Zhihu Gao Zan: Keeping cats indoors for a lifetime is not cruel

There is a high praise question on Zhihu:

"Is it really good for cats to keep cats indoors for a lifetime?"

One of the respondents answered very neutrally:

"People are different from people, and cats are different from cats; whether cats can go out and whether they are suitable for free-range breeding depends on the cat's personality."

Not only depends on the cat's personality, but also depends on the living environment.

Conclusion first:

For most cats, their desire to be free is not that strong.

The subconscious ranking of cats is: survival, life, curiosity (freedom).

Only after surviving, having food and water every day, and eating and drinking, will cats be curious about the outside world.

I would like to share with you a few cat cases that I have experienced in the veterinary hospital.

Case number one:

There is a cat that the shit shovel officer has raised for 5 years, and only goes out less than 10 times.

What are these 10 times for?

Vaccinate the cat, during which the cat gets sick once; even bathing is done by himself at home.

Why don't you take your cat out?

Because his cat is too timid, he has to have diarrhea for several days once he goes out. Except for the cat litter box for eating and drinking, he hides in the corner the rest of the time.

How can such a cat go out?

Case 2:

Another shit shoveling officer, the cat at home is less than 6 months old, and the last cat's vaccine is missing.

Then this shit shoveling officer was "a daring artist" and walked around with the cat.

There are always some stray cats gathered near his community, and he doesn't care about it at all, allowing his kittens to freely contact the stray cats outside.

Sure enough, the cat was infected and the vaccine was given in vain; the cat was seriously ill, and it cost him tens of thousands of yuan to cure.

Since then, it has been several years now, and he has hardly ever taken the cat out of the house.

Case three:

This is a neighbor of my hometown.

The cats in his family are basically in a semi-free-range state. They have a yard at home. They are vaccinated on time and dewormed inside and outside the body.

And when the weather is good, the cat basks in the sun in the yard and rolls around; when the time comes, he goes into the house by himself, eats and sleeps.

Basically, I don’t want to go out, and I only do activities within the scope of my home.

Keeping cats indoors for a lifetime is not cruel.

I found that many people who own cats like to impose their own emotions on cats.

For example:

When cats have tears when they eat, they make up their minds: "It must be so delicious, the cats are moved to tears."

In fact, this is just a normal physiological phenomenon of cats.

Cats are not so eager to go out, and a neutered cat is even more reluctant to go out.

Only when the male cat is in estrus and there are stray cats outside, will the male cat have a desire for the outside world.

The rest of the time, cats prefer to stay at home.

Can you walk the cat? Of course.

The premise is: your cat is outgoing, emotionally stable, and bold.

Not afraid of the outside world, not afraid after taking it out, no stress response, and no resistance to the outside environment.

Only if these conditions are met, you can try to take the cat out for a walk.

However, you must also do some preparation and homework for walking the cat.

Must-have tools: cat leash or cat bag.

Cats are different from dogs. Once the cat is stimulated outside and panicked, the cat will run around.

Once you don't catch the cat, the cat is likely to get lost.

More unstable factors.

Therefore, if it is not necessary, it is still not recommended to walk the cat.

As long as the cat is provided with enough interesting indoor environment, the cat will not want to go out at all.

Today's topic:

How do you feel about cats living their entire lives indoors?

(The article with the picture source network)