Cat Owners...

We live in a flat, she goes out in the morning and comes in with us when we get home. Weekends she sits by the door if she wants to go out, or she sleeps all day.

When its cold out, she goes out in the morning (under duress) and is usually inside the block by the time we get home.

In the summer she will happily stay out all day and all night, only coming in to eat, usually waking me up at 5am to go out or come in!

She basically rules our life.

Cocopops generally sleeps all day on our bed. She may miander outside for a p*ss but she is free to come and go as she pleases!

I am waiting to get Rudy neutered then they will be able to come and go as they please through the cat flap. Feeling nervous about it as they are both house cats at the moment.

I am waiting to get Rudy neutered then they will be able to come and go as they please through the cat flap. Feeling nervous about it as they are both house cats at the moment.

Moriarty is free to do as he pleases, but he tends to spend most of the time inside now that it's winter. I think he doesn't like to be cold (and is very lazy!).

He's also stupid and can't get down off the fence, so he doesn't go any further than next door (fence is down from the storms). He's escaped out the front a few times and we have had to catch him and coax him back, but this is only because he's a ewimp and wont climb the fence to get back in!!!

Ours is an indoor cat. When we first got her, we lived really close to the biggest road running through town and we were worried she'd get knocked down. We've sinced moved but there's just as big a road not too far away. She'll try and escape if we have the door open too long and she thinks she can make a dash for it, but she never goes further than a sniff around the front garden.

Indoor. They are allowed in our tiny garden in the summer (when we are out there too) as I like them to have some fresh air and a change of scenery. They get played with every day, have good food bought for them, regular treats and new toys, a bedroom to themselves, a cat gym and my adult cat is trained to sit, lay down, give paw and roll over I like to keep his mind busy and he loves to please!

My other cat is still a baby but she will get the same treatment! People come round and say they can't believe how happy my cats are especially as they are indoor but to be honest what they don't know won't hurt them. We have lost too many cats to the road to risk it again. Bertie actually got out in the summer and was missing for 3 days. A friend went out for a cigarette and he got out. We were heart broken and went out every hour looking for him and it turned out he was only round the corner hiding under a car! He was crying out hearing my voice and it was magical finding him, I would never risk it again. It's much better keeping cats inside as long as you keep them entertained.

Misky is free to do as she pleases. She was an indoor kitty from the time I got her until she was spayed, and she hated it, and tried to make a break for it at every opportunity. She has a cat flap, a garden to roam in, and wanders a little bit in the cul de sac where we live, but I don't think she goes far.

My two cats have always been allowed to roam since we got them at 9 months (had to keep them in for a month first) but one of them got injured and I swore they were never going out again. Two months later I had 2 very unhappy cats so I now keep them in at night.

However, we are getting a new kitten soon who will not know any different and I would prefer to keep him indoors.

I was just curious as to what others did as I belong to a pet forum where indoors is recommended but most "normal" cat people think I am mad for wanting to keep mine in.

To those if you indoors with a garden, how do you manage in the summer when you want to be in and out, for example if you are having a BBQ?

Misha was already an indoor cat when we adopted her, we live in a flat without direct access outside so we couldn't have an outdoor cat. She likes to sit by the window sometimes but she has never shown any real interest in going outside. I wonder if the window to the outside world is like a TV for her.

Sorry can't quote on phone. OP I am as crazy cat lady as they go and I honestly believe keeping them in is better. I have had it both ways and this way is so much better. I am protecting them from potential harm and it stops me going mad with worry.

As for one we have a BBQ, they stay in. I shut them in their bedroom whilst we had BBQ's in the summer but left the window open. They then got taken up some burger meat. I love to treat them like that. For us it's fairly easy as we do have an enclosed garden, their only way of exit is over the fence which they don't do or under the gate so we blocked the bottom of the gate.

In our last house our cat was free to come and go as she pleased as we had a cat flap. We haven't had one fitted in the new house yet though and I haven't had a decent night's sleep since we moved as we get woken up at 5am every morning by her crying ?

I think that she is quite active at night and used to go out a lot even if it was just for a few minutes at a time. She has been sick a lot less since she has been housebound though so that's one positive thing!

Ours roam freely, but girl normally stays home. Boy wanders, we frequently get calls from miles away saying they've found his collar!

Hoddy I can relate, I am a huge crazy cat lady and want to keep them as safe as possible providing it doesn't cause them distress. I want to encloseour decking so that it provides a safe area for the cats and means we can come and go from the house. If it has a safety porch then I dont need to worry about going in and out to the main garden.

I think we will see how things go when we move and have to keep them in. When we get the new kitten we will have to keep him in anyway during the summer so we can see how we get on.

Oscar comes and goes as he please. I leave downstairs bathroom window open for him.

We have 2 cats, they started as indoor cats, but they spent so much time staring longingly out of the window that we decided it was fairer to let them out. I cried the first time I let them out, I was terrified they wouldn't come back!

