I think cats should come and go as they please.If they want food they will pester for it,if they want warmth they will find somewere cosy,when they want company they will jump on your lap.Cats dont have a masterlike dogs do,Get a cat flap and let your pet have its own choice
ceela.

We got my cat from a shelter and they told us that she had lived outdoors so we know she would be very unhappy as an indoor cat. There are many dangers where I live (cars, coyotes, foxes, etc) so most outdoor cats don't live more than a few years. However, my cat must be extra smart because she has lived for like 8 years. I still worry about her though. I think that even if an indoor cat has a longer life it is often better for a cat to be an outdoor cat, because their life may be shorter, but it would be much happier.

outdoor, how would you like to be locked in a house, no animal should be trapped inside at all times, i dont even do that to my cockatoo or my kakarike.
at the end of the day cats like to hunt, to explore, by keeping them locked in you stop them doing all the things they enjoy. what comes natural.
in my eyes if you live on a busy street maybe you should ask yourself if it is really safe to have a cat in the first place, not just say well i will get one and keep it in.
having worked with lots of animals throughout my life, i can say hand on heart, that i have never met a cat that doesnt pine for the outside when kept in.
what do you think they are doing when they sit looking out the window.
if you feel your cat must live in doors for whatever reason then at least teach it to walk on a lead so the poor thing can get out, even if you just go with it into the garden.
my cats are given the choice i have a cat flap so if they want to be in they can and if they dont they dont have to be, one of them kez loves to go out in fact sometimes she is out all day and all night just popping into eat.
and the other sid, barely ever goes out, prefering to lay inside in the warm and get lots of cuddles.
the points is they have been given the choice, not just been told they are in and thats that.
and i think that everything should have the choice.
ok so keep them safe but if you are not in a safe place then dont get a cat in the first place.
soz if that sounds hash but just my oppinion

We live on a busy street, so my cats are strictly indoors. They seem happy as long as they have food in their bowls and a lap whenever they want it.

Indoor. If you cook them right, they taste less gamey than outdoor cats. (joking)

I have two cats, one inside and one outside. They both are very happy cats. I think that if a cat has never been outside, it doesn't miss it. My indoor cat has windows to look out. He is quite content to watch birds from inside. There are a number of reasons not to leave a cat outside. Some dangers are other cats, poisonous plants, cat haters, mosquitos (west nile virus) and dogs that kill cats.

I have cats who are a little of both. They mostly stay indoors, but from time to time, they venture outside for a short while. It is safer to keep them indoors, though. I have lost a few cats to the dangers of outside. But it's too much trouble, trying to keep a cat from doing something it wants to. If we strictly keep them indoors, they would find a way to escape. We had tried once... but the cat would escape from the second floor window. XD

Well an outdoor cat only has an average lifespan of roughly three years, so really it's up to you. I say if small children aren't involved and you are willing to perhaps have to put them down to avoid them suffering (in the event they are run over or the like) and so long as you are able to accept the fact that may never know what happened to them. (Whether they wandered off, were taken in by someone who assumed they were a stray or something less benign) Then outdoor may be better for the cat's emotional health, but clearly not for their physical health.

If cats are brought up indoors and kept indoors they don't know any difference. There's nothing for them to compare it to.

My two boys were brought up in apartments and now live in a spacious house. They have no urges to go outside and stay out. They occassionaly will follow me out on the porch but never stray from the house, it's all they know, therefore I don't feel they are deprived of anything. :)

They have loving parents, food, plenty of warm places to nuzzle and nap and clean litter boxes. They live in the lap of luxury!

Both of my cats are indoor cats... I couldn't imagine letting them outdoors, probably largely because I live in an apartment complex, and I have seen what some of these kids around here do to torture cats.
My parents had an indoor cat that they moved outdoors when she wouldn't stop peeing in my step mom's shoes. She stuck around for awhile (the cat, not my step mom hahaha), then we no longer saw her....

I guess it depends. Here's a few points. We lived in the city on a relatively busy street. We adopted three kittens which were all fixed from the start (this helps). Two of them, were from the same litter. I kept them indoors for almost a year so when they did finally start going out, they stayed on the porch. Now the third one, was just different. She wanted out, come hell or high water. There was no keeping her in. We decided to move for various reasons including her safety. But we were too late. She ended up getting hit by a mail truck. Thank God the mail man told me otherwise she would have laid there about five doors down and died. I rushed her to the vet, she couldn't walk but had no broken bones. Anyway, she had a limp. She was ok. She slowed down a bit, and I tried to keep her in from that point on. We moved to a country setting with no road nearby. As my other two loved going out, I did so. THey stayed here. The one that got hit started roaming again. But she always came back. One day, she didn't . We had a severe wind storm during the first day of hunting season and she never came home. I knew in my heart she had passed, my husband found her almost two miles away. I got on his quad, and brought her home, buried her. I think she was blown by the wind and tossed, then run over by a quad, because she was found right off a quad trail. Since she had a limp, she couldnt make it home. Anyway, all cats are different. I have four, and they all go outside, and in. Although one of them got killed, I just don't want to keep the others from the freedom and love of the outdoors. Mainly they all lay on the porch or by the pond. I keep them vaccinated, of course. Its a matter of taking a chance. Preference. I guess. But if they have no desire to go out please keep them in. No sense in opening a can of worms!!!

I love outdoor cats! They have character, are way smarter then indoor cats, and true to their nature. Tame cats are boring and easily scared.