She'd go fscking nuts if we didn't let her out. She already pulls the carpet up under the front door if she's in for too long. We don't live anywhere near a main road and she spends most of her time in woods at the back of the house.

I wish ours would go out from time to time, he has free access to the whole of Yorkshire but only goes out on sunny days, apart from the needs of nature!

We don't let ours roam, but we DO confine them to the yard. Rowan makes the occasional foray onto the roof of the house, but seems to never jump down on the far side of the fence.

Keeping them from climbing over the fence took a bit of effort, but now "no one escapes from Stalag-33".

Cheers

Sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads.

My cat has been indoors for...I can't even remember how long. Probably about eight or nine years. We didn't have a choice. The last time she was out, she got in a fight with another cat and walked into the garage with her eye cut open and a lot of scratches. She had to go to the emergency room, and was pretty bad off, but she pulled through. So now she's strictly indoors. It's easy to see that she'd like to go outside, as she eyes the door whenever we go through it, but the house is pretty large, and she spends most of her time sleeping in a few select spots. She's mostly happy sleeping on our laps, so wherever there is a lap available, that is where she is. Particularly if it's mine. I swear that she will follow me anywhere in the house if she thinks I'm going to be sitting anytime soon.

We've had her for about 19 years, with no signs of slowing down, except for a little hair loss.

My nan has found another hanger-on who has now taken ownership of the garden/field areas, and p*ssed off the other cats (and rabbits):



PS. Sorry for the blurry pic, it was one of the first I took with my new 70-200 L lens. this and this (100% crop) is a better example!

G

I don't think you qualify until you're 65. My dad is 61 and so far all he's got is the sort of stuff you've mentioned like reduced entry fees to art galleries and his winter heating allowance, which is nice.

I agree strongly with you on this. None of my cats go out and never will. There are shots for Leukemia and Feline AIDS but they are not 100% effective. Having a cat fixed will help prevent millions that are put down every year. There are also many predators that will go after cats; dogs, coyotes, foxes and if they are kittens, hawks. Cats are small creatures and while they have claws for defense, they are no match for the many dangers out in the world. Mine have access to every window in the house and full run of the house and that is enough. Half of mine were born in the wild and it hasn't bothered them to stay indoors, they can get used to it. Out here in the country lots of people have barn cats and many of them end up dead on the side of the roads, a fate none of my cats will endure..

Winter heating allowance? In this house you sit in your underpants all winter whilst mrs.Boxer stokes the fire with the commitment of the fireman of the Flying Scotsman, that's probably why the cat doesn't go out!

I have always had cats, and they always go out - my current (very old) cat goes out at bedtime, and comes back in for breakfast. Then he sleeps all day. Perfectly nocturnal.

But then I have always lived in places with fields and trees all around, so the risk from cars etc is low (although I did have one fatality from being run over - all the rest died of old age)