Do you let your cats go outside?

[midgecat 10]

I thought Ocicat and Oriental were the cats names! Can tell I'm a dog person!

 

i'm not a dog person - but i made the same mistake

[Azarrr 10]

Haha, to clarify the Ocicat is called Logan and the Oriental is called Cleo.

Both neutered and chipped, just in case.

 

Logan was actually a bargain. The breeder we got him from only wanted £100 as his temperament was outside the breed standard (he was petrified of pretty much everything rather than being confident and outgoing) he was the last of the litter and the breeder just wanted to see him go to a loving home.

[katkin 10]

Ours are housecats with free run of the house including the cellar. Weve got an Oriental, 2 Bengals (the rescue one its debateable whether she's a bengal or an Ocicat but we err towards bengal); a Maine Coon; 3 Norwegian Forest Cats and 3 moggies.

 

We cant have an outdoor run (its a right of way), otherwise we'd have installed one for the barmy bengals to play outside. As long as theyve all got plenty of places to eat, sleep, climb, play and plenty of litter trays, they get along fine - they also share their space with our rescue dobermann but she's only allowed on two floors.

 

Our oriental is a Havana so of course she's called Aero. Weve had our 'posh' pedigrees for around ten years now, before then we wouldnt have dreamed of confining our cats indoors, but it was a condition of purchase for all four breeds and actually, apart from the cost of cat litter (nd the cleaning out of trays), its never been that much of an issue. They get up to mischief, yes, but at least theyre safe! And far more sociable, possiblybecause they are so in your face.

 

Are Ocicats as bonkers and noisy as bengals? Ear piercing yowls and persistent 'wahs' when they want to tell you something. ('what's that Alfie? Two kids trapped down a mineshaft, lol?').

 

---------- Post added 29-01-2014 at 19:00 ----------

 

Haha, to clarify the Ocicat is called Logan and the Oriental is called Cleo.

Both neutered and chipped, just in case.

 

Logan was actually a bargain. The breeder we got him from only wanted £100 as his temperament was outside the breed standard (he was petrified of pretty much everything rather than being confident and outgoing) he was the last of the litter and the breeder just wanted to see him go to a loving home.

 

Wow thats a real bargain our Alfie (the barmy bengal) was £500 in 2004! And in 2010 when we lost our beloved Dobermann Ailsa, I was looking at pups and one from similar lines wouldve cost over £1000. For that reason, we turned to rescue and we're so-ooooooo glad we did, because Jesse the doberbeast, in spite of her issues is the most loving dog weve ever owned (and she'd already passed thru 3 homes before us so her time was probably running out even though she was only 2 at the time)

[Azarrr 10]

If you'd have told me a year ago id have two pedigree cats I wouldn't believe it! You must have your hands full with 9 cats and a dog! I've two cats, two dogs and two rabbits, all of which get on really well

Both cats are very vocal, Logan will "wah" at seemingly nothing.

 

I agree with them being much more sociable, my two love human company and follow me from room to room when I'm home. I've never experienced a cat behave this way.

I'm going to start allowing them complete roam of the house, add in a few more litter boxes and I'm sure everything will be okay.

 

---------- Post added 29-01-2014 at 19:49 ----------

 

 

A few photos of Logan sleeping.

 

and one of him looking really sad.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Azarrr

[angel22 10]

Aww. They're gorgeous

[Acorns 10]

What stunning cats

[maryjane 11]

my three cats have always gone in or out as they have pleased, 2 lived till 18 the last one till 19, recently I adopted a cat from the cat shelter, she was a stray, and seems she has no intention of ever going out again, bless her, so she sits in the doorway and watches the dogs go in and out.

[metalman 21]

We've got two house cats; they're brothers and were house cats for six years before we got them so we thought they might not last long outside, and they seem perfectly happy inside. They have the run of nearly all the house all the time, with occasional forays into the cellar and attic.

[Ethella 14]

Beautiful cats

 

I have just one cat (a moggie) who, when he was younger spent most of the summer outdoors (unless it was raining), and days out and nights in, in the winter. He always seemed to get quite depressed if he was made to stay in.

 

Now he is older (nine) he spends most of the time in winter indoors and days outside in the summer.

 

He has always been allowed in all rooms of the house.

[suecatsitter 10]

i care for a lot of house cats some just one cat but most 2 and 3 or more cats as obviously they will play and chase each other and pass away the day,

i do have one who has a cat flap where the cat can leave the house and get into an outdoor cattery/play area,so gets to play outdoors but cant escape,

 

all have toys to play with inside so i play indoors with them,a lot of customers also lock the catflaps when they go away to keep cats inside,for peace of mind

 

as long as the cat/s are stimulated most like indoors

[spats 10]

My boy is an innie only. He's too scared to go outside. He is spooked by everything, even fresh air. All my other cats have gone outside, but I never stopped worrying about them when they went out. The cat flap was locked at tea time and I never let them out when it was dark, at night or during bad weather. Now, I don't think I would want a cat that went outside. There are just too many dangers out there. I am happy knowing he is loved & safe indoors with his peeps.

[medusa 16]

 

We cant have an outdoor run (its a right of way), otherwise we'd have installed one for the barmy bengals to play outside. As long as theyve all got plenty of places to eat, sleep, climb, play and plenty of litter trays, they get along fine - they also share their space with our rescue dobermann but she's only allowed on two floors.

 

 

 

 

I was trying to work out whether I could find anywhere for an outdoor run for mine the other day and I found a way for them to get access despite having a right of way around the back of my house.

 

Firstly, the right of way is not necessarily going to be right next to the house, you can deviate that if you wish to. Several of the houses in our estate have fitted conservatories or single storey extensions to their kitchens which pushes the rights of way a couple of metres further into the garden and that has been passed by the bods at planning as acceptable.

 

The other thing to consider is that access for your beasties doesn't have to be on ground floor level. There's no reason at all why they couldn't exit an upstairs bedroom via a hatch in the window and go down a walkway and ramp/ladder combo thing (you know the sort of thing that is usually used in cat sloped walkways) to come in at roof level of an outdoor run. As long as there are walkways or plenty of platforms to jump down to get to the floor and back up again then that should work fine, especially thinking about how three-dimensional cats are.

 

Sadly I have neither the money nor the necessary outdoor space to allow for that and still have any part of an outdoor space on the back of my house. As it is, the garden is less than 20 feet long and includes a full sized apple tree, so because we live in a nice safe cul de sac and my lot are pretty savvy with going outdoors (those who choose to go) we've shelved those plans, but it's definitely a possibility if we had cats that couldn't go outside as long as we could afford to have major earth moving work and removal of apple tree done.