Free-roaming or confined?
This is a question which is debatable and I guess there would be no right or wrong.
My vet recommends that all pets (including cats) be confined for their safety. He says even a large cage with enough toys for mental and physical stimulation is good enough, if one cannot wire-net one’s home. He doesn’t agree that cats need to be allowed to roam.
That is one school of thought – safety and health (in terms of not eating rubbish or drinking drain water).
The other school of thought says that cats ought to be allowed to roam freely as that is their nature. They are creatures of nature and are likely to remain so. The danger is of course they would be subject to the risks of accidents.
I suppose there is no right or wrong. A mix of the two would be ideal, of course, and that is what I’ll be trying to give my cats when we move to our new place in December. We are going to do up the backyard as a cat-space. It would have grass, plants and sunshine, but there is a also shelter from the rain and they would still have access to my room at the back.
My husband doesn’t want Cow & Bunny spraying all over the house (again), so they would be confined to the back. All six would have to be confined for a few weeks, to let them acclimatise to the new place. Then, we shall see how it goes. Being the territorial (this-is-my-3-metre-radius-space-you-keep-away!) cats that they are, I doubt all six would be willing to stay in the cat-space. World wars would break out and someone is bound to be injured or might attempt to escape. Indy and Pole cannot get along. Tiger is always someone’s target for bully. Maybe Tiger can stay in the house since he is so docile. Tiger doesn’t spray. But then again, cats’ attitude will change once the environment changes.
Remember Wii? He was bullied till no end here and couldn’t even come home, but at Roselin’s he became an instant “tai kor” (big brother) and he bullied others till no end. Roselin just wrote recently to say that now, Wii has graduated from the kitchen to her bedroom. He sleeps with Roselin now – that’s after more than 1 year of adjustment and training!
Back to the subject of confining or allowing cats to roam, yesterday, as Mr Teh had just left my house with the Blueys, he actually turned back after 3 minutes. He had found a dead baby kitten on my road. Mr Teh picked the poor thing up and turned back to my house to ask for a box. He would bury the kitten when he reached the office. He said the poor mother (who had similar markings as the kitten) was looking on. Isn’t that sad? It was a beautiful little Calico kitten, smaller in size than the Blueys.
So, this is the plight of kittens that are allowed to roam freely in our housing estates. I’ve seen “mad” drivers zooming down my road without a care for the little animals.
That is the greatest risk if we allow our kittens to roam. That is also why I know I cannot adopt another kitten as long as I still stay in this house. Even for fostering, the moment they can jump out of my window, they would have to be adopted. The Blueys could already jump out about 2 weeks ago. We had to keep the windows shut whenever they played in the living room. Even then, Baloo escaped 3 times and we found her at the shoe rack outside the door. She is just so elusive.
I’m glad they are safe in Andy’s office now.
Comments
7 responses to “Why the road is so unsafe for kittens”
When i was living in a flat, my cats, which that time were stray at the flat were free roaming as my mom doesnt allow them to be in the house. One of them died from food poisoning. We suspected that she died after eating food with rat poison as there were lots of rats there.
After we moved to terrace, we confine all our cats in the house. We have no problem as all six of them are from the same family, mom, dad and 4 kitty. Also, we have only one male adult, the rest are all females.
I dont want them to roam ard because it will be very dangerous for them. Dogs, cars, and even food dumped outside are dangerous. I keep them inside the house, but i let them out exploring the back lane everyday for at least 15 mins under supervision.
Hi Sis KY,
I understand your concern but I feel that it will be good if you and your family will keep a good positive feeling that your cats will be able to live happily TOGETHER in the space your made for them..keep thinking positive before and after you move in and I am sure that they will too feel your positive energy and make peace with each other.
Use the law of attractions..:o) and everything will be alright..
"Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.."
P/S: Will still keep your concern in my prayers. You are in everyone's thought.
