Cat Owners - outdoor time?

[SpotsandBays]

We’re looking at the possibility of getting a feline friend! However I’m a little worried about the road outside ours.
We live on a farm, down a country road (National speed limit). The road is usually quiet however it is abit of a rat run during rush hours.
Our house is set back about 20m from the road, the farm gate is always open and the fencing along the front is not cat proof. However the farm is set on 12 acres and we’re backed onto and surrounding other farmland.
Obviously I can’t control which direction the cat may go if it is outside, and I don’t think it’s fair to have it in the house 24/7 when we live on a farm…
Is there another way to manage this? Is this a stupid idea that I should put to bed?
How does everybody else manage their kitty outside time?
Any thoughts appreciated.
(We had a cat previously, however that was in the main farmhouse - me and my partner are now in the annex which is smaller, and said cat was a house cat - who even though offered, wouldn’t really venture outside and would only sunbathe when she did!)

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

We have house cats. In the summer they go outside when we are outside, on their harnesses and extending leads.

I know some people with house cats have catios or protectapet fencing so they can go out but remain in that area.

I don't think I'd have outside cats again even if I lived in the country - if you're getting one from scratch, you could get a kitten so it's never known "outside" and look into breeds that don't have strong drive to be outside, or rescues have some for indoor only homes if you wanted an adult cat?

 

[ycbm]

We had three cats at a time for 31 years in a farmhouse which was 15ft from the road. All our cats have been afraid of the road except one. I chose her from a litter because she was so fearless. At 6 months old I watched her face down a car in the road and force it to drive round her. At 2 she was dead. Her sister who was with my friend at her farm was the same, dead on the road at 2. So my advice would be not to choose the boldest kitten in the bunch.
.

 

[HashRouge]

There are several options here. You could consider keeping the cat in at certain times, so he/she is never out at rush hour. You could possibly make this food time, to encourage the cat to come in at those times. Might be hard if neither of you works from home though! Alternatively, you could go for a cat that needs to be a house cat for some reason (i.e. my neighbour rehomed two deaf kitties who had to be house cats). Or go for a rescue cat who is known to be very unadventurous/ prefers to stay close to home.

We had a little cat who was very much a home bod - she would go for a potter round the garden and that was about it, especially in her older years. Our current cat was hit by a car when he was 5/6, and we live down a fairly long dirt track off a quiet country road. The road is phenomenally steep, so you really can't ever get up to the 30mph speed limit. So it's both quiet and has pretty slow moving traffic, and he still managed to get hit by a car! Fortunately he survived and is still with us 10 years later, but it makes me very leery about cats and roads.

 

[SpotsandBays]

We have house cats. In the summer they go outside when we are outside, on their harnesses and extending leads.

I know some people with house cats have catios or protectapet fencing so they can go out but remain in that area.

I don't think I'd have outside cats again even if I lived in the country - if you're getting one from scratch, you could get a kitten so it's never known "outside" and look into breeds that don't have strong drive to be outside, or rescues have some for indoor only homes if you wanted an adult cat?

Thanks for this! I did wonder if leads could be something we could do. I work from home at the moment but not sure that it will be a permanent thing, however I’ve had a look at catios/outdoor pens and that looks interesting! Lots to think about!

 

[SpotsandBays]

We had three cats at a time for 31 years in a farmhouse which was 15ft from the road. All our cats have been afraid of the road except one. I chose her from a litter because she was so fearless. At 6 months old I watched her face down a car in the road and force it to drive round her. At 2 she was dead. Her sister who was with my friend at her farm was the same, dead on the road at 2. So my advice would be not to choose the boldest kitten in the bunch.
.

That’s a really interesting point. Thank you for this!

 

[SpotsandBays]

There are several options here. You could consider keeping the cat in at certain times, so he/she is never out at rush hour. You could possibly make this food time, to encourage the cat to come in at those times. Might be hard if neither of you works from home though! Alternatively, you could go for a cat that needs to be a house cat for some reason (i.e. my neighbour rehomed two deaf kitties who had to be house cats). Or go for a rescue cat who is known to be very unadventurous/ prefers to stay close to home.

We had a little cat who was very much a home bod - she would go for a potter round the garden and that was about it, especially in her older years. Our current cat was hit by a car when he was 5/6, and we live down a fairly long dirt track off a quiet country road. The road is phenomenally steep, so you really can't ever get up to the 30mph speed limit. So it's both quiet and has pretty slow moving traffic, and he still managed to get hit by a car! Fortunately he survived and is still with us 10 years later, but it makes me very leery about cats and roads.

Feeding at the peak times is definitely something we could manage!
thank you, lots to think about!

