Indoor/Outdoor kitty (house, crawl space, living)

[alittlenerdy]

I have another question- it's about a kitty.

So... I have this indoor/outdoor kitty that I adore, and she likes to come inside and hang out for a while sometimes but then other times she wants to go outside ASAP! What would you do with a pet like that during the winter up in Maine? Should she be restricted to the indoors during the winter no matter what? (Whenever it snowed in December, she started hissing at the falling flakes. )

This is a picture of her.



(For those soft-hearted pet lovers, she was adopted by me as a feral cat who had been part of a trap-fix-release program. It took her almost 2 years "to come around", but now we're best friends!)

[RHB]

I have indoor/outdoor cats. When there was a lot of snow, or if it was really snowing, they didn't want to go out. Sometimes they would look at me as to ask me to make it quit snowing.

She's a pretty kitty.

[deerislesmile]

My cats have all done fine to go out in winter. A few of them have even been known to curl up and sleep on a snowbank.

[dramamama6685]

My cats are all indoor/ outdoor. All originally strays that we took in. In the winter they tend to not go out as much. They will stand by the door and wait for us to open and if there is snow on the ground, they think about it for a minute and walk away.

[elston]

I had indoor/outdoor and barn cats in central NH....it gets very cold there too....they seemed to adjust very well .... the barn had a dirt floor downstairs...and I believe they used that when there was deep snow.....some of the cats stayed outside all the time and some came and went....none stayed in all the time. I think your kitty will do just fine. It is obviously a survivor.

[Acadianlion]

The cat will do fine. The cat will do what the cat knows is best for her. We have three cats. Our older male loves being outside when it is warm and sunny, but he is getting along, and doesn't like the real cold as much as he used to. The girl cat has become an indoor cat since we got adopted by Brindle aka "the Thug" who adopted us one exceedingly cold night when the wind was blowing like fury and it was about ten below.

Brindle appeared at the front door looking in. He was obviously hungry, but he ran when I opened the door, and my older male ran him off. Not really good enough, though because he came back, and we decided that we needed to give him some crunchies. It wasn't long....you know: he moved in. The next spring we had him fixed and his shots up to date.

At first he hated my boots and would hiss and strike at them when I walked by. VERY fierce! But he took immediately to my wife, and we suspect that he had been kicked out of his first home by a male suitor to his female human person, and kicked by work boots. The vet said that he was probably not more than two when he came here, poor guy!

It took him about a year, but now he is a family pet, although he WANTS to be top cat: my older male will have none of that, and they coexist inside mostly, with some hissyfits and squawking but little fur flies. In the winter he is a layabout inside kittie just like the others. When we have a lot of snow I make snow paths around the house and blow a lot of the snow off the front lawn for the cats to have room to run....Man! Am I ever a slave.

But the cats have it all (and US!) figured out, and in winter they will chose what is right for them: inside, outside or a lot of being on the wrong side of the door! You will get to be the survant.

Oh, yes. I wanted to mention that the first winter that Brindle appeared here, he had been living at the neighbors house under the porch. There were two inside cats there, but they would not let him in, nor did they feed him. He shared under porch domicile with a porcuppine. Tough kitty and deserving of the nickname: The Thug.

[7th generation]

An indoor/outdoor kittie will know it's limitations as far as weather is concerned but will not be able to avoid the dangers presented by the coyote, fisher cat, fox and bobcat.

[starwalker]

We have 9 strictly indoor kitties. my SO is worried about their lack of experience with outdoor threats as it has been so long since they saw any (they were strictly indoor cats in NC because we lived on a narrow lot between two very busy roads and at the intersection of a major highway).

The exceptions are a couple from a TNR program that were neutered as babies in an office where K worked as an assistant. (long story, the upshot is that two of them came home to live with us). Neither were happy in the house and so eventually they went outside, but we trapped them when we moved, as we knew the building owner would dispose of them.

Up here, one has decided to become part of the indoor group. In fact, I think she came up on me in bed last night, and did not run even when I pushed her off my sore arm! (I could tell it was her, as she has the shortest tail of the bunch, out of proportion to her body).

The other was NEVER happy in the house, and slinked about, out of sight, 24/7 so eventually we put her outside. She lives under the house, is fed on the porch and apparently survived an airborne attack a couple of nights ago. K said he heard "a one cat cat fight" and when he went out to look, there was hair on the ground and hair floating down on the breeze. He never saw the cat, but we took her food and water and put them just inside the access panel to the crawl space from which she comes and goes. Next morning food was gone, and yesterday he spotted her, apparently well.

She was looking a little "rough" a couple of months ago, but is filling out again. So take this for what you will... it has been our experience.

[KiddinAroundFarm]

We have several kitties that are indoor/outdoor and several strictly outdoor barn kitties. They are all very friendly and lovable. We've noticed that come fall they start packing on weight, and getting ready for winter, even the indoor/outdoor ones. Our indoor/outdoor do tend to go out less in winter, but they can and will venture outdoors no matter what the weather. Just less frequently.

Our outdoor cats live in the barn and they tend to fill out more than the others. Any cat that goes out in the winter WILL find shelter if need be... no matter where they have to go to find it.

[elston]

Originally Posted by KiddinAroundFarm

We have several kitties that are indoor/outdoor and several strictly outdoor barn kitties. They are all very friendly and lovable. We've noticed that come fall they start packing on weight, and getting ready for winter, even the indoor/outdoor ones. Our indoor/outdoor do tend to go out less in winter, but they can and will venture outdoors no matter what the weather. Just less frequently.

Our outdoor cats live in the barn and they tend to fill out more than the others. Any cat that goes out in the winter WILL find shelter if need be... no matter where they have to go to find it.

They also are good at finding warmth even when the thermometer reads in the single digits.....a patch of bright sunlight warming a porch railing....a sunny corner near the barn door.....they find them and seem to luxuriate inspite of the cold air. I think being well fed and dry...helps them fend off the cold.