Thread: Letting your Maine Coon Out?

Originally Posted by messyhearts

indoor cats are safe from the injuries incurred from cat territory fights

Right--most cat bites abscess and some cats are biters. At one point we had a stray (unneutered male) in our neighborhood that was a biter. One outdoor cat down the street had to go to vet twice because of this cat, including one surgery to drain belly abscess. The same cat attacked our MC mix outside on a rope one night and he ended up with a tail abscess. I trapped that stray the very day after the fight. We were surprised because few cats would tangle with our boy, but that stray was extremely aggressive. I chased it quite a ways a couple of nights and within minutes it was back in our yard trying to pick a fight with our cat.

I don't think there is a right or a wrong answer to this one. All our circumstances are different, therefore our answers are going to be. I lost my cat last year in a RTA which was one of the worst times for me. I said I wouldn't have another cat again, purely because I couldn't go through that again, but for me the answer was a cat that would happily live inside. There is always that thought that because we have a moggie who loves to go out that Harry would want to follow her, so far he hasn't seem interested, because there is still enough to explore in the house. As long as we "drip feed" him as such with new toys etc I'm hoping that will keep him amused.

Re:problem of doors & windows being open in hot weather,I have no worry as the patio doors open onto garden where cats can go out but my daughter who has two maine coons & no garden accsses has had mesh screens made up to hang over windows & a mesh outer door so no problem plenty of air can blow through,when not wanted they are unhooked & stored away.I have to say though that I have got cats from three different breeders & they have all stipulated that they are not allowed to roam free.

It's obviously a very sensitive topic. I agree there is no right or wrong answer. It is up to the individual to decide what is best. We all have the cats best interest at heart. I approached a few breeders in my search for a mc and each one asked about my circumstances and I told them all the same - where I live etc. All were quite happy to sell me a kitten. They told me if I had a male to get him neutered early then he wouldn't wonder too far. I was obviously lucky in the breeders I spoke to. If a breeder specified the cat should be indoor only I would respect that wish totally or go elsewhere.

As for the feline diseases they can pick up. I'm not sure what they are vaccinated against and I dont know much about feline leukaemia or what the percentage of cats is that get it - I will read up about this further. We don't have large dogs roaming free (apart from mine) the land out the back is private and we don't have coyotees or bobcats. If I do decide to let him outside it would be during the daytime & under my supervision. I think the risks in my situation are minimal. I let my dogs run free - they run for miles - they are at risk too. But the risk is small and I feel its worth it for their enjoyment of life.

Originally Posted by Karena

. We don't have large dogs roaming free (apart from mine) the land out the back is private and we don't have coyotees or bobcats. If I do decide to let him outside it would be during the daytime & under my supervision. I think the risks in my situation are minimal. I let my dogs run free - they run for miles - they are at risk too. But the risk is small and I feel its worth it for their enjoyment of life.

hey
you dont need to explain yourself at all...what you do witth YOUR cat is completely up to you infact.. i feel the same way you do i feel cruel not to allow my cat(s) outside at some point especially in hot weather but.. because my only option is to prevent harm coming to my cats i prefere to supervise via leash an indoor cat does not know how to fend for itself re: traffic, cat scrapping etc so there for are a bit unaware of their surroundings outdoors, and if its safe to do so i would also let them roam free but because each and everybodys circumstances are different including mine this isnt always an option but however i think in different circumstances if i had the option and felt it was safe for my cat i would love to let them free roam without worring so im pretty dam jelous that you can do that
i would imagine an indoor cat would become very bored being stuck in like a fish in a tank and that make me feel slightly guilty!!

I agree, everyone's circumstances are different.
We do have moggies and they are allowed to roam. We also have feral cats wandering and there's a couple that are bad. One of our dangers in australia is snakes, especially as there's bush just down the road, so we know they're around. We had a moggie years and years ago, and she would actually catch the snakes and bring them home... not really what we wanted.

For us, hot weather is part of life. We regularly have days of 40 degrees and over. We shut the house up during the day and keep it dark to keep it cool, but when the seabreeze comes in we open it up. We have flywires (screens) on all the windows and doors so it's easy to open without worrying about cats getting outside. the only problem is the cats learn to open the screen door unless we lock it.