Do you let your cat(s) out?

I have had indoor/outdoor cats, the only time it's ever been a problem was when I was a kid there was a period where black cats where mysteriously disappearing from the neighborhood.    We had 3 in a row, as soon as we got a cat that wasn't black the problem stopped.  There are 6 cats living at my house now (it should only be 4, but the neighbor's cat won't stay home and we took in a stray kitten)  So the cats range in age from 9 months to 16 years.  Most prefer the outdoors, the 16 yr old and one of the 7 year olds spend the most time inside, the 8 yr old and the 9 month old will only come in If I bring them in.  The other 7 yr old, the only boy, wants nothing to do with the house but is a total sweety outside.  It's a personal choice, letting the cats decide where they hang out works well for us.  All of my animals are spayed/neutered and vaccinated.

My cats are indoor cats. The sleep in bed with me, and have full run of the house. They also have a cat door to go onto our back porch/lani area (with the pool) They love to lay in the sun out there, but do not have access to get out of there. I do take the younger ones out in the yard with Casey every now and then. The dog makes sure the cats do not wander too far off, and they get to enjoy their grass. If they do happen to escape out the front door, they wander around the front yard, eat some grass, and come right back inside. They have no reason to want to go too far from out house.

 No, absolutely not. Both are FIV+ and the reason they have FIV is because they used to be inside/outside cats. Kay contracted the disease while under my care, Rudy we adopted knowing he was already FIV+, but he was formerly an outside cat which is how he got it.

 I used to let my cat out but he was getting in to something outdoors that made him ill. So every time I'd let him out he'd puke later that day. So no more outdoor kitty.

I have 3 indoor cats, and they aren't allowed outside. I see too many dead kitties on the side of the road where we live. We do have some strays that hang around our house, but I don't consider them my cats. We can't take anymore in.

My cats an indoor cat too.  He's always itchin' to go out.  When he does get out, he doesn't know what to do, so I can usually catch him on the porch, or he'll run down back and I'll let him in downstairs!  LOL  My girlfriend has a cat, that she puts on a leash and walks around outside in her yard.  You could always try something like that. 

I have three cats right now and when I lived with my college friends, my other friend had cats, so we've had six cats in the past few years and NONE were allowed outside.  Some of them came from the outside originally.  My main reason is that I live in a city and we have a leash law.  Cats are not allowed free roam outdoors and it's too busy with traffic.  My second reason is that I do not vaccinate against feline leukemia.  All of my cats are negative and they can only get it from other cats.  If they are not exposed to fel. leuk positive cats, they have a greater chance of getting a tumor from the vaccine than actually getting the disease.  Third, we do have wild animals with rabies in this state.  One of my cats had a very bad reaction to a rabies vaccine and my cat vet friend advised me not to vaccinate her anymore.  Fourth, I just do not see any good reason why a domestic animal must be let outdoors unsupervised.  I do let my cats on our screened porch and sometimes in the yard on a harness while I'm supervising.  Unsupervised outdoor cats spread disease, fight other cats, kill birds and other wildlife, and endanger themselves and people by running into busy streets and such.

I tried the leash but she didn't like it she would freeze on the spot. I try not to let her out but its no use my dad or mom keep on letting her out. She will escape when we least expect it runs right out the door when open just a crack. It would not be so bad if she would stay in the yard but she crosses the street (kind of busy depending on the day of the week) and she goes to the woods behind the house. My father was thinking of putting a cat door but I don't like the idea b/c we don't know if there are stray cats out there and we don't want another cat. She is spayed and vaccinated aswell. I wish she would sleep with me but for some reason she will rather sleep with my mom and dad......

Just a picture of her sleeping:

If she keeps getting out, make sure she is chipped and has all her tags on her. You want her back in case she gets picked up by AC or another person!

She lost her collar that is another of my worries. The good thing though is that she goes to the vet this year and will be getting new ones. I will be getting her another collar though because she lost the one she had (with the tags). I don't know who does microchip around my area but I will be asking my vet.

I don't know of any vet that wont chip. If yours wont, I would find one that does - at least for the implant. An area shelter might be able to do it for you too - probably at a lower cost than you vet. Something to look into at least. If she's slipping her collar - I would get her chipped. All my animals are chipped - except my 13 year old cat. They all wear their collars and tags too.

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. They are feral rescues, born outside. We tried letting them out when they were younger, but they wouldn't come in at night.  

We have three cats, none are allowed outside. As a vet tech, I see too many FeLeuk or FIV positive cats, or cats coming in hit by cars, mauled by dogs, and wounded by sick people. At this moment we have a stray cat brought in after being found in someone's garage. She has a broken pelvis. She is also FIV positive. We're keeping her at work for a bit to see if an owner claims her (have put an ad in the paper and notified the shelter), as she is wearing a collar. No chip or tags though.

 If your parents are going to continue to let her out (and, as a note, cats do not NEED to go out) make sure she's chipped and has an ID tag on so that, should she be picked up by animal control or wounded and taken to a vet, she can be returned to you.

My rescue was mostly an outside cat who would always wonder off and get into horrible fights with other cats and bring all sorts of nasty bugs and illnesses but now since we neuterd him he has no more desire to wander (although after neuter he has difficalty passing bladder stones) and stays inside the house or in our backyard during the day.  He's our first cat and he tought us that cats especially unneutered toms should never be allowed to wander.