Thread: First time owner

I let my Maine Coon outside without a run. We have a large garden with other gardens all round it. It's a cul-de-sac on that side of the house. The door is always left open while she is out - so I suppose she's always supervised, although we're not always actively watching. We've noticed that, so far, she really only goes in our garden and the ajoining ones. She'a been going out for about 8 months now, since she was spayed. We don't let her out the other side of the house as there is a (quiet) road nearby. The road side of the house is not easy to access straight from the garden side and, so far, she's shown no interest in going round there. All ok so far. I was worried about her when first let her out, and continue to watch her. She has integrated well with the local cats (all moggies) and likes to play with them. I'd say that you'd be better with a house away from roads with plenty of garden if you're thinking of letting your cats out. I guess there's going to be lots of different opinions on letting cats out.

Hello, and welcome to the forum!

Pedigree cats are raised by their breeders as indoor kitties, so they don’t develop any “street smart”. Of course a lot depends on where you live, but even in the quietest of neighbourhoods with hardly any traffic cats can – and do – get run over. Apart from that, there are plenty other hazards. Infection by neighbourhood moggies or ferals with nasty viruses, some of which can be lethal; being chased or hurt by unfriendly dogs; predators; and last but not least people, either those who don’t like cats or those who see an opportunity to take home a beautiful pedigree for free.

This is why I prefer to keep my Coonies from wandering outside the garden. Plus, there are other options besides a cat run. We climb-proofed our fences with netting. There are a number of forum members who did the same. You might want to check out this thread for pictures: http://www.maine-coon-forum.info/pro...ofing-net.html

Hiya!

I agree with Antonia about the risks to cats even in the countryside. I actually live in a country cottage but - very sadly for me - I am not able to let my cats roam free. They live in the house and have an outside run accessed from the kitchen.

Added to the risks Antonia mentioned, nowadays crops are sprayed with all sorts of nasty chemicals, there's farm machinery etc - and although theft may seem rather unlikely, I do actually know of Maine Coons that have been stolen. This is an area where land owners allow hunters to come and shoot anything that moves....the list of dangers is endless.

The majority of breeders will ask you to sign an agreement that you do not intend to let their cats roam and there are very good reasons for this. There may be exceptions but in general MC's are not very street-wise.

My previous cats were free roaming former strays - moggies both of them. Both of them dragged themselves home to me seriously injured on separate occasions. One recovered after emergency surgery but the other - the most wonderful sweet natured cat I ever knew - died an agonised death on the vet's operating table. I could never face that again.

Hi and welcome! This is a tricky area, but on balance I also agree with Antonia and Wivelspiker. I know of cats who lived in fairly remote country areas who still got run over and killed. But the risk from traffic is only one part of it. There are other risks such as poisonings, whether accidental or deliberate. Getting stolen, lost or trapped somewhere and coming home thin and ill or not coming home at all. Getting shot with an air rifle or attacked by another creature (I include people in this). Less serious potential problems are, visiting other homes in the area and eating other cats' food, or annoying the neighbours by toileting in their gardens, or having territory battles with their cats.

Previously my moggies had free range inside and out, and fortunately we never had any serious mishaps. But when we got our MC's our breeder insisted they were inside or enclosed in the garden. It was part of the kitten contract and you will find that most decent breeders will insist on it. The downside to enclosing the garden, for me, is that I do sometimes feel sorry for them not being able to have a larger territory and more space. It's not the biggest garden but they do have every last inch of it to play in, and there's enough space for them to run at speed, lots of trees to climb, and viewing platforms where they can look up and down 3 streets (we are on the corner). Certainly I couldn't bear not knowing where they all are and not being able to find them at any time.

My partner and I had a silver tabby maine coon from kitten Tinkerbell Twinkletoes and she was supposed to be an indoor only coonie, we raised her this way for months and I had to deal with so many people at work/friends and family who thought I was basically being cruel and it wasnt fair on her etc etc. However her breeder would have preferred we keep her indoors (as most do) and I trusted him- so it angered me when others put their experience with their moggies on our beautiful and what I presume not very street wise pedigree.

HOWEVER, despite having more toys than most 1 year old children, Tink soon became interested in the great outdoors and with her it didnt seem enough to just watch the world through the window- she wanted to be In it. Building a cat run didnt seem an option due to the set up of our garden and it was only a rented house.. Tink would love going into the back room to the airvent and getting some 'fresh air' from that. So much so that I started to feel like the 'bad parent' and that keeping her in was the wrong decision, it just started to feel mean as soon as we realised how much she wanted to go out for fresh air, and then I started to think hey this isnt natural, cats are meant to go outside, not at all hours and for days on end, but surely it isnt 'right' for any animal to be cooped up with no fresh air. These were my thoughts..

So we started by using a harness and leash and only letting her out in the garden with me, so supervised of course. It is not like having a dog you can walk on a leash though!!! You cant walk a maine coon- you are dragged into every bush they want to explore and behind every nook and crany they can fit in! She did all this last summer, and then slowly and surely the level of supervision became more and more reduced until we unlocked the cat flap in the day time and let her come and go as she pleased. And most of the time, she was only out for ten minutes before wanting to come back in, and a lot of the time she didnt even bother going outside when she knew she could- she preferred to be in our company and followed me around the house like my shadow. She was my best friend. I must say I got the sense that she was happier being able to explore a little- and i know from following her she stuck to our garden and the neighbours. It was traumatic at first for me, worrying about her and if she was out for a longer time I would go and look for her. She would always be fine. If it got to the time of the evening after work when its just starting to get darker and she wasnt in, we would go out with dreamie treats and get her. She came when we called her name Tinkerbell, always with a chirrup so we felt as long as she was within shouting distance we could always find her. Then i would lock the cat flap- she Never went out at night.

