Hunter & Sparrow

This is also true, I can only wish to be as happy and as care free as a Thyme among the dandelions

Cat territories

Let’s start with ‘cats have territories miles wide’. It’s true that feral and entire (not desexed) cats will roam over multiple kilometers, this is particularly true when resources are scarce and less true when resources are abundant. In areas and times when there is lots of food and shelter available (eg mouse plagues) the area of perceived cat territories actually shrink. This suggests that what’s important to the cat is not how big the territory is in terms of space, but rather how much stuff is in it. In non-desexed cats, one of the resources they seek is potential mates, so their territories will be larger than a desexed one.

So what does this mean for indoor cats? That potentially being restricted to indoor only will be an adequate territory, providing the house is equipped with enough of what the cat needs.

Dog territories

While conventional wisdom is that dogs do require more space, that seems to not always be the case. With the rise of apartment living we do see more indoor only/mostly dogs and with adequate socialization and exercise they don’t seem to be any worse off. 

Taking a dog for a walk isn’t really about extending or establishing its territory. It’s about physical and mental stimulation and you could manage both without going for a walk, it’s just that walking the dog is easy, enjoyable, socially acceptable and ingrained in our psychology as ‘what you do’.

Dogs are not permitted to free roam

We walk our dogs on leads, except for designated off-leash areas. Society’s dogs are, or are expected to be, under control at all times.

The way we’ve traditionally treated cats, just opening the door and letting them do whatever they like, going to other people’s houses, hunting and killing, fighting each other, etc, would be unacceptable and outright prosecutable if we did it to dogs.

Cats can be leash trained

Nothing stopping anyone from teaching their cat to walk on a leash and take it for a walk, nothing but effort really. Some cats though do not want to go out, but that can also apply to dogs.

Toilet habits

Dogs tend towards walking then pooping, while cats tend towards finding somewhere discrete for pooping. So we humans have developed this habit of taking the dog for a walk to make it poop, while for cats we seem perfectly happy to let them poop in somebody else’s garden.

Tradition

An awful lot of how we perceive the needs and care of our pets is based upon tradition and what we’ve always done. This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s best for them. Dogs and cats have different characters in the eyes of society. Think of how often we head ‘this cat is like a dog!’ or vice versa when it’s really not, the cat is like a cat, it’s just the person telling the story has a particular preconceived notion of how cats and dogs are and was surprised.

Cats are predator and prey

A dog of any decent size is going to walk through the world like it owns the place, barking at anything, chasing anything (even cars!) and generally not being concerned about being eaten, because other than for very small dogs there are usually not things about that will eat them. Cats are both predator and prey species. They hunt and kill huge numbers of small mammals and birds when given the chance, but they will also be hunted and killed themselves: dogs, hawks, owls, snakes and other larger carnivores to name a few. You wouldn’t let your bunny free roam, it’s just as dangerous for your cat.

Free roaming cats are at bad for the environment

Cats which are permitted to freely roam have significant effects on wildlife (feral cat autopsies revealed they may be killing up to 50 small birds, mammals or lizards a day and they’re not just hunting because they’re hungry, they only eat the tasty bits when they’re hunting this much), can transmit toxoplasmosis (pooping in the neighbors garden or veggie patch), they will fight each other and stress each other out with unwelcome presences at windowsills.

Free roaming is bad for the cats

The world is not kind to cats. Road vehicle accidents, some deliberate and some accidental, deliberate and accidental poisonings (paracetamol in milk, lily plants, antifreeze), altercations with wildlife, extreme weather and getting washed down storm water drains, getting accidentally locked in garages and not found for days… And all the cats that just Never Come Home. I am a working vet. We see the cats that come home injured, poisoned or sick, the dead ones off the side of the road, and all the phone calls from hopeful owners wondering if anyone happened to bring their cat in. The world is not kind for cats.

Alternatives

Preventing your cat from free-roaming outside might mean a strictly indoor lifestyle, but it doesn’t have to be. Leash training is an option, as is securing your yard or part of it in an enclosure so you cat can still be ‘outside’ but remains protected and secure.