About a month ago my male cat disappeared. He was neutered, so I hope some nice family picked him up. His name was dusty. Now a little, white female cat has been poking around our back door. I think she might have a litter of kittens stashed away somewhere. When she shows up she is hungry. I might take her in, which means I’ll have to pay to get her neutered and for her shots.
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Are you sure that is not somebody else’s cat though? So many times I hear people say they see cats outside and they try to give it a home. Dont people know people let cats outside their house?
The little white cat does appear to be in good shape, but if she keeps coming around I’ll keep putting food out for her.
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I think if it did not have a home though it would be in a lot worse. I think the problem might be with the owners. There is a lot of people out there that don’t look after their pets properly.
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I let both of the cats I had roam freely. They generally stayed close to our apartment. I’m hoping Dusty wound up with a nice family.
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For cats, it’s cruel to keep them inside.
Much like owning a bird in a cage
The best thing you can do if adopting a cat is having your local animal shelter
install an identity chip; it’s painless and if the cat is ever found they can quickly scan it
and figure out where the cat came from.
The second best thing you can do is not adopting a cat if you’re living in up floors of an apartment, living on a relatively busy street running close to your home or living in a dodgy area where drunk teens are always passing through kicking over mailboxes, etc.
Thirdly, train it with a curfew - this is done by making sure it has one high-quality meal every day and two less quality meals. Each evening when it’s time to bring kitty in doors feed your cat it’s favorite.
When cat’s love their owners they will study them and try and understand and repeat their rituals. For example each evening I would tuck my cat in with blanket and hand him his little plush mouse toy to sleep with.
It wasn’t long before we began finding that little toy in our bed waiting for us too.
If a cat understands that everyone stays in after sundown and has dinner is your tradition, he/she will try their best to comply as well.
Each evening, at sundown, our kitty checks in with us to see if dinner is on. He’s three years old.
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Sorry to hear, it really hurts to lose a pet
And yeah, a lot of times people might take in someone else’s cat thinking it’s a stray
That’s why identity chipping is a good idea.
Someone questioning rather or not they have found a stray can have him or her scanned for other owners.
Cats are very social and will wander into your other neighbor’s homes frequently if they leave their doors or windows open. Most people are smart enough to take notice that the cat belongs to a family nearby.
Every so often a homeless cat might visit a home with other cats and food.
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I’m sorry about your missing cat @crimby
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I’m so sorry about your missing cat too @crimby. I’d die if I lost my cat. My cat has no front claws so, I have to keep him indoors.
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[quote=“Charlie, post:6, topic:195791”]
For cats, it’s cruel to keep them inside.
[/quote
Not really. It’s actually more humane and cats can live long, happy, healthy lives being indoors. Indoor cats have a significantly longer life span compared to outdoor cats. Outdoor cats face more danger and disease running around free outside. Just a few of the dangers: getting into fights with other cats or dogs, getting hit by a car, being hurt by kids. If you keep an indoor cat it’s fine as long as you play with him regularly so he/she gets some exercise. A laser cost a few bucks and cats love them and get their exercise from chasing it.
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I’m not denying that they will be safer but I think if you care about the cats wellbeing you should really let them outside. I think it is a lot worse to make the poor thing miserable.
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Why do you say an indoor cat would be miserable? Keeping an indoor cat is recommended by vets or humane shelters or other places. Like I said. Indoor cats can live long, happy, healthy lives. I’m not criticizing you but I think you have your mind made up that indoor cats are miserable. Personally I lived in a small studio with my indoor cat for years and he was perfectly happy and well adjusted. I understand your point, before I had my own cat I might have agreed with you. But nowadays, like I said, keeping a car indoors is recommended. As long as you play with them regularly to give them exercise, indoor cats are fine.
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It is just going outside makes cats happy. If it didn’t, they wouldn’t go outside. I think it is the same with most animals really. Even with aquariums if you keep fish cooped up with no stimulus they show signs of depression. The stimulus just gives cats a better quality of life. I would rather my cat be happy than safe.
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One of my friends had two indoor cats. She build a cat tree for them and had lots of things they were allowed to climb on, and lots of toys for them.
The cats didn’t seem miserable at all. They were loved and very well taken care of, and they knew it.
They didn’t seem to miss going outside, as they had most likely never even been outside.
They were Holy Birmas, a breed that does best being indoor cats, much like Persians.
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You can keep them happy and safe by providing them enough enrichment to get a full life, even living indoors. Enrichment is the key to animal ownership for any species.
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Well, we’ll never agree on it. Just one of those things. But an indoor cat can be happy too and that’s a fact. I used to let my cat out on the porch and he liked it. But he was also happy laying next to me when I was on the computer or when the first thing I saw each morning when I opened my eyes in bed was Milo sitting about 7 inches from my head purring. If you’re talking about feline mental health, I think being safe and warm in a controlled environment inside was better than being scared and having to survive outside. Either way, it’s up to the owner what he wants for his pet.
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I kept my cat in or out, depending on his preference. I always left food out so he could eat any time he wanted. He was just starting to roam when I got him neutered. He came home torn up from a fight one time before I got him fixed.
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I am also a cat lover, and my cat has been an indoor cat since we bought him. He is now 12 years old. He likes to look outside, but leave the door open and he won’t venture out. He’s perfectly happy being an indoor cat. I think so long as you’ve had a cat indoor all its life it doesn’t miss what it never had. I also don’t let him outside because we’re on the second floor of an apartment building, and i don’t want him jumping down. When my partner and i build our own house, i’ll be buying an outdoor cat run, so that he can have his time outside, but is still secure.
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If you do find your cat you can get a gps tracker at walmart or petsmart, so you can find him more easily. Hope he returns hope soon or he is living with a good family. 
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When I lived in the studio my cat made it outside several times accidently. Several times it was when a guest left the front door open and Milo slipped out. It wasn’t a huge deal because he didn’t go far and I scooped him up easily and brought him back in. But one time I was home and couldn’t find him. It was a studio but it had a few hiding places but this time I couldn’t find him anywhere inside. I realized he had escaped and I started to panic because he had been gone for awhile. I opened my front door to begin a search after 10 minutes had gone by and I looked down and there he was in front of the neighbors door across the hall, calmly sitting with his front legs tucked beneath him like cats do. I got him inside. He wasn’t eager to go outside or run away.
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