(April 28, 2021 at 9:08 am)vulcanlogician Wrote:(April 28, 2021 at 8:48 am)Brian37 Wrote: I really would advise against that. Outdoor cats are at higher risk of injury, infection or getting hit by a car. Now if you can make some sort of inclosure outside that they cant get out of, that would be one thing. Or maybe even leash train them. But roaming free I wouldn't.
Thanks, Brian. And I understand your concern. I do think it may be less of a risk for him to be an outdoor cat on my property though. As I said, we live on a small farm. On two sides are our neighbors' hay fields, and on the other side of the house is our horse pasture (with no horses)... and beyond that our neighbor's sheep farm. The road is a good ways away. The cat does catch mice. So I thought he might be interested in stalking chipmunks and birds in the pasture (like our other cat does).
I'm not dead set on making him an outdoor cat. A cheap litter solution may do the trick. As it is now, I am spending way too much on kitty litter (quadruple the amount I used to spend when we had two cats before). This cat produces a huge quantity of mess. I'm considering getting the cheapest kitty litter I can find (right now I use the expensive stuff) just to handle the volume this cat creates. I'm also open to advice here.
One of my close friends, my late mother's physical thearapists has a family of outdoor cats. I get the appeal, and yea, I hate cleaning the litterbox. But it is still up to you. You have to weigh the cost/benefit. His cats are way off the main road, and his side roads are all slow speed. But he still has to worry about the cats fighting other animals, like other cats, or racoons, or dogs. Plus they like to hunt, and they can get bitten by animals that carry rabies.
In all seriousness, I know you love your friend, but if the bother isn't worth it to you, you could consider giving it up for adoption. I hated giving my late mother's cat up when she was not allowed to go back to her assisted living. One of the assistents who worked there took her in. I already have a cat and he was super jeolous of other cats.
