Im afraid to let my Cat outside

af_thefragile

sparky89 wrote: »

Thank you for your advise, I have tried the cat harness and he freaks out wen u put it on him so i done it a few times and he got worse and worse so i havnt done it since

You've got to try to get them used to it slowly. Like first just put the harness on top of them and once they get comfortable with that, put them in it and such. Some cats won't mind it much and will get used to it pretty fast. For some it'll be a very slow process. Some will never like it...

Anyway, if your cat doesn't like the harness, maybe you could just take him out with you for a walk in a park or something giving it some supervised time outdoors. You've gotta be prepared to run after the cat as it won't necessarily go where you'ld want it to and maybe also bring a few treats along so you can entice the cat back to you if it's wandering away too far. Best to let him out in the back garden first and make sure he doesn't climb the fence and goes away too far. Then you could give it a bit more freedom.

As always with a cat being let outdoor, there will always be the risk it'll get freaked out by something and run away or get itself into trouble and such. So you've gotta be careful and prepared for that.

sparky89

af_thefragile wrote: »

You've got to try to get them used to it slowly. Like first just put the harness on top of them and once they get comfortable with that, put them in it and such. Some cats won't mind it much and will get used to it pretty fast. For some it'll be a very slow process. Some will never like it...

Anyway, if your cat doesn't like the harness, maybe you could just take him out with you for a walk in a park or something giving it some supervised time outdoors. You've gotta be prepared to run after the cat as it won't necessarily go where you'ld want it to and maybe also bring a few treats along so you can entice the cat back to you if it's wandering away too far. Best to let him out in the back garden first and make sure he doesn't climb the fence and goes away too far. Then you could give it a bit more freedom.

As always with a cat being let outdoor, there will always be the risk it'll get freaked out by something and run away or get itself into trouble and such. So you've gotta be careful and prepared for that.

Thank you for your genuine advise and i will be using some of it in practice, you see to know your stuff

sparky89

The Sweeper wrote: »

/shrug - if you don't want an opinion, don't post on the internet. And it's cat owners and dog owners, not cats and dogs.

Thank you for your advise i have got all i needed off you

The Sweeper

sparky89 wrote: »

Thank you for your advise i have got all i needed off you

Oh you're very welcome - if your cat goes missing, do a search on the forum before posting - all of the advice on phoning the council to see if it was picked up off the road, phoning the local shelters and local vets, putting fliers up in the supermarket and the post office and doing a letterbox-drop of your neighbours is all here already.

If you let your cat out, he will come home. Until he doesn't.

af_thefragile

The Sweeper wrote: »

/shrug - if you don't want an opinion, don't post on the internet. And it's cat owners and dog owners, not cats and dogs.

Bah... when you own a pet, you treat it the way its meant to be treated. Dogs behave different to cats hence dog owners treat their pets different to cat owners.

Anyway its pointless arguing here. And no matter if you like it or not, you will always find cats roaming around on the streets. Its what they do. Nothing can change that. Its unfortunate some have accidents and injure or kill themselves but such is life. It can happen to a cat, it can also happen to any person.

Ophiopogon

af_thefragile wrote: »

Bah... when you own a pet, you treat it the way its meant to be treated. Dogs behave different to cats hence dog owners treat their pets different to cat owners.

Anyway its pointless arguing here. And no matter if you like it or not, you will always find cats roaming around on the streets. Its what they do. Nothing can change that. Its unfortunate some have accidents and injure or kill themselves but such is life. It can happen to a cat, it can also happen to any person.

It's not what they do, it's what they are let do. They are a pet so they can only do what they owners let them do.

ISDW

sparky89 wrote: »

Thank you for your genuine advise and i will be using some of it in practice, you see to know your stuff

sparky89 wrote: »

Thank you for your advise i have got all i needed off you

Maybe if you bother to read through this forum you will see that Sweeper knows a helluva lot about cats. Personally I would regard them as a cat expert, and listen to their advice above anyone else on here. But, maybe its because she/he isn't saying what you want to hear?

ferretone

af_thefragile wrote: »

Bah... when you own a pet, you treat it the way its meant to be treated. Dogs behave different to cats hence dog owners treat their pets different to cat owners.

Anyway its pointless arguing here. And no matter if you like it or not, you will always find cats roaming around on the streets. Its what they do. Nothing can change that. Its unfortunate some have accidents and injure or kill themselves but such is life. It can happen to a cat, it can also happen to any person.

Why are you comparing a cat to "any person"? The whole point is that the world out there is dominated by humans, and a person can understand that world and behave in such a way as to be reasonably safe in it. A cat can't do that, and is very vulnerable to dangers which very rarely pose a significant danger to us. Also, we can be arrested and made accountable for damage or harm we do, which again does not apply to a cat.

