Pet dilemma - beautiful ragdoll kitty needs a new home but…

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Hi everyone! I'll soon be moving to my new home and would really like to adopt a cat from my local RSPCA. For several months now I have been visiting the catteries and spending some time with the kitty cats but naturally one in particular has caught my eye… a beautiful ragdoll named Millie. However, there are a few things I am concerned about and so I would really appreciate some advice…

My new home is an old Victorian property that has been converted into flats. I have the top floor, stairs and bottom corridor to myself so there is plenty of room. However, access to my part of the property from the outside is tricky… requiring cat flaps to be fitted to two doors. The area I’m living in is near the centre of town, next to a busy road and there is no garden.

The RSPCA said there is no reason why Millie couldn’t be a “house cat” as apparently she spent most of her time indoors with her previous owner. They also mentioned that it would be safer for Millie and other animals she may prey upon, which makes sense but… well, she’s a cat lol. It’s what they do! Well, some anyway. I had a cat once that caught a bird and didn’t know what to do with it, tried to play with it before loosing interest and walking off… sorry I digress!

Is it right to keep a cat confined inside? It feels like I’d be taking away a large part of what being a cat is all about and reducing her quality of life. As you can no doubt tell, I’m morally conflicted on this point in particular.

The other problem is that she has a tendency to do her “business” wherever she pleases. I think she does use the litter tray, especially if it’s nearby… but Millie is seven years old now and I have no idea if I would be able to re-train her.

What do you think?
 
Personally, I am very against keeping cats indoors, but I guess it depends on the cat. I know Rotty will explain his reasons ;)

Cats wont do their business just anywhere, they are quite discreet, and will look for a corner :D I am sure if you put a litter tray in a dedicated corner, she will use it.

Sorry, that wasnt my most useful post :D
 
There was a thread the other day asking exactly the same thing I believe :)

Lots of arguments for and against. I'd always prefer to let a cat outside, but if you live on a busy road that threatens the cats safety, that's a good enough reason to keep it as a house cat I think.
 
I am against unless you live somewhere really unsuitable, and even then I just wouldn't get one.

We have recently got a kitten and the litter tray alone is reasonnenough for us wanting to let him out asap.

You could let it out manually on occasion but the cat might get a taste for it.
 
My sister bought a kitten despite living in a third floor flat. It lived there for a year or two, then she split up with her other half and had to move out. It had a tiny balcony to go out on, and had funny five minutes of running around. The cat went to stay for a few months at a much nicer flat with huge balconies, but still no proper 'outdoors' before finally ending up at my parents' house, where a decent garden, allotments etc awaited.

Even though the car was bought up as a housecat, it was totally transformed when given access to the great outdoors, and chooses to spend most of it's time out and about regardless of conditions - like most cats do.

Therefore I'm of the opinion that keeping cats indoors is generally very unfair to them.
 
My cat is free to go outside when he wants, he doesn't though and is solely a house cat. he loves sleeping everywhere. My cat only ever goes outside to sniff the flowers, he is scared of the wind....

he is probably an exception as he's as thick as a plank of wood.

I think house cats are fine as long as they have the opportunity to get out if they want too.

Aero
 
i wish everyone would keep there cats indoors, drives me nuts when cats come into my garden for a ****.
 
Our cat is a house cat.
She has the run of our house, which isn't small - but when we got her we were in a 2 bed flat. We originally kept her in because of a few 'cat poisonings' in our local area, and now we live on a busy road - and even with the run of a large garden I bet she would go straight out the front instead!
She's happy, loving and healthy - why would I risk her safety now by letting her out, when she's never known any different!!
 
Our cats are house cats. They don't show any inclination to go out either when the door is open. But I would see if you could find her a friend. We got Jas on his own and as soon as we got the kitten he livened up and seemed a lot happier in himself.

The fact you are thinking of getting a pedigree would also swing my decision to keep her as an indoor cat. Most pedigrees aren't really bred for the outdoors. In the case of ragdolls/persians they're people cats and would be perfectly happy to stay in doors.

Cats are normally really good with regards to using the litter tray. If you plonk her in it she'll know it's there. Factors such as type of litter, tray and where it is can affect if the cat will use it. Eg. Jas won't use the tray unless its Catsan type stuff and it has to be a covered tray otherwise he tends to miss. It should also be out the way from their food or sleeping area.

EDIT: There will always be debate about indoor/outdoor cats but the fact is people can do either and still have healthy, happy cats.
 
Aero said:
My cat only ever goes outside to sniff the flowers, he is scared of the wind....
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Hahahaha ultimate cat fail.

Seriously though, i lived in Italy last eyar out in the courty with a 42 acre garden. There were two cats there and dispite hating cats myself, these guys were seriously happly wee creatures. They got brought back to the UK and are now housecats and they look like they want to kill themselves.

I guess keeping a cat in the house is like keeping a bird in a cage.
 
SexyBetty said:
Personally, I am very against keeping cats indoors, but I guess it depends on the cat. I know Rotty will explain his reasons ;)
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Mainly for their safety and my sanity, if you have more than one cat then they keep each other company

we let them out on garden accompanied

Ace used to occasionally look like he wanted to go out but after getting out and getting lost one day he has lost interest, Tilly has never shown any interest at all
 
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Clum said:
Hahahaha ultimate cat fail.

Seriously though, i lived in Italy last eyar out in the courty with a 42 acre garden. There were two cats there and dispite hating cats myself, these guys were seriously happly wee creatures. They got brought back to the UK and are now housecats and they look like they want to kill themselves.

I guess keeping a cat in the house is like keeping a bird in a cage.
Click to expand...

No, keeping a cat in the house when it has been used to 42 acres is cruel.

A cat which has always been a housecat is quite happy.
 
We have two housecats, and as has been mentioned, they keep each other company, and probably sane. both perfectly happy, playful cats in my opinion. They have been given many opportunities to venture outside, but both choose not to.
 
You can quite easily have a house cat and it isn't that hard to get them to crap in a tray. I'm sure there's plenty of books and reading out there anyway. I wouldn't worry about it. If you love the cat and are prepared to do a little work then that's fine.

I've grown up with cats, about 4 at once at one time but my parents live ina semi-remote area and they just run free, east birds and mice then sleep all day. One was eaten by a fox, but all of them have lived till old age otherwise.
 
Cats have a tendancy to run across roads whether there is anything coming or not. When my cat got past the age of about 8 she didnt go out much anyway, she'd sit outside the door watching the world go by until the wind blew on her then she'd want to come in again. Once they get past the "I want to explore everywhere" stage I think they just want an easy life.
 
We have 3 cats (2 are 8 month old, brother + sister, other is 3 years old). Our backdoor is almost always open, but none of them have any interest in going out, none what so ever. So I guess our cats are housecats, but it is all their own choice. :p
 
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