I'm from old school and think cats should roam free but when you get a cat from shelter or initially go to the vet, they usually ask if the cat will be an indoor or outdoor cat and if you say outdoor or indoor/outdoor, they smirk and warn you that the cat's life will likely be shortened. For me, the cats freedom is more important than a long life but many people don't see it that way and most of the time, their cats seem happy.

I'm also believe that most dogs should be allowed to roam free but that usually isn't allowed except in some rural areas. I grew up in a rural area where cats and dogs roamed free and they actually got along pretty well and never knew anyone that had a serious dog bite (no bit bulls were around).

Sorry, but not sure what made you think they were outdoor cats - my cats are house-cats here in the UK just as they would be in the US.

As for 'give them to someone else' the only option would be giving them to an animal shelter, where at best they'd likely be re-homed separately and miss their mommy, at worst they'd be given to an abusive home or put to sleep. My cats are my family, not something to be gotten rid of for convenience.

Because if you love animals why would you keep them imprisoned in your home? That is very cruel and totally selfish.

So you care about posting on a pet thread why? Some people are ridiculously judgemental about pets on this forum.

So you care that I care? Why?

I care that people get useful advice when they ask for it. That's why I wrote the pets wiki. People are attached to their pets and being told to dump a member of their family generally isn't the most useful bit of advice.

I disagree. If it isn't practical to bring the pet, what else are you to do? As someone who has always had cats I would have been upset to leave them but the circumstance would have warranted it. Depends on your priorities: moving overseas or being nice to a cat.

And it is cruel in extremis to force a cat to live indoors.

BTW: kudos for writing a wiki about pets. Doesn't make you right.

Although I prefer to leave cats outdoors, I completely disagree with you. Cats are not wild animals but domesticated animals and many indoor cats that I have seen seem just as contented as my outdoor cats. How do you know that keeping a cat indoors is cruel? If that were the case, then people at shelters must have a very cruel streak since cats are kept in cages.

A co-worker of mine "found" a stray cat, just a few weeks before she returned to Germany permanently. She had a dog that she took with her, but didn't want to / couldn't take the cat.

That cat has been a happy member of my family for 3 years now.

Not sure what my point is, except the cat is not suffering from either being left behind, or being "lost" in the first place.

How do you know they are contented? Just because they become fat and lazy and don't do too much?

The shelter analogy does not hold true: they are for a specific purpose; they are not meant as long term housing for the cats.

I didn't say they were contented but seem contented. But you on the other hand, know that keeping a cat indoors is cruel.

And exposing a cat to the risk of being driven over isn't cruel?

I live in a semi rural area where my cats have plenty of space to roam safely, but one spends much of her time hanging around the house, coming into the garage and trying to get inside. She is part of my defence strategy against copperheads, so she's not coming inside during the day, but I typically have to pick her up and carry her back outside three or four times a day, and therefore I am fairly certain that her preference would be to live inside.

An off the wall thought: shouldn't this thread be on the Take It Outside sub-forum?

Cages suck.

My ex kept a monkey in a cage, gave it champagne and was heartbroken when it died from diabetes!

There are too many dead cats and dogs on the roads here for me to consider letting my cats out, not to mention snakes, coyotes, fleas, ticks and mozzies from which they could get heartworm (and yes they are on mediction for all of these).

They have 4300 sq ft of house to run about, toys, boxes and each other to play with. They are healthy, alert and lots of fun