30% of New Zealand cat owners are opposed to cat confinement and almost 50% are ambivalent

NEWS AND OPINION: This is a recent study from New Zealand about confining cats to the home i.e. full-time indoor cats. It's a modern trend and one that is being discussed in New Zealand as it is in many other developed countries. The objective is twofold (1) to keep the cats safe and (2) to keep wildlife safe from cat predation.

The New Zealand government and local governments within the country are particularly concerned about cat predation on wildlife - native species. They have a mentality which is similar to that found in Australia. It's one in which a focus is placed on protecting native species. The free-roaming domestic cat undermines that objective. But what do the citizens of New Zealand think about domestic cat confinement?

A survey of 395 cat owners as reported online on the Newshub website tells us that 30% of New Zealanders are opposed to keeping their cat inside the home full-time. Only 6% of cat owners in New Zealand do it at the moment while 17% are open to the possibility and 48% are unsure about the concept of full-time indoor cats.

This is not resounding support from cat-owning citizens for keeping cats inside the home. It doesn't surprise me. I've written in the past about the motivation of cat owners in keeping their cats indoors all the time and the prime objective is not to protect wildlife but to protect their cats. And in protecting their cats they avoid the emotional distress of their cat being harmed outside perhaps on the road.

RELATED: Places where domestic cats are confined to the home by law.

Ultimately, the bottom line is that normally cat owners keep their cats inside to avoid the distress that they will suffer if their cat is harmed on the road for instance. To use a long word it is an example of anthropocentrism.

This, I would argue, explains why the percentages from this study are rather poor for those people in authority who wants to keep cats inside to protect wildlife.

The general trend in New Zealand and Australia is for the authorities to want to change the law or make demands on cat owners to keep their cats inside. This survey represents somewhat of a pushback from that desire.

Cat advocates in New Zealand think that it is impractical to demand that all cat owners keep their cats inside all-time and it might be too expensive in for example having to build a catio or a cat confinement fence all around the back yard (£4,000). Both these options are fairly expensive. Although a mini-catio is cheap and better than no catio:

RELATED: Mini-catio is better than no catio.

You can't keep a cat locked up inside your home full-time unless you do something to entertain them which means enriching their environment. Hence the need for a catio. Even then it wouldn't be as good as allowing your cat outside in terms of mental stimulation.

The survey doesn't say this but a lot of cat owners want the best for their cat which means they want them to be happy and a domestic cat is happiest when they are out hunting! That sounds very anti-conservation and it is but if you are focusing on the cat only that is your objective.

New Zealand's cat advocates say that making micro-chipping and sterilisation obligatory would be effective over the long term in protecting wildlife. The problem with that plan is that it will take a very long time and it is difficult to enforce. Both these weaknesses in their plan will upset the authorities because they want something tangible quite quickly because they are elected officials and they need to demonstrate results i.e. success.

My personal view is that it's good that New Zealand is discussing these things but the problem is very hard to totally fix. One plank in the solution that has not been discussed in this news media article is education. If every cat owner was perfect they would microchip their cat, they would sterilise their cat, and they would take their cat outside on a lead or if they confine their cat to the home they would make sure that it was thoroughly enriched for their cat's entertainment. Many cat owners are far from perfect of course.

One issue is a lack of knowledge despite many years of discussion about cat caregiving on the internet. Things have improved by there is work to do.

I think education about cat ownership needs to be in the frame here. I would like to see domestic cat husbandry introduced into schools. It could be wider than that. You could have a course about companion animal husbandry for schoolkids. That should and could be part of the curriculum.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Is it bad for a cat to spend all their time indoors without going outside at all?

A simple example of enriching the cat's environment by a friend's husband who lives in the US.

A person on social media asked the above question. Another asked a very similar question: "How do cats stand staying inside their whole life?"

The questions go to that eternal debate about the necessity - it is believed by many - to keep domestic cats indoors full-time for their safety, for their owner's peace of mind and to protect wildlife.

Many more people are keeping their cats indoors full-time nowadays than in the past. If you go back far enough into the past, nobody kept their cat inside full-time. And in certain parts of the world, most domestic cat are community cats. They mingle between different owners. It is a very were loose relationship and they are all outdoor cats.

Cat domestication is still on a journey which started 10,000 years ago. It's evolving and it will be very different in 10,000 years' time.

I suspect that in 10,000 years' time all domestic cats will be full-time indoor cats. And I hope at that time cat owners will have done something about a major failing that is apparent to me nowadays.

