How do we know indoor cats have an ok quality of life?

June 27, 2023 10:59 AM

I’ve had many indoor cats throughout my life, and I’ve always wondered if they were really thriving. I certainly would feel awful never getting sunlight or fresh air. Everyone I ask says something like “cats are different, they’re fine” but I’m never convinced since they never explain why. Does anyone have any sort of proof that indoor cats are happy or unhappy being that way?

I know there are options like harnesses and catios, but I want the answers to focus on whether or not cats can thrive indoors, not “they don’t have to be indoor only, here are some safe outdoor options” as it’s more of a theoretical question.

posted by wheatlets to Pets & Animals (40 answers total)

Response by poster: I also want to pre-empt any “all cats are different, some are ok with it and some aren’t” as I’m focusing on whether it’s ethical to keep indoor cats in general, or if a total paradigm shift in cat care is needed.
posted by wheatlets at 11:01 AM on June 27, 2023

In the UK we let cats out as the default. If cats are kept in for reasons other than medical I would find it very sad. My elderly cat spends a lot of the summer sitting in our garden, lurking in long grass or stalking insects etc.
posted by cantthinkofagoodname at 11:12 AM on June 27, 2023 [4 favorites]

I think it depends on the cat. I moved to the UK from the US so realized the cultural difference between what people thought was best for cats. Anyway, I had two cats in an apartment in California- totally indoor and one was always trying to get out the door to explore and the other was perfectly happy and never wanted to leave and would NEVER venture outside EVER. So I think they may be quite adaptable and I had two on both sides of the extremes.
posted by catspajammies at 11:17 AM on June 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

Not sure what you're looking for exactly. To some people, it's extremely unethical to let cats out, because they destroy local wildlife and fuck up ecosystems wherever we let them do it. Also cats that go outside live shorter lives on average and suffer more injuries.

To some, it's completely unethical to keep a cat solely indoors, for quality of life reasons.

To some, it's completely unethical to own a cat, full stop.

For a more behaviorist take on animal welfare, you may be interested in this recent scholarly article about what cats need and how pet cats (in AU) are getting their needs met or not:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1098612X19890189
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:21 AM on June 27, 2023 [29 favorites]

Sorry, what I should have added is that when I lived in California I assumed it was fine to have those cats in an apartment and then I moved to the UK and I realized that it seems unique to the US that cats are kept indoors. Looking back it was fine for the one cat and probably not for the other.
posted by catspajammies at 11:21 AM on June 27, 2023

Just as a heads up, this has, historically, been a bit of a hot-button topic on AskMe, with UK people swearing blind that letting cats out to be their natural wild selves is the only way to care for a cat and that cooping them up is unconscionable; while US folk insist that letting a cat out is condemning it to certain death at the jaws of wild animals and keeping them inside is the only thing a responsible pet owner should ever do.

So I think that’s going to be important to bear in mind if you’re hoping for a conclusive: “The one truly ethical way to keep cats is…”-type answer.
posted by penguin pie at 11:21 AM on June 27, 2023 [16 favorites]

Obviously we cannot ask cats what their preferences are, and only slightly less obviously we would give little weight to their preferences in any case. All we can do is look for behavioral indicators that indoor cats aren't thriving.

I'm going to do the internet thing of saying something that's almost certainly wrong in at least one important way to summon someone with actual research knowledge: we have some idea of what maladaptive, "sad," non-thriving behavior looks like in large wild cats held in captivity -- long-duration pacing, swaying, head-bobbing, over-grooming, and so on. If indoor cats aren't exhibiting symptoms similar to zoo cats and are broadly behaviorally similar to outdoor cats, that's evidence that indoor cats are thriving.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:22 AM on June 27, 2023 [56 favorites]

My cat is an indoor cat and gets both sunlight and good quality air. She seems to me to be happy with her lot in life and doesn't show any interest in going outside. I certainly don't leave the door open for her because I don't want her to go outside, and she doesn't seem to care about it. Not sure what other kind of proof you'd be looking for.
posted by wondermouse at 11:22 AM on June 27, 2023 [9 favorites]

