Both mine were strays and are now happily indoor cats with a catio. It just requires an adjustment period.
I also follow all the local legislation (registration, neutering, etc.). So it can be done and may just depend on how adoption agencies in your state/country function.
Given every single shelter I’ve ever been to in Germany lists adoption requirements for each cat (one of them if they are a freeroamer or bot, i.e. need outside access) and would not let you adopt a cat if you can’t provide them, with the professionals at the shelter even pointing out that “taking away outside access from a cat can, depending on the cat, amount to factual animal abuse” (roughly translated)… yeah, sorry, but there’s zero chance any anecdote here could convince me.
I’ve already posted an example on another reply. Right now they even got an additional box above the list stating that “most our current cats do not accept being held only indoors” (the green one), given that’s what most people look for. Most of them specifically state “Freigang” (Freeroam) as requirement.
Cats are cautious, they won’t just bound outside. It takes a while to get comfortable. Either way though, I’m sure your cats are mostly happy, its not too big a deal either way.
Yes yes, you have an opinion that you are attached to, and nothing is going to sway you. But keep your bullshit rationalizations and psychological bulwarking under your hat; the lies we tell ourselves are not convincing to others.
Maybe youll have to require me, I dont think I said anything that obtuse. I personally let my cat out because keeping her inside was for my benefit, not hers. I could understand people who have a different opinion though, its not cat abuse to keep them indoors.
My last comment was more poking fun at the concept of reading a cats emotions to this degree, but apparently I wasnt very clear about that.
That goes against any knowledge and experiences available, I’ve never seen or heard of a single adoption centre who’d allow it either; if the cat is an outdoor cat they’ll never let you take it unless you can let it out as well, and cats who’re accustomed to a secured balcony or a Catio also require it to be adopted. That’s why it’s important to raise a cat as indoor cat in the first place.
Do you have any sort of proof of the opposite?
Adopted a cat that was a stray for 2 years and adoption center encouraged me to keep her as an indoor cat. As she has gotten older I have given her supervised outdoor time as in I am feet away from her at all times but for her first year she pretty happily lived in a studio apt without a balcony and whenever I had to bring her to the car she would get super panicked and nervous from being outside
Not any cats, but those who’re already accustomed to the outdoors. I’ve been to multiple animal shelters in Germany over the years, all of them had information about if a cat required access to the outdoors to be happy. And that was a requirement for adoption of those cats. You can see it here for example at the Hamburg shelter Süderstraße, the biggest one in the city. Every cat or group of cats has the “Haltungsanforderung” (adoption requirements) mentioned, most of them “Freigang” (“Freeroam”) since they often receive strays and there’re less people in the city who can provide that.
I’ve no clue where the hell you all live or how big your houses usually are, but despite the known heavoc freeroaming cats can cause: if they are freeroamers then, according to the professionals at the shelters I spoke with, suddenly keeping them in an average apartment (i.e. ~60m²) would be almost abuse and they will not let you adopt a cat if the cats individual requirements aren’t met.
And to be clear once more, the shelters don’t advocate for everyone to let their cats out. They advocate and educate so people won’t do it in the first place, BUT if a cat already knows the outside and would go mad inside they respect the animals’ requirements.
Well every region is different so you can’t entirely generalize. What I meant though is that outdoor cats are defended in Europe by veterinarians, but the opposite can happen in areas of the US. It leads to people arguing back and forth while both are appealing to different authorities, yet referring to them as the same.
You CAN generalize the behaviour of cats! The highest possible well-being of the cat is unfortunately not the most significant factor. House cats are by many metrics (eg extirpation of birds and mammals) the most destructive species on the planet. If the world cannot be protected from a cat because it can’t be safely homed as an indoor animal, even if it has to accept some unhappiness in the process, then the cat needs to be destroyed.
Strays who lived outside can’t be house-only cats anymore.
Both mine were strays and are now happily indoor cats with a catio. It just requires an adjustment period.
I also follow all the local legislation (registration, neutering, etc.). So it can be done and may just depend on how adoption agencies in your state/country function.
Absolutely they can. Perhaps not all of them but I have lots of first hand evidence that outdoor cats and even feral cats can become happy housecats.