This is that you can't just keep cats indoors full-time by locking the doors and windows on them. You can do that but if your cat is used to going outside, they will be unhappy. They will be confused.

But if you raise a kitten from scratch i.e. as a newborn and they begin their life indoors and they remain indoors it is more likely that they will be happy staying indoors all their lives. That's because of the obvious reason that they only know life indoors. That is their world.

So, the starting point is important. And equally important is how enjoyable you make the indoors for your cat. You must have heard the phrase "environmental enrichment". If you haven't it means converting the inside of your home to be equally suitable for humans and cats!

This is how the indoors should be for full-time indoor cats! Very few cat caregivers go this far. The words in the image are those of the constructor of the cat runs. Image in the public domain.

Very few people do that by which I mean making it equally good for both species. But some people do make the interior of their home more interesting for their cat companion. This would include variously:

• Providing lots of climbing materials such as cat trees, some of which might go to the ceiling;
• Providing cat runs which traverse the walls and go up to the ceiling!
• Providing little hidey-hole places where they can hide and sleep. They should be high up sometimes where they will feel more secure.
• Providing toys to play with and then playing with your cat frequently.
• Building a catio, which is a small enclosure attached to the home with a wire grill to the exterior so the cat can smell and see the exterior more easily. They can employ their senses to pick up all that is going on in the exterior.

Cats need to be able to travel vertically as well as horizontally. They need a den the sleeping which is covered. Cats like something over their heads when they sleep ideally. That is not an absolute requirement but it's a good recommendation.

So, the answer to the question is you can keep cats indoors full-time but there is an added obligation on the owner to make sure that their cat does not become bored. There are tens of millions of very bored full-time indoor cats in America and elsewhere. And they end up pleasure eating to relieve the boredom which leads to obesity which in turn leads to illnesses such as feline diabetes.

When people say their indoor cat sleeps all the time, it is no surprise to me because they have nothing else to do. They are not actually in deep sleep. They are simply snoozing, killing time, resting and zoning out. It is incumbent upon cat owners to really rise to this very difficult challenge of enriching their cat's environment if they are confined to it.

When they do it is not bad to keep a cat indoors all the time. If they don't rise to the challenge, it is bad! It is down to the caregiver to make it work. Thus far I have not seen enough - anywhere near enough - commitment to enriching a cat's indoor environment.

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There are some secondary issues which are perhaps obvious. It's much easier for a full-time indoor cat to live in a big house with many rooms. Lots more space. It's much harder for a cat to live in a bedsit in a high-rise apartment block. It's much harder to make the latter environment enriched compared to the former.

And also, there's the question of how often the owner is around. I believe that it's important that the caregiver is around a lot to ensure that the indoor cat is entertained. Perhaps I'm being too demanding and expecting to high a standard. But this goes back to the original issue about the added responsibility placed upon the caregiver of full-time indoor cats.

How to provide a suitable environment for your cat to live in (9 pointers)

How to provide a suitable environment for your cat to live in (9 pointers) as per DEFRA. Image: DEFRA.

As per the advice (reproduced verbatim here) of the UK government in following the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which is based on basic principles of cat caregiving, here is how to provide a suitable environment for your cat to live in. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 is an excellent piece of legislation as it also provides guidelines on cat caregiving. It more or less says that doing the opposite to good cat caregiving can amount cat abuse/cruelty and be a crime. This list was prepared by the UK governments Canine and feline sector group.

Link to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 - with added notes

1. Provide your cat with a safe, comfortable, dry, draught-free, clean and quiet place where it can rest undisturbed. Ideally, there should be a range of such places available – the cat will choose where it is most comfortable.
2. Take all reasonable steps to protect your cat from hazards indoors and outdoors.
3. Make sure your cat has constant access to a variety of safe hiding places including elevated resting places, where it can feel safe.
4. If your cat does not go outside, make sure it has plenty of activities to do and enough space to exercise, climb and play indoors.
5. Your cat should be provided with a suitable toilet area, that is quiet, easily accessible and kept clean. 
6. Before you move your cat, you should gradually get it used to a secure cat carrier. Putting items which smell like the cat, for instance its blanket, in the carrier and any place you move your cat to can help it feel at ease.
7. Any place where your cat is left must be large enough and comfortable with effective ventilation and temperature control so that your cat is able to move around to ensure its comfort, avoiding becoming too hot or too cold. Never leave your cat in an area where this is not possible such as a car on a warm day.
8. Your cat should not be routinely kept in a cage.
9. If you have any concerns about moving to a new home, or transporting your cat, you should consult a vet or other suitably qualified cat care specialist.