Here is a video from Sunday night of a dude whose diet likely primarily consists of domestic cats in my neighborhood unfortunate enough to have an owner who let them go outside. And this isn't a rural area, I can hear the Disneyland fireworks every night from inside my house.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 11:24 AM on June 27, 2023 [15 favorites]

My cats used to go out, now they have to stay in because of increased coyote presence in my neighborhood. They do get sunlight and fresh air. They don't get fleas, ticks, scratches from encounters with other, more aggro cats. They don't need the full slate of vaccinations. They don't need monthly chemical flea treatment. They don't kill birds, lizards and small rodents. I don't have bloody carcasses in my house. They have a lot of toys, and an ever-changing group of toy-like items like toilet paper rolls and foil balls. They have lots of scratching posts and boxes. And they remain more kitten-like because they never have to protect themselves from scary stuff. It's all a tradeoff.
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:26 AM on June 27, 2023 [15 favorites]

It really does depend on the cat. If the cat is high energy, a lively home with other pets, kids, lots of playing and different types of activities can mean they will thrive, but it would be easier to achieve that with supervised outdoor time, walks, etc. If the cat is low energy, a few different open windows is all they need to round out playing, experiencing different snacks and enjoying their human’s company.

One of my cats was indoor/outdoor for the first four years of his life, then he was surrendered and I got to adopt him. He has been outside twice in the past eight years. Once was when I was checking the mail, he sauntered onto the stoop and sat down like he did it all the time, then seemed to catch himself and turned right back around inside. The second was when our other (younger, goofier) cat ran out and promptly got lost in the bushes. After wandering around shaking food for him and hollering, I accidentally left the door open behind me. My mellow cat walked out onto the stoop and meowed super loudly a couple times, and a minute later there was a rustling and out pops the other cat! He saw the open door and ran inside and my mellow cat bopped him on the nose on his way in. That’s it. I’ve offered outside time to him many other times and he always declines. He loves an open window and watching everything go by, but clearly prefers to not engage.

I think my other cat would benefit from supervised outside time, but my partner is super paranoid about it and we have a ton of backyard fauna I want to protect. This cat is much higher energy and very food motivated and muscular. I think if I don’t end up doing outside excursions soon I’m going to try feline agility activities.

When I get worked up about the ethics of living with companion animals I think about how cats evolved alongside us. They basically domesticated themselves, and have always lived in our shelters, acting as rodent control and furry friends. Feral cats are not wild cats, after all.
posted by Mizu at 11:30 AM on June 27, 2023 [11 favorites]

I think cats show contentment very clearly with their behavior, appetite, and body language, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to simply look at that to determine if they’re happy. A relaxed, happy cat will be well-groomed, alert, tail up, ears forward. They’ll be engaged during times of play or activity and relaxed when resting. You won’t see signs of stress, such as excess grooming or vocalization. Some cats will be very content when going outside and will still be alert, tail up, well-groomed, etc. Other cats really suffer outside and will show signs of fear, like a low posture, tail out, and freezing and/or bolting.

The key is to figure out what your cat wants in life and meet those needs to the best of your ability. I can tell you my one cat is very nervous and a bolter. Even if I could get her outside on a harness (LOL) she would be absolutely terrified. Her sister tolerates it better but both are very nervous in new environments, and neither are happy being let in a new place to explore. This is VERY clear based upon their body language and behavior. Both do enjoy the use of a balcony or porch, mainly because it gives them fresh air but is still an unchanging, familiar environment that is an extension of their home.

Cats literally tell us if they’re happy, unhappy, stressed, anxious, etc. and we just need to listen to what they’re saying and meet their needs accordingly.
posted by Amy93 at 11:31 AM on June 27, 2023 [14 favorites]

All we can do is look for behavioral indicators that indoor cats aren't thriving.

And also look for indicators that suggest they are thriving: Is My Cat Happy?

Indoor cats generally live much longer (15-17 years) than outdoor cats (2-5 years).
posted by RonButNotStupid at 11:34 AM on June 27, 2023 [14 favorites]

Humans like to think that animals are fine with the way they're being treated because that way we can feel like we're not being cruel - whether we're talking about a fish in a bowl, a dog that only goes outside on a leash, a dolphin at Sea World, an elephant at the zoo, or a sow in a gestation crate. This is all projection on our part since we can't know what animals are really thinking and the desire to believe that the animals are OK with whatever we're doing is so strong.

