Should cats be allowed outside to play?

There are two camps.

Some say they should be strictly indoors as they kill mice, rats and the occasional bird. They say they are a threat to wildlife and it's safer for them to stay in as they could get hurt.

The other camp feels they should be able to enjoy nature and roam as they please.

What are your thoughts?

I let my cats outside. If you restrict them by keeping them in the house, they constantly try to escape and get frustrated. My Bengal cat kicked hell and she tried the door handles to get out, but I waited until she was old enough. Now she stays in the garden and couldn't be happier. If you live in a flat, then obviously, you can't let them out. That's fine if they are well looked after. They get bored indoors, especially if you live alone and go to work all day. If they are indoor cats, you need to give them another cat to play with.

There might be a time in the future where I will have to rehome them to suitable people. 

Do you let your cat out, or keep it inside?

Parents Reply
  • Also, birds that get scratched but not killed by cats get infected by bacteria on the cats claws and die a slow death, which can take several days, even from just a tiny scratch, and that is horrible to watch too. Just because birds are wild animals, it doesn't mean they enjoy being killed or being ill, they are sentient individual creatures all with their own distinct characters, behaviours, preferences, habits, quirks and routines, and they very much experience fear. terror and pain and they very much want to live. The lives of wild birds are as valuable as ours and as valuable as peoples pet cats, but people seem to overlook them sometimes as if they were not individuals each with their own distinct life.

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