Indoor Cats Live Longer Than Outdoor But Do They Live Happier?

As a cat owner you are constantly put in the situation of deciding what is best for your cat and the responsibility is yours alone.

I can’t tell you how many articles I’ve read on the debating between letting your cat go outside or not. To break it down, you need to weigh the risks and decide what’s best for your cat…

A long life indoors or a possible shorter but possibly happier life outdoors?

My cat sleeps in the house at night, and when we go out she may let us know she’d like to go out too or she will watch us leave peacefully indoors. I really leave the decision up to her. She also loves playing in our closed garage so I will often let her do that.

Since it rains so much where I live (Florida) she isn’t likely to stay out all day because at some point, she knows the rain is coming and it’s not just a drizzle!

Here are the pros and cons to letting your cat outside, or not.

Risks of letting your cat outside:

• Contagious cat diseases (spread by means of biting from other cats)
• Ticks, fleas and worms
• Zoonotic diseases (transmittable to humans from cats)
• Harsh weather depending on where you live
• Other predators (other animals, cars, people, abuse)
• If your cat is not spayed, it may reproduce with other cats in the neighborhood causing some harm in over population
• Loss of wildlife via your cat’s hunting abilities
• Average shorter lifespan than that of an indoor cat

Risks to leaving your cat indoors all the time:

• Not enough stimulation
• Not likely to get enough or as much exercise as the cat would outdoors
• Won’t be getting fresh greens that are necessary to the cat unless you grow them personally
• Behavior problems become more apparent
• Natural behaviors and instincts won’t be exhibited outside and therefore will come more to the forefront in doors (biting, scratching, climbing, hunting)
• Because the cat is not exposed to constant change in environment like the outdoors provides, it will have a harder time with new things in its current environment
• More likely to become territorial as it has no other animals challenging it
• Lack of socialization

Knowing how much my cats have all LOVED going outside and playing and eating the grass and everything else they get out of it (enrichment) I allow my cats go outside. I feel a mixture of both worlds works for my situation and lifestyle. You will need to determine what best suits yours and what you feel is safest for your cat. My neighborhood only has one other cat in it and my cat and that one leave one another alone. All dogs around my house are walked constantly but on a leash so my risks tend to be lower then yours may be.

I do know that I for one would rather my cat live a shorter but happier life than a longgggg mediocure life.

For a different view on this topic, read this article.

Tags: cat, indoor, ninja, otuside, outdoor, outside