Do you let your cat(s) out?

Dog_ma

My three boys are now let out during the day. For 8 years, they were inside kitties but frankly it didn't make them happy.

Agreed. We have four cats. Two are inside 97% of the time, one about 85%, and one lives outside (she's my cousin's, living here for a few years, but she will not come in the house except in one bathroom window to eat). All are free to come and go as they please. The oldest, Lou, has been allowed outside for several years, and my cousin's cat has been allowed out her whole life, but the other two were strictly indoor for the first few years. They were always desperate to get out, and honestly we were terrified for them when they did slip by, because they were both very scaredy naive kind of cats. When we moved to California, in the center of a large neighborhood, we decided we'd let them outside, and the two of them are so much more confident now, I don't worry about them at all. I know there's a risk, and I know I'll feel guilty if they get run over, but they were unhappy as indoor only cats, and they're much more content now. To me it's worth it.

 I have 2 cats and never let them out.  The evil Milo is constantly trying to escape so I have to be very careful when coming into the house or letting the dogs out.  Just today there was a note from a neighbor in my mailbox.  It was warning the neighborhood that her cat had been killed in its own backyard by 2 roaming dogs.  I'd seen these dogs around several times in the past and tried to catch them because it looked like they had tags but they always ran away.  Of course, AC is completely useless, won't come out unless you've caught the dogs and didn't help this neighbor when her cat was killed either.  Now I'm worried about walking my dogs knowing we've got roaming killers around.  The sheer number of dead cats I see by the side of the road in my development causes me to keep them indoors.