RSPCA NSW advocates keeping cats inside. This keeps them clean and safe from outside dangers, disease, injury, other cats, people and traffic plus the added bonus of saving native wildlife.
Cats are not harmed physically or behaviourally by keeping them inside.
If you have an outdoor cat, the best thing you can do for her is to bring her inside and make her an indoor cat.
Seven steps to having a happy house cat.
1. Super dooper pooper trays – The rule is one box for each cat, plus one extra. The tray must be kept clean and placed in a quiet, accessible, feel safe place for the cat. The best location is where the cat uses it.
2. Bring joy with toys – There is a myriad of cat toys available from cheap paper bags and rolled up balls of paper to motorized “mice”, pole toys and laser pointers. Cats like short bursts of intense physical play alternating with long periods of sleep. A lack of staying power is not a sign of boredom.
3. Scratch that itch – Cats love to scratch. Provide lots of “approved” places to scratch such as cat “trees”, posts and cardboard scratching boxes.
4. Provide a room with a view – Windows are cat TV—a birdbath or feeder placed near a window can provide hours of entertainment. (Tuck the cords of blinds up and out of the way so that legs and other body parts don’t get entangled in them.)
5. Porches bring purrs – A screened-in porch or an enclosure accessible through a window is a great way for your cat to experience the outdoors safely. Cats love sunny spots to lie in. There is a great variety available online.
6. Strut their stuff – Cats can be taught to walk on a leash—just be sure to use an ultralightweight, retractable leash that’s attached to a harness, not a collar.
7. Pots of health and happiness – Pick a sunny spot in your house or cat enclosure and place a few pots of your cat’s favourite and safe plants. They look good, smell good and are good for both you and your cat’s health. Plant them in pots shallow enough for your cat to reach the foliage. Try catnip, mint, wheat or oat grass.
So if your cat wants to go outside, make inside just that much more appealing.
