My partner would like a cat, probably in about a year's time. We've both had pets, me all my life, and her for most of it.
However, I've never had an indoor cat - they've always been indoor/outdoor. We have a spacious flat and would be plenty able to give playtime, space, vertical space and hidey holes for a theoretical cat but I am not sure whether this is a good way to care for a cat.
Any owners on here? We'd definitely get it from a rescue centre (if we did get one). I'm currently more on the "not sure this is a good idea" side of the fence.
Comments
That said, maybe an elderly cat would be more at home in a flat. Our old tom, as he aged, showed little desire to go out.
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
Maybe not the prettiest of cats but at least they don't like going out in the cold.
Cats don't have 'owners', they have 'servants'.
We have been adopted by 2 of next door's 3 cats. The bloody things have been watching Larry the Downing Street cat which walks up to the front door of No 10 which then opens as if by magic - they expect the same. The black one likes to get into the tortoises vivarium and soak up the heat.
Although my old cat lived 99 percent indoors, it still liked to get out and explore the garden.
I thinks it's cruel to keep a cat indoors permanently. They are outdoor creatures that like to have a warm home nest to come back to.
Don't do it.
It would be a good move getting a cat from a rescue centre. Maybe one that wants to stay indoors.
Oddly enough I've recently been in contact with her again recently so I can ask about it if you want. She's quite active in terms of animal welfare so I don't think it's something she would have done lightly.
The rescue people were fine with them being indoor only, and got us a good match.
Both lived very happy, fairly long lives. Actually they behaved more like dogs than cats, would come when called by name & liked being patted. Weird but cute.
Keeping them permanently indoors was not a thing, but depending on the cat's temperament it might be a possibility.
They make the decisions about their happiness & needs, not you
Dogs are easily trainable and adapt well. And they're not evil, selfish, spiteful, destructive, smelly, murderous bastards.
We've also had friends who used to have three cats who were always indoor cats. They were perfectly content moggies who all had good lives, but again they had a town house and the cats had free run.
Personally despite the above I'm still not comfortable with keeping cats in though. If the cat prefers it, or if there are extenuating circumstances, they'll adapt and be fine, but one reason we don't have cats any more is it didn't sit easy, but neither did running the risk of endless car accidents, broken cats, and empty bank accounts.
So now we have a stupid dog.
*One of them worked his way from four legs down to two, via a couple of separate car interactions and a severe adjustment of our bank balance. Once he was at two legs we had to keep him in or he'd have killed himself.
The other found a local feeder, and got so fat he nearly got stuck in the cat flap. All attempts to get the feeder to stop feeding him failed, so the little shit got shut in for weight control. Kinda need someone to do that for me, frankly.
Rift Amplification
Brackley, Northamptonshire
www.riftamps.co.uk
Definitely will visit a rescue centre and see what they recommend. I don't want to give a pet anything less than the perfect home, but if we found a 3 legged critter that needed an indoor home we can probably accommodate.
My feedback thread is here.