Should you keep your cat indoors?

Taylor

Feb 20

I have seen this debate going around online quite a lot in recent months. There are obviously a lot of different sides of this debate so I thought it would be interesting to address these arguments. Now I will preface this by saying that I am a very nervous pet parent - I think after everything I went through with Sasha Bean and her health issues, I am always hyper aware of when my animals are behaving even slightly different. I am also very aware of the world and even with my own cats growing up I would immediately worry if they did not come home as soon as I called them in. I was always worried that they would run into a road or get stuck up a tree, or simply get cat-napped and never come home again. So while I will try to address each argument in this debate, I will always air on the side of caution.

Another point to make, there are some cats who cannot go outside, namely those who carry the FIV virus. Whilst many cats can continue to live a very full and healthy life even after infection, they are not allowed to free roam outside due to the risk of them infecting other cats. Any outside time should be strictly supervised. You can find out more information about this infection here.

Impact on the environment

One of the biggest arguments I have seen in support of keeping your cats indoors is the impact that cats can have on local wildlife populations. cats are, by natures, hunters. Everyone - even those who don't own cats - know that they are keen hunters. If you have a cat you have no doubt had to deal with a half eaten mouse or bird left on your doorstep as a 'gift' from your kitty companion. Now while this act may be one of love (it is your cat's way of trying to feed you and look after you as a member of their clan) it can have a terrible impact on the wildlife populations nearby. Pet ownership skyrocketed during the pandemic which meant more cats in an area, and thus more hunters being added to an area. Prey creatures such as mice, birds and hedgehogs are now at an increased risk of being attacked and/or eaten due to the vast numbers of hunters being added to their environment.

Health concerns

Closely linked to the above is the risk that your cat will pick up something nasty through their hunting. Not only can it be hard to monitor what it is they are hunting and/or eating while out of your house, you also have no control over where they may be sleeping or what water they may be drinking. Many common garden plants can also be poisonous to cats so you can never know for certain where your cat may have picked up any illness. Not only does this mean that treatment can take longer as you have to go through a lot of tests to see what is causing the sickness, vets are not cheap and all of these tests could easily start piling up.

Health benefits

On the other side of that coin though are the health benefits of allowing a cat time to run around outside. Cats who are allowed outside are able to manage their claws, meaning that you don't have to worry about them ripping apart your sofa or (the worst job ever) having to manually file down a cat's claws yourself if they don't take to any scratching posts. Cats are also - like very animal out there - big zoomers. I am sure we have all heard about the 3am zoomies of cats or the post litter-tray zoomies. Allowing a cat time outside means they can climb and race and zoom as much as they like without you having to worry about them knocking over all your shelving units or racing across your bed at 2am.

Other wildlife

Birds and mice are one thing but some wildlife can be very dangerous to your cat. Foxes are probably the main issue of concern as they do tend to live near very built up areas due to the easy access to foods. Whilst I believe that most cats know to steer clear of foxes, all it takes is one very confident cat and a very grumpy fox and you have a very serious problem on your hands. There is also a threat from other creature such as badgers (who can be quite aggressive if needed) and even hedgehogs. Hedgehogs are literal walking pin cushions and getting a spike imbedded in a paw or anywhere else on your cat can quickly lead to infection. There is also the risk that you cat could enter upon a garden with dogs while they are exploring and this could lead to attacks. Now I am not saying that all dogs are aggressive but again, why take the risk?

Roads

My family home was close to quite a big main road, so while there were a lot of gardens around for our cats to explore, there was always the risk that our cats would start to go too far afield and end up losing a fight with a car. Despite what cats may want us to think, they are not indestructible gods. This one seems like a very obvious risk for any pet owner, because everyone knows that cars are big, dangerous machines. Even as a pedestrian, we are always told to be aware of cars so what chance would a little cat have?

Cats need space outside

Any animal needs space. Whether this is outside or inside does not appear to make much difference. There has been an argument that cats should only be allowed outside if they are supervised for the entire time. Cats are clever and love a challenge, so no matter how much cat-proofing you think you've done, your cat will find a way to climb the fence or sneak through a hedge somewhere. Cats love being able to climb and explore but they also need to have supervision while doing this for the reasons above. Most people will also confirm that there is nothing greater than seeing a cat sunning themselves on the grass during hot summer months. There is also the usual argument I see where people will say 'I don't like being trapped inside the house all day, so why would any other animal?' and to a degree I can see this. Even with the risks outlined above I think every animal needs to have time outside (where possible) provided that it is supervised.