The mad girl I work with adopted a cat from a couple who are expecting a baby, it's an indoor cat but they lived on some big property apparently whereas this girl lives in a tiny council flat... anyway, first weekend of having the cat she accidentally left a window open and the cat fell out/jumped out the window and damaged its ligaments (lives on the third floor I think she said)... and she has the cheek to try and dump the bill on the cat's previous owners! Eh no, your fault you were stupid enough to leave a window open. Asshole. Cats belong outside and they should at least have the option to go out if they want to... otherwise it's no different than keeping them in a zoo.

Said no one ever!!!

Yes, I find it so cruel. My mother in law has a cat that has only ever been outside once, when it escaped. She is constantly trying to get out whenever the door is open and I swear she looks so sad when the suns out and shes stuck indoors :(

We've got an elderly woman that lives next door on her own and she keeps her cat inside but its a pedigree cat, think it might be a Persian one and they are pretty expensive and aren't good with the outdoors life.

We inherited 2 Bengal brothers who were house cats. After six months and much destruction...Bengals are notorious for this, we sold our house and decided to go off and spend our summer out in the sticks in a North American Indian teepee. The cats were in seventh heaven and although they never roamed far, they lived under the stars with us and had what I would call, a proper cat life. When we moved back into suburbia, there was no way these two lads were going to accept the confines of four walls and so we did, cautiously let them out after rush-hour in the evening for about four hours.

Within two weeks Jaz came back with an injured front leg. We will never know what happened but he just lost complete feeling in that leg and it had to be amputated. Jaz no longer wanted to go out and even if he'd wanted to we probably would of prevented it. Only a few months later, his brother Boe got into a cat fight with a tom cat and ended up so badly injured that it was touch and go for a while. His personality changed and he wouldn't even go near the door or sit looking out of the window for about a year.

I think it very much depends on what breed of cat you own. If its an expensive pedigree and overly friendly, chances of it getting stolen are really high. Siamese are meant to make great house cats because they are more like dogs in nature but I'd advise buying a Bengal as a house cat because they will drive you nuts!

I wanted my cat to be an indoor cat but he was so desperate to get out I enventually allowed it. I think it depends on the cat itself whether it's cruel/selfish. If they're happy to be indoors and not trying to get out at every oppurtunity I don't see the problem.

Bengals and other cats like Ragdoll cats are often targeted by humans because they are such a rare breed. If I owned any of those cats, I wouldn't let them outside either. Sorry to hear your cats went through so much :( sometimes some cats just arent meant for the outside

(Basically no)

But we let all of ours out for at least 60% of the day anyway, unless it's getting this kind of weather when we'll keep them in most of the morning too. (Usually keep them in all night and then for a couple of hours in the early afternoon.)

We've had cats all my life, some indoor and some outdoor, you can usually tell early if they are wise enough. We had a cat called socks who was not intelligent at all, we always had outdoor cats before her, she escaped twice and got stuck in a tree each time, overnight in the rain. We tried harder to keep her in after that because we knew it didn't suit her. She got out again after she had turned a year old and got herself run over and died. :( We knew it wasn't right for her to be out and that confirmed it. I still miss her all the time, her death really had a bad effect on me. :sad:

Well if they live in a flat on the 10th floor then no

People in high rise flats shouldn't have cats fullstop really.

Thanks Chaos. I agree about cat thefts. Fortunately these two boys don't like strangers and certainly wouldn't go purring round some strangers legs.

I think Bengals are very much outdoor cats because they are adventurers and keen hunters. They are probably the best climbers of all breeds of cat and will happily climb a telegraph pole with the stealth of a leopard. They don't have a lot of common sense though, so when it comes to getting down, they won't wait for the fire brigade like a regular cat, but jump and hope for the best.

My friends Bengal is presently in intensive care after jumping 25ft out of a tree :bawling:

no, i think some cats are fine indoors, just like some humans. I'm an indoor human. some humans love and need to be outdoors though. it just depends on the cat. If the cat seems especially unhappy being indoors, you should try to find a home where they can be an outdoor cat though.

Yeah mine is a Maine Coon, he trusts everyone and has literally no street sense he wouldn't last 2 hours roaming free. Like I said though he does have his enclosure and I let him in the garden when I'm home. If he was a normal cat and wanted to roam he would just jump our fence but he literally looks at it and thinks "Ugh nah too much effort" and stays in the garden :laugh:

Our cat treats the house like a hotel.Out mostly but comes in for food and when the weather is bad.She loves to be outside.She stays close though.

My Reg only goes out by choice in the summer. I literally have to turf him out in the winter.