Letting a cat out independently after moving house - why is it three weeks' wait?

[ArtNJ]

I think that most folks generally understand the risks of allowing a cat outside, but please forgive me for a potentially critical warning about one that I did not understand. My last cat, an indoor/outdoor cat, "drowned" on land -- he died of suffocation, because his lungs couldn't support him. There were many possibilities, but the vet suspected the parasite heartworm (which is a bit of a misnomer, since the lungs are what get damaged) -- we did not pay for expensive testing so we can't say for sure. If I ever had another indoor/outdoor cat, I would definitely pay for the vet only flea/tick/parasite drops. AFAIK, you cannot get those in stores, and the ones you can get in stores do not provide coverage against heartworm.

It was completely heartbreaking to know that our beloved cat died from something preventable. We only have kind of scummy big business animal hospitals here, no genuine local vets, and the big business animal hospitals try to upsell everything. So I never really believed the flea/tick/parasyte drops they were hawking were legitimately needed. And maybe my cat died because of my skepticism.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I highly recommend the flea medication with heartworm protection for anyone's cat who lives in areas that mosquitos visit. Mosquitos are what spreads heartworms, and they are no respecters of "indoors/outdoors," as any of us who have lain awake at night swatting at the buzzing little pests can attest to. "Indoors only" is not a protection against heartworms, especially in southeastern states of the US.

 

[Cat McCannon]

The minimum I’d keep my cat indoors before allowing it to roam outside unsupervised is three decades. In the past month, I’ve seen four or five cat carcasses laying in the road. I don’t care if the cat don’t like it. I’m the one responsible for its care.

I would build a catio and harness train my cat. But no unsupervised outdoor time!