Indoor Cats Vs. Outdoor Cats

You have a cat, but how do you decide if you want it to be indoors or outdoors? Most of it depends upon your personal preference. Some people would rather have their cat indoors, whereas others would prefer to have them outdoors. For those who are unsure, there are a few things you should know before deciding. Here are the differences between indoor cats and outdoor cats and what you should consider before deciding which one is right for you.

First of all, indoor cats are going to be around your furniture, so your furniture is going to be susceptible to their claws unless you have them de-clawed or keep their nails trimmed or take any other preventative measure. With outdoor cats, on the other hand, you do not have this issue as they are outside and not around your possessions. However, some outdoor cats may try to get up on your vehicle and leave paw prints or scratches on your window, so that's one thing to consider with outdoor cats.

An indoor cat can also be more maintenance than an outdoor cat. Outdoor cats pretty much take care of themselves. You just feed them and play with them when you go outside. Indoor cats need to have their nails trimmed, trained to not tear up furniture, require more house cleaning to keep their fur cleaned up from your house, and you might want to bathe it every so often. Outdoor cats don't require any of this.

However, an indoor cat is always inside your house, so you don't have to worry about your kitty getting lost and it's probably always relatively easy to find. With outdoor cats, you have to worry about your cat getting lost, wandering too far from home, another animal attacking it, or sometimes they're hard to find when you want them. So an indoor cat is easier to keep up with and less to worry about because it doesn't have as much freedom to roam.

Those are the major differences between having an indoor cat and having an outdoor cat. There are pros and cons to each. Whichever factors you weigh more important than others differ from person to person. Those are just the things that you should consider when deciding if you want your cat to be an indoor cat or an outdoor cat. It all depends on your preferences and how much interaction and work you want to put into your pet.