 

[Ratface]

King Kevin Kat was a wily, semi-feral rough council estate cat, who was thrown out to fend for himself after being an old lady's darling for the previous eleven years.
When I got him, he gorged himself on a daily basis, demanding food with menaces - paws/claws swipes to the face, bites ditto.
Eighteen months later, he's a lot better. Four small meals, both wet and dry over 24hrs seems to have settled him down. I'm beginning to think that he's developing IBS, so will look into appropriate action for that condition.

 

[SpotsandBays]

King Kevin Kat was a wily, semi-feral rough council estate cat, who was thrown out to fend for himself after being an old lady's darling for the previous eleven years.
When I got him, he gorged himself on a daily basis, demanding food with menaces - paws/claws swipes to the face, bites ditto.
Eighteen months later, he's a lot better. Four small meals, both wet and dry over 24hrs seems to have settled him down. I'm beginning to think that he's developing IBS, so will look into appropriate action for that condition.

Sounds like a right character!!

 

[SpotsandBays]

Another cat question!
Male or Female? (They’d be neutered/spayed either way!)

 

[smolmaus]

It isn't just cars you have to worry about with outside cats. We lost one to (we think) a fox and another caught a fatal disease from fighting with another cat. They can find poison, rat traps, fall in drains, fall the wrong way and hurt themselves too badly to get home; the possibilities are endless. But Dads cat lived 13 years on a council estate beside some very fast roads and Dad refused to keep him in and he's not had a major problem yet. Its 99% luck.

My heart won't take another loss where I have to think about how I could have prevented it so we adopted two adult cats that have no desire to go outside and put the effort in to keep them exercised, enriched and content.

 

[poiuytrewq]

We live somewhere that sounds kind of similar. Our outdoor cat got hit by a car overnight a few years ago.
Arlo lives indoors but we do let him come and go as he pleases in daylight. He’s stays on overnight and I let him back out at about 7 am
He went missing for several months as a youngster so we are a bit precious about him maybe.
Ava is still young and isn’t tame enough yet to grab or chase after and get back inside, she’s also not done or chipped so at the moment she stays inside. She’s never shown any desire to go out though and if she never does it’s not something I’m going to push tbh.
She appears very happy and has 3 dogs and Arlo so although somethings we or a combo
of us all are not home something is so she always has company.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Another cat question!
Male or Female? (They’d be neutered/spayed either way!)

When Arlo (boy) went missing I was told by so so many people that boy cats have a tendency to roam that I think I’d go for a girl given the choice.

 

[Mrs B]

I've had cats all my life - our current 2 neutered bengal girls and for the last 7 years we've lived in rural village which, although tiny, still has cars/tractors/delivery vans going past the front garden on 2 sides.

One cat is a home-body and rarely leaves the gardens. The older one takes quarter-mile hikes along the lane to a farm to hunt rabbits, sometimes not returning for over a day. They are free to come and go 24/7 as all my cats have always been.

 

[NinjaPony]

If you are able to create a secure, enclosed outdoor space then imo that is the best compromise. Particularly if you choose a cat that isn’t that keen on the outdoors/doesn’t have a high hunting drive. There are too many dangers for an outdoor cat for me to let my cat roam. She is a pet not a mouser and so I choose to keep her safe, but I did specifically choose a less active breed (BSH). If you could create a big catio or fenced/netted space then that would be a great set up. My friend has an indoor cat, her cat is 12 now and the neighbours have had 4 cats in the same time due to various road traffic accidents or injuries from other animals. Each to their own but I like my cat to be on my property only.

 

[Cortez]

I don't think I'd have a cat if it had to be confined indoors. I live on a rural road, but it does have a constant flow of traffic. Our cat is 18 now and stays inside most of the time, but in his youth he was often out and about for days at a time. Local cats have a survival of the fittest vibe, luck and being road savvy dictate their lifespan.

 

[SpotsandBays]

Thanks everyone, lots to think about!

An outdoor pen is definitely doable for us, (and being on a farm - we have ample space and materials!

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Similar ish set up as I do have a fast road just down the lane from me.

Two older cats are pretty road savvy having grown up on a housing estate and to be honest only one goes out really and she spends her time in the garden or hedgerow hunting.

Younger two both grew up here, the rescue feral won’t go out at all and the ragdoll x has learnt enough to have supervised (not on a lead any more) outdoor time.

They are all nervous of cars and come back to the house if they hear one, but with the no fear ragdoll cross she was on a lead for the first year I’d say whilst outside.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

My sister has 2 cats they don't go out unless my sister goes in the garden they don't really have and desire to go out, certain breeds are more happy to stay indoors and not venture out.

 

[claret09]

mine don't go out. i have two - brother and sister. they are quite happy being indoors. she in particular would get in to trouble if she was outdoors. i gather that in canada people who have cats are encouraged to keep them indoors

 

[Ratface]

Sounds like a right character!!

