The debate between cat lovers who support indoor-only policies vs. indoor/outdoor advocates is like a WWF fight (with very real pouches and throws). Australia, New Zealand, and Canada have already started enforcing indoor-only cat policies in some areas. There are many arguments for indoor cats and just as many against it—so should your Maine Coon keep indoors or outdoors?
Cats kept solely indoors may suffer from elevated stress levels, leading to disease and shortened life spans. However, leash walking and enriched cat environments with secured outside areas mitigate the harm of keeping cats inside. Outdoor cat predation threatens bird and small creature populations and makes cats vulnerable to physical harm and disease.
Cat lovers are divided on this issue, with both sides having valid points on whether cats should be inside pets. Here are some of the key arguments in the indoor/outdoor to help you decide whether your Maine Coon belongs indoors, where they are safe, or outdoors, where they can express their instincts.
Contents
Arguments Against Outdoor Cats
a Menace To Birdlife and Small Creatures
Household cats are so popular that figures suggest that the domestic kitty number over 100 million strong in the US alone. ABC Birds reports that cats pounce, claw, and munch their way through as many as 2.4 billion birds a year in the US, which is a staggering amount.
However, some experts in the field have held these supposed figures up to further scrutiny, and the figures needed to distinguish between feral and owned cat communities. The studies also did not consider the predominant prey species of domestic cats, such as sparrows and pigeons, which have incredibly high populations in urban areas.
Nor did the agitators for keeping cats indoors explain that cats might affect local biodiversity without influencing gamma diversity, the overall species diversity within a range of habitats, and communities within a larger region.
Whether the figures are accurate, cats left to roam outdoors impact their local prey populations. The ordinary cat has plundered their way through a list of small creatures and is responsible for the extinction of at least 63 bird, amphibian, and small reptile/mammal species.
Potential Disappearance
It has happened to all of us cat lovers at one time or another, even those indoor cats who are, as always, the greatest escape artists ever. Your cat goes missing, you phone the vets and the shelters, post on groups, and walk the streets calling your kitty until you sound like a mad person. A week later, they arrive home, a little thinner but alive! Or the worst feeling on earth—they don’t come home.
According to the American Humane Society, 10 million US pets go missing a year, and only 2% of unchipped or tagged cats in shelters reunite with their human families. Cats, as a species, are both prey and predator and often may hide or run due to fear. Cats can trap themselves in closed areas, or humans may “adopt” them, believing them to be strays.
That is why microchipping and tagging your cat is essential should the worst-case scenario happen. Remember to keep your cat’s tag and microchip current should you move locations. We’ve also recommended best GPS tracker suitable for Maine Coon cats on our website.
Potential Poison Ingestion
It is an annoying thought that people are so careless in their actions that they distribute toxins for vermin in accessible areas. Your kitty may eat a poisoned rat or mouse and become ill or even die, if not directly from the poison itself. This fate might not happen immediately by ingesting one mouse or poisoned rat, but poisons may accumulate over time in your cat’s body.
Cats are curious and may enter into places where there are toxins. Thus, your cat could become ill due to a variety of factors:
- Directly eating a toxic substance
- Swallow toxins on their fur during grooming
- Absorb poison through their skin (their paw pads are particularly at risk)
- Inhaling air-borne poisons
Cats are notorious for creeping and haunting in concealed areas such as plants and bushes. In this way, they come into contact with poisonous plant residue that sticks to their coat. When they groom themselves, they may ingest these toxic elements. Some of these dangerous plants include:
- Lilies
- Sago Palms
- Azaleas
- Oleander
- Daffodils
- Tulips
The Threat of Being Hit by a Car
Cats tend to flee when they are scared, and this flight response puts them in the path of motorists. They are also small and mostly roam in the dusk and early morning when visibility is not the best.
Living in our urban jungles is challenging for our feline family, especially cats that spend time outdoors. According to Indiana University cars, 4.5 million cats are involved in car-related injuries, and 97% are fatal.