I'm not sure what we even mean when we say a cat is "fine" with being indoors. If it's not outwardly miserable, do we assume that's fine? I find it hard to believe that a cat wouldn't prefer to have the option of going outdoors (a cat isn't going to be aware that going outside will probably shorten its life). On the other hand, what else are we going to do with all of the cats in the world? Is it better to just euthanize them so they won't have a suboptimal life?

I've had indoor cats, and it's clear they're getting some joy out of their lives, but something about forcing them to live their whole lives indoors didn't sit right with me. I don't think there's a good answer to this question.
posted by FencingGal at 11:46 AM on June 27, 2023 [8 favorites]

I find it hard to believe that a cat wouldn't prefer to have the option of going outdoors

Well, sure - cats do like options. Similarly, some dog owners think it's okay to let their dogs off leash because the dog enjoys running around off a leash. That doesn't mean it's better to do that, or that it's morally wrong to keep a dog on a leash outdoors. Dogs are also pretty okay with being on leash once they're used to it.

Give the cat ample stimulation and attention inside, along with things to climb on and sunny windows to look out of, and chances are you'll have a contented indoor cat.
posted by wondermouse at 11:55 AM on June 27, 2023 [10 favorites]

The Dash Cat (adopted from a shelter as a stray) lives indoors. We take her out on a leash. She walks for 5 minutes, and aims herself right at the door to go back in. We bring her out to sit on the porch with us, and she tries to oblige us but within two minutes is pulling us to bring her back in. She really just wants to be in. We can leave a door open and she still won't go outside voluntarily.

I've had other cats that will sneak out at every opportunity, but this one ... she is an indoor cat.
posted by Dashy at 11:57 AM on June 27, 2023 [2 favorites]

I agree it somewhat depends on the cat, but in my experience cats are generally happier with the chance to spend some time outside. My main source of evidence is that every cat I owned has clearly enjoyed going outside (meowing at the door to be let out) and displayed less restlessness/boredom when they were in a situation that allowed going outside vs. when I was in a living situation that did not allow it (i.e. when I lived in an apartment without a yard). Cats are less domesticated than dogs, that's why they're such freaks- the world outside is their habitat- how many toys are, in a sense, trying to replicate the outdoors (feather toys, battery-operated moving bug toys, etc.)? I can tell from watching them that my cats enjoy smelling all sorts of things outside, chasing bugs, digging in the dirt, watching birds flutter, and napping in the sun. Of course, there are dangers involved, and cat owners should take into consideration coyotes, traffic, etc. I don't think there is a one-size fits all solution, but I do strongly think the ethical thing to do is to provide your cat with as much of the outdoors as possible (even if that's just a balcony or a cat window hutch). I have oodles of cat toys and indoor stimulation, but nothing quite competes with the sensations of the outdoors.

Finally, to everyone citing the stat about indoor vs. outdoor cat lifespans - this is a bit misleading - I'm having a hard time of locating the original study, but I have looked at it in the past and it's comparing feral outdoor cats to indoor cats. It is not looking at the common practice of people who let their cats out for part of the day. So it's not the comparison some people seem to think it is.
posted by coffeecat at 11:59 AM on June 27, 2023 [12 favorites]

I know my current cats have a strong preference for indoor living because they don't even make the barest attempt to go outside. Kerrby used to try, but then he ran off and got lost for a few months before finally turning up again. Since then he has shown precisely zero interest in living life doing anything but lounging in my chair or pretending to be a parrot on my shoulder.

I did once have a former (not feral) street cat that liked to lounge on the sidewalk for the better sun than she got through the windows, but it was never a particularly strong preference and she was perfectly fine coming back inside when I went back inside. When I say perfectly fine I mean I'd say "it's time to go inside" and she and the dogs would all pile through the door.

My dearly departed feral liked going outside early in her life, but we had to put the kibosh on that when she started having seizures triggered by going out. (The assumption was that it was the temperature difference, but no cause was ever definitively found). After a pretty short time she stopped bothering to ask. When she got older she'd occasionally saunter out the door if it was left open, then take a couple of sniffs and wander back inside, sometimes with a little bit of rolling on the concrete first, but she never really seemed interested in staying outside for any length of time.

