Indoor or Outdoor Cats?

I keep the litter boxes in the utility room. The door is kept closed and we installed a cat door for access (and keeps the dogs out of the boxes). I use a clumping litter and scoop out at least once a day. Each week, the box gets a total change. Every so often, the boxes get washed and dried in the sun and lightly oiled with mineral oil to help cut down on litter sticking to the plastic. The boxes are kept on a large indoor/outdoor mat and if the mat gets dirty or a cat misses the box, the mat can be taken out and hosed down. Yes, sounds like a lot of work.

However the cleaning takes less than three minutes a day for the daily scooping (six minutes if I have to scoop twice). The weekly total dumping takes my husband maybe five minutes. And the occasional washing can be fit into a schedule - if I am outside in the yard washing other things, just grab the boxes as well. Diligence helps cut down odors greatly.

So, what about boredom and cats being able to do what they do naturally like hunt? We can enrich their lives and let them hunt and pretend to kill in a safer and controlled manner. Cat toys can be expensive, so I make my own. A heavy sock rolled up with some catnip stuffed in it makes a great mouse! Wood dowels from the craft store with some bright ribbon tapes to the end makes a great "fishing pole" for you to encourage chasing.

Get small cubes or balls used to insert food in and let the cat have to work to get a reward. (If you leave food down all day for your cats, consider using one of these toys, or if you have multiple cats, a few balls, and use these to feed the cats from. This gets them hunting, active and helps burn calories!). Toilet paper tubes with a treat stuffed in them and the ends crumpled allow for scratching and tearing. Cats can hunt safely inside and have far fewer risks to themselves and to wildlife than if they hunt outside.

Now, what if you absolutely do not agree with cats being inside only? What can you do to help ensure safety? Consider building a cat play yard. A six by six by six cage (or larger) with a covered top. Put in logs to climb, things to chase and bat at, thick ropes to hang off of - look at the small cat habitats at the zoo for ideas! Your cat can go out but still be safe.

Cats can also be leash trained. Of course they may not follow you like a dog, but you and the cat can spend quality time outside together and the cat is far safer than if loose and unsupervised. (Even loose cats can take off and fast get out of your sight if unleashed). Just do not tie the cat up and then YOU walk away. The cat could get hurt.

All cats, whether inside or allowed out should be microchipped. With the improvement of microchip technology and the efforts of organizations like Home Again to try and get all shelters equipped with scanner, chipping offers an permanent form of ID. And ideally cats should have a secondary ID such as an identity tag. Just make sure they are on a safety collar incase the tags or collar get snagged. Even indoor cats may be at risk of escaping the house and should have some form of ID - just in case.