Can a female Balinese cat live outdoors and indoors?
April 172010
I found a stray Balinese cat over a year ago and took her in. I got her spayed and got her shots at the vet. I read that Balinese cats should remain indoors…but she is used to going out during the day, and she comes in the evening and overnight. Is this okay? She stays in the large courtyard of my condo complex here in Arizona. The weather is very mild, and there are no streets near our door. The cat sleeps on our private patio and is protected when we are not at home.
Why would you /want/ to let her out? Streets are not the only risk to cats allowed to roam freely outdoors.
How about keeping your cat safely indoors? It’ll be much healthier for your cat to be indoors where it’s safe from poisons, loose dogs, other cats, cars, wild animals, malicious people… and so on (the list of dangers is quite long). Indoor cats live much longer, healthier lives than outdoor or indoor/outdoor cats and it’s very possible to have a happy, well entertained indoor cat. It’s also entirely possible to train a cat to walk on a harness/leash for safe outdoor trips. Read more on why indoor is better as well as how to make a safe outdoor enclosure for indoor cats:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=indoorsoroutdoors (Indoors or Outdoors?)
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/indoors.html (Indoors Only – Some Things To Think About)
http://home.hiwaay.net/~keiper/indoors.htm (Keeping Cats Indoors)
http://www.cat-world.com.au/cat-worldenclosures.htm (Cat Enclosures)
http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/catrun.htm (Our "Cat Run")
Edit: Like Percy said, is the courtyard enclosed enough that she can’t get out of it and nothing can get in?
Darksong~
April 17th, 2010 at 5:42 am
If she’s in an enclosed area that she can’t get out of and that other cats or animals can’t get into, that’s fine.
But with a cat as uncommon as a Balinese don’t you worry that someone could just walk up and snatch her? And when you found her did you have her scanned for a microchip and/or put up signs, an ad in the paper that you found her? I would find it VERY unlikely that someone would simply kick a Balinese outdoors and not be looking for her.
References :
April 17th, 2010 at 5:59 am
Why would you /want/ to let her out? Streets are not the only risk to cats allowed to roam freely outdoors.
How about keeping your cat safely indoors? It’ll be much healthier for your cat to be indoors where it’s safe from poisons, loose dogs, other cats, cars, wild animals, malicious people… and so on (the list of dangers is quite long). Indoor cats live much longer, healthier lives than outdoor or indoor/outdoor cats and it’s very possible to have a happy, well entertained indoor cat. It’s also entirely possible to train a cat to walk on a harness/leash for safe outdoor trips. Read more on why indoor is better as well as how to make a safe outdoor enclosure for indoor cats:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=indoorsoroutdoors (Indoors or Outdoors?)
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/indoors.html (Indoors Only – Some Things To Think About)
http://home.hiwaay.net/~keiper/indoors.htm (Keeping Cats Indoors)
http://www.cat-world.com.au/cat-worldenclosures.htm (Cat Enclosures)
http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/catrun.htm (Our "Cat Run")
Edit: Like Percy said, is the courtyard enclosed enough that she can’t get out of it and nothing can get in?
Darksong~
References :
April 17th, 2010 at 6:13 am
I would only allow her outside under supervision – harness/leash or a cat enclosure.
If she is a Balinese, she might be a prime target for someone to steal her as she’s "purebred/fancy" looking.
References :