My sister's cat that she'd had since before I was born was an indoor/outdoor cat. She lived to be 17 or 18 despite spending several hours out each day. Unfortunately, she met an unfortunate end involving a previously unknown dog wandering through the back yard one afternoon when I was in high school. After that there's no chance I'd ever begrudge anyone wanting to keep a fully indoor cat, even if the cat would prefer to go outside sometimes. (So long as the cat isn't showing signs of stress, of course!)
posted by wierdo at 12:18 PM on June 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

As GCU noted, we do know what it looks like when a cat is unhealthy or understimulated. Look for repetitive behavior, pacing, over-grooming to the point that they get bald spots, destructive behavior, excessive lethargy (hard to diagnose in a cat unfortunately!). If an indoor cat is doing any of these things, provide more enrichment first, and get them checked out by a vet to rule out physical problems.

Because a cat shows a desire to go outside doesn't mean that it's unhappy inside. As a child, I wanted to roam free like the boxcar children, but that doesn't mean my family was oppressing me by making me eat dinner with them in the house every evening. There's a big difference between not getting your every wish fulfilled and being unhappy.
posted by tofu_crouton at 12:30 PM on June 27, 2023 [12 favorites]

I’m focusing on whether it’s ethical to keep indoor cats in general, or if a total paradigm shift in cat care is needed.

I just checked the ASPCA and Humane Society websites. Neither of them advocates for allowing cats outside. Neither of them advocates for keeping cats inside. They do have suggestions for steps to keep your cat safe outside.

My conclusion is that it is not unethical to keep cats inside and a paradigm shift is not needed.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 12:36 PM on June 27, 2023 [5 favorites]

The indoor cats I know largely get freaked out by being outside and don’t try particularly hard to go outside. My cat likely has a history of being abandoned by her last people and apparently had a pretty rough time outside before someone who found her meowing on their porch took her in to the humane society, where she was prescribed multiple kinds of antibiotics. She also has a feline herpesvirus that she could transmit to other cats and it seems to flare with seasonal allergies. Keeping her indoors is pretty clearly the right choice.

My childhood cat was indoor/outdoor until our neighbor shot her with a BB gun for teasing his dog. She got a lot less interested in the outdoors after that and we got a lot more interested in keeping her inside.

I don’t think it’s always horrible for people to let their cats out, but I definitely don’t think it’s a requirement for a contented cat and I think that it comes with significant risk to the cat and local birds.
posted by momus_window at 1:41 PM on June 27, 2023 [4 favorites]

If the appeal to authority isn’t enough, here’s how I think about the ethics.

Cats in my country (the US) are an exotic species. They are predators that hunt native species. That creates an ethical concern about letting them outside.

In addition, cats can be killed, get hurt, or be exposed to disease outside the home. That creates additional ethical concerns.

My cat would like to go outside. Sometimes it would be happier if I let it outside. But cats, like people, don’t have an intrinsic right to everything they want. My kids would like infinite screen time and ice cream. They aren’t happy when they can’t have those things. But I don’t let them, because I’m responsible for them and have to balance things and choose what’s right.

My cat is happy a lot of them time. She doesn’t always get what she wants. But that doesn’t mean keeping her inside is unethical. It just means that life involves trade offs for cats as well as people.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 1:48 PM on June 27, 2023 [7 favorites]

This isn't a direct answer, but this Vox article The case against pet ownership discusses whether pets are actually happy in general, or just happy to see us in the section entitled "The secret, boring life of pets", with links sprinkled throughout.
posted by meowzilla at 1:56 PM on June 27, 2023 [5 favorites]

(Also a whole post on the blue for one of the books linked in the article, Run, Spot, Run, here)
posted by meowzilla at 2:04 PM on June 27, 2023

I've had a lot of cats, in my household growing up and as an adult. Some were indoor/outdoor, some were indoor only. In that time, I've seen three cats choose to become house pets.
- A feral farm cat moved in and never went outside again, even though the option was available.
- One time my parents let out the indoor/outdoor cats for the day. One more came home than had been let out. That cat stayed with my family for the rest of his life.
- One night when it was supposed to freeze, I let in a street cat that hung around my house. She never went outside again.

