Just like people own dogs, lots of homes in various parts of the world also own cats. And a great proportion of these cats live indoors with their owners. While up to 65% of cats live indoors, there are still many of them that live outside the house.
Now, cats that live in the house and those that live out of the house are not exposed to the same situations. Those in the house are well protected and do not have to deal with diseases or predators. However, cats that live outdoors have to deal with poisons, diseases, cars, and predators. These are some of the reasons cats that live indoors live longer than those that spend a huge chunk of their lives outdoors.
While there is absolutely nothing wrong with leaving your cat outside, it is usually good to make them spend very limited time outside or keep them in the house all the time. If you must let your cat stay outdoors, you might want to keep it in a fenced area and also keep an eye on it very constantly.
Although there are lots of downsides associated with keeping your cats outdoors, it does not take away the fact that letting cats spend a lot of time outdoors also comes with some advantages.
Unlike cats that spend a lot of time indoors, those that spend time outdoors have better social lives. Furthermore, they do not need to deal with boredom or a lack of exercise.
For your cat to stay outdoors, you must come up with ways to keep it safe. Contained in this article are some ways to keep your outdoor cat safe and if you want to learn more, visit www.MyCatsTopReviews.com.
Don’t Cut Its Claws
When you spend a lot of time playing with your cat in the house, you might want to declaw as this will keep you from getting wounded by it. Declawing a cat might be great if it stays indoors. It, however, is a risky move if it has to spend a lot of time outdoors.
Why is this so?
There is a lot claws do for cats. It helps them protect themselves from dogs and other cats. It also makes it possible for them to climb trees while trying to escape from a threat. If you cut your cat’s claws before leaving it outdoors, you will simply be making it very vulnerable.
Neuter Your Cat
When cats spend a lot of time outdoors, their chances of being knocked down by a vehicle or getting involved in a fight are high. So, to keep them safe, once they begin to approach five months, you should neuter them.
Get a Collar or a Chip
When your cat is allowed to spend a lot of time outdoors, there are times it will wander away. When this happens, how do you identify it?
In the absence of a means of identification, it will be very difficult to identify your cat after it wanders away. This is why you should microchip your pet. When a pet is microchipped, identifying it after it has been away for a long time will not be challenging.
As soon as you get a chip for your cat, you have to ensure that your contact information on the chip is not backdated. If the details contained on your chip are not up-to-date, things might not go on as planned.
Beyond getting a chip, you can also get something as simple as a collar. This will also go a long way in helping you identify your cat after it wanders away.
Get it Vaccinated
All things being equal, your cat should be vaccinated whether it spends time in the house or outside the house. While vaccination is needed to keep every cat healthy, cats that spend a lot of time outdoors need to be vaccinated even more.
So, will your cat be spending a lot of time outdoors? If yes, you should tell your vet about this. This way, they can give your cat that extra dose of vaccination it needs to stay healthy. One of these vaccinations is feline leukemia. Beyond vaccinating your cat with feline leukemia, the region you live in is a major determinant of the type of vaccination your cat should get.
Keep a Litter Box in the House
The fact that a cat spends a lot of time outdoors is not an indication that it will never spend time indoors. Since the cat belongs to your house, there are times it will want to spend a lot of time in the house. This is one reason you should have a litter box in the house.
Food and Water Should Always be Made Available
Regardless of what time of the year it is, you should always have food and water available for your cat. This should be kept outside so it can access both food and water whenever it needs one. The number of calories contained in your cat’s food during winter should exceed what it contains during summer. The reason for this is simply cats use up more energy during winter than they do in summer.
Make Shelter Available
To the average person, a cat might be very okay without a shelter over its head. However, this is not exactly what it is. The snow, as well as the very low temperatures associated with cold weathers, can have a bad effect on your cat.
Cats are definitely different from humans. However, just like humans, they get hypothermia and frostbite. So, to prevent your cat from getting down with hypothermia, you should provide a form of shelter for it. Furthermore, when you provide your cat with shelter, it will not need to climb into your car’s hood before it is able to stay cool when the weather is hot or warm when the weather is cold.
When the weather gets really cold, the best thing you can do for your cat is to keep it in the house. However, if it is impossible to get your cat into the house, you will need to set up a small shelter for it outside the house.