"Pennyaline" wrote in message
...
William Graham wrote:
If a cat is "fixed: it will seldom travel off of your property....We live
on a dead end street, and one of our cats came from a neighbor (when they
got a dog) she still goes back there to visit once in a while, and takes
her buddy B-K with her, but other than that, all of our cats spend all of
their time on the property. So, other than using the ground for a cat
box, they are really inside cats.....

Spayed and neutered cats roam just as much as intact cats do. The
difference is that they don't roam looking to mate and don't contribute to
the cat overpopulation problem. They are just as much at risk of getting
lost, being killed by traffic, getting injured or killed by other animals,
exposure and reexposure to diseases communicable to other animals AND
humans, becoming stranded outdoors in bad weather, eating poisoned baits,
etc. They will return to anyplace they find food, so don't pat yourself on
the back about your kitty's fidelity. She may vanish forever at any
moment, and then who will you blame? Indoor cats that go outside are not
indoor cats. Keep your cats inside!

The above has NOT been my experience, and I am 72 years old and have had
many cats during my life....I have four of them right now....two males (one
fixed, and one not) and two fixed females. Even the unfixed male never went
more than two blocks away, and now, at about 6 years old, he seldom leaves
the property. Three of my four cats were outside cats when I got them, and
the other one soon learned to appreciate being able to go out on the deck
and sun herself.....I wouldn't have an inside cat unless I lived in a very
hazardous place, like a city apartment, and then I would get one only as a
kitten, and train him/her from birth to live inside.....Even then, every
inside cat I have known lives to go outside, and runs out every chance they
get. - That should tell you something right there........