16/11/2023
What is my viewpoint on pet cats?
Picture of beautiful Boo for tax
I’ve recently had an interesting debate about should cats be indoors or outdoors
This debate was with an American lady, America has different pet care and laws to us here in the uk
It was interesting to see her viewpoints I’d like to evaluate the pros and cons here
My personal opinion is *generally* cats should be a mixture of indoors and outdoors. The cat should be living inside but able to explore outside. For me, this is the best way to meet the 5 animal needs stated in the animal welfare act 2006 for the cat. I used to live in a quiet village and my cat was able to display many positive behaviours that she would not of been able to do inside. I also agree with TNR processes (tag neuter release) as this does not harm the animal but it prevents an excess of kittens. Generally a lot of feral cats aren’t suited to be housed into a typical family home after being out for so long. I do not agree with having multiple cats in one household as *generally* cats are a solitary species, eventhough they tolerate eachother doesn’t always mean they want to live together.
The American lady I spoke to had the viewpoint of cats should always be an indoor pet no matter what, I do agree somewhat in terms of if you live in a city or in a busy area as the outdoors poses more of a risk to your cat.
The lady also raised the point of cats being an issue for the local wildlife, I do agree cats shouldn’t be overpopulating the area however this was a grey area as of course we live in such different communities
Long story short it’s always interesting to discuss differences in opinions, pet care and the differences in other countries standards