As you can see these are fundamental pointers. Safety comes first. For me there is a pressing need for cat caregivers to do much more if they keep their cats inside all the time. Point number 4 refers to this aspect of care caregiving.

It is called 'environmental enrichment'. A term that I am sure you have heard before. It is not enough to shut the doors and windows on your cat and sit back and believe that you have done all you can to keep you cat safe.

There are many hazards in the home and if the home is stressful because it is not enriched health problems can follow. A barren home may be no safer for an indoor cat than an indoor/outdoor life depending on the location and hazards/predators outside.

Help! 5-year-old black cat sibling marking all over the house. Possible reasons.

 This is the Reddit.com post supporting the title. What to do?

He has 3000 sq ft of house and attic to roam and play. Has a brother from same litter and both are very socialized. They sleep w us every night in our bed. He has a massive outdoor catio jungle in my backyard (50ft x 80 ft) with a 100ft tunnel that runs under Palms and leads to his lizard hunting paradise. 3 litter boxes scattered throughout the house that are always clean w fresh litter. I’ve tried just about everything… still always cleaning up cat piss from walls, carpets, couch. It’s a nightmare 😱 need advice??!!

My answer would be three possibilities on the basis that the cat has been neutered which is the default situation.

The picture is here to illustrate the page only. This is not the cat in question. Image in the public domain.

Clearly, if the cat is not neutered then there is a much higher chance that they will mark territory. But as mentioned on the presumption that the cat is neutered one possible reason is that the brothers no longer get along. 

Siblings become independent

This may well happen because when siblings in the wild grow up they become independent. They leave the natal home range and go in search of their own home range. Their sibling then becomes just another individual occupying their territory. They are independent cats. They are solitary, essentially. The fact that they are siblings no longer helps to ensure that they get along.

So, this particular individual might feel stressed by the presence of his sibling and is marking territory to send a message to his brother that this is his home range and he is unwanted. Marking territory helps to calm him down because he creates his little home which smells like him.

Although siblings can get along it is not a certainty. The idea that adopting two siblings automatically gives you two cats who will keep each company and get along all their lives is a fallacy.

Separation anxiety?

Another possibility is that the owner is not around enough which is creating separation anxiety in one cat. This is happening despite the fact that the person has created a very nice cat environment with lots of things to do and to stimulate them mentally. That is irrelevant in terms of the particular problem clearly otherwise the problem would not exist.

Medical

A third possibility is that the cat who is said to be spraying is not actually spraying urine but is depositing small spots of bloody urine around the home due to cystitis. This is also heavily linked to stress. Dry cat food may exacerbate the problem.

These are three possibilities. When a cat is spraying inside the home it is invariably to do with a mental issue triggered by stress of some sort. That needs to be addressed. The source of stress needs to be found, isolated and then removed.

Singapore woman designed her apartment for her cats

This is a special woman. Huiyu has totally modified her apartment in Singapore to accommodate the needs of her cats. It is genuinely designed for cats and people. She explains what she has done in her TikTok video. The modifications required walls to be 'hacked' to use her word. Neat. For example, the living room has been opened up by removing partition walls. She did this for her four cats to give them the freedom to move around. I guess they are all indoor cats.

Watch on TikTok

Note: This is an embedded video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source or the video is turned into a link which would stop it working here. I have no control over this.

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Another modification is at the front door where there is a mesh from the ground upwards to about halfway up to prevent cats from climbing and escaping according to her. Although looking at it, it would seem possible for a cat to escape if they were determined enough. 

Huiyu at her front door. Image: Mothership.

That is not to detract from this woman's excellent work. I think she has done great to be so concerned about providing facilities for her cats.

Singapore woman adapts her apartment to meet her cats' needs. Image: Mothership montage.

She installed a massive internal cat door (cat flap) from the living room to her bedroom which can be locked because on occasions she wants to be alone! And she has sliding doors in between the living room and what she calls a "nursing room". The idea is that if a cat become ill with a contagious disease they can be confined to a part of the apartment.

RELATED: Picture of indoor cat climber proves catification can look aesthetically pleasing.

She believes that FeLV-positive cats should be adopted by people where possible otherwise they will be stuck in shelters. She had a FeLV-positive cat once and they passed at the age of four.