I feel this is clear evidence that some cats, at least, view life as a house cat to be a good deal.

Separately, I've seen one cat escape and never come back, and one street cat object to being brought indoors.
posted by adamrice at 2:40 PM on June 27, 2023 [5 favorites]

Is it ethical to keep a cat indoors?

Is your home larger than an enclosure at the shelter?

Will you feed and care for the cat, clean their litter box and provide veterinary care?

Will you give the cat attention and affection, and keep an eye on them for signs of illness or injury?

If so, I think you're ethically OK.

Indoors or outdoors, I think it's ethical to keep a cat if you care for it (both practically and emotionally), and unethical if you don't.

I do think that an indoor cat requires a little more care. That is: they depend on you for amusement, exercise, stimulation and the interactions a social animal naturally seeks. This is more effort than simply installing a catflap and letting the cat find their own fun. But the exchange is that your cat is safe, and any other creature whom your cat might harm is safe from that too.

Would my indoor cats be happier with a yard to roam in? Possibly. But they can't imagine that situation, and they seem pretty content with their lot. They have sunlight and windows to look out of, they have scratching posts and a cat tree, they have the excitement of catching insects and the few foolhardy young rats each year who venture inside. They have a variety of human visitors to pet them. Most importantly, they have each other and they have me.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:05 PM on June 27, 2023 [7 favorites]

My domesticated cat enjoys unsupervised outside time on occasion. She makes it pretty clear when she wants to go out. The strays in the neighborhood also know they can stop by for food, water and shelter, and I have no intentions of capturing them.

I interrupted one of the strays that had a whole bird in its mouth, and when he meowed the bird flew out. I suspect there are lots of birds that aren't so lucky, but I don't have any particular affinity for birds (if anything, I find them obnoxious). They made it through the dinosaur extinction so I figure they'll manage to survive a few cats.
posted by otsebyatina at 3:15 PM on June 27, 2023

Cats are unusual in that they are both predator and prey. In the wild they need to hunt and stalk, but they also need to hide and feel secure. I believe those opposing sets of constraints mean that they can often thrive either indoors where they are safe or outdoors where they can roam. Not every cat - but many.
posted by rongorongo at 3:41 PM on June 27, 2023 [3 favorites]

Most importantly I think, is my cat's obvious preference for ME to be entirely indoors at available at a moment's notice for pets, food, treats, playtime, catnip.
posted by brookeb at 5:16 PM on June 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

I think it depends, not on the cat, but on the indoors and the outdoors in question.

If your outdoors involves coyotes, many other aggressive cats with parasites, lots of garbage including such dainties as chicken bone splinters, people who harm cats, fast traffic, pollution, live wires, lots of un-climbable concrete, asphalt and brick canyons without hiding places or escape routes and totally crap weather, then chances are an outdoor cat is not going to have an enhanced quality of life.

If your outdoors involves just a few other cats, all fixed and given their shots and flea treatment, plenty of escape routes, trees to climb, fences to amble along, no loose dogs, slow careful traffic, friendly people who don't adopt or over feed visiting cats on junk food, lots of healthy mice, and little birds especially fledglings, but no larger wild life or birds of prey, interesting plants like catnip in gardens, comfortable weather without sudden drops of temperature to dangerous levels nor torrential rains, etc. then your outdoor cat is gunna have a ball.

And if your indoor cat has one or two or three companion cats who are peaceable, lots of litter boxes, a few people who care about it, warm sleepy spots, lots of places to climb and hide, interesting clutter that can be appropriated for toys, regular wellness trips to the vet, a family habit of never running indoors, especially if wearing boots, actual cat toys and people who play with them, a bonded primary person that can adapt to the cat's needs for companionship or downtime, the occasional mouse infestation with healthy mice, garbage cans with locking lids etc. the indoor cat will probably have a very good life.

But if your indoor cat is alone, bored, or over crowded and harassed, and lives with people who slam doors.... you get the picture.

