People with indoor/outdoor cats...what if they don't return?

[Ns1]

We're thinking of getting a cat to help with potential rodent issues. Our preference would be indoor/outdoor cats. But I just can't get my head around this one particular aspect, and I'm hoping you cat owners can help me out.

Aren't you afraid they won't come back one day? They could get killed by a larger cat, hit by a car, shot at by a neighbor, or just decide "fuck it" and walk off. I think on a personal level I would be devastated by losing an animal w/o knowing what happened to it. Do y'all just accept this as a possibility and deal with it if/when it happens?

 

[preCRT]

Do not get an indoor/outdoor cat.

 

[mxnerd]

The cat you plan to acquire not necessarily will kill mice.

Use poison. Or search youtube and you will find many DIY mouse traps.

 

[MongGrel]

As a pet, I'd never let a cat just run loose.

Both of the ones we have now the wife kidnapped from the stables she has her horse at, even at the stables she has set up traps from the SPCA and captured strays and they had the vet spay and neuter them.

The closest Toby and Joey get to running loose is hanging out by the pool inside the the cage, and we even had a red tail hawk swoop in one day and bounce of the screen.

And like mxnerd said, all cats won't necessarily be mousers. I had one years ago that prided himself on it, and would leave any he caught in the basement like a trophy in the middle of the kitchen floor in the morning when I lived in the Midwest. I used to give him a treat and even had a mouse count tally sheet on the fridge for grins and giggles att.

At least one of our current ones I imagine would just ignore them.

Bill was a Mouser Master, this is an old pic when he was about 16, he lasted to 18. I cried hard when he passed, took him to the vet and they said at that point he was not even maintaining body temperature. I kept took care of him as long as I could, he just could not physically function at that point.

He was getting old, I miss that old buddy.

 

[Zeze]

You want to dedicate 13 yrs of commitment of having a cat... just to get rid of mice?

 

[Ns1]

Do not get an indoor/outdoor cat.

Do tell.

You want to dedicate 13 yrs of commitment of having a cat... just to get rid of mice?

Seems the more likely scenario is I'll have a barn cat until one day he doesn't decide to return.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I lost my first cat exactly because it was let outside one day. (still lived at my parent's then). It was really all of our fault, we decided to let her go on the deck once just to see what she'd do, while watching her carefully. Next thing you know she was crying to go outside all the time. My mom got fed up and just let her, this was on a Sunday super early morning when everybody was sleeping. Fast forward to that afternoon, after coming back from church, and then we realized the cat was not around and my mom is like "oh she never came back?" and me and my dad are like "what do you mean never came back?". Never saw the cat again.

My current cat likes to try to go outside if the door is open, had a few close calls. If I have any contractors or anybody going in/out of my house for a job or something I always have to make sure they know to watch for her. I usually try to keep her in a separate room if the door is going to be open/close a lot.

 

[preCRT]

If you live in a city, high traffic area, your kitty will be killed quickly by traffic.If you live in a country area, they are now filled with coyotes, fisher cats, skunks, etc, all of which will leave you with a dead kitty.

Go indoor only.

 

[bbhaag]

Growing up we had an indoor/outdoor cat named Whiskers and it never seemed to be a problem. I even remember my mom calling out at night to get him to come back home. Sometimes he would but sometimes he wouldn't. That was just his way though. haha

We lived in a small town of around 5k people. I'm not sure how it would go over in a larger metropolitan area.

 

[XavierMace]

People who have "outdoor" cats should be shot. Basically you've now decided to share the "joys" of having a cat with your entire neighborhood without getting their opinion. If you want a pet it had better be one that stays on your property.

 

[MrSquished]

They pretty much always come back - and that's a very high percentage - that's not the issue. The issue is the ways they can get killed. When I lived in the burbs for many many years we first had a family outdoor female cat. She lived until she was over 18. She was very cautious. I then had 2 different super friendly and perhaps less-cautious male cats on my own that both got killed outdoors. All lived some years but never broke 7 years. This was all in nice quiet middle to upper middle class suburbia on a quiet street. One cat was just found dead laying peacefully in my neighbors yard - we think he may have drank anti-freeze or was poisoned by the crazy lady 2 houses down who was all about protecting the birds. The other cat got shot. Yep, shot. By a pellet gun. In a very nice neighborhood. Probably some punk ass kid with his dumbass pellet gun. I got a third male cat when I moved to an urban area about 8 years ago. He died this summer due to early kidney problems. That was expensive. He never went outdoors once. So go figure. I got a dog in February and sticking with just him for now.

