Every source I can find indicates that, on average, strictly indoor cats live much longer than indoor/outdoor cats who in turn live much longer than strictly outdoor cats.
(My own experience aligns with this and further with the there being a much wider distribution in lifespans as you go further down the strictly indoor to strictly outdoor continuum.)
Outdoor cats hunt and kill a ton of animals, especially birds (estimated as 1.4-3.7 billion in the US, annually). Being outdoors also exposes cats to poisoned rodents, cars, raccoons, in short, lots of things that can kill or injure them.
Every source I can find indicates that, on average, strictly indoor cats live much longer than indoor/outdoor cats who in turn live much longer than strictly outdoor cats.
This is absolutely true. I had a cat that refused to stay indoors during the day. He was constantly getting injured in fights with other animals (mostly not cats, I believe). An infection almost killed him, except we were willing to plunk down the money to get the wound attended to and for the antibiotics. Wearing that cone of shame was the worst 3 weeks of his life.
Hasn't been my experience in the real world. Sorry, down vote away, but I've had many cats throughout my life, they are MUCH MUCH MUCH happier living a life of freedom.
So go about locking up your cats, feel safe and happy about that. And meanwhile maybe your little buddy lives to 20? Do you think he/she is happier living a life locked away inside your house, waiting for you to show up and maybe pay a little attention to him/her?
> Sorry, down vote away, but I've had many cats throughout my life, they are MUCH MUCH MUCH happier living a life of freedom
Happier is a separate question than lives longer (and a lot easier to misread due to projecting ones own beliefs about what should make them happy.) The claim upthread was that outside cats are happier, healthier, and longer-lived. The part I took issue with in the grandparent post was "longer lived", and that's all I addressed.
> So go about locking up your cats, feel safe and happy about that.
Actually, I prefer (when I live in an area where its not particularly unsafe for outdoor cats, worse than the norm) to allow cats to be indoor/outdoor, despite the statistics on lifespan. (Right now I don't, but I live in an area where aggressive raccoons, feral cats, and other threats are particularly problematic, and the indoor/outdoor non-feral cats are at a very high risk of being killed or chased off.)
Do these sources include premature end of life from accident/injury/predation? It seems, at least intuitively, that these factors would significantly drag down life expectancy for outdoor cats. However, I think it would be useful to see the estimates with these factors excluded (noted of course) to just compare life expectancy assuming death from natural causes.
I don't know of any sources, but wouldn't injury and predation actually be natural causes for these outdoor cats? Saying that they shouldn't be counted because they "weren't natural" sounds a lot like the No True Scotsman fallacy. We don't tend to consider predation and injury as natural causes in humans mostly because we consider ourselves the apex predator so there's nothing seriously that can prey on us. And injuries in humans are typically caused by accidents and not our natural state; in a cat however they can get injured by the prey they're hunting or the environment without it necessarily being an accident which I would consider a natural cause.
This really depends on the environment and the cat.
I've had outdoor cats my whole life. Grew up in a rural setting, and if I was outside, so were animals I was close to.
Some cats do not seem to have enough common sense to stay out of trouble, or are just too adventurous in general. If they are indoor only and one is serious about that and does entertain them, they live long, and I believe happy lives. But, if they get out, even a few times, I see that as cruel, unless they reject it and some do, content to stay indoors.
If your environment is cat hostile, expect maybe a third of cats to do well. It's not pretty, and something I see as a driver to have indoor cats.
To me, it comes down to this:
Cats --most cats, and in particular, the really bright ones, present as little people to me. They have a sense of self and presence of mind that I find notable. It's a shared life, and they have a part in that, much like people do. Down deep, they understand that we want them there and that means they do what they do and doing that is largely OK, because we would assert ourselves otherwise.
Friendship or close bonds with cats are special because of this. They really do make choices, have specific people preferences, and treat you like an equal in their eyes. I love that about them.
And to me, I can't keep 'em indoors because of that. My experiences with indoor cats are good, but my experiences with outdoor cats are GREAT! I get to see more of who they are, and our adventure times outside in the yard are awesome.
One can learn to communicate with cats and actually have sophisticated dialogs. (as far as animals go) To make this happen, it's important that you engage with the cat a lot when it's young. You learn how to understand it, and it will understand you.
If this interaction doesn't happen, and you don't push the boundaries of it, the cat gives up and is happy to work with what does work. No worries. But if you want to get close, the work is on you. The rewards are great though. Highly recommended.
I've been impacted by a cat to a point where I still feel genuine grief over one special one we lost a few years ago to disease. That one was bonded to us on a level I've rarely experienced with animals before. My wife got ill, and that cat stepped up big. Somehow she knew it mattered. Best friends for life kind of thing. I'm convinced she helped my wife recover from some near death medical issues by sheer force of will and being there. Not just hanging out, but being there. Hard to explain, so I'll stop.
The way I see this is the cat makes it's choices. We can help them make better choices and give them comfort and security too. An outdoor cat who is well bonded to you will share it's life with you gladly, and the time with the cat is worth it, even when it's short sometimes.
It's much like humans who choose how they want to live. We don't always make the smarter choices either. Cats are independent creatures deserving of similar respect in terms of how they journey through life.
And watching them outside, senses alive, hunting, exploring is pretty awesome! Mine share that experience with me, sometimes to the point of giving me that, "hey, quiet!" look. They don't mind that I am there, and if I get the laser pointer, or some string, or sticks, etc... and play, the best play is outside. They seems to go, "full cat" when outside, and I find that compelling and amazing to be a part of.
Seems to me, such a difference in the cat means it's not so simple. Some cats crave it, others don't. Humans need to do the work to live with their cat and give them the same freedom that cat does to be who they are.
Every source I can find indicates that, on average, strictly indoor cats live much longer than indoor/outdoor cats who in turn live much longer than strictly outdoor cats.
(My own experience aligns with this and further with the there being a much wider distribution in lifespans as you go further down the strictly indoor to strictly outdoor continuum.)