We love our feline kitty cat friends, and as their guardians it’s our job to keep them safe from harms way.
This post will review 6 good reasons for why you should keep your cat indoors. Cats are adorable creatures, but their curiousity and love for the wild can put them at great risk to themselves and other cats as well.
So let’s get started.
Safety
Have you ever heard the phrase “Safety Comes First”? In our case “Cat Safety Comes First” but keeping cats indoors where they will be safe from people, other cats, traps, predators, weather and traffic.
So let’s explore these in greater detail.
Safety From People
Sadly, there are many people who are cruel to cats. Some sick people go so far as to torture cats. Other people just don’t want cats or other animals in their yard. The cat would have nowhere to live if it is a stray and was not welcomed in any yard, so thankfully some cats have a chance.
The big thing to remember here though is that many people will trap and remove, or trap and harm cats, or simply harm cats without trapping. There simply is no guarantee that your kitty will not be the one caught or mistreated, or shot.
Please care for your cat but not putting it at risk of cruel people. Keeping kitty indoors will almost completely reduce it’s chances of interacting with cruel stranges.
Safety From Other Cats
Beyond the agressive behavior of some alpha male cats, there are other concerns. Diseases are widespread outdoors, and your cat may be exposed to deadly diseases from other cats.
Safety From Traps
Lots of hunters, and people who can’t handle wild life living in their yard are frequent trappers. They go to great lengths to trap cats and other animals that they find on the property in an effort to rid the area of the harmless cat.
It’s important to note that traps come in a wide variety of styles and not all are ‘live traps’ that reduce the risk of harm to cats. Some traps are like metal jaws that could easily trap the cat’s arms in it’s crushing metal teeth, leading the cat to a slow suffering death. If such cats are found before death they will likely be shot, drowned or beat to death by the person who set the trap.
Keeping your cat indoors will greatly reduce the risk of your cat getting caught in a deadly trap.
Safety From Predators
Cats are prey for several noteworthy animal predators, including raptors, coyotes, dogs, wolfs and more. Outrageous numbers of cats are killed daily by predators.
Keeping your kitty indoors away from these dangerous predators can mean the difference between life and death.
Safety From Cold Weather
Cat’s have fur coats, but that doesn’t mean they can survive the cold no matter how low the temperature goes. Cats are mamals and can only handle so much freezing cold weather before they freeze to death. Especially indoor cats are at risk because their coats are often thinner than oudoor cats’ coats. If you simply can not let the cat live in the house, consider letting it live in the garage on a warm blanketed area, or a box filled with straw.
Clearly the humane solution is to keep the cat indoors so it will not fight for it’s life to survive cold temperatures.
Safety From Traffic
Have you ever seen a dead cat along the side of the road? Have you ever possibly even hit one yourself by accident?
Traffic is a hazzard cat’s face that can’t be over stated. The risk of cats getting hit by a car are undeniable.
Unfortunately, cats, dogs, and other animals don’t even know what roads are, much less the dangers they pose for them.
Please keep your cats safe from getting harmed or killed in traffic by keeping them indoors.
Life Expectancy
Numerous studies have shown over and over that indoor cats have a far higher life expectancy than outdoor cats do. If you do an online search for the life expectancy of indoor versus outdoor cats read the results yourself. You will often find indoor cats having average life expecatancies more than double that of outdoor cats.
Clearly there is far less risk involved with living indoors than there is for outdoor cats.
Please keep your cat indoors to likely increse and possibly multiply it’s life expectancy.
Disease & Health Problem Prevention
It was briefly mentioned that there are other cats and animals that can spread diseases to cats. Whether it’s FIV, cat Leukemia, Distemper, Lyme Disease or Rabies these diseases are out there. Outdoor cats are exposed to great risk of disease from other animals that carry these diseases and more.
Beyond the large list of diseases, there are multiple parasites and other health conditions to consider as well. Many parasites are not even visible to the naked eye.
Keeping your cat indoors will greatly reduce the risk of a cat getting infected with deadly diseases, parasites, and many other health conditions lurking outside.
Please keep your cat indoors to reduce the risk of diseases.
Fleas, Ticks And Mosquitos
Fleas are not just itchy and annoying, but they are also dangerous and carry diseases. If you’ve ever heard of cat scratch disease, you may be aware that fleas are common carriers of it. Additionally, there is risk of tapeworms with fleas. Clearly keeping your kitty away from mosquitos is in the best interest of the guardian and the cat to avoid mosquitos.
Ticks can be carriers of Lyme disease, which is contagious not just to animals, but to people as well.
Consider the vast mosquito population outdoors. It’s not only dogs that are at risk for catching heartworms. Consider also that cat’s too can catch heartworms from mosquitos. Just a single mosquito bite can have major health reprocussions.
When you allow your cat outdoors, there are many dangerous parasites that can cause diseases not only to your pet, but to you as well.
Reduce exposure to parasites and the health problems they bring by keeping kitty indoors.
So It Doesnt Get Lost
Have you ever heard a story of a cat being reunited with it’s long lost guardian years later? Cat’s can get lost, cat-napped, trapped and relocated nearby, or trapped and dumped far away. Even in severe weather, your cat may get separated from you, and unable to find you again. When cat’s get old they may not think clearly, and not be able to find their way home as well.
Keeping your cat indoors can go a long way to preventing your cat from getting lost.
So It Doesn’t Spread Disease To Other Animals
This post has already discussed the dangers your cat faces from other animals outdoors. Keep in mind, however, that if your cat is infected with a contageous feline disease it could also be spreading it to countless other cats that were previously healthy. It’s terrible for any animal to catch a disease, but is a very sad situation to keep spreading it to other animals as well.
Life’s hard enough for animals and humans without contracting new diseases. Please help fight the good fight against diseases by keeping your cat indoors.
I hope this post has been interesting and thought provoking as to why it’s so important to keep cats indoors for their health, and saftey. As well as for the health and safety of you, the guardian of your cat.
Kindest regards to all,
-Randy / Animal Weekly