You're never going to get a definite answer to this question, because it's like asking which is better for a person, living in the city or the country. It depends on too many variables because the country could either involve toxic amounts of pesticide, or bucolic bliss with supportive community where everyone knows everyone and keeps an eye out for them, and the city could involve toxic amounts of car exhaust, or it could involve theatre, art, life, community, opportunity...
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:27 PM on June 27, 2023 [10 favorites]

You can generally tell if a cat is thriving, and if it is happy by its behaviour. If all it does is sleep and wait for food, it's not living its best life. If it plays, is active enough to run and stalk and has good trusting relationships with more than one individual it's probably doing well. It's much harder to tell if an older cat is happy, because if it isn't playing that could be simply because it's not young any more - but if a cat is only five or six and has given up on playing, it likely has a stimulus poor environment. That is young for a cat to settle into inactivity.

If a short haired breed needs help with grooming, that's a bad sign.

I'd look at things like that to decide if the indoor life a cat is leading might be too restricted for it.

I'd also compare the cats life with that of a barn cat, since cats domesticated themselves so they could live in barns.

Keep in mind that the natural life cycle of dogs and cats both usually involve periods of over population which is broken by epidemics of distemper. So the optimal life for cats may not be the same as the natural one, where they breed heavily and many kittens are lost to predators, and eventually the colony size is so big that almost all of them die.

I think it is fair to say that if you opt for birth control and modern medicine for yourself then you are not being unethical to opt for those things for your cat. Putting yourself in the cat's position, would you want to run around loose in your own neighbourhood or would you prefer to be on the safe side of the screen door? Your cat, of course, may still try to escape the house, not knowing that its chances of getting killed by a car are really high. But you can tell what the odds are, and it is not unethical to make the decision for you cat that it is just too darn dangerous out there, or to make the decision that it is just too deadly boring to never get to go outside.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:47 PM on June 27, 2023 [4 favorites]

I agree with the Brits that indoor living sucks for the cats, and so did a vet of mine who did not intend for me to know she agreed but let it slip in passing when I brought in two cats, one indoor, and one outdoor, and she noted the calm, sociable, relaxed, and curious one, contrasted it with the completely neurotic, shrieking, bitey one, and said, indicating the former one, "this one goes outside, right?" Right.

But too bad and not anymore because outside cats eat everything smaller than them, get eaten by everything larger than them, and get run over by cars. They also catch baylisascariasis and give it to you, whereupon you go blind from worms eating your optic nerve. We shouldn't have domesticated them in the first place, but that ship has sailed/horse is out of the barn. Now the only decent thing to do is every now and then hook one out of a shelter or off the street and spend a couple of decades doing your best to keep it cozy, nourished, well-watered, exercised, and entertained.
posted by Don Pepino at 8:52 PM on June 27, 2023 [4 favorites]

Your cattage may vary. Your cat's tolerance for this may vary. I suspect if a cat has been indoors its whole life or otherwise not roaming free, it's probably not knowing what it's missing and is fine. The cats I'd be concerned about are ones who are used to roaming about outdoors for years and then have that taken away. From what I've lived with, it's the unspayed/un-neutered that have the most motivation to bust out of the house, otherwise pretty much every other indoor cat I've known doesn't care if the door is open.

The cat is generally safer indoors, for the reasons stated in this thread.

I note I know somebody who is a Country Person (it's usually Country People) who has a bunch of outdoor cats and they both had a fire and were lucky to manage to grab all the cats before they had to flee, and then a cat or two disappeared for a few days upon moving to a temporary location, where they were still allowed to roam free. Said person was crying and freaking out about a cat's disappearance and I wanted to say, this is why you keep them indoors, but there's no point in arguing with Country People on their roaming free animals because you can't get anywhere with them. And the cats eventually showed back up anyway, so *shrug.*
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:05 PM on June 27, 2023

I'm British, and I agree that keeping cats indoors all the time is an unnatural and immoral abuse which I would never do.

However, that's because here in Britain there are basically no predators that will take down a cat. Yes, we have the occasional bird of prey like red kites in Wales or some big eagles in the wilds of Scotland that might take a cat, but I've never heard of that happening. It's possible, but vanishingly unlikely.

There are no coyotes, wolves, crocodiles, alligators, bears, or any other predators here the cats need to worry about, so they're not going to get eaten. Cars are the biggest worry and the amount of risk of them getting run over depends on where you live, how adventurous your cat is, etc.

