Actually, cats are domesticated animals just like dogs are. Would you let your dog roam wherever it pleases? Probably not.
We allow our dogs supervised and controlled outdoor time, why not our cats? There’s plenty of options for safe outdoor excursions, like cat fencing, harnesses, and catios.
It doesn’t, unfortunately, depend on where you live either. Wherever you live, I guarantee there is something that can kill your cat.
And that’s not to mention the devastating effect that cats have had on native wildlife as a non-native predator.
It’s true that cats are indeed domesticated animals, like dogs. And yes, there are always situations in the outside world that will prove a danger.
This, by the way, coming from someone who had her last cat recently run over by a drunk driver outside; believe me, I understand completely the argument here.
However, keeping cats indoors despite supervised ‘outside time’ offers a range of problems that can result in obesity, severe boredom, the build up of stress, the costs of having to de-claw your feline for the sake of your furniture (a side effect of 'boredom’), and increased urination on home surfaces, among other less prominent situations. Unless the cat owner makes a conscious effort to ensure their cat is mentally stimulated, I personally do not think indoors is always better.
Keep in mind that in some European countries it is culturally considered cruel to keep cats inside. Some shelters deny us the rights to adopt cats if the other cats in the neighborhood were allowed out too. Cultural norms, unfortunately, are oppressive things.
As I have said before, cats are explorers by nature and should be given this freedom for their outside time. It is even better (and perhaps one of the arguably safer ways) to have an enclosure, a spacious pen, 'cat proofing’ or such in your back garden for the sake of a safe outdoor experience. Additionally it may aid in building their immune system towards smaller things, and even spaying/neutering them reduces the tendency to roam. Things can always be done to give them their unrestricted freedom that are within reason - an opportunity to be left unsupervised but safer.
Where you live is not the deciding factor, but undoubtedly one of them; heavily populated areas where there are more dogs and other felines, or say a house nearby a train station, or even an area near outdoor poisons, and so on, those are the places where owners should be keeping 'housecats’.
If like me, some foster cats that were previously allowed to venture outdoors and find it difficult and stressful to accept the transition from outdoors to being confined indoors, then would that not be cruel in a sense?
Mind, I’m not saying that all cats should be allowed outside. And I would certainly say kittens ought to be raised in a way that will help them grow into happy housecats. For cats who need to go outside, enclosures should be used whenever possible. But I’m just saying that the individual cat’s needs should be regarded instead of the usual “all cats should be kept indoors” knee-jerk reaction.