A UK study on feline road fatalities over three years found that particular cats are more at risk of automobile fatalities:
- Male cats are more likely to fall victim
- Younger cats between six months and two years
- Non pedigree cats
The Threat of Bad People to Cats
The link between human psychopathy and animal abuse is firmly linked. Serial killers often start early in honing their killing skills on neighborhood animals, such as cats, to fulfill their twisted desires.
Some people detest cats and will harm them if they enter their yards or houses. You will find a frightening list of current cases if you Google “cat killer.” Articles about people who dismembered cats, threw them in rivers, or adopted them only to find pleasure in torturing them. Sadly, these are only the few that make the headlines.
Injury From Domestic, Wild, or Feral Animals
Dogs can be a menace, primarily if they are not used to cats in the environment. Cats evoke a strong prey instinct in domestic dogs. Even my Belgian Shepherd sometimes chases my Maine Coon, Halo, even though they are fast friends most of the time.
Animal 24-7 conducted a statistical analysis of fatal dog attacks on other animals and found that dogs killed 3,364 cats per year. Unsurprisingly, pit bulls took the lion’s share in their crushing jaws by claiming 2,904 of these feline victims.
Cats fare poorly in a large dog’s jaws; many bites may prove fatal. Cats also tend to investigate areas of their territory and may land in a backyard with an aggressive dog. Feral or unneutered cats also pose a risk, sometimes causing extensive injury when defending their territory.
Cat bites and deep scratches are notorious for their capacity to cause bacterial infection. Bite wounds can lead to abscesses or worse, and owners often don’t notice the initial wounds until infection occurs. VCA Hospitals recommended that owners take their cats for treatment and antibiotics within 24 hours of being wounded in a catfight.
Vulnerability to Disease
One serious and highly contagious illness can spell disaster for your much-loved Maine Coon. Outdoor cats may come into contact with diseases such as:
- Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)
- Feline leukemia virus (FeLV)
- Rabies
- Panleukopenia (Feline Distemper)
- Calicivirus
- Feline herpesvirus
Kitty Parasites
Your kitty can also be host to several parasites beyond the ubiquitous ticks and fleas when roaming outdoors. Cats may come into contact with soil that contains other animals’ waste and pick up some scary internal parasites, such as the following:
- Hookworms: These little evils lurk in your cat’s intestine, feeding on their blood. They can be passed on from mother to kitten via milk, or your cat may pick up eggs from other animal’s feces.
- Lungworms: These uglies reside in the lungs (duh!) and spend part of their life stages in snails and slugs. Your kitty can pick them up from infected prey who have eaten these intermediate hosts.
- Roundworms: These worms are the most common cat parasites and resemble Italian spaghetti noodles. These worms hide in the intestine, stealing vital nutrients from your cat’s food. These worms pass from mother to kitten via milk, or cats pick them up from their intermediate hosts.
- Tapeworms: These parasites are flat-segmented monsters that can grow to 11 inches in the small intestine. Cats acquire these worms by eating an intermediary host, such as a flea.
Arguments Against Keeping Cats Indoors
Feline Obesity When Kept Indoors
Felines kept from exploring the great outdoors may suffer from the “Garfield effect” and pack on the kitty pounds. If owners dedicate their time and effort to enriching the cat environment and consistently provide plenty of play opportunities, it may harm their kitty’s health. A study in Denmark found that felines kept indoors were more likely to be obese, especially neutered cats.
According to VCA hospitals, cats who are more than 20% above their ideal body weight are obese, and this condition may give rise to a host of health complications, such as:
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Hypertension and heart disease
- Arthritis
- Bladder stones
- Skin and coat problems
- Immune system deficiencies
In fact, obesity can shorten your beloved Maine Coon’s lifespan by almost three times that of a healthy cat (2.8x). If your Maine Coon is grappling with weight control issues, I recommend checking out our article on managing feline weight.
Heightened Stress in Indoor Cats
Unlike our trusty dogs, cats are relatively new to domestication (40,000 years vs. 10,000). Thus your Maine Coon’s mind is very much still the mind of their wild ancestors, the Felis silvestris lybica.