Plus over here cats are legally protected and have a right to roam, i.e. they are allowed to wander though gardens and the owners can't be legally blamed. Like almost every other country except America, most people here don't own guns, so it's very unlikely a cat would be shot for walking through someone's garden (or just for fun). And we're generally a nation of animal lovers, so if you see a cat here the usual reaction is to try to pet it. Cats are pretty safe here.

So of course we give cats a better life by letting them out (assuming they want to go out).

But if I lived in Florida, for example, would I let my cat out? No, because I don't want my cat to be eaten or shot, and therefore it would be better for the cat (even if they didn't know it) to be an indoor cat.
posted by underclocked at 12:12 AM on June 28, 2023 [3 favorites]

I have two cats and they're indoor-only. The older one used to be indoor/outdoor, and was adopted to me specifically because I have a house with a garden, and I did let her out at the beginning when she asked (she made it very clear when she wanted to go out), but as the years passed, she asked to go out less and less and I was able to transition her to indoor-only. She has window ledges she can sun herself on if she wishes, she has lots of toys and a cat tree (both of which she largely ignores), and there's been no discernible change in her level of happiness or in her personality. My other cat has been indoor-only all her life and shows no desire to go outside - the one time she was outside without being in a cat carrier, I was holding her, and she very nearly shredded me squirming away to run back inside. She climbs on the cat tree and plays with the cat toys and with the older cat (and with me), and is happy and cheerful and relaxed.

And the thing also is - I don't feel like the outdoors is safe for the cats.

I had cats growing up in Italy and they were all indoor/outdoor. I lived in a relatively quiet area, not a whole lot of cars, lots of gardens, trees and some fields around, etc. The one I loved most just disappeared one night and I never found out what happened to her; one came home once with a big gash in his face that took ages to heal; two others were poisoned, and one died. Only one out of all the cats I had made it to the "dying of old age" point.

I also live in a relatively quiet area now, in the UK - not a ton of cars, lots of gardens, etc, etc. But I keep seeing "lost cat" posters around asking people to check their sheds, etc, and people asking on NextDoor and the like if anyone's seen their indoor/outdoor cat because they've not been home in days - sometimes they get found, most often not. When I walk to the supermarket, sometimes I will see a cat dead by the side of the road, clearly having been hit by a car. No, thank you.

There are cats that are very clearly miserable without access to the outdoors, and for those cats, an argument can be made and flexibility can be found (and even then, there might be solutions that aren't unfettered outdoor access, such as a catio or walks on a leash). But if the drop in happiness is slight or imperceptible, given the danger to cats even in quiet areas, indoors gives a longer, better life. And this is without even mentioning the damage a single cat can do to birds, etc.
posted by sailoreagle at 4:17 AM on June 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

if I lived in Florida, for example, would I let my cat out? No, because I don't want my cat to be eaten or shot

The outdoor cat for whom the vet had the imperfectly concealed preference lived outside in semi-rural Florida to adulthood and has the docked ear to prove it--she was at some point before we met nabbed by a trap-neuter-release team, and her poor little mutilated ear is to this day the only thing that mars her perfect tortie beauty. She was not shot by bloodthirsty rednecks then, and neither was she shot by deranged academics the couple of years she spent as an out-during-the-day, in-at-night cat in our much larger university town. It is true that Tarzan and The Creature from the Black Lagoon were filmed here, and we do have our face-eating-zombie scandals, and of course we're currently the estuary for the nation's crop of fascist pols, so it's perhaps not surprising that a lot of Brexiteers would think a preponderance of residents of the US state of Florida shoot cats on sight, but in fact much of Florida is surprisingly civilized, and many people here love cats.

The cat did, however, like to sunbathe in the middle of the street outside the house. It's a quiet road, but it's still a road. There's also the raccoon problem and the dog problem. But the greatest danger to the family was a cat-loving neighbor up the street who put "Is this your cat?" fliers in everyone's mailboxes announcing that she had been coming over to his house for visits. It was clear he was going to abduct and imprison our little adventurer if we didn't do it first, so finally we incarcerated her in the house.