Of her four cats one of them is a foster cat. The foster cat mixes with her resident cats. That would not be allowed by Cats Protection in the UK. The purpose is to keep foster cats separate from resident cats. Foster cats should only be kept in cages according to Cats Protection. That is to protect them from contagious diseases.

Improving the olfactory and visual environment of full-time indoor cats

I have just bumped into something that I think is interesting and which is particularly pertinent today with so many full-time indoor cats. I believe that often these cats are under-stimulated. I'm not apportioning blame. I just think that you can't bring cats in from the outside and confine them to the inside and leave it at that. The human caregiver has more to do and here are two examples.

RELATED: The big flaw that is never admitted in keeping cats indoors full-time.

Olfactory

This tip applies more to shelter cats than to full-time indoor domestic cats in homes but I think it is relevant. It is called "olfactory enrichment". The experts believe that it is relatively underused in animal housing perhaps because humans have a relatively poor sense of smell compared to cats and other animals.

Catnip gives your cat pleasure. Image: Johnsons veterinary products.

We know that you can buy catnip spray. I think that if you use catnip spray from time to time to spray into the environment you will find that there will be an increasing amount of time that the cat in that home is active because they will be stimulated by the chemical, nepetalactone, which we know excites and stimulates domestic cats.

A study examined the effect of introducing four odours on the behaviour of six zoo-housed black-footed cats. These are small wild cats are known to be the most prolific hunters of all the cats as it happens. The odours that were introduced were nutmeg, catnip, body odour of prey (quail) and no artificial odour and control. They found that there was an increase in their activity with all of the genuine odours with nutmeg causing less of an effect than catnip or odour of prey. As mentioned, catnip is a known stimulant for cats. Although not all cats are affected similarly.

Visual

In a cat's life there are two forms of cat television. There is the human television or perhaps iPad through which you can show images which may help to stimulate your cat. I've seen many videos of cats watching television with great interest. I am sure that you can buy programs for a television designed for cats. You'll need a CD player attached to the TV if you can't access programs provided in the usual way.

Window box for indoor cats. Image in public domain.

Perhaps a better form of cat television is the humble window. Full-time indoor cats spend a lot of time at windows looking out. They can get an awful lot of enjoyment doing that. There should be access to a window or windows in the home of a full-time indoor cat. 

To improve the arrangement you can build or buy window boxes which are inserted into the window and which overhang on the outside of the house. The front of the window box should not be glazed but should be open to the elements with a grill. In this way the cat can both see and smell the outside.

Window box is a firm favorite. Image in the public domain.

I would have thought that such a construction would be a fundamental necessity for any full-time indoor cat or cats. I would have thought where there are more than one indoor cat you could build more than one window box arrangement. They are like mini-catios and you see a whole range of designs. How many households have them? I would say very few relative to the number of indoor cats.

They are actually decorative as well and improve the appearance and ambience of a house.

Domestic cats prefer underfloor heating to radiators

I have come to the decision that domestic cats prefer underfloor heating to radiators. To the best of my knowledge, underfloor heating is fairly unusual. I just happened to have it and I love it. Don't think that it is more expensive than conventional heating because it is not. The boiler runs for longer in the morning when it heats up the floor but once it is heated up the boiler is not required to work for the next 22 hours because the floor retains the heat. And it is this retention of heat which helps to maintain a very stable air temperature inside the home even during cold nights in winter. But this is not about me. It's about my cat. 

Domestic cats prefer underfloor heating to radiators. Photo: MikeB.

As you can see in the photograph he loves underfloor heating. It's unusual for a cat to plonk himself down in the middle of a kitchen like this and curl up on the floor because it is a bit too exposed. Cats like to find a quiet place, preferably high up, where they feel secure. This location does not meet that requirement. However, it does meet the requirement of warmth. This floor is warm. It's hard which is not great either for him but despite those downsides he has decided to rest there and but for the fact that I photographed him, which disturbed him, I think he'd be there right now.

I realise that you can't use those radiator hammocks which are quite popular with domestic cats and which are attached to radiators which heat the air in the room. But when the whole ground floor is underfloor heated (except for the hallway) a cat has a lot of choice as to where to put themselves. It opens up some added options for a resting place for a domestic cat.

I would recommend underfloor heating if you are buying a house with it and are uncertain about its functionality. It functions very well. I can vouch for that. And the heating bill is no more than for standard heating using radiators. Further, you have all that extra wall space because radiators take wall space away from a room. The walls are completely sheer in my home. You can put furniture where ever you want to.