Therefore, the instincts of their finely honed predator mind are powerful and express themselves in crepuscular (dawn and dusk). Cats have voracious hunting urges, exhibit territorial behavior, and an innate desire to mark their territory with feces and urine. If owners do not meet these deep instinctual needs, cats suffer stress, which can cause physical and psychological symptoms.
Physical Symptoms of Feline Stress
When cats experience stress, their central nervous systems become overly sensitized, leading to various nervous system responses.
- Increased hypothalamic and pituitary activity
- It affects their natural immune response
- Disturbs their delicate endocrine system
- Give rise to lower urinary tract infections (LUTS)
- Cause harm to the most vulnerable organs in each individual
- Shorten their lifespan
- Create behavioral issues and aggression
The Effects of Indoor-Only Stress
Prolonged stress causes an increase in cortisol levels, which flood the cat’s body with “flight or fight” hormones. Cortisol plays multiple roles in your cat’s body, including metabolic, immune system, and brain functions, and the imbalance of a stress system constantly under threat causes a host of physical and psychological symptoms.
The effects of elevated cortisol over a prolonged period can even impair the brain’s ability for memory and emotional functioning. Stress behavior in cats may manifest as:
- Inappropriate urination and defecation
- Spraying behavior
- Excessive meowing
- Furniture scratching
- Aggression to humans or other household pets
Cats indoors are particularly prone to social stress, as they cannot relieve their tension from other pets or humans in the home by going outside. Much like you would feel in prison with a cellmate called “Killer,” cats confined with dogs or cats they do not get along with can suffer significant stress.
The Dangers of Keeping Cats Indoors
As populations swell exponentially, space necessity dictates that humans and cats must share smaller and smaller living areas. With more than 38 million Americans living in apartments, our trust kitties also live the Lego-block lifestyle.
Cats Suffer Fatal Falls
So many poor kitties have suffered injury (and death) from falling from high-rise windows that experts have named this terrible reality “High Rise Syndrome.” Often in summer, when humans open their windows wide, indoor cats desperate to explore may find a sticky end when they plummet from ledges and windowsills.
Indoor Only Cats Are More at Risk Outdoors
Indoor-only cats that escape (and they are experts at this) are less inclined to be street-smart and more likely to react with flight. Thus, it is more likely for an indoor-only cat to suffer injury outside or go missing due to fear than cats used to visiting their neighborhood. Apartments are particularly dangerous as cats cannot navigate to their apartment in the closed-door system.
The Ethical Aspect of Depriving an Animal of a Natural Life
Cats live so intensely in their half-wild little bodies that their joy is the hunt, exploration, and the fantastic world full of smells and sounds. Cats delight in the outdoors, the stimulation of new and novel experiences, and the thrill of being in the “wild.”
Psychologically, we might fare better physically by never leaving our homes and only peeping through our barred windows at the beautiful summer outside. However, how would we feel if someone forced us to do so? Incarceration is an awful experience for us, no matter how well our warders provide our creature comforts.
How can we justify depriving our beloved cats of the experience of their senses without in some way taking away from the quality of their lives?
The Solution? Give Your Cat the Best of Both Indoor/Outdoor Worlds
With population densities rising exponentially, indoor-only cat policies have never been more pertinent. Modern lives dictate that our living areas grow smaller and smaller, and in cities, the outside may not be a viable option for your furry family feline,
However, we can become mindful of our cats’ emotional and instinctual needs and shrug off the idea that cats do not deserve or need our dedicated attention as much as our dogs do.
We need to find the best ways to create an enriched indoor environment that allows our cats to live their best lives—both physically and emotionally. Here are some ways to provide a fun, active, and, most of all, stimulating environment for our feline companions.
1. Take Your Maine Coon for Daily Walkies
If you own a Maine Coon, you are in luck; their amiable and easygoing natures make them perfect for harness training. Maine Coon owners proudly walk their gentle giants in city parks and suburban neighborhoods and even take them for hikes to get a good claw hold on being in nature.
Taking your kitty outdoors provides all the smells and stimulation of deciphering other feline messages broadcast in their hood. They feel the grass under their feet and the fresh breeze playing across their loveable fur. Best of all, you are there to guide and protect them from potential harm.