So a responsible owner does not let them roam.

Zapperzy

sparky89 wrote: »

Thank you for your advise i have got all i needed off you

I seriously doubt that, as isdw has said I too would consider sweeper as a cat expert, if you actually listened and wanted to learn you would probably learn a lot about everything cat related but especially keeping cats safely confined to your house or garden.

Asking will he come back is like buying a scratch card, you could be very lucky and keep winning (your cat comes back home), until the day you don't win. I could be pulling this outta my ass, I'm not too entirely sure on the exact number but I think the average lifespan of an outdoor cat is 3 years old. If you do a search you will find many threads on indoor/outdoor cat dilemmas, you will find a few recent threads with posters who treat a roaming cat no different to vermin such as rats (shooting, poison, trapping and releasing out in the middle of nowhere etc.). Another thread was started by a poster who witnessed men with greyhounds out blooding their dogs at night on pet cats.

You will find stories of people who have had cats all their lives who have lived into late teens and had outdoor access, you will find equal if not more stories of people whose cats just never came home one day. At least keep your mind open to other options or try them out before making the decision to allow outdoor access.

If your open to advice on harness & lead training a cat then I will gladly give you advice. As I'm sure others would happily give you advice on options for cat proofing a garden (I think sweeper has a cat fence) or building a run, or simply keeping an indoor cat occupied and happy.

carwash_2006

I still remember the day about 5 years ago when I brought my gorgeous ginger and white lad to the vet for his first shots. The vet commented on what a gorgeous friendly cat he was as he purred away while the needle was going in and then snuggled up to the vets hand.

Anyway, the vet looked me in the eye and told me he'd probably be dead on the road before the year was out. I smiled broadly and told him that he wouldn't be getting out on the road due to our secure cat enclosure. He was delighted to discover that this was one cat that wouldn't be ending up flat on the road.

audreyp

There are a lot of valid points on this thread. Letting cats out is a huge risk! I am considering looking into catproofing my garden, i'm not sure if its possible so if someone could link to a thread on this, thanks in advance.

In response to the op's original question I have gone through this myself. My oldest cat has always been an outdoor cat. He was a bit wild when we got him and there was no way of keeping him inside. He is happiest killing mice and dropping them in interesting places about my house :-) Or even better bringing home live ones and killing them leaving a dexter style blood bath in the house. Anyway recently he was hurt and broke his tail and it had to be amputated. He was in a lot of pain and we kept him in for a full week and isolated to one room as we have kittens and we didn't want him fighting or stressing about him.

I was so nervous unlocking the cat flap in case he left and never came back as he associated everything he had been through with me. Since I brought him to the vet and he had to stay there for 2 days and have a scary operation and then once I brought him home, and his painkiller patch wore off. I fed him painkillers through a dropper in the mouth. I felt like the worst person ever and I was sure he hated me and once he got out he would never come back.

He was so miserable inside, crying all the time and once he was fit the vet rang and checked up on him. I said he really wants to get outside but besides that he is fine. Then he said well it is your decision but you have to ask yourself if you are keeping him in for him or myself. My question was answered, I opened the cat flap and he went out and came home 10 minutes later. He doesn't really leave the house at all now he just likes the option.

I'm considering cat-proofing now as I couldn't keep him inside all the time but I don't know how possible that is for me as its a townhouse and management companies won't even let me change my door colour!! Anyway that is a different thread. I just wanted to let the OP know my experience. It is scary and a huge risk but cats will come back to where they are fed and you have to hope nothing will happen to them on the trip there.

loveisdivine

Right, heres my opinion.

Cats have a built in instinct to roam and play in the sun and catch mice etc. However, this instinct they are born with doesnt really contain any details for them on how to deal with cars, and people that participate in animal cruelty.
Yes it is natural for cats to want to be outside, but the world they are living in is not the world they were designed for, if you get what I mean.
A cat can sense a predator animal, it cannot sense how fast a car is going and whether it will make it across the road. Also, they do not know which humans are caring and which are abusers.

If you live on an island, where there are no roads, and you are the only people there, then go ahead and let your cat roam free.
If you live in the real world, then you are letting your cat out to face dangers it is not instinctually prepared for.

Edit - Oh and the only answer to whether or not your cat will come home, is it all depends on what happens to him while he is out roaming.

Robinwood

Why don't you take him outside for a ride on your vehicle, i guess that the least you can do to him to enjoy the climate !

sparky89

Robinwood wrote: »

Why don't you take him outside for a ride on your vehicle, i guess that the least you can do to him to enjoy the climate !

A ride on my vehicle, I dont think thats the safest option !