Live longer through an indoor habitat

For a long time I struggled with the idea of ​​depriving my three rescued felines from a homeless life of the “pleasures” of outdoor exposure. As a result of my internal confusion regarding this, for many years I let my cats go outside, to do their bidding and what “cats naturally do”. I thought I was giving them the full and rewarding life they so richly deserved. Some of my friends and colleagues shared their thoughts about how outdoor cats tend to live shorter than indoor cats, though I tended to ignore their comments more than their own opinions, and continued to trust what I thought that was my “intuition”. “by making the right decision by continuing to allow my three “children” to play outside.

As I’ve done more research on this topic, along with conversations with my cats’ vet, it seems like offering indoor living to cats is worth considering, not to mention the many benefits. The first and very important benefit is that indoor cats tend to live almost twice as long as outdoor cats. The average lifespan of cats that can go outdoors on a regular basis is around 7-8 years, while indoor cats, barring other health problems, are around 15 years.

There could be many factors, I’m sure, for this discrepancy. For one thing, the outdoor environment is more changeable when it comes to providing a stable and healthy environment, with the risk of cats encountering sick animals and becoming infected with whatever is making them sick much more than exhibition of indoor animals. Other risks involve territorial fights, with concurrent injuries. Death by car – not to mention other animals; namely. dogs, cats fishermen, other wild animals – are also risks of being outdoors.

The more I read about this, the more I became convinced that keeping my little ones inside seemed like the way to go. Then I started buying more “toys” to “simulate” some of the outdoor temptations cats love to partake in, like a squealing mouse, catnip balls inside, etc. I also purchased a high-quality cat condo (tree) such as their “jungle gym” to make the lure of cats climbing, hiding, and nesting in the treetops as real as possible.

Needless to say, over time, I felt less and less that I was depriving my children and more that I was offering them a life that would potentially allow them a healthier existence and, as a result, more time on this planet.

And that makes his dad very happy!

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