Given every single shelter I’ve ever been to in Germany lists adoption requirements for each cat (one of them if they are a freeroamer or bot, i.e. need outside access) and would not let you adopt a cat if you can’t provide them, with the professionals at the shelter even pointing out that “taking away outside access from a cat can, depending on the cat, amount to factual animal abuse” (roughly translated)… yeah, sorry, but there’s zero chance any anecdote here could convince me.
I’ve already posted an example on another reply. Right now they even got an additional box above the list stating that “most our current cats do not accept being held only indoors” (the green one), given that’s what most people look for. Most of them specifically state “Freigang” (Freeroam) as requirement.
I’ll just have to believe you they are happy? I bet they spend 95% of their day stuck to a window or screen wishing they were outside.
normal cat behavior.
projection. none of my indoor cats have ever tried to get out despite them all being avid birdwatchers.
Cats are cautious, they won’t just bound outside. It takes a while to get comfortable. Either way though, I’m sure your cats are mostly happy, its not too big a deal either way.
Yes yes, you have an opinion that you are attached to, and nothing is going to sway you. But keep your bullshit rationalizations and psychological bulwarking under your hat; the lies we tell ourselves are not convincing to others.
Maybe youll have to require me, I dont think I said anything that obtuse. I personally let my cat out because keeping her inside was for my benefit, not hers. I could understand people who have a different opinion though, its not cat abuse to keep them indoors.
My last comment was more poking fun at the concept of reading a cats emotions to this degree, but apparently I wasnt very clear about that.
An empathetic owner can tell whether their animal is happy or not.
Sure they can.
That goes against any knowledge and experiences available, I’ve never seen or heard of a single adoption centre who’d allow it either; if the cat is an outdoor cat they’ll never let you take it unless you can let it out as well, and cats who’re accustomed to a secured balcony or a Catio also require it to be adopted. That’s why it’s important to raise a cat as indoor cat in the first place. Do you have any sort of proof of the opposite?
Adopted a cat that was a stray for 2 years and adoption center encouraged me to keep her as an indoor cat. As she has gotten older I have given her supervised outdoor time as in I am feet away from her at all times but for her first year she pretty happily lived in a studio apt without a balcony and whenever I had to bring her to the car she would get super panicked and nervous from being outside
I’d love to see this cat adoption center that advocates that any cats should be allowed to roam. Sounds pretty sus. Got a link?
Not any cats, but those who’re already accustomed to the outdoors. I’ve been to multiple animal shelters in Germany over the years, all of them had information about if a cat required access to the outdoors to be happy. And that was a requirement for adoption of those cats. You can see it here for example at the Hamburg shelter Süderstraße, the biggest one in the city. Every cat or group of cats has the “Haltungsanforderung” (adoption requirements) mentioned, most of them “Freigang” (“Freeroam”) since they often receive strays and there’re less people in the city who can provide that.
I’ve no clue where the hell you all live or how big your houses usually are, but despite the known heavoc freeroaming cats can cause: if they are freeroamers then, according to the professionals at the shelters I spoke with, suddenly keeping them in an average apartment (i.e. ~60m²) would be almost abuse and they will not let you adopt a cat if the cats individual requirements aren’t met.
And to be clear once more, the shelters don’t advocate for everyone to let their cats out. They advocate and educate so people won’t do it in the first place, BUT if a cat already knows the outside and would go mad inside they respect the animals’ requirements.
Europe is different than north America.
In many ways, yes. Not in the respect of the damage cats do. That’s nutty.
Well every region is different so you can’t entirely generalize. What I meant though is that outdoor cats are defended in Europe by veterinarians, but the opposite can happen in areas of the US. It leads to people arguing back and forth while both are appealing to different authorities, yet referring to them as the same.
You CAN generalize the behaviour of cats! The highest possible well-being of the cat is unfortunately not the most significant factor. House cats are by many metrics (eg extirpation of birds and mammals) the most destructive species on the planet. If the world cannot be protected from a cat because it can’t be safely homed as an indoor animal, even if it has to accept some unhappiness in the process, then the cat needs to be destroyed.
False…