Sherlyn Low
i believe in letting any creatures to spend their lives as normal and as free as possible. so i dont really believe in caging, except for the sick ones. i let my cats to free roam but with certain limits, and the limit is set by me.
what i currently did for all cats under my care is this, set a schedule for them and try to make it almost the same at most of the time. my cats are mostly indoors but at 11am i will let them out and play in the house compound area up to 2 hours. then at 1pm will look for them, and bring them back into the house.
but for few adult cats who behave (means those who know to be back at home by 7pm), i'll let them out for longer period. if it rains, i'll look for them and bring them in. now they got used to this routine, when it starts to thunder, they already wait in front of the door, waiting for me to let them in. if they dont do this (back by 7pm, they will stay indoor for a day or two)
at 5pm, will let those in the house go outside for evening play session up to 6pm before bringing them back in. i will also walk my few adult cats (who free roam)around the alley,sometimes through the drain at the back of my house, coz i want them to be able to recognize the path going back to my house in case they wander too far from my house. while doing this, i'll make a sound using keys and they'll follow the sound. when they're missing (they're normally lepaking at my neighbour's house), i'll just need to make the key sound and they will normally come back.
for new cats, i'll supervised them personally for 2 weeks when they're outside, if they go beyond limit that i set, i'll pick them up and put them back into the house. its sort of punishment, and when it's repeated, they understood the message and never go beyond limit.
but at the same time, cats are curious creatures. they love to explore, so for some cats it might not work. i try to maintain their outside play time to be the same everyday. and currently it works wonders. i saw my late mom did all these when i was little, and i just follow suit. it's like creating a system for them
However, i'm mostly grateful coz i live in a very peaceful area, not by the main road. i called this street i live in as animal loving street coz all my neighbors either rescue and keep lots of dogs/cats themselves or feeding them.
your idea of having a play area and shelter is a good one. since it's going to be a new place for everyone, perhaps you can find some of the above method useful 🙂
Mas
Thanks very much for sharing, Mas. My main and greatest worry is that they might try to run back to my old house when I move. I hear cats do this. They are not like dogs. Dogs follow people. Cats might "follow" the house. So, I need to confine them for a few months first, before figuring out whether to let them out or not. I'll take care of that initial problem first (no escape back to old house)!
yup, cats does this. it happens few times to me as i always bring back feeder's cat back home during their recovery period after spaying. even they are sick, they do have plan to run away. that's cat being a cat
for this, i did a 4 stages system introducing cats to new environment. for cats kept with me during recovery period, i usually keep them for max 2 weeks before return them to the feeder/colony.
Cage/room confinement: 4 days
Home confinement: 4 days
Roaming w supervision: 4 days
Free roaming (within house compound):2 days
after a week or 9 days, they normally be ok & reduce their attempt to run away.
for you, 2months is a good time frame to introduce them to new environment. maybe for alpha cats, needs longer time, if u do confine them, make sure they are able to see the outside view. cats love watching what's going on outside. (we do too) hope everything will be ok and none of them escape to ur current house. ur current and new house, is it nearby?
Mas
Hi Mas,
The present house and the new place is near enough, but separated by a crazy main road (the USJ-Subang Jaya mainroad). It is impossible for any animal to cross that road and come through alive.
When my rescuer friend down the block about 10 houses away died, I took all her 10 cats over to my house and caged them for 2 months, then allow them out only during the day and back into the cages at night. It has been 5 years and never once have they ever been back there.
It is a misconception that only dogs follow people and cats do not. From my experience, if you spend time to bond with your cats, they WILL follow you wherever you go, all of them.
All my cats come home and stay indoors everytime I am home. If I am not home, they will be lepakking in their own favorite spaces all over the neighbourhood.
But they know the sound of my car and they know if I am home. If I sneak home and go upstairs to take a bath and catch a nap, I will wake up to 15 cats outside my bedroom door and another 10 lining the stairs and in the living room.
I think you do spend time bonding with all your cats and if you continue to do so, you will have the same results.
All the best!