Indoor-Outdoor Cats

Rodents wreak havoc in barns and residential areas. Rodents also distribute disease-carrying organisms on their feet, contaminate feed with their feces and urine, destroy insulation in your buildings, and destroy feed that is intended for your livestock, costing you more money on feed and repairs than necessary.

Indoor/outdoor cats offer a natural alternative to chemical extermination methods and, in some cases, the mere presence of a cat is enough to ward off any would-be rodent tenants. Indoor/outdoor cats are a natural and permanent way to deter mice, rats, snakes and other residential pests.

Outdoor cats require very little to keep them healthy and happy—yearly immunizations and basic survival essentials (daily food and fresh water). Beyond that, they need very little and usually give a whole lot back.

Although it seems counter-intuitive to saving money to acquire another mouth to feed, having an indoor/outdoor cat can make a world of difference when it comes to the cost of pest control. With each rodent they eat and each bug they deter, one less pest is consuming feed or destroying property.

Just because a indoor/outdoor cat will be living in your barn or outdoors, it doesn’t mean that it won’t need adequate care. To that end, here are a few steps to take to keep your indoor/outdoor cats as healthy and well cared for as you can.

All Loving Arms Pet Placement cats are spayed or neutered.

There are many consequences of having a fertile female or roaming tom cat on your property. In addition to the obvious (unwanted litters of kittens) non-neutered cats tend to wander, get in fights, and bring diseases home. Cats left intact and allowed to roam free adds to the feral cat population. It’s important that you are not adding to the issue of feral cats instead of taking a formerly feral cat and giving it a home.

As a cat owner, you are charged with providing your feline friends with the best chance for a long, healthy life. Yet, in their role as hunter and protector, indoor/outdoor cats and community cats are susceptible to some serious health risks. Much more than inside cats, indoor/outdoor cats require regular de-worming, flea treatment, vaccinations, and routine healthcare.

Because they are outdoor animals, they are more susceptible to dealing with predators and wild animals, as well as infectious diseases and intestinal parasites. So, keeping your indoor/outdoor cat fully vaccinated will keep them from dealing with a lot of illnesses that they could possibly come in contact with outdoors.

Indoor/outdoor cats don’t require a ton of attention. In fact, some would prefer to be left alone and will live out their lives happily keeping your barn and homestead free of pests and rodents that will damage wiring, and ruin your garden. But they do require a few basic needs to be met in order to keep them healthy and willing to stay on your property.

One of the most important things you can do to help your cat acclimate to its new home environment is to keep it crated for at least the first two weeks. Your new cat will be understandably frightened, and crating allows your new friend time to become acclimated to its new environment and for its internal “radar” to fix on the new home and know where to come home at the end of the day.

After the initial confinement period, your cat will need a place to go in out of the wind and rain and during extreme weather.

No matter what you’ve heard in the past, cats do not thrive on catching mice alone—they still need proper nutrition. This may sound like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised by the prevailing belief that outdoor cats shouldn’t be fed because it would deter them from eating rodents and bugs. This belief is not only untrue, but it’s not healthy for your pet. Community and indoor/outdoor cats still need adequate food and water. It’s often ideal to provide their meals on a high shelf or other not-so-easily accessible area so that raccoons and other wildlife will not be attracted.

Overall, cats are extremely intelligent, sociable members of farming and neighborhood communities. They are hardy, resourceful, capable creatures. Fighters and survivors.

And, while indoor/outdoor cats may not make the most ideal members of the family, they CAN go on to lead happy, productive lives in the communities in which they live.