The cats I'd be concerned about are ones who are used to roaming about outdoors for years and then have that taken away.
Yes, that's tough, but they do figure it out. Acclimating ours to never going outside was difficult for a couple of years for her and for us, but eventually it became less difficult, particularly since we turned the front porch into a catio by installing a cat-door. (And we put the litterbox out there. Game changer.) For a year or two she was a dedicated and energetic escape artist, but now she can take it or leave it. She has kept her sylphlike figure (unlike her indoor-human owners) and shows no signs of misery. I just went to check on her, and she's sleeping peacefully on a shelf out on the porch that gives her an excellent view of the squirrel and bird activity in the front yard. Whenever she likes she can come back inside and resume her nap on the one couch she's permitted access to, since, mysteriously, she doesn't enjoy clawing it to bits. Or she can settle into one of her many ingenious little temporary nests scattered about the house, which are constantly going in and out of fashion. Or she can work on her current newspaper-shredding project. She has a packed schedule, most days.

Also, they can adapt. They learn. That your cat was miserable last year not going outside and remains miserable this year not going outside does not mean your cat will be miserable forever if it never gets to go outside. We've had this cat since 2015, and she was always terrified of thunder. Only this year I've noticed she seems to be kind of whatevs about thunder. The last big storm, I opened the door to the room with the Forbidden Couch, which she is allowed to hide under during storms, and she ignored the open door and began her customary early evening busking for dinner. I think it took her a minute to really take on board that really it's safe in the house, really really, kitty: you can relax.
posted by Don Pepino at 6:58 AM on June 28, 2023

The cats I'd be concerned about are ones who are used to roaming about outdoors for years and then have that taken away.

It's all individual, but for what it's worth, this isn't necessarily always an issue. Two past cats of mine went from indoor-outdoor to indoor-only and seemed completely unfazed by the experience. It coincided with a move, which I'm sure helped - at the old place they were free range and when they moved to the new place, we kept them in. They seemed exactly as content as they had always been. One never made a single move to go out. The other slipped out once, spent about ten seconds on the front porch, and turned right around and marched back inside and never tried again. It may be relevant that at their previous place their exploits were seasonal - they were allowed outside in the winter, but they never had any interest in it. They would once in a while ask to go out, realize it was cold, and again, come right back in and stay there for the rest of the winter with zero sign of concern or deprivation. So they were already perfectly content to stay indoors for months at a time, which may be different from a cat whose outdoors drive is so strong that they want to be prowling around in the snow.
posted by Stacey at 7:05 AM on June 28, 2023

Outdoor cats live on average three years. If you love your cat, and know better than your cat (yes, you do, their brains are small and smooth), keeping them inside is for their own health.

My cats get plenty of sunshine and fresh air...most people don't live in windowless rooms so most cats can get those things.
posted by tiny frying pan at 9:15 AM on June 28, 2023

I live in the UK and have had three cats (one at a time) as an adult. They all had theoretical access to the outdoors, but used that freedom to varying degrees - first two cats went out more in nice weather. I don't know how they would have coped as indoor cats. Current cat, by contrast, is petrified of outdoors, seems perfectly happy to be confined to the house, and is generally well-groomed and relaxed. She gets her exercise by running at full speed from one end of the house to the other, multiple times per day, and by chasing a laser pointer until my child gets bored.

TL;DR it varies, cats vary!
posted by altolinguistic at 11:40 AM on June 28, 2023

To clarify my earlier response, when I said "an unnatural and immoral abuse" my tongue was somewhat in my cheek. I DO think it's wrong to keep a cat permanently indoors if it wants to go out but generally if a cat wants to get out that much it will find a way.

And Don Pepino, I appreciate your passionate defence of Florida but I wasn't thinking of "bloodthirsty rednecks", nor that Florida was "uncivilized", and I'm certainly not a Brexiteer. I was however thinking of Everglades full of gators and Burmese pythons.

I've no idea if a cat if more likely to be shot in Florida vs New York vs Idaho vs anywhere else in the US, just that - and this is for the OP - in Britain the chances of a cat being either eaten or shot are much, much smaller, so it's much, much safer to let a cat roam around (other dangers not withstanding). That informs the cultural difference more than anything else IMO.

Cats can indeed thrive indoors if they are happy indoors. Some are, some aren't, and you can't tell in advance for any individual cat.
posted by underclocked at 11:10 PM on July 4, 2023