Happy Cats and the Free Roam Myth

 
From Camilla Brannen Baker at MadMikesAmerica:

I’ve had cats all my life. The ones who have had good, long lives are the ones who lived indoors. They are my pets, very much like my children. When I lived with parents and other guardians, who didn’t love cats the way I did, they were consigned to live outdoors, and their lives were pretty short, compared to the ones who were mine alone.

Here’s the thing: There are long-held, and erroneous, myths about feline behavior which say that cats are happiest when they can “roam.” Cats who have homes with access to food roam for one reason, and that’s sex. They are incredibly prolific beasties and will mate whenever they can. Females will become pregnant while they still have nursing babes. Interesting fact: so will human females. Cats who have been raised as indoor pets have no “need” to roam outside. Humans who live with indoor cats will learn very early that females need to be spayed as soon as possible. The corollary to the “need to roam” myth for males goes something like this: If you have a male cat, he can’t get pregnant, so you’re not responsible for what he does when he’s on the run. All that is is irresponsibility.

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