Can Cats go outside? Moving to AZ. (Kingman: buy, floor)

[BillyBaroo]

Just found a cat yesterday that was probably torn up by a coyote. It happens quite often on the golf course. We have to shovel them up and throw them in the trash. I'd never let a cat outside anywhere that coyotes live.

[Nanny Goat]

Originally Posted by BillyBaroo

We have to shovel them up and throw them in the trash. I'd never let a cat outside anywhere that coyotes live.

Boy, you're all heart. Couldn't you bury it instead?

[_Charles_]

Cats (esp at night) tend to be coyote food here in AZ.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by williamfinn

Hi We are moving to AZ from Seattle. (Goodbye rain!) anyway we have 3 indoor/outdoor cats. I have heard horror stories about them getting killed if we let them outside or at night. Is this true? Am I going to be stuck having 3 indoor cats? Thanks !

Horror stories are true. Keep your cat inside or gated in. If you want your kitty to go outside there are play pins for cats. Cat trees for inside and play pins for outside. I guess they are called a cat habitat.

[PoppySead]

I just live in a regular in city area. Never seen a coyote, wolf, wild cat or wild pig in my neighborhood. Most all the cats go out here, mine included in those. He's about 9 years old now. I think it depends on what part of Phoenix you live in. We don't all deal with wild animals where I live. I guess it would depend on where you move in AZ. If you move out by coyotes then probably not a good idea but everywhere else it should be the same as where you are now. I'm sure there are parts of WA that people don't let their cats out because they live out by the wild but in the city it shouldn't be an issue. People always share horror stories but they rarely share boring stories. My story is boring, I have a cat that goes in and out, never faces wild animals and seems pretty happy about his life in general. I'm not concerned at all. If he happens to get hit by a car that will be sad, if he gets hurt inside or gets cancer that will be sad but I don't go overboard worrying about the future too much anymore. Things happen to indoor kitties as well. Indoor cats die as well. Best not dwell on it. You'll drive your self nuts. Phoenix is a great city, focus on the positives, your cat will love the weather.

[mosesmoses]

We have a very smart cat. She is smarter than all the other cats in our neighborhood.She likes to follow me around, and she only goes out, when she follow me out, but when I come inside, she is right behind me, follow me into the house.

[~PaperMoon~]

Originally Posted by Phoenix lady

www.petbehaviorsolutions.com/uploads/Indoor_orOutdoor_catspdf (http://www.petbehaviorsolutions.com/uploads/Indoor_orOutdoor_catspdf - broken link)
This article says it all.

Link didn't work. Indoor cats live, on average, 12-15, while outdoor ones live less than 3 years. This statistic has been cited in many articles I've read over the years. Between cruely, poison, diseases, parasites, weather, predators, being lost, it's obvious that indoor cats fare much better.

From my experience, the first cat I had as a kid was an outdoor cat and she had had a short life, went out one day and never came back, she lived about 3-4 yrs I got her as a kitten. The second cat I got at around 12-14 was a boy cat who was declawed and strictly indoors. Once he was declawed he had to stay indoors because he could not protect himself or even climb a tree or something to get away without claws. I had to get him declawed because that was the only way my mom would let me get another one. He was a strictly indoor cat and he lived 21yrs! So I know indoor cats do live longer lives. I have a cat now who's not declawed and is an indoor cat, previous owner did not let him go out, I got him last year and he's like 5yrs old. I thought of letting him go out but I'm still deciding because once they go out they will always want to go out so there's no turnning back once they go outside, once a cat goes out they will always wine and beg to be let out till you get no peace and you have to keep letting them out so there's no turning back once they go out 1 time. My cat now, never tries to get out and never meows to be let out or anything and he seems content, so for now I keep him in. So I will see, I may let him go out at some point, but for right now he's content with being inside so I will keep him in. One of my sisters cats was an outdoor/indoor cat and one day he came home all messed up and bleeding poor thing, my sister had to rush him to the vet and it was so sad she finally nursed him back to health but that was too sad we don't know what he got into to end up so hurt poor thing. At least he made it back home where we could help him, if he had not made it home he would not have lived. So I'm still deciding with my current cat. Maybe once he's lived a long good life inside I may let him go out later. But for now he's inside and he's content.

Originally Posted by RedJacket

A really foolish thing to do would be to let your cats roam outside if they're declawed.

Yeah that would be cruel because they have no way to defend themselves in a fight or even climb a tree or something to get away from danger. Once declawed they will have to stay inside always. I will never get any of my other cats declawed, you never know what may happen if they end up getting out one day by accident or something. And they could never hunt their own food or anything if they did get lost accidentally with no claws.

Originally Posted by locolobo13

got a 404 error on your file. Feral cats may average less than 3 yrs. I don't know. I can tell you this. There are plenty of feral cats out there. I don't know how many times they have set off the security cameras at work.

My cat was a stray that adopted us. The vet estimated his age at 5 back then. That was almost 8 yrs ago.

Sometimes he will spend all day inside, sometimes he will sit outside on a summer day in the shade and watch the birds. But he is free to choose. He would go bonkers if we tried to imprison him inside.

If your cat is declawed, an indoor cat or live near the desert, I agree keep him inside. But when I grew up my parents wouldn't even let the cats or dogs inside. Pets were kept outside. The cats we had when I was young lived to be 12-15 yrs old. Despite being outdoor cats.

There are a lot of numbers of feral cats because they multiply much quicker since they are not nuetered or anything. That does not mean they live long lives. Some king of the turf cats may manage to live longer, especially big alley cats because of survival of the fittest. But most outsdoor cats end up getting hurt, or in a fight, or hit by a car, or eating somehting bad as in poisoned or rotten or tainted in some way or some other kind of danger by the time they are 3-5yrs old. And an indoor/outdoor cat does not stand a chance in a fight against a feral cat who lived their whole lives outdoors in the wild. So there is more danger and more to get into if the cat is an indoor/outdoor cat.

[Heidi60]

Since you want to talk to locals, have you conacted the Az. Humane Society? I'm sure they can give you lots of first hand experience and more. Did you know they have EMT services for a reason in that area?

Moderator cut: off topic

Best of luck to you and your cats.

[~PaperMoon~]

Originally Posted by mosesmoses

We have a very smart cat. She is smarter than all the other cats in our neighborhood.She likes to follow me around, and she only goes out, when she follow me out, but when I come inside, she is right behind me, follow me into the house.

Aaawww that's sweet!

[mosesmoses]

Originally Posted by ~PaperMoon~

Aaawww that's sweet!

She is a nice cat, buy she hisses at old ladies, and strangers.