2. Make an Outdoor Protected Space or “Catio”
You can give your Maine Coon the best of the outdoors without the dangers by making a cat-friendly enclosed space in your garden. You should consider these tips when creating an outdoor play area for your cat,
- Remove all poisonous plants and potentially dangerous objects from the cat’s enclosed area. You can check the ASPCA toxic plant list here if you are unsure which plants are poisonous.
- Ensure the area is free of harmful pesticides and rodent poisons your cat might ingest.
- Place a cat-friendly cat flap so your cat may retreat into the house should they become frightened.
- Always ensure your cat has access to fresh water indoors and outside.
Here is a great YouTube video about cat-proofing your garden:
3.Take Your Role As Playmate Seriously and Show Up
If your cat is stuck inside, the onus is on you to step up and provide valuable connection and playtime daily. If you limit your cat’s world to four walls, you must bring the goods and become your cat’s playmate, entertainment, and best friend.
The days are gone when cat owners labored under the myth that cats are independent automatons who only needed food and a litterbox to thrive. Cats have a rich emotional life deeply intertwined with their perfected predator instincts and need as much attention as your trusty dog companions.
Cats also thrive on routine, so ignoring your cat during the busy week and lavishing attention on weekends is not enough. For your cat to be fulfilled and happy, you must set aside interactive playtime daily. The best way is to time your play sessions with your cat’s inner crepuscular clock and play with your cat early in the morning and early evening.
4. Make Your Home a Kitty Wonderland
If you intend to keep an indoor-only cat, there are many ways to enrich their home environment. You can recreate their outer world inside your living space by figuring out your cat’s feline needs. Here are some great tips for making your cat purrfectly happy:
※ Use Your Vertical Space
Think of your home space as three-dimensional, the same way as an ever-predatory cat, and provide plenty of vertical space for your cat to enjoy. Cats look to perch in high places like their wild cousins do, and when they have alternative escape routes, the elevated position enhances their sense of control and security.
※ Smell Is Very Important to Your Maine Coon
Territory and territorial markings are of paramount importance in your cat’s mind. This process involves spreading their scent on cat-friendly scratching posts and litter boxes. These items must be in the heart of your home where your cat spends his time and feels at home.
More cat lovers are turning their attention to the role of pheromones in cat behavior and stress levels. Products like Feliway Friends emit synthetic hormones that mimic a mother cat’s scent to calm her kittens, which aids your cat in feeling calm and contentment.
※ Give Your Indoor Cat Lots of Interactive Toys, Sounds, and Sights
Cats love novelty, and unique interactive cat puzzles and toys prevent boredom and satiate that immense hunting drive. Food puzzles are a fantastic way to amuse your kitty with hidden kibbles or tasty treats that they have to “hunt” to devour their “prey”. You should have several toys that you rotate regularly to break the routine and prevent toy fatigue.
Cat TV is gaining popularity with cat owners, with plenty of tasty little wildlife to keep your cat chirruping when you’re not home. Alternatively, cats adore window seating, where they can watch the world outside.
Some brainy types have formulated music to calm your kitty and provide relaxing sounds in your cat’s comfortable audio range. A study published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery found that feline-specific music played at veterinary visits lessened a cat’s stress levels.
5. Bring the Outdoors Inside: Cat Environment Enrichment
You can stimulate your cat’s senses by bringing branches, leaves, and other engaging outdoor items into your home and letting your cat investigate them. These fun objects stimulate your cat’s senses with novel smells and textures.
Indoor grass lounges are a treat, especially combined with a cat-proof sunny window that allows the scents and smells in from outside. Here is an excellent article on creating your grass lounge on HomeYou.
Just look at these indoor cats’ reactions to mummy’s grass lounge gift:
Closing Thoughts
As governments turn their attention to the problems of feral cats and domestic cats harming natural wildlife, more and more countries will adopt an indoor-only policy. Increasing population growth and the rise of apartment dwellings may also have a hand in pet owners keeping their cats inside. Although it may take more effort, you can make your home a cat haven and ensure your cat lives a happy life.