So she was a very happy and pampered cat, but then we moved house and something happened to Tink.. she just didnt seem herself and her behaviour was 'off'. I thought she was depressed because of the house move-cats dont like change- but it turned out to be more than that.. Her breathing rate one day was alarmingly fast and so we rushed her to the vet who diagnosed Pyothorax- fluid in the chest cavity. She was drained of this fluid to help her respiratory rate, and was in the vets every day/every other day for about 3-5 weeks to be re-drained, plus we had to administer aerobic and anaerobic antibiotics and painkiller twice a day, having test upon test and x rays to try and discover what was the cause of this fluid accumulation- everything was suggested from cancer and FIP to a torn lung lobe and infection..she was transferred to The Oxford Cat Clinic and then the incrediable Langfords in Bristol whereby it was determined that actually what she had was 'just' an infection.. but this was a severe, life threatening infection and wasnt responding to the antibiotics.. she had to have an operation to physically remove the infection but it had spread to too many organs and she was losing too much blood during the op- devastatingly I had a call mid surgery asking for my permission to euthanaze her as she was not likely to survive the surgery, and if she did would only live a few more days and not survive the car journey home :'( :'( :'( This was May 11th this year.

They never found out the cause of the infection- they very very rarely do- so we were left not knowing why. Devastating. I do wonder whether it was something about the house move- cleaning products for example- or something In this house that caused the problem, but then again she could have been ill for a longer time than we realised as cats hide illness, and this would point to it developing earlier. So was it hereditary? She was a bit sneezy as a kitten.. Was it something in the old house? Was it something she picked up Outside??

Quite simply, we do not know. However going through this has made me far more cautious with the next baby, as me and my boyfriend were in absolute bits when we lost Tink. It has been so surreal and heart breaking. We needed another coonie in the house as without Tink here I just wanted to die. So now we have a new baby Merry and she is Not going out!!! Definately not in this house anyway as we hear cat fights at night and she is much too precious to be involved in that. I think that when we buy our house we will build a cat run, and for now maybe put screens across the windows as I feel this is a far safer compromise..

There are many dangers outside, and not just car accidents, fights and nasty people either harming cats or stealing them. think about my experience as you wouldnt neccessarily be worried about infections but it killed my Tink. She died at 15 months old and I could sob and sob my heart out just thinking about her. She was so content and perfect whilst she was with us- but the life expectancy of an outdoor vs indoor cat is mind blowing. I want this baby to be with us much longer. It is a risk if you let them out but it is a personal choice and you need to weigh up the pro's and con's of each. Dont let anyone make you feel guilty for what you decide, use your instinct and be prepared to deal with the consequences of either decision.

Also, note that some breeders will require you to sign an agreement that they will be indoor only MC's. Though not all- our new breeder openly admits she is happy for new owners to decide on either indoor or outdoor.

Hope i helped and didnt confuse lol xx

I can really identify with all the feelings of self doubt and the pressure of other people's opinions. Much sympathy for the loss of Tink in such heartbreaking circumstances and thanks for sharing.

Please post pics of Merry for everyone to enjoy!

After reading your responses I think I wouldn't be happy to allow one of these to roam freely, there are farms close by and I have heard stories of other people's moggies being shot and or poisoned come to think about it and I definitely wouldn't want that to happen. I just want any cats we have to also be able to enjoy a bit of freedom, so tell me more about ways to do this and allow them to enjoy the confines of the garden as much as possible.

Thanks, you are all very helpful.

Vikki

That is a good decision, Vikaroo.

You will find a lot of experiences from others on here. Beside the link I posted earlier, there’s this one by a member who built their own cat run, and this one about catproofing fences.

Also, if you Google something along the lines of “catproof garden” you will find many tips, ideas and companies selling materials. For instance, this one:
Cat Fence: Purrfect Cat Enclosures and Cat Fences

Personally, I prefer catproof fencing over a run because it gives your cats the opportunity to be with you in the garden instead of in a separate pen. But of course not all gardens are easily catproofed. Neither was ours initially, because of its shape. It’s an L shape with the bottom of the L being at the back of the house where we wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on the cats. So we decided to put up a separation fence and catproof only the patio (the vertical part of the L), where we can see them all the time.

The catproofing was done with netting. It’s inexpensive, relatively easy, and quite effective – the Coonies do try to scale the fences sometimes but once their paws touch the netting they loose grip and jump back down.

This was done on the exisiting fence. There was also a problematic conifer that we climb-proofed with a sheet of plastic.



And this is my husband fitting the net on top of the new separation fence with tiewraps.



I am sure others on here too can help you find a good solution for keeping your future furkids safe inside their own outdoor territory!

I think you are doing a wonderful thing by aiming for two babes from the start double fun,double trouble but company for each other. We went for the MC because they are recognised as being very happy as an indoor cat as they are very people orintated & would never even have given a thought to having one to let it outside to roam freely,we never questioned the fact that we had to sign a paper to say they would be kept in or only let out in contolled circumstances. We are very lucky that by converting half the carport we could make half of it into a cat pen which they can enter via the sitting room but we also have a fairly small garden which by just putting in higher panels we were able to wire along the top & when we are about they can roam out there freely too.
Having had the worry of a domestic cat getting shut up in a warehouse for a few days over a bankholiday & then getting killed on a road that it had no need to go near I always said never no more but to have the company of these wonderful creatures & know I can go to bed easy at night is great,have great fun house & kitty hunting in the very near future.....