Keeping your kitty indoors

Many cats- particularly breeds with a placid temperament, such as the Persian - will take to indoor life quite happily.  However just as

While a cat kept indoors from kitten hood can learn to go outside, it would be very unfair to make an outdoor cat stay in and would be likely to cause great frustration.  You must therefore be clear in your own mind as to how you wish to keep your kitten before you bring it home, bearing in mind the following potential problems:

• The cat is a natural hunter, and has great energies and abilities to be used in this pursuit
• The lack of exercise may cause your kitten to become overweight if you do not pay particular attention to its diet.
• The kitten may become bored , and also lonely if you are out all day.
• It may become over-reactive to changes within its small territory, and therefore unable to cope with novelty - whether in the form of people or of objects or of objects brought in.
• There will be a much greater dependence on you for stimulation and activity, and a risk of over attachment.
• If you kitten does get out, it may be disoriented and will not have "street" skills.  If you live in a high-rise there is the dangers of the results of falling.
• If you have only one cat, it may become difficult to introduce another at a later stage into your first cat's restricted territory.

Reduce the problems

There are active steps that you can take to reduce or eliminate the problems mentioned above.

• Keep your cat entertained with creative toys and games to keep your kitty exercised  - both physically and mentally. 
• Monitor your kittens food intake, be sure to provide high quality nutritionally dense foods that use less fillers to prevent weight gain.
• Ensure that you have regular visitors and that life is not too quiet - especially when your kitten is small.
• Your kitten will need to act out is normal behavior repertoire within your home.  A natural activity is scratching.  Be sure to provide a scratching a scratching post in your home so that your furniture dose not serve this purpose.

As another choice for an indoor cat you can provide an outdoor cat containment area.   Kittywalk makes a series of outdoor cat enclosures that are functional, entertaining and attractive.   The Kittywalk enclosures give your  cat the same sense of safety he has in your home but with the benefits of fresh air and a new entertaining environment.