UDATE ON KEVIN KAT ?IBS.
Yes, he's got it. All his expensive food now donated to neighbours' cats. Even more expensive IBS cat food bought.
Oh well, he's certainly been a lot quieter, and hasn't Yooowled once since eating his last meal 6 hours ago. Currently wrapped up in his tail sleeping the sleep of a Kat with a settled tummy.
Long may it continue.

 

[scats]

We live in a fairly quiet road that has no vehicle access at the end and we are the first house so we get the traffic from the rest of the road. My cats are free to go out as often as they want but they do prefer to stay in, particularly in winter.
I do worry about them crossing the road, but I couldn’t take that freedom away from them because they enjoy their time out, even if it’s only an hour or two a day (that’s all they seem to want).

 

[HashRouge]

Another cat question!
Male or Female? (They’d be neutered/spayed either way!)

In my not so enormous sample size of three, we have had two girls and one boy. I don't think it matters hugely, I've found all our cats to be wonderful characters. The boy definitely roamed more than the girls, although now he is elderly he likes to stay indoors in the winter, or in the garden in the summer (we'll think he's off on an adventure, only to find him sleeping in a flowerbed). But in his younger years he would often be gone from early morning until late evening, especially in the spring. The girls, both long gone now, were more home bods, although I think some girls are more adventurous than ours. All three are/ were cuddly and very friendly. I used to cart the first girl all over the place when I was a kid, and she was always up for a cuddle while I read my book. Current cat (the boy) is really soppy and loves to sleep curled up in your arms like a baby. I don't think boy/ girl matters to be honest, although they do say that girls roam a less.

 

[SEL]

Do you particularly want one that will come indoors? Otherwise many of the feral rescue centres will re-home to farms and those cats are often road savvy if they've come from an area with roads.

Many of them will often decide they're less feral if there's a warm sofa too!

 

[SpotsandBays]

Do you particularly want one that will come indoors? Otherwise many of the feral rescue centres will re-home to farms and those cats are often road savvy if they've come from an area with roads.

Many of them will often decide they're less feral if there's a warm sofa too!

Yes definitely looking at a pet for the moment rather than a yard kitty!

 

[P3LH]

I was always strongly against house cats, and firm in my belief it wasn’t for me.

I then vowed no more cats altogether. Out of five, four went to the outdoor world. One never to be seen again, one scraped off the floor by a local after a RTA, one dragged itself home mangled by a RTA and died on the doorstep and the last poisoned. It was him who did me in. He was born here and the best cat I’ve known. He had a huge seizure and bled from every orifice possible, died in my arms whilst clawing me to death trying to get close as was terrified. Vet told me after an autopsy he had eaten cat food laced with antifreeze.

I said no more cats. For two years I stuck to it. It was then the vet who said look into house cats when I was there on another matter. Eventually half a British blue came home, father was a rogue Tom who broke in when her mum was in seasons a few years later naughty silver Birman came home too. They’ve stayed indoors and both very content and normal cats.

I don’t just think it’s a breed thing either. My sister has a 16 year old moggy, the sister and aunt to some of mine which were lost to outdoor causes and were very keen on roaming. She’s been a housecat her entire life and again, very content and well adjusted.

 

[scats]

I was always strongly against house cats, and firm in my belief it wasn’t for me.

I then vowed no more cats altogether. Out of five, four went to the outdoor world. One never to be seen again, one scraped off the floor by a local after a RTA, one dragged itself home mangled by a RTA and died on the doorstep and the last poisoned. It was him who did me in. He was born here and the best cat I’ve known. He has a huge seizure and bled from every orifice possible, died in my arms whilst clawing me to death trying to get close as was terrified. Vet told me after an autopsy he had eaten cat food laced with antifreeze.

I said no more cats. For two years I stuck to it. It was then the vet who said look into house cats when I was there on another matter. Eventually half a British blue came home, father was a rogue Tom who broke in when her mum was in seasons a few years later naughty silver Birman came home too. They’ve stayed indoors and both very content and normal cats.

I don’t jus think it’s a breed thing either. My sister has a 16 year old moggy, the sister and aunt to some of mine which were lost to outdoor causes and were very keen on roaming. She’s been a housecat her entire life and again, very content and well adjusted.

Im so sorry to hear about your cats. I can totally understand why you would keep house cats from now on. I live in fear of my cats being killed while out. I had a 17 year old cat go missing for 5 weeks and by the time we found her, it was too late. She was alive but barely and had to be put to sleep. Ill never get over that, it was the most horrendous 5 weeks of my life when she was missing.

 

[P3LH]

Yes, I certainly couldn’t go through the uncertainty of any of it again. I also feel awful when I look at my current cats and think of my others, who were just as loved and cherished but exposed to risks these two will never have to face. I wouldn’t let my dogs out roaming either, so these cats and any future will be indoors only.

