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Miki & My Beloved Bengals http://mybelovedbengals.blogspot.com/

Shiloh, Darcy, Rudy The Roodster & Ozzy...

I lost one cat to a car accident and it tore me to pieces. His brother was left all alone and he pined for weeks, I mean a good 5 weeks he sat at the end of our cul-de-sac and screamed at 2am

I didn't stop him from going out, just 2 plain moggies, who had been in and out from 10 weeks of age. God bless him, he was 9yrs old when a car got him.

My cats I've had have always been in and out, caught the odd mouse or rat, no big deal!

But the bengal I'm getting, I'm not going to let her go outside until I'm confident that she is and even then, I may even just keep her on a longer leash. I'll be setting out an outside aviary I have that she can go too and from via my kitchen. So she'll be outside, just not completely outside.

In the UK, we're really not short on mice or rats at all

Like I said, I have a very large outside bird aviary that I am converting and going to stick on the back of my house. She can enter to and from via the kitchen window. It's a big avery, enough room to fit a bench, a fair few pot plants, branches etc.

My house literally backs onto a massive lake and nature reserve, which i take the kids around a few times a week, I'm planning on walking her around there and around our local streets on a harness.

I've had 9 cats throughout my life time and we've only ever lost 1, I think in 30 years that's pretty good going. My parents have my norweign forest cross, had to give him up as his fur set my eczema off. He comes and goes, moving onto a good 16yrs old that boy and has lived outside. I never knew how messy double layered coats can get!

Anyway, my point is that I'd rather my kitty has some sort of outside knowledge, just incase there is an instance that she escapes. She was an ex-breeding queen and is now neutered, she's never been out out before and i'm hoping to give her that little bit extra to life. I'm still not set on letting her go outside on her own, it's either on a harness or her outside cage thingy

My place backs onto a nature reserve, one of 4 in my area. It has swans, Canadian and Egyptian geese, variety of ducks and other birds. Also has a few red squirrels, an endless supply of field mice and brown rats and lots and lots of bugs

I live in a popular area for cat owners, so-much-so that there is a local cat walking club that for obv. reasons runs on a different day to the local dog walking club

Not sure about where you live in the US but there really isn't an issue with a 'lack of' species where we are. I know it's not an excuse but with the amount of cats in this area, it helps keep down the rat population, which is good. enough rats to keep the insect population down but a local rat cull isn't a bad thing.

There's a wild cat indigenous to the UK, well scotland, scottish wild cat which i think is endangered (possibly around 350 left in the wild). They are not feral or a domestic but an actual wild species of cat, I also think ti's the UK's only remaining large wild predator. I'm pretty sure it's being out bred with feral cats and strays etc. My grandpa's family have a farm up in the highlands, they are wild cat friendly as they keep foxes, mice and rats away, although they have to keep an eye out during the baby seasons as wild cats are notorious for taking the odd lamb and piglet.

I'm all for conservation but some areas over the decades have adapted, where as some areas have not.

it has a lot to do with location and area. i read soo many horror stories of animal abuse and what people to do to poor inocent animals....so i would never want safari roaming and some SICKKK TWISTED person gets a hold of him and does something..... people dont even feel safe bringing children to movies any more due to what happen. so letting a animal just go off on his own may be very scary to most people. plus my cat is very exotic looking & where i live nobody seems to work these days and would love to steal my poor kitty. also i hear inside cats live longer because they are not exposed to so many diseases..... for instance....i was walking safari yesterday and before i knew it i looked and he took a bite out of a dog turd so i freaked out and moved him away from this ( not even sure if it was dog/cat no clue where is came from )....but i took my eyes of him for 2 secs....i could only imagine what he would eat on his own..... and if he is exposed to other stray cats pooh that do have diseases...that is the most scary.......also people spray all kinds of posions on there plants and around house for bugs.... so i believe that is why inside cats live longer. not to mention predators...peoples/ and animals that can hurt them.

also wanted to say that i just ordered the exact same stroller 2mins ago ....cant wait for it to come in i ordered through amazon though. the BF thinks im a complete crazy cat lady!!