Anybody who says people that own outdoor cats should be shot sounds like one of the biggest blowhard dickheads on the planet. And we have Trump running for office.

 

[JEDIYoda]

If they don`t return, then they don`t return!! What`s so hard about understanding that concept???

 

[Imp]

Post a "lost cat" ad on an A4 or Letter sized page with a photo of the cat and contact info on every pole you can find in the hood.

Or get a GPS tracker and see where that slut goes to all day.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I recommend printing out the posters ahead of time so you'll have them on hand and don't have to scramble to find a place to do emergency copies.

 

[who?]

Get the cat chipped so that anybody that thinks that it's a stray will soon learn different. My mothers cat eats all of the squirrel except for the back legs and ate all of a chipmunk except for it's face.

 

[lxskllr]

AFAIC, kitties don't belong outside. If I were to get an outside cat, it be purely for work purposes, and I'd assume it would turn up dead eventually. Maybe a sketchy barn cat, so I didn't get so attached to it.

 

[MongGrel]

AFAIC, kitties don't belong outside. If I were to get an outside cat, it be purely for work purposes, and I'd assume it would turn up dead eventually. Maybe a sketchy barn cat, so I didn't get so attached to it.

Barn Kittah Lives Matter

 

[lxskllr]

I was in the bathroom today contemplating why a squirrel was flipping out, and barking like a madman; getting answered by one on the other side of the house. About five minutes later, one of the neighborhood cats walked by. I don't think they get many squirrels.

 

[MongGrel]

I was in the bathroom today contemplating why a squirrel was flipping out, and barking like a madman; getting answered by one on the other side of the house. About five minutes later, one of the neighborhood cats walked by. I don't think they get many squirrels.

We used to have a squirrel living in a tree outside the pool cage that would come down and go freaking nuts every time that Joey went over on that side and looked at him, was kind of amusing watching him sit there with the squirrel having a fit.

It was like kitty TV for him I guess, that squirrel would go on a raging fit.

 

[DaveSimmons]

We always had outdoor cats when I was growing up.

I thought the lifespan of a cat was maybe 3 years, since that's how long they usually lasted. Outdoor life might be fun for the cat, but its odds of survival go way down.

 

[Newbian]

If you have a rodent issue this is something you need to fix by stop being a slob and hire a exterminator / use some traps for a bit.

I would avoid poison as that can cause issues for anything that eats said mouse and glue traps are horrible.

Look for where they are getting in and seal them and the old fashioned snap traps are the best still for a reason usually.

 

[elitejp]

Ive had my fair share of cats and if at all possible I let them be indoor outdoor cats. Currently I live in a highrise so she doesnt have an option, so indoors only for her. However when I have lived in any place that has a yard i have wanted them to enjoy the outdoors. They gain so much more excitement and fun by being allowed to play outside I feel terrible that my current cat cant leave the indoors.
Cats are extremely careful and cautious but like others have said an outdoor cat will probably have a shorter lifespan just do to how some humans and of course other wild animals will treat them. But I still agree that they live a much fuller life being able to play outside and have their safe place inside.

 

[MongGrel]

Ive had my fair share of cats and if at all possible I let them be indoor outdoor cats. Currently I live in a highrise so she doesnt have an option, so indoors only for her. However when I have lived in any place that has a yard i have wanted them to enjoy the outdoors. They gain so much more excitement and fun by being allowed to play outside I feel terrible that my current cat cant leave the indoors.
Cats are extremely careful and cautious but like others have said an outdoor cat will probably have a shorter lifespan just do to how some humans and of course other wild animals will treat them. But I still agree that they live a much fuller life being able to play outside and have their safe place inside.

Allowing them to play outside is a lot different than just having a barn cat though.

It kind of sounds like what the OP has in mind to me, and they will not be a cat that will come inside randomly and interact when you want them to.

I could be wrong, but you are not going to just throw a cat in a barn and expect it to catch rats than come inside on the off hours.

 

[ControlD]

If you have an indoor cat and it doesn't come back, celebrate. You just hit the lottery.

 

[rh71]

People who have "outdoor" cats should be shot. Basically you've now decided to share the "joys" of having a cat with your entire neighborhood without getting their opinion. If you want a pet it had better be one that stays on your property.

One is always caught on my motion camera following the same path every time so I know it's the one defacating on my lawn at least once a week. I'd like to strangle the owner.