 

[SpotsandBays]

I was always strongly against house cats, and firm in my belief it wasn’t for me.

I then vowed no more cats altogether. Out of five, four went to the outdoor world. One never to be seen again, one scraped off the floor by a local after a RTA, one dragged itself home mangled by a RTA and died on the doorstep and the last poisoned. It was him who did me in. He was born here and the best cat I’ve known. He had a huge seizure and bled from every orifice possible, died in my arms whilst clawing me to death trying to get close as was terrified. Vet told me after an autopsy he had eaten cat food laced with antifreeze.

I said no more cats. For two years I stuck to it. It was then the vet who said look into house cats when I was there on another matter. Eventually half a British blue came home, father was a rogue Tom who broke in when her mum was in seasons a few years later naughty silver Birman came home too. They’ve stayed indoors and both very content and normal cats.

I don’t just think it’s a breed thing either. My sister has a 16 year old moggy, the sister and aunt to some of mine which were lost to outdoor causes and were very keen on roaming. She’s been a housecat her entire life and again, very content and well adjusted.

Oh I’m so sorry you had you experience that! Can’t believe people would lace food. Awful! Thank you for sharing, glad you got some more in the end!

 

[FinnishLapphund]

The first cat we had, Misan, had been abandoned by her previous owners. She was used to going out, and was very careful on the roads, she always looked both ways before she crossed a road. But it didn't help, one day some idiot came speeding over the crest, and continued down the small hill so fast that Misan, who hadn't seen any moving cars when she started crossing the road, didn't have a chance to make it over to the other side.

After some time, we got 2 other cats from a rescue. We tried making them indoor cats, but the male cat, Felix (castrated, sort of, I'll come back to that), periodically still really wanted to go out, occasionally my mum caved in, and then couldn't go to bed before he was home again. Then we moved, and after some time in the new house, we built our first cat enclosure. Then we built a cat enclosure at the backside of the tiny Summer cabin, and I installed a cat flap in the back door leading into the enclosure.

During the years we've rebuilt, improved, and sometimes enlarged the enclosures. When we moved to our current city house around 20 years ago, it didn't take long before we started building a cat enclosure.

Here in the city we only have a small cat enclosure (I'm guessing that the one at the Summer cabin is at least like 3 or 4 of this one put together in size), and I went out and took a few pictures of it. There wasn't a suitable back door to use, so I chose to take out a window, attached something intended to be used in greenhouses instead of glass with silicone into the window frame, which I then easily installed a cat flap in.
It still lets in light like a window, but if we want to sell the house, and new owners doesn't have cats, it's easy to remove, and put in a real window again. Besides the hole in the ground, the fence posts closest to the house is simply kept in place by stones leaning on them:

Another picture of the of the door/gate, it's nothing fancy, just so we can get inside the enclosure without having to crawl through the window the way we had to until I rebuilt the enclosure some years ago. It's made out of 2 compost nets (some type of metal under a green outer cover), and the small lock is enough to keep it closed since the compost net is too sturdy for the cats to bend.
So that they can't push out the edge of the net where the door/gate opens, I sort of threaded a thin green "stick" meant to be used to support large plants through the net. The half fence post attached on the inside to make the door/gate sturdier, is shorter so that the cats can't use it to climb to the top of the fence. All the other fence posts are on the outside of the fence.
The fence have sturdy compost net at the bottom half all the way around, but to save a little on the cost, the top half is metal net which I bent inwards at the top (bottom and top attached to each other with wire):

Tried to get a close-up on the extra wire going around the top of a fence post, and attached to the outer edge of the net bent inwards into the enclosure:

Tried to take a photo over the edge of the fence, sorry for things really not looking at its best now in the wet Winter weather conditions:

Not the best looking cat enclosure, but it's at least something for those of my cats, who like my current old moggy Cilla, isn't happy as only indoor cats. Even though they're used to going out in their cat enclosures, almost all of our cats have learnt that our front door is not for them, but e.g. Felix which we had ages ago, could be a little difficult, especially during Spring, and Summer.

Though, Felix desire to go out probably had something to do with that he was a few years old before he got fully castrated. He was 1 to a few years old when we got him, supposedly fully castrated, from a rescue. I don't remember how long it took before we found out that he had a retained testicle inside of him, which the veterinarian helping the rescue with castrating, and spaying their cats, hadn't removed, but I think it was at least over a year, probably more. So, no wonder he occasionally spray marked his territory indoors. He also had a special preference for that if he found my mum somewhere in our garden weeding, to spray mark her legs as his.

Anyhow, that should be less likely to be a problem with an actually fully castrated male cat. Lastly, I can only ditto those who have already mentioned that there's several cat breeds which are more likely to be happy as indoor cats only to choose between, if that's what you want.