I don't like cats, but my girlfriend bought a cat and I was wondering how one would go about getting it to be an outdoor cat? Right now it doesn't like being outside (shakes and meows like crazy). He's about one year old. I don't like to see him meow and cry like this. Just need some help. Thanks.
unless you live on a farm or in the country -- letting a cat outside is cruel. Outside cats have much shorter lifespans and often die violent deaths
ignore Cesar, although Jeff will say the same thing. i would agree that forcing a declawed cat outside is cruel, but I would say declawing a cat is the FIRST cruel act. maybe I'm a good test case. I've had two cats. The first was an awesome climber and jumper and loved me to leave the second floor windows open. I lost him early at age 3...I think he finally missed a jump. My other one walks with me for blocks and blocks if not miles (at a younger age). He is 16 yrs old now, and you can tell he feels most naturally outdoors, but appreciates me for my roof, and my hands. I think that is about all he considers me useful for. bottomline: imo, it is for the cat to decide. If it wants to go outside, that's their call. It is your job to make sure they remember where home is, by hanging outside with them for their first few weeks and playing with them outside.
Don't even go there, girlfriend. It all depends on the environment. There are wild predators on a farm that could harm a cat (snakes, bobcats, hawks). A nice suburban area without much traffic would be fine. Trust me, my cats are anything but treated cruelly. In fact my cat will be outside and comes to the front door to scratch at it for me to come outside with her. She loves it as much as any human. russian88, I wouldn't just throw your cat outside. Can you at least least in come inside some? My cats stay outside but come in at night and when the weather is bad. What are you going to do when it gets freezing etc? My wife reads a lot in the backyard and just stayed out there every day with the cat when she was a kitten. As she got older she started wandering around more. But she always knows she can come inside, and she is made to also. My other cat was kind of a stray and hates to be inside (the real MR. MEOWGI). We still bring him in a night but he complains for a while until he settles down. So I would make your cat an inside/outside cat.
The thing with an inside/outside cat is that it will get fleas and bring them in if you don't give them something like Advantage. The shorter lifespan thing is true. It is my belief that cats that go outside are probably happier, but that is just a personal observation. The way to get the cat to think about or want to go outside is to open the front door with the cat just inside, and let the cat investigate for itself. They will be drawn to the outside because of the stimulation of the sounds/sights, but it may take a little time and they will be very tentative about it. If you do this a bit, they will want to go out. Keep in mind that cats are very teritorial. If there are neighborhood cats that have staked out your yard, there will be cat fights. I agree that declawing a cat is far more cruel than leting them go outside.
My cat is hanging outside right now -- when he is ready he'll come back in the house. He's 15 and has been doing this his entire life.
Do NOT leave your cat outdoors. Your neighbors don't want your cat crapping in their yard, spraying their pee everywhere, mating with other cats, etc. And it's unsightly to have cats running around the neighborhood like a slum. A user here named droxford sets up traps to catch stray cats in his yard and he sends them to the pound where they are humanely killed (he got rid of four cats that way). And if the cat has a collar, you could pick it up from the pound, but you'd have to pay a fine. Did I mention that it's against the law?
There are some morons in this thread -- no shock there -- let the freaking cat play outside then let it back in when it's ready.
Average lifespan of an freaking outdoor cat is less than five years. Lifespan of a freaking indoor cat is 12. Thanks, A Moron
Yeah...let it play outside and shovel it up off the street when you're ready to bring it back in. Morons? Nice.
It's not that black and white. It depends how you take care of them and their environment. What is in outside cat? One that never comes in and isn't watched over? I wouldn't have an inside/outside cat where I work in Houston. There are many cars and a lot of roaming dogs. But I feel my cat is safe enough here. There is much more to life than longevity.
My 15 year old indoor/ outdoor cat wants a link on those 'stats' --also-- he dropped the moron bomb not me. I think you're all very smart and can do whatever the hell you want with your walnut size brained pets.
Where are you getting this fact from? My girlfriend had 2 cats that went in and outdoors. One, the one that stayed outside 95% of the time, died last year...after 14 years of living. The other, still healthy and living after 9 years of living. My uncle and aunt at one point had 10 cats that all stayed outside unless the weather was brutal. They lost 1 to a road accident. The others lived until they passed from natural causes. I even had a cat that lived 10 years outside until I had to giver her away. So, where are you getting your information?
Btw - my parent's (and my) cats growing up were total indoor/ outdoor -- one lived to be 22 the other was 18. Maybe the lifespan of a feral outdoor cat is 5 years, but otherwise those stats are way off. ______ For those interested the key to having a really cool cat is getting a male one really young and raising it with a dog.
That's exactly what my girlfriend did. I have a dog and she brought home a kitten she found in the park. It's the weirdest thing, the cat beats up the dog most of the time and pretty much punks any dog that comes over here.
From the internet. http://www.google.com. "cat life spans, outdoor" I am not getting into to a debate about this. If your experience does not match the generally accepted stats about this, that's fine, you can ignore them. I hope your cats live a long happy life, seriously. Next time, I will ask everyone in here what their anecdotal experience is before pointing out a reasonable stat. I just figured people understood the difference between "my experience" and "what typically happens." But what do I know, all of us are morons, we can't understand. Logic which places the importance one's own experience over the laws of probability just murders me. Statement: "Smoking is bad for you" Response: "My aunt reba smoked until she was 99. Smoking is not bad for you!" To join in... I have had had four outdoor cats. One lived to 18, one to 12, one to 4, one to 6. Two indoor cats, both are currently 10. So I guess that means the average lifespan of all outdoor cats ever in the world is 10. And it means the average lifespan of all indoor cats ever in the world is 10. Weird, that math actually worked, i did not even make up the ages.
