A cat's territory and how to control it.

A lot of people ask me about whether you should keep your cats indoors, or risk letting it out. Sure, there are a lot reasons why not to let a cat out, for one, you have no idea what your cat will get up to as well as the confrontations it might have which can yield physical harm or pick up a disease but there are good reasons for and against letting your cat roam outdoors. I'll try to discuss some of them.

If you live in a flat or apartment in a busy urban area, it is perfectly acceptable and reasonable for most cats to keep them indoors all the time. In some parts of the world, this is actually a recommendation by the vets.

In the modern day, cat nutrition has been largely solved and you can fairly easily assure a well balanced diet at home without your cat having to go out and hunt for supplementation. You could also argue that outdoors exercise is essential but as we discussed before, if you as an owner take responsibility for playing with your pet, then there really isn't any need for that. It's not like the cat's are completely idle at home otherwise.

Cat's are nocturnal by nature but you should train them to stay in during the night from a young age. You can also reduce the dangers of traffic fighting and infection from other cats by getting your cat neutered. The sex drive of a queen or an active tom will override considerations for personal safety, especially on the road.

For an un-neutered male, their hunting area can be as big as 11km. However, a neutered male will at most control an area of about 200m.