A friend in Canada, who is used to cats living indoors all the time, expressed mild horror when I told her that mine were allowed and even encouraged to go out.

"But what about the traffic?" she asked.

"No problems there," I assured her. "I live in a dead end, and anyway they normally go out round the back of the house, apart from Minsky who has good road sense."

"Well," she persisted, "what about the dogs?"

"Oh, they're all right," I said. "Klinsmann never actually harms them!"



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

Our cats are left to wander free, and our neighbour keeps his inside all the time. While we're not on a major road it /is/ the main road through our estate, and we also have the added dangers of the TT races a few 100 metres away every year... and all the spectators on their bikes.

One of our cats dissappeared for the TT fortnight each year... we always feared the worst, but she always came back... untill one year when she vanished for 3 months. We'd given up on her, but then one day she turned up on the kitchen doorstep.... in short we haven't lost a cat yet.

The aforementioned neighbour's cats escape occasionally, and usually become 'missing, presumed....'

I'd say letting cats roam free is a good thing.

Rob

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That statement is either so deep it would take a lifetime to fully comprehend every particle of its meaning, or it is a load of absolute tosh. Which is it, I wonder?
Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

I don't let recently acquired kittens out until they've been vaccinated, and that always ends up as a battle of wills. Minsky, as a small kitten, was particularly insistent that he wanted to go out. He hasn't changed a bit in that respect!



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

Skiffle doesn't like being left outside without me. As I live in an attic flat, she can't come and go on her own. The girls get to have a wander outside now and again when I'm messing about in the garden.

As my bathroom is on the first floor, above the hall, I used to have a cat ladder against the front wall. The cats could climb that and get on top of the porch roof. From there they could jump onto the bathroom windowsill and get in through a catflap in a board set in under the raised sash bathroom window. Unfortunately, a previous landlord didn't like the cat ladder and insisted I get rid of it. It was a local landmark too.

Ah, more cat chat.

I don't let mine go outside. They adopted me when I lived in California and there I lived next to a busy road, so I didn't let them out.

Now, I suppose I could let them out, but they're 5 and have never really been outdoors, and they both are a little gormless :-)

My big black cat, Macduff accidently got out one night and actually broke through the screen door (right through the screen!) trying to get back in.

It’s not fights with dogs that you have to worry about; it’s fights with other cats. Jack came in yesterday with a huge bite on his face (near his mouth, where his whiskers grow). He was obviously feeling very sorry for himself and wouldn’t let me get anywhere near him. He hid behind the sofa all evening. I was worried, because he wouldn’t open his mouth, so he didn’t eat anything. But this morning he woke me up by meowing outside the bedroom door at about 4am. He seems fine now, but all his whiskers have broken off on one side.

When I was a child, and we had a cat in the household, our back garden had only a narrow alley (which was too narrow for most vehicles, & so overgrown in many places that even bicycles couldn't be brought far along it...) separating it from a quite large patch of allotments... Our cat used to spend a lot of time exploring & hunting out in that direction, but almost never went into to the front garden (although the street onto which that opened was still a quiet one in those days) let alone out of the front gate.

The chihuahua that we had after that cat died used to try & chase cats... until the day when he "caught" one, and came screaming back to mum with his scalp laid open!

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"God rot Botchkamos Istochnik!"