are on the patio too. I check that the doors are closed securely everyday before I let them out. I worry about someone taking them, or opening the patio door so they can get out. I recently had an incident with an intoxicated woman (slurring her speech, talking nonsense, not listening to my requests for her to leave) walking a large labrador on my property. She was in the back yard by the lake looking in my windows trying to restrain her huge dog who was trying to get into my patio area. They knocked down landscape lighting, and the woman could barely control the dog. My cats raced in the house and were too scared to go back out until the next day. I asked her not to walk her dog on my property, and I posted no trespassing signs, but she was back on Saturday with that dog. She saw me and took off. People can be crazy. I worry about what someone like that (or her dog) could do to my kitties.

Sherry, we are very lucky that we live with no immediate neighbours and have a lot of land but as I said each case is so individual. We weigh up with our pets what is best for them and definitely there is no right or wrong here and I also respect others decisions to keep their cats inside. If I lived in a town, near a road or had coyotes in my back yard then my decision would be very different. It must be incredibly frustrating for you to have people flouting the rules where you live and having animals upsetting Raiden. If only every pet owner was a responsible one!

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

Gee, I even forgot about dogs. Although most cats can outrun a dog. Now it is scary to look and have someone peeking in your window. I think I would have reported to someone -- the HOA maybe. Especially if she is coming onto your property with her dog.

Melissa pretty much said everything that I wanted to say - it depends.

2 examples come to mind - my mum and my friend, both in Europe, so no potential predators for a healthy/fit cat.

My mum lives in a small village with no through traffic and has a large garden with a wood at the bottom of it. It is cat paradise and our families cats have always been allowed out during the day and kept in at night. They've loved being out in the fresh air, sniffing things, hunting things, lying in the sun, and doing all sorts of cat stuff. Allowing a cat out in those circumstances is fine with me.

My friend lives in a city centre and he allowed his cat to roam. There was lots of traffic, nobody knew each other, so the cat wasn't X's cat - it was just some random cat on the street and, occasionally, through people's open windows.:-0 At least once the cat was caught by animal rescue and my friend had to go and collect it/pay a fine. Almost inevitably, the cat was run over, aged only 5 years old. It was a sad waste of a lovely cat and no way to be a responsible pet owner.

In short, there is no way to provide a yes/no answer regarding allowing a cat to roam- it depends on the location and circumstances. As I live in a city my 2 are strictly house cats ( apart from a plan to allow them out for walkies on a leash when we visit my mum ).

EDIT: Another anecdote, showing the different cultures regarding cats in the UK compared, for example with the States - The Blue Cross ( a national re-homing charity ) would not discuss any details with me regarding the bengal they had until I could show that I had access to a large garden in a quiet area so that the cat would have plenty of space to roam/carve out a territory.

Jill, there is a big of crime everywhere -- so it's not just in your locale. I'm about to contact our HOA on this b/w cat that likes my yard. I don't want to be attacked as I'm walking around the corner of my house and not seeing this cat until it's too late.

I personally, for my cats, am adamantly opposed to letting them out unsupervised. I will on occasion take them out on a leash but I won't let them roam.
If we were in an area where I felt they were safe to roam I would probably let them out for a little while each day but I would definitely bring them in at night because of predators.

We're in the US - I was in Southern California and now am in North Texas. The areas I have lived in/do live in are not safe for roaming cats. Aside from wild predators (coyote, bobcat) there are domestic predators (dogs) not to mention people will not hesitate to put out poison, shoot or run over cats, rabbits, squirrels - you name it.

We're in a cul-de-sac with a very large yard, my neighbor feels it's ok to let his 2 labs run around in the cul-de-sac so he just lets them out his front door a few times a day. They've killed at least 1 rabbit on the side of our house - granted rabbits can't climb like cats can, but we have brick houses and very few trees so there aren't a lot of place for a cat to climb to get away. Diesel was declawed when we adopted him, all 4 feet, so he couldn't climb to get away from something even if we had trees. Bobcats can climb and they will jump an 8 foot fence, we've had at least 1 in our yard after a rabbit.

My dad has had a dog poisoned - the dog was only out for maybe 20 minutes, someone came by and threw tainted meat into the yard.

I had a neighbor in CA that would shoot cats with a .22 rifle if they came in his yard, even if they had a collar and tags. And I've heard people in TX say that they do it as well.

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Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

Recently here in Nashville, we've had several dogs shot while inside their fenced yard. Most are pit bulls or pit bull mixes, but since the dogs are contained in their yard and not running free, I don't see the need to anyone to do something like that Most dogs have died and the owners are heartbroken. I'm sure the police are doing nothing to solve the crimes. These were not in the same neighborhoods, but here somebody hates dogs.

Well, yes, in a rural setting, you have to worry about predators like wolves and coyotes and such. In an urban or suburban setting, I think the predators are even more dangerous though: cars, dogs, and people with bad intentions.

But even in the US I think the majority of people let their cats run free. Certainly many of my neighbors do. And my parents did when I was growing up. So it's difficult to make too big of a deal out of it. I tend to think of letting cats run free as a very "old school" attitude.

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The little monsters 3