Why keep cats indoors?

Why I Keep My Cats Indoors

By Tracey, who works with Dublin-based cat welfare organisation, Kitten Adoption.

Many moons ago, we became a multicat household overnight. We took in an old cat that was pregnant. She had five kittens and after long arguments, we decided to keep them all. We were so attached to them, as was the dog! Poor Suki was so old, she fed them but didn't so much else. It was down to our Lab Ozzie to do the rest and he was a fantastic mother/father. So, Chester, Tilly, Soda, Milo and Maisie became permanent residents, along with our other oldie cat, Jasper. I was paranoid about letting them outside. I'd watched them being born, they were so precious to me. My other half thought it was cruel to keep them inside and we fought about it. So we came to a deal. They got out for an hour or so a day while I was there. We lived at the top of a quiet cul-de-sac, surely nothing could happen to them.

My other half went into hospital but I kept to my end of the bargain and let them out for that one hour, as he was right.

A day before their first birthday, Chester went missing. Out ten minutes and that was that. I searched, cried, begged, screamed, but he was gone. He was found dead, poisoned. I cannot start to tell you how I felt.

But, it was cruel to keep cats in, Chessie was bad luck and they continued to get out for that one hour a day.

Then one day a month later, I let them out and remembered I'd forgotten something at the shops that Ray needed in hospital. I raced down and back in two minutes. There was a note in my door. Tiny Tilly had seen a dog on a lead, raced up to it as she loved dogs and it promptly broke her back. She was in Nutgrove and she'd no chance of survival. To tell a vet to put your young, beloved cat down is something I never, ever want anyone else to go through.

Ray then came home from hospital and that one hour seemed ok as he was there all the time, keeping an eye on them. We'd gotten two more dogs and another cat, Reuben. We had a great little family that all looked out for each other.

Then one day he was out with the dogs and Bonnie our rescue shepherd got knocked down while still on a lead by a drunken driver. It could have so easily been Ray. She survived but we vowed to keep the cats in all the time. It really shook us up and knew if it was one of our cats, it wouldn't have.

One of the kittens, now cats, Soda, was so so special to us. He was larger than life to say the least. He'd serious kidney stone problems and we'd spent a fortune on him, keeping him alive and getting him right. It's never right to have a favourite but we did. He was the boss and all the cats followed his every move. He was the dogs b****x, a cat in a million. He slept between us every night and was an absolute joy.

We were in the process of moving. We were moving to a much larger place but on a main road. We decided to build a cat run so the cats would be safe. Everything was about Soda, what he liked, what he didn't like as he was the one that led the others and everything boiled down to him. The layout of the house, everything was designed with him in mind. The builders loved us! Then one night I was working late. I knew something was wrong and had to come home. I rang Ray on the way and said I'd a horrible feeling that something was wrong. He told me I was silly, everything was ok. I knew he was lying. I pressed him and he told me Soda and Reuben had gotten out under his wheelchair while he was letting the dogs out and he couldn't get them back in. I thought grand, I'll be home in a sec and I'll nab them.

I was driving up the hill to the house. I saw Soda chasing a butterfly. It was a lovely scene. Then a teenager in his souped-up car overtook me and killed Soda on the spot. I picked up his beautiful little white body and went screaming into the house. We tried everything, but he was gone. I never, ever, ever want to feel that pain again as long as I live. I don't want anyone else here to ever go through that either.

What nearly finished us off were the other cats. They sat at the window and screamed constantly for him. Their brother and their boss was gone and they literally didn't know what to do without him. Those cries will stay with me forever. To this day, Milo is still not right because of it.

If I'd listened to Kitten Adoption and other rescues, my babies would be alive today. The others that thought they knew better, they didn't. If they did, I wouldn't have a massive hole in my heart today. Indoor versus outdoor, I hope even one person reads this and saves their cat's life and the agony we went through, it'll be worth it.


70% of Irish cats that go missing never come home again.

The average lifespan for an outdoor cat is 4-5 years; for indoor cat, it's at least three times that.

The statistics for cats in urban areas is more startling. The average lifespan of a roaming city-dweller cat is just two years, compared with 16-18 years for city-dweller cats that are kept indoors or have monitored, safe outdoor access.

Indoor-only cats (or indoor-only cats with access to a safe outdoor enclosure) live longer, happier lives, free from injury and disease. They will not be poisoned, knocked down, attacked by dogs or endure fights with other cats. They don't disappear. You'll never worry what happened to them that day you left them out as usual and they never came back.

Contrary to popular belief, cats do not need to roam. In fact, when you let them out, they will spend most of the time patrolling the boundaries of their territory, which for neutered cats is surprisingly small. Many cats - and particularly kittens reared exclusively indoors - will be just as happy to make your home the extent of their territory and never step foot outside. Cats sleep for eighteen hours a day - they'll happily spend the rest of the time observing, playing and enjoying your company.

To learn more about the benefits of keeping your cat solely indoors - and for tips on how to enrich their indoor environment so that they are happy and content - please follow this great link. Also visit the Kitten Adoption website for more indoor/safe outdoor cat resources.