"She's an indoor kitty..."

One of our cats talks to himself most of the day, but in a low conspiratorial mutter.

Yeah.

I think my cat suffers from ennui.

This is because cats, being cats, are killing all the native birds/possums/other native wildlife, escaping and going feral, etc etc.

Also as a lot of people have pointed out - what if you have no "outside"? My only "yard" is my balcony and my cat is quite happy to wander out there, sit and view her domain from the safety of being higher up than her peons.

Ditto. My cat was all outdoors, all the time. Went on walkabout, took peyote and fought all of the animals. Tuff.

This is how tough: walked into the woods a few weeks ago and never came back. Rest in peace, Spike.

http://static.flickr.com/14/15332076_a78272c6e9.jpg

It's hard to adopt a cat from a shelter in the UK if you're not going to let it out, though. They like to only give cats to people with gardens, so we had to go through an ad in the paper to get the kitten. Unfortunately he has chlamydia and infected his big brother but they're both fine now on antibiotics.

http://static.flickr.com/27/49293752_7db6882198.jpg?v=0

Mr Chang thinks indoor cats are pussies.

my vet is HOTT. BUT CHANG HAS FLEAS. ew. i don't think she was impressed.

Plus our street is pretty densely populated and if the cats did get out we'd never be able to find them.

**and we have a lot of foxes.**

A cat will see off a fox.

**we'd never be able to find them**

They will come back.

This might turn into a discussion of "monkey vs horse" level proportions, I'd be careful...

I've seen a couple of cat/fox confrontations walking home late at night, and it's true that the fox thought better of it and went off, although one time we shooed it away ourselves.

Anyway, as I said above, both cats have chlamydia and therefore weakened immune systems so there's the risk of disease as well. Plus the kitten's still got his bollocks (for the time being).

As for them coming back, how would we know unless we sit outside our building waiting for them? I'm on the 2nd floor!

Ah well. Thanks. Cat/Spike was tough as nails. I'm sure he died honorably. What's the feline equivalent of the final shootout of Scarface?

Also if you are going to let your cat climb into neighbor's yards that's completely inconsiderate and rude. Whether or not you seem to live under some delusion that cats always come back no matter what, I mean if your neighbors wanted eaten plants and dead bugs and rodents and cat shit in their yards, I'm sure they'd put it there themselves. If I lived next door to you lot, I'd buy a German Shepard in 3 minutes.

xpost Dan that is what I think. If you live in a non-rural area you need to keep the kitty on a leash and supervise it if it wants to go out. And not just because it's funny to see a cat on a leash.

My parents' cats:
Ginger Andrea Clorox: Outdoor cat, hit by a car
Pickles: Outdoor cat, hit by a car
Jane: Indoor cat, went out once and was mauled by neighborhood dogs, never went out again, died at 19 of old age.
Igneal: Outdoor cat, shot by a pellet gun, died at 12 of brain thingy from eating poison food.
Imor: Outdoor cat, shot by a pellet gun (the pellet it still in his right hind leg), hit by a car, 10 years old and still alive. Keep it real, boy!
Gandalf: Outdoor cat, hit by a car.
Arwyn: Indoor only, one year old, still alive.
Isabella: Indoor only, months old, still alive.

All three of ours are alive and healthy and cuddly and flea-free and don't go outside because we live in Chicago and there are signs all over the alley informing us that the city has set out rat poison, plus cars, plus evil people with pellet guns, plus mean little shit kids you do horrible things to sweet, trusting, lovey cats. I'm comfortable enough with our decision that I'm not even that upset that someone might think I'm a terrible person for it.

Sample DeKuyper does that crazy MEOW MEOW MEOW thing, too. I think she gets lost in the apartment. I just call her and she comes running and jumps on me for attention and that takes care of that.

For excercise. For fresh air. So it can shit out there. So it can climb trees. So it can, you know, do cat stuff.

**Also if you are going to let your cat climb into neighbor's yards that's completely inconsiderate and rude.**

What? Are you totally serious? You think I should sit the cat down and negotiate some ground rules? 'Hey, avoid Mrs. Smith's dahlias, but you should be OK as long as you dump the mice behind the shed'.

**I mean if your neighbors wanted eaten plants and dead bugs and rodents and cat shit in their yards**

Hey, Ally. THEY BURY THEIR SHIT! Well, yours doesn't, obviously, since it's cooped up in a yuppie apartment. But OUTDOOR CATS DO! And DEAD BUGS! Oh fuck no! DEAD BUGS IN THE YARD. CALL THE FUCKING EMERGENCY SERVICES! DEAD BUGS! DEAD BUGS! OH HELP!

And yes, you should "negotiate some rules". My sister manages to keep her cat from rummaging neighbors' yards, as does a former friend of mine. It's not that hard to watch your own pet. I mean don't get one if you find this an impossible task.

A) perfectly happy indoors
B) reticient to go outside

I mean who is anthromorphosizing the cat now?

I have stolen someone else's outdoor/indoor cat, when I was little!

You don't 'watch' them - you let them find their own territory, depending on what other cats live close etc. And guess what, if a big dog moves next door, THEY DON'T GO IN THERE ANY MORE!

Ally! Shame on you.