First of all... sorry if this is the wrong forum :S I thought this might be best as I could see it fitting under "cat care".
What is the best/safest/kindest way of "housing" your cat? Is it best to keep them indoors all the time? Is it best to let them out during the day, and in at night?.... or is it better to have them roaming free... doing what they want?
The reason i'm asking this is because i've always had indoor/outdoor cats... but i've had rotten rotten luck with 2 of the 3 previous cats i've had. One was hit by a car, because we lived on a main road. The other jumped a fence when she was 5 months old, and got attacked by a dog and had to be put down.
Dad reckons it's absolutely cruel to keep a cat locked up indoors all day and night because they're meant to be able to go outside, and hunt and do all that other stuff that cats are naturally meant to do. Apparently it's also good for them to eat grass, so they don't get upset stomachs from all the furballs.
Since moving out of home last September, I knew straight away that I wanted a cat... so this is the first time i've ever had a cat to look after, truly on my own. I personally keep her indoors, even though she has a spack attack twice daily, and runs up all my screen doors. She's got one scratching post... but that's a little too small I think. Plus she's got a couple of "fishing rod" toys... which she absolutely loves. Is this enough to keep her mind occupied, or do you think she'd be going mental, being stuck indoors 24/7? Especially since she was apparently a stray cat before I got her.
She doesn't seem to want to be outside constantly... as she will come back on her own after an hour or two... and then rest inside. Though i've pretty much stopped her going outside, since the neighbours caught her, and were going to send her to the RSPCA... even though she was wearing a collar... because they thought she was a "stray".
So... opinions?
What is the best/safest/kindest way of "housing" your cat? Is it best to keep them indoors all the time? Is it best to let them out during the day, and in at night?.... or is it better to have them roaming free... doing what they want?
The reason i'm asking this is because i've always had indoor/outdoor cats... but i've had rotten rotten luck with 2 of the 3 previous cats i've had. One was hit by a car, because we lived on a main road. The other jumped a fence when she was 5 months old, and got attacked by a dog and had to be put down.
Dad reckons it's absolutely cruel to keep a cat locked up indoors all day and night because they're meant to be able to go outside, and hunt and do all that other stuff that cats are naturally meant to do. Apparently it's also good for them to eat grass, so they don't get upset stomachs from all the furballs.
Since moving out of home last September, I knew straight away that I wanted a cat... so this is the first time i've ever had a cat to look after, truly on my own. I personally keep her indoors, even though she has a spack attack twice daily, and runs up all my screen doors. She's got one scratching post... but that's a little too small I think. Plus she's got a couple of "fishing rod" toys... which she absolutely loves. Is this enough to keep her mind occupied, or do you think she'd be going mental, being stuck indoors 24/7? Especially since she was apparently a stray cat before I got her.
She doesn't seem to want to be outside constantly... as she will come back on her own after an hour or two... and then rest inside. Though i've pretty much stopped her going outside, since the neighbours caught her, and were going to send her to the RSPCA... even though she was wearing a collar... because they thought she was a "stray".
So... opinions?