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| Indoors | 82% | 124 votes | Total: 151 votes | |
| Outdoors | 18% | 27 votes |
Indoors
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Add to FavoritesWe call our pet cat "Gombah". His name is Italian - spelled compare - which means "Godfather". With Italian dialect, it comes up sounding like Gombah.
Gombah came into our lives 9 years ago when he was one year old and an outdoor cat. Since he seemed to enjoy being outside, and we had a large wooded backyard, it seemed a match made in heaven. Gombah loved prancing around outside and monitoring the garden, chasing chipmunks, squirrels and anything that moved. I would watch him from the deck running a marathon around they yard and dashing up a tree and down again; he really loved it outside.
Occasionally, he would bring us a mouse dangling from his mouth (eek!) or a bird flapping it's wings but then he would meow to be let in with it (um, no thanks) and in doing so, would drop his prey which would run or fly away in much haste, and Gombah was on the chase again. When winter came, we let him sleep in the warm basement which we called his apartment and he was happy until spring and then out again; the cycle continued for a year or so. When we decided to spend the winter in the south, we packed up our car complete with a carrier with Gombah in it. He travels well and the condo was a little mystifying for him, but he liked to take long naps and quickly adjusted; his 'outdoor' time was spent on the screened-in porch. That spring when we returned home, Gombah was happy to be in his element, outside being a predator and terrifying the smaller population. We got word that coyotes were in our area; how could this be? We lived in a built up suburban area and there were coyotes? Yes, there were, and one day, Gombah was injured by one. It wasn't a large injury, but it involved a trip to the vet, x-rays, antibiotics and follow-up visits to the tune of $500. When he recovered, he was anxious to get outside again, and reluctantly, having become overprotective caretakers, we let him go.
It was not long afterwards, when he was attacked again, this time more seriously. He became infectious, and upon another trip to the vet, more x-rays, antibiotics and follow-ups, and another $500, the vet suggested that if we wanted to keep him, that we should consider making him a full-time indoor cat. He talked about the dangers of another wildlife attack or cat fights, fleas, and ticks. Cat collars which do not provide stretch releases have killed many cats, and the danger of getting hit by a car crossing the road. There are diseases they can carry indoors, like ringworm or ticks that may transmit Lyme's Disease. He also told us that the average life span of a totally outdoor cat is about a year and a half, while a totally indoor cat is expected to live upwards of 15 years. And there are diseases that there are not effective vaccines for such as Feline Leukemia and Feline Infectious Peritonitis. We knew on our own, that cats are subject to mean persons who can poison them or abuse them. We were convinced; we were quite attached to this pet and Gombah became an indoor cat. Be prepared if you do this, they are not happy at first.
He would sit by the deck door with the most pitiful of looks and turn and sorrowfully meow and I swear with tear-filled eyes. This went on for about 2 or 3 weeks and then he tried the resentment treatment, but he is so lovable, he couldn't keep it up long. Gombah has lived indoors for 7 years now. He is content, lovable and thinks we are his parents and we have a pride. He watches TV with us, and dines whenever we do. He has his own room (the guest room) because it is sunny and when the sun moves to another room, so does he. He has more toys than we do, and a great contraption the size of a Frisbee, with changeable cork board which he attacks with a vengeance to keep his claws sharp. Yes, we let him keep his claws; it's for his protection if he ever finds himself outside. He has never scratched or clawed our furniture and we have leather couches. He moves to rooms when we do and he is calm, happy and a little overweight. PS - We 'adopted' a feral cat two years ago - a beautiful female tuxedo cat - and she lasted the statistical year and a half; the day after a big raccoon was on our patio, we never saw her again. Inside is better.
Learn more about this author, Marie Coppola.
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Outdoors
Should cats live indoors or outdoors?
Both!
To take away the cat's opportunity to patrol its territory is to trap the cat inside the box that our house makes for the cat. And our cats will let us know exactly how much time they need to spend indoors and outdoors. All we have to do is listen to our cat. Our cats will tell us when he/she wants to go outside and how long they wish to remain there. And on some occasions the cats will try to impress us and gain our favor by bringing home little presents to drop at our feet. Usually a dead bird or mouse that our cat has killed and wants to show off by giving it to us. This is a special act that can only be performed outdoors and cannot be performed indoors. (Unless you have a mouse problem in your home or apartment.) Cats are always on the lookout for our approval.
Sometimes cats will venture out during the day time; however, this is rare, as they are nocturnal animals. Our cat Sammie used to sit at the back door when it had gotten dark and meow until we came and let her out. She would then slink out to patrol her territory and see if there were any other cats that had invaded her space. I'm sure that we have all heard the screaming of two cats doing battle in the wee hours of the morning because one or more cats has wandered into the territory of your cat and your cat is going to make certain that the interloper knows that he/she has crossed the line and is going to pay for it and will receive the same butt kicking if he/she should attempt to wander into your cats territory again. Our cat used to stay out all night when she was younger and more active in the protection of her yard, her territory. She would go to our back door and meow until we let her out around 9 pm and we would not see her again until 4 am when it was time to come into the house for food and water.
As she grew older the time she came back in grew sooner and sooner. Until after Sammie reached approximately 15 years of age she began to stay in and only go out every other day or so. Then it became every third or fourth day she would wander out in the late afternoon for two or three hours. And then we noticed that she began to stay in and not go out at all. She would stay in the house without going outside for perhaps a week or so and then she would wander out very tentatively in the daylight hours. It was then that we noticed the white cream like film over Sammie's eyes. Cataracts. The vet said it would have the greatest effect on her night vision with some further impact to her daytime sight. So this explained why Sammie began to stay inside and not wander out at night. She was at a disadvantage against the younger cats.
It was as I mentioned at the outset of my little article, your cat will decide for you whether they should be raised indoors or outdoors. And in almost all cases it will turn out to be a combination of the two. It is very important that we do not try to force them to do one or the other. Personally this cat owner feels that it should be a well balanced lifestyle that includes both. I am not a fan of these so called cat owners that turn their cats loose out of doors and only see them at feeding time. There needs to be accountability for every animal owner. To own a cat and turn it loose outside and never let it inside your home or inside any type of den or sleeping quarters is not ownership. It should always be left up to the cat in your life. And if by chance they become a regular outdoor cat at night while an indoor cat during daylight hours, (which is quite normal), and after a number of months or even years they change their lifestyle, remember that it's OK. The cat in your life will decide when and where it does what. Cats can only be partially trained. Their eating habits for one, the use of a litter box for another. But when and where they go outside is something that the cat will decide and will most probably be a mixture of both.
Learn more about this author, Paul Cleaver.
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