Woman decides to take her cute cat on her errands all the time

The woman states on Reddit.com that her "final form" is to take her cat on errands all the time. I take this to mean that she has firmly decided that the final version of her, in respect of her relationship with her cat companion, is to take the cutie on her daily errands. This is a brave move. 

I took my cat to all my errands today and I think that’s just how I’m going to live my life from now on 😂 crazy cat lady final form.

Provided she is careful to ensure that her cat does not get into any trouble, it's a good idea. I am one of those people who believe that too many domestic cats are too often bored because of a lack of stimulation which arises out of the simple fact that they are cared for and therefore do not have an outlet for their desire to hunt for a living.

Walking your cat on a lead outside, if that's possible and often it isn't, and in this instance carrying your cat into the local DIY store can work wonders to stimulate your cat. There are potential pitfalls and dangers obviously. Cats can be scared under the circumstances. They can wriggle out of their harness. They can disappear and become lost. You just have to take precautions. 

What about an unexpected encounter with a dog? You need a safety procedure prepared to deal with the unexpected and dangerous.

I bet that this woman gets into a lot of conversations with people that she would otherwise not have ended up talking to. That's a positive spin-off. It is very unusual for a person to do this.

I can remember Taylor Swift carrying her Scottish Fold companion cat under her arm like an accessory as she 'swiftly' walked from a building down some steps. A good picture with good and bad points.

Taylor Swift walks out of her apartment into NYC with her cat under her arm. Image: Twitter.

You have to be careful that you don't treat your cat as an accessory to your lifestyle. I'm not saying that Taylor Swift was doing that. She is a good if not excellent cat caregiver. But you know that those images of celebrities carrying their miniature dogs under their arms don't really tick the boxes when it comes to dog caregiving. For me, the relationship has gone a little awry.

Help for skittish kitties?

Your cat is skittish. You want to help. He or she is probably skittish for three main reasons (1) he is timid and shy or (2) he is in a new home and has not settled down properly or (2) the home is unsettled in terms of ambience.

Background animosity between humans and cats can make a cat skittish through anxiety. Image: MikeB

The last factor I think is a key one. It is now common knowledge that domestic cats like to live in a calm environment with solid routines and rhythms which are integrated with their human caregiver. If you add into that a home which is adapted, at least to a certain extent, to a cat's behaviour plus plenty of play a cat should not be skittish for environmental reasons. It would be hard to shake skittishness due to timidity which is inherited. The best you can do there is to once again create a very calm, friendly environment to enable a skittish cat to feel calmer and become more confident in their environment.

Skittishness is a product of anxiety or fear. This, as mentioned, can emanate from an inherently shy character. But if the cat is not inherently shy but is still skittish it's going to be environmental factors which cause this. In a multi-cat home, there may be bullying by a dominant cat or a cat might not get along that well with the other cats. It is said that at behavioural problems most often start in multi-cat homes where domestic cats are brought together in a confined space. This is especially true if they are all full-time indoor cats which is probably going to be common for the simple reason you can't let a lot of cats outside to roam freely.

The kind of person who keeps a lot of cats as pets is also the kind of person who keeps their cats indoors all the time. This can build up some anxieties in some cats if they lack confidence. It would be hard to beat this problem. What I mean is if a cat is skittish because they feel unsettled due to the other cats around them, there is no cure for that other than separating the cat from the other cats which is not going to be practical.

Play is a great way to bring a shy cat out of their shell. They forget where they are when they are playing because their instinct takes over and they chase and hunt a cat toy. It also helps to create a stronger bond between person and cat. With a stronger bond a cat is likely to feel more settled and therefore less skittish.

It all comes down to the environment. At one end of the spectrum, you might have a retired person like myself living with one cat. If that cat has a normal character i.e. neither nervous or overconfident, then they will be calm and they will not be skittish. It may occur temporarily for some extraordinary reason but in general they will be calm. At the other end of the spectrum, you might have a home where people come and go all the time, which is noisy, and where there is more than one cat. This sort of home opens up the door to a lot of potential conflicts or situations which could unnerve a domestic cat even one who is not inherently skittish.

It may be impossible to make that noisy, active and unsettled home into one which is calm and quiet for practical or functional reasons. In which case the cat will not lose their skittishness unless they are able to adapt to it. Domestic cats are very adaptable and they can get used to some extraordinary situations. I have seen a community cat in Asia sleeping at the top of an underground railway escalator at the exact point where the passengers leave the escalator. Clearly that cat is completely adapted to a noisy and active environment.