Now we let them out when we get up in the morning (around 6:30am) and are free to do as they please during the day. They come in of their own accord at around 6pm when we get home. They get locked in once they have had their dinner and seem happy enough. When we are at home they pop in and out all day, it's like they are checking up on us! They spend a lot more time indoors in the winter obviously.

I would have definitely preferred to keep them indoors, but it was obvious that our cats wanted to be outside and it was making them miserable not being able to be.

She's free to do as she pleases. She's spending most of her time indoors at the moment and is just going out for a few minutes once or twice a day.

Fizzgig loves the outdoors, mostly. memory like a goldfish. he's moans to go out but when you open the door and feel how cold it is he retreats, so i shut a door and he instantly moans to have the door open again.

he tends to stay inside when were at work but we let him out in the evening. throughout the evening he makes treks back to the house grabs a bite to eat and go back out til 9pm when he sleeps on the chair in the study

See this is the opposite for my boy, even when I let him out he doesn't care much. He's a very loyal cat and likes to follow me around. That's why it was so weird he went missing and so scary. But since then he hasn't shown a single bit of interest in going out. He watches out our bedroom window at night sometimes before he goes to bed, but as someone else said maybe it is just like watching TV for him. I had a cat before when I lived with my mum who would dig at the windows and force her way through a tiny gap to her out, some cats just can't be indoor.

Our three have a cat flap and can come and go as they please during the day though I am pretty sure all they do is sleep on our bed or the sofa when the weather is like it is.

we are lucky that we are mid terrace with no side or rear access so they can't get to any roads. We lock them in at night though- but generally by that point they have been in for a while anyway.

harrycat was a real outdoor boy when we got him, he hates being kept in. The tuxedo sisters were in for a year when we got them as I couldn't bear to let them out. Now they love it outdoors just as much as hcat.

We've just started letting our kitten outside unsupervised. He loves it, we've got a huge storage shed in the garden and he just sits in there getting covered in dust. The way our gardens are laid out he's trapped in a circle of properties so he can't wander too far.

Ours are indoor girls. They go in the garden with us in the summer, but they are all quite shy and the slightest noise and they zoom right back in.

1 of them used to be indoor, then her next owner just chucked her outside, then she came to us and lives in her bed mostly. She likes a nosey out in good weather though.

Middle girl is semi-feral and now has no interest in the outside world, you have to carry her outside, once she's out she's not too bad but doesn't go out for long.

The baby asks to go out when the sun is out, and we'll take her in the garden where she'll have a stroll and come back in and be quite happy after that.

We didn't want them roaming, and you hear such terrible things, we are quite lucky that they aren't bothered about going out though. They have their own room and toys, trees etc. We have playtime and they are happy little girls.

Speaking of toys, some new ones just arrived in the post... ?

My cats have so many toys it is ridiculous! They have a ceiling cat tree in ghe lounge but I want to add another climbing pole when we move house leading up to a perch. Considering putting up a few cat shelves to keep them occupied and give them extra space.

Their current favourite toy is the Undercover Mouse.

Ours love thier toys. They have chaser stick things but will also go mad for a bit of screwed up tinfoil.

They love the rug and are constantly attacking under it with their paws like there are mice living under it. They go mad for the cat tree, attacking it on the way up, wrapping their paws around the poles and giving it a good kicking/biting.

Cardboard boxes are a huge favourite, all I could hear when I was in the bath last night was one of them jumping in and out for ages.

They are being quite naughty lately, good practice for the terror that will arrive I suppose.

Ah yes boxes are a firm fave. Any new box has to be inspected and then sat in.

One of ours loves tin foil too Mini - and sweet wrappers.

Ours are having a naughty phase as well, it tends to happen when it starts getting darker/lighter and they decide 4am in playtime/attack feet time.

Cats are easily pleased! I bought this:

http://petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=314&pf_id=8931

and

http://petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=804&pf_id=8929

for my two recently and they love them! I like to get them toys reguarly. Their favourite ever is 'da bird' and it even sounds like a flapping bird. Catnip toys are always good especially the toys by 'cosmic catnip' or something like that. I also have a cat version of the dog 'kong' toy which you put treats inside and they have to bat it around the house to get the treats out.

My cat was an indoor cat as i lived in a falt with no real direct access to otuside. when i moved in with Mr Malives though a couple of years ago his cat was an outdoor cat and mine just ended up desperate to go out becuase she saw the other cat going outside. Up until that point she never showed any inclination of wanting to go out!. I was so scared when she started going outside, as she is the dippiest cat in the world!

Hoddy! i what those! Fizzgig loves to chase and the other stop him for eating PLASTIC! seriously? why do they do that?

Mine have access to the garden when I am in it, although I would like to fashion a sort of run for them.

At least once a week a cat goes missing or gets run over in my area. They always have plenty of toys and seem happy, so they're inside boys.

I dunno...My boy doesn't eat weird things but the little girl does....She stole sandwich crusts off my plate the other day, ate some banana and tried to eat creme egg wrapper today (not that I had one ? )...really odd appetite that one!

Pretty sure our cat thinks we leave the house specifically to go out and get him a new plastic bag to play in. The anger and disappointment on his face with we return without one...