18
Sep
During periods of cold weather cats will go looking for a warm place to hunker down. Cats can also be allergic to inside and outside environmental allergens and be food allergic.
You just have to hope for the best and do everything you can to make sure they are well-fed and get as much attention as possible.
Can domestic cats survive outside. Is It Bad To Leave Cats Outside. If your Cat is an outdoor Cat then there is no problem with that. Yes it can be dangerous they are all alone and unsupervised.
But Im not here to state the pros and cons. Some Cats are well adapted to staying outdoors. Though when winter comes it can be a whole new ball game.
Cats are pretty well adapted for cold weather but when the temperature dips below freezing they are susceptible to hypothermia and frostbite. During periods of cold weather cats will go looking for a warm place to hunker down. Building an outside shelter for a cat can be an inexpensive and fun project for the family.
Indoor cats tend to live much longer lives than outdoor catsabout 10 to 15 years instead of just two to five years according to UC Davis Veterinary Medicine. Thats because there are a lot of outdoor hazards that cats can be exposed to ranging from. The truth is indoor cats can and do get bored but letting them outside is not a good solution.
Instead make your home more interesting. Set up perches where he can watch birds from the safety of inside build a DIY cat playhouse hide his food or modify his feeder so he has to hunt for it. The only way for a stray cat to survive outside is if someone adopts him or takes him to a shelter.
Stray cats have no idea how to hunt or survive outside. If they are dumped outside in the territory of a feral cat or group of cats these cats will fight the stray and chase him out of their territory. When youre letting cats outside for the first time its important that they be supervised and that they feel safeHow you do this depends on whether the cat is a kitten or an adult that has already been outside before.
Kittens because of the risk of catching diseases or getting lost or frightened on their own should be kept indoors until they are at least six months old and have had all. If the hot weather can turn your car into an oven then the cold weather turns it into a refrigerator. Being left in a cold car could cause a cat to become hypothermic quickly.
It is best to limit your cats car rides to necessities when it is cold outside. Feral Cats Cant Be Helped. Though having a long history of domestication nearly 4000 years cats still demonstrate keen hunting skills can quickly climb trees and express other instinctual behaviors when outdoors.
Watching your kitty pounce and play in the sunshine may lead you to believe theyre happier outdoors but all that stimulation comes with even more stressors and life-threatening hazards. Another statistic that veterinarians commonly use in practice is the following. Cats who spend significant unsupervised time outdoors tend to survive to be about 7 years old while indoor-only cats can be expected to live to around 14 years of age.
Veterinarians say you should never let a cat outside that doesnt have claws. They cannot defend themselves from dogs and other cats and they cannot climb on trees to escape a threat making the. Some cats much prefer to live outdoors never being that keen to come inside the house even when the winter sets in and the outside temperature is very very cold.
If you own a cat that wants to be outside all of the time it can be extremely worrying when the weather turns very cold and for good reason because if our feline friends are exposed to. Indoor cats can get fleas. Most veterinary dermatologists believe flea allergy is behind a great deal of cat scratching until proven otherwise.
Cats can also be allergic to inside and outside environmental allergens and be food allergic. When a cat is itchy they will over-groom bite scratch and give themselves serious skin lesions. Indoor cats can easily live into their late teens or beyond.
Outdoor cats often disappear a decade younger leaving owners to wonder sadly what happened to them. A quick survey of almost any neighborhood will reveal the signs of this sadness quite literally in the lost cat flyers posted by those who likely will never see their pets again. Cats arent ever as safe outdoors as they are indoors - I cant lie to you.
But many cats survive outside and many start at a very early age. You just have to hope for the best and do everything you can to make sure they are well-fed and get as much attention as possible. You have a great heart and unfortunately those of us who love animals so.
Managing the sun exposure of an indoor cat is simple. Just close curtains and drapes when your cat has spent enough time basking by a window. You can always re-open them later when your cat has cooled off a little.
Outdoor cats are more challenging. Cats may travel so they can sunbathe without disturbance. This can be dangerous.