Both our cats are (were) outdoor cats. The have a litter tray indoors as the cats are indoors at night. They have no trouble using the litter tray and never poo/pee anywhere but there when indoors.

The vets we have had here are reluctant to declaw cats.

A friend has an indoor cat who is taken for walks on her leash, it's quite common. We tried it with Dude to begin with he was ok, but after a while he just lay down and refused to move. We tried the leash once with Mog and she spun round like a whirling dervish breaking some lladro ornaments, not ours either.

If you keep the cat indoors it's more of a kitten cat for longer, needs your company more, you must make sure you entertain them, keep them exercised and busy.

We got a new kitten yesterday, she will be an outdoor cat eventually.

I don't think that's true. I (or rather my various cohabitants) have had lots of indoor/outdoor cats and have only had an inappropriate crapping problem when the litter box was allowed to fill. I think an indoor only cat will also refuse to climb a pile of poo before adding to it.

Hi we lived in canada in 2003 and we took our cat with us. We advised not to let the cat out as some people have cat traps in there garden. Once they capture them they take them to the pound as they class them as a pain in the ass due to soiling in there garden. Hope this helps.
Siobhan

Surely this is only golfing estate agents in suburban Calgary.

We brought two cats with us, both had been used to being outside all day and inside at night. One was much more adventurous than the other outside though. When we got here we let them outside, but the more adventurous one just refused to go out at all. The other one would go out on the deck and the area around the house, but never went very far. One day it was taken off our deck by a coyote. I ran after the coyote but never got near it and needless to say that was the last we saw of that cat. We still have the other one but it very seldomly wants to go outside and usually comes back after a few minutes. We always thought it was the smarter of the two (though of course that is still not a huge achievement with cats )

We have a cat - just turned one - and were advised to keep him in. It just doesn't feel right to me to have a cat and keep him indoors. So he has been a daytime outdoor cat since the snow vanished and an indoor cat at night.

Mind you he was hit by a 4x4 3 weeks ago and broke one leg and thought he would have to have his other leg removed. So now he is currently a locked in a small room cat...lol

Thankfully he is getting better and looks like he won't need any surgery.

Poor little mite. I bet he's a tricky patient.

When we first moved here we stayed with friends in an old log house. The cats were all locked in at night. Our English cat who was used to coming and going as she pleased managed to get out. She climbed up the wooden wall between the house and the woodshed and pulled out a small plank at the top. So she and the other 2 inmates made a break for freedom.

He was okay when he was feeling super poorly. Now he is only happy when the sun is streaming through the screen door and he is bathing in the sunshine. The rest of the time he is crying. He escaped an hour or so ago only to be found snuggled up with my eldest daughter. Little monkey.

Ah bless him. that's so cute

I like cats and I'm sorry that grey kitty/dude met an early demise but I think they should live out, I don't think it's much of a life for a cat that can't bring home "presents". At the same time, a cat hit by a car, I wouldn't pay for surgery, a quick and clean end is, to me, the way to go. Perhaps rural life has brutalised me.

Probably not brutalised but it's true that you have to be realistic. If Dude had needed surgery then we wouldn't have had it done, he would have had to be put down. We can't afford insurance for our cats, not can we pay for expensive surgery. Then there's how much the cat is going to suffer during the surgery etc. A cast on a broken leg, yes, major surgery no. However much we liked that damn cat you have to think rationally.

I agree wholeheartedly that cats should be allowed to be cats and not kept prisoner indoors. I hate the idea of birds in cages too. Someone at work has told me we pretty much killed Dude because he was an outside cat.

Dude had a good life, he was happy. The photo I posted before shows how much he wanted to be outside.

That's all you can do in co-existing with an animal; give it as much life as possible.

No I don't think it's you - my OH amongst many others I have chatted with about little Horace have said the same! When my OH ran over the road to rescue him from the hedge I thought he was down there putting him out of his misery lol.

It's not that hard to train them to be indoor. Just make sure that the first trip out side is late at night in the middle of winter. -40C on the paws for five minutes is pretty much all you'll need to convince them never to go out again.

Speaking of Cats this must of been a terrifying experience:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090618/...h-3fd0ae9.html