Interesting perspectives...

We have four cats, two which live at the barn and two that live at the house...one of which is a bit of a roamer, the other seems to never leave the house.

Never had any issues...we rescued the two barn cats from a very odd situation so they are living the dream. The mouse population wasn't very thrilled, but the last mouse census showed a very precipitous decline in their voting block, so I'm good.

duel. sounds like your mind is made up on the outdoor thing. cool. your cat wont live that long, and as long as you know this..all is good.

i adopted a feral cat. i cant kick her out anymore. i open the door, and she runs the other way. hell, both of our cats are ex-feral. #1, my wife trapped, got fixed, and turned the hellion loose in her apartment. #2, i adopted...both hate each other, but live in relative harmony.

We've always had 3 cats our first cat who was a sand colored tabby(twister) and our 2nd cat a gray tabby(timmy) were both outdoors cats, last winter twister got hit by a car and died 3 days later because we had to have him put down because we couldn't see him suffer anymore. timmy remains an outdoor cat to this day. prior to twisters death we got another cat a female (tux) you can guess what she looks like. timmy and tux were best friends but when twister died and timmy became the ruler of the house or the alpha cat he didn't have time to play anymore. after twister's death i adopted an orange tabby(tango) and he's is the wierdest of the bunch. he takes showers, drinks from the faucet, knocks anything off tables to hear it hit the ground. so now tux and tango are friends but timmy doesn't have time for either one even though he is a very lovable cat. we just couldn't force timmy to be inside all the time even though the other two are indoors cats. and tux is the prissy princess of the bunch she only wants to be touched on her time.

Our cat is the outlaw's cat which we inherited. Our own 10 yr old cat treated it mercilessly. When she died 2 yrs ago, the orphan came into her own. Her personality has done a complete about face. From an outdoor, shy, silent, useless furball to a very vocal, affectionate indoor pet who sleeps in our bed.

Ian

Cats may go wild, but if they were raised around humans, they wil never truly be feral. I have had many cats with many personalities, from tiger to almost human. The cat came back to you because no one else would care for it, but it is not your cat.

You are it's human.

+1000

ALL, and I mean ALL, outdoor cats in our neighborhood are gone within a year. Lots of Coyote action in the hills behind our home.

I grew up with dogs and cats my whole life but once I was on my own a cat was easier & cheaper to maintain. No cats since the wife though - she is VERY allergic to cats - so much so she can't even visit homes with indoor cats let alone be near a cat. Within 30 minutes her eyes swell up and she starts sneezing and coughing uncontrollably. Lasts many hours after she's left the home. I have to admit I'm jealous of the cat owners here. Sorry for the OT post.

Is that a shot at my old cat Alex??? He was very cute....

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I have only one cat that goes outside, but she goes out on a lease, actally begs for her leash to go out..

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There are still some cats you could havw with your wife, hairless ones Devon Rexes will work. I use to date a lady who also was VERY allergic to cats, she got us a Devon Rex since she knew how much I liked cats and she never had any problem with them..

My daughters got two barn kittens from their great grandma about 12 years ago..... unfortunately one was male and one was female. They lived outside on our back deck where they got dry catfood and a wooden cat house. A couple years later and ever since then we have anywhere from 4-12 cats/kittens at any one time Other than cheap dry food, water and a wooden box, they are on their own. Some are friendly. Some are not. Some run off and return to eat once a week or so. Some get run over. Some get killed by our dog. Some probably have become food for the occasional Coyote. Average life span of the ones who survive to adulthood is probably 2-3 years.

Update...healed up fine. Brother's remedy of hydrogen peroxide/meat tenederizer worked fine. Here she is enjoying the outdoors this summer...

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cats go where the food is. that is the long and short of it.

i am glad your cat is happy and sassy.

My experience is that a hurt outdoor cat hides and stays away. I am pretty sure the injury it received made it behave this way. Our outdoor cat acts this way. Many wild animals do this. I am not sure why. I would keep the cat inside until the injury is taken care of. (But no longer than that - the average house cat goes nuts inside).

Good luck,

George

This is well-documented.

My cats are strictly indoor and are healthy and happy (they get played with and exercised often and find lots of places to explore/roam around inside).

An outdoor cat is a dead cat. Cars, coyotes, idiot humans, stray dogs, etc. Lots of very unpleasant ways for a cat to get seriously hurt or killed outside.

We had a couple of big maine coon cats that you just couldn't keep inside even if you tried.
The ex has them now.
Live in an urban setting (SW Portland, Oregon).
Lot's of great yards to roam in.
Usually spend 50% in and out.
Always would come in at night to sleep in the basement.
Cats had all their claws to survive the outdoors.
Both were spayed/neutered.
Many a dog tried to get them....none even came close.
They were incredibly strong and swift felines.
Not the greatest hunters....or at least they didn't share their kills with us by leaving them at the doorstep.
One of the cats definitely got into a cat fight and needed stitching up by the local vet.
Always kept them up to date with their Revolution flee repellants.
Never any flees or ticks.
Just knots in their long hair from rubbing up on every sticky bush and trees out there.
With these cats, they just wouldn't have been happy always inside.
Maybe a shorter life? But a much happier one too I think.
My take on "our" cats.

"Missing cat" posters all over our neighbourhood. All the time.
Coyotes.

We have coyotes patrol the neighborhood every night too. Not a safe place for a cat that has no street smarts. Cats that do will be just fine though, IMHO.

George

Well, I now have a Maine Coon, and he is an indoor cat, who has no interest in going out. You know it is a big cat when you are sitting at your PC and you get tapped on the SHOULDER and it is your car on his hind legs:eek:
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Street smarts usually come via close calls. Some make it, some don't.

Ours were both Gigantors as well.
Nearly 20 lbs, and could easily reach counter tops from the floor when standing on their rear paws.
Aslyn and Purrfessor.
I miss them much more than the "ex".

Had 6
Chinchilla's ... 4 pure 2 tabby ... had ...
X ... got them when I was at work ... that was probably the loneliest day of my life ... coming home to an empty house ....

GF's mom's cats demand hourly toilet breaks outside ... they come ... they go. 14 and 8. Going outside has a lot to do with the neighborhood. Coyotes would definitely be house cat territory for me :(