One big problem for domestic cats is ensuring that they have enough space i.e. their home-range. If they are able to enjoy their home range, which they feel they can control, it does help to calm them. And skittishness overlaps with aggression. Domestic cats who suffer intrusions into their home range can become defensively aggressive which may be perceived as agitated or even skittish by some observers. Once again it is down to the environment.

The last resort in dealing with a skittish kitty is to consider drug treatment. I'm talking about tranquilizers for domestic cats. It does happen but I think you have to be quite desperate to take this route. All the other normal steps must take place first because drugs simply mask the symptoms whereas what I discussed on this page gets to the root of the problem.

As an afterthought, if the problem is the other cats in the home, then creating a room or rooms which are for the exclusive use of the skittish kitty and their human caregiver will certainly help the cat to recover some confidence.

And it might be easy to forget about the skittish kitty because he or she is hiding some of the time. Out of sight out of mind is the motto and this can happen with domestic cats. People are too busy and they take it for granted that cats are "independent" when they are not in truth. But leaving an anxious kitty alone without plenty of human interaction of the right kind will make her condition worse.

And of course, it goes without saying, that patience is a vital ingredient in getting a wallflower to bloom. Jackson Galaxy calls timid cats 'wallflowers' but you can get them to bloom. They have to believe that the place where they live is not hostile but is very friendly. If you achieve that he will be relaxed and come to you.

To conclude, the key to helping a skittish cat to feel calmer is to ensure that the environment is as suited as best as possible to a feline character. In the words of Jackson Galaxy, the owner needs to tap into the raw cat beneath the domestic cat to find out what makes them tick. This will allow them to find their mojo which means to behave normally in a balanced way.

For a full-time indoor cat, a walk on the leash in the garden will be thoroughly enjoyed

This is about providing your cat with an enriched environment. Something as simple as walking your cat around the front or backyard of your home once a day for, say, 20 minutes will be something that your cat can look forward to if she/he is a full-time indoor cat. 

It really doesn't have to be something exotic and clever. It's just allowing your cat to 'connect' with nature as best you can achieve it. This will be in stark contrast to being inside the home which is entirely artificial and the human world.

For a full-time indoor cat, a walk on the leash in the garden will be thoroughly enjoyed. Photo: Getty Images (harpazo_hope) 

There is a good example of this on the Internet right now from The Guardian newspaper. Interestingly, it concerns a family living in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. We know how sensitive the Australian government and indeed Australian citizens are to the predation of native species by domestic cats. This man, James Shackell, decided he wanted to enrich his cat's life, so the benefits of wildlife conservation was a secondary matter.

As expected, it took a while for his cat, Monkey, to adjust to wearing a harness because they almost invariably cause a cat to flop over on their side and become totally passive and immobilised. It is as if they have been zapped with a taser. But bit-by-bit they get used to it and are able to walk fairly normally when wearing one.

And so with patience James took Monkey out to his front garden and over time Monkey learned to love it and he would encourage James to take him out. It has become a daily ritual and whenever he grabs the lead Monkey trills and purrs and runs to the front door "like an excited puppy". Great to see. You know you are doing well as a cat guardian when you see that feline behavior.

I would expect his front garden not to be an enormous 'domain' of several acres but quite small but it is large enough for a domestic cat to enjoy smelling the earth, the grass and the scents that waft in on the breeze. And to feel the earth and grass under his paws is a great experience for an indoor cat.

The point of this brief note is to say that something as simple and is easy to do as this will have great benefits to a full-time indoor cat and therefore it should be done if at all possible. I am passionate about trying to encourage people to ensure that their cat enjoys nature. It will be a compromise, as demonstrated by the arrangements of James, but this is far better than nothing at all.

One downside which he has got used to is that his neighbours think that he is eccentric. It's funny but people do see cats on leashes and cats in strollers as very strange. This is because it is still very rare and a lot of people have preconceived views about domestic gas being independent and free roaming. 

Both the cat stroller and the cat leash are excellent tools to work out a compromise to allowing a cat to behave naturally while protecting them from injury and protecting nature from the predatory instinct of this beloved animal companion.

P.S. An alternative is to build a large backyard enclosure but that is far more expensive and intrusive. It is still a good idea though if you are up to the disruption. It will hard though to convert a free-roaming cat to a confined cat. Be prepared for difficulties and/or failure.