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Very few people in the USA have cat enclosures. We either keep the cats
inside or let the cats out. None of the cat rescue groups will adopt out a
cat unless the wannabe slave first signs an agreement to keep the cat inside
at all times (and not to declaw). As time goes on, more and more people
belong to the "inside only" mindset. However, I doubt any of the rescue
groups would object to an enclosure. The only reason I don't let my older
cats out into our fenced yard (these are senior cats who could never jump
the fence) is that outside = fleas. In all the years I have had cats, the
only times I have ever had problems with fleas was when we were living in an
apartment building and someone else's cat went outside and brought them into
the building and on two other occasions when we brought in foster cats from
the rescue agency. And I have never treated my cats for fleas as a
precaution. I have done so only on the couple of occasions where there was a
bonafide flea problem.

In the first situation, once the fleas were in the building, we could not
get rid of them.  This was in the days before Revolution et al and our cats
were forced to endure several flea "dips" only to have fleas again within
the week. The apartment was flea-bombed and the carpets and furniture were
treated by an exterminator every six weeks! And to no avail. After a year
and a half of this, the only way we escaped the fleas was to buy a house and
move out of the apartment. I had the new house pre-exterminated (before we
moved in), and I also had the exterminator treat the furniture one last
time. I never want to endure that ordeal again.

All of my five current cats seem perfectly content inside the house, and for
me, it's just not worth the flea risk to let them go out, and while I think
Revolution is generally safe, it does still have a potential for toxicity,
so I would prefer to avoid it if I can, particularly for the senior cats.
Aside from the flea issue, I think the enclosure is a fantastic idea, and if
I weren't so worried about fleas, I would have one in a heartbeat!
Best regards,
---Cindy S.

This may not answer your question, but I think it's interesting.  I
have two cats, one in-door only, the other goes outdoors as much as
possible.  However, the outdoor cat never goes off the portico.  He
just sits there all day, and comes in to eat, then out again.

I started using an enclosure, because the neighbors said there as a
fox in the neighborhood.  The enclosure was bigger than the portico.
But guess what happened.  The cat wanted to go outside the enclosure
and just sit in front of it!!

So no, I don't use enclosures anymore.

can't afford to build one right now, but when mr mcgregor starts
thinking abuot giong out into the garden we will ahve to get some big
fencing panels and block off the gate at the end of the garden and the
'tunnel under the fence at the end (where jessie built her escape
route into next doors garden) as apparantly he is a bit of a wanderer.
He aparantly tends to wander off, forgets where he is and how he got
there and doesn't come back for days, so we are goign to have tomake
the back garden secure.
he is VERY unlikely to be able to jump over anything (his ample girth
is the limiting factor here) so it won't be too hard, just have to
block off any ground level escape routes.

we are probably going to get him a harness and take him out for walks
around the cul de sac anyway as he is a bit of a couch potato and he
really does need to lose some weight, not so much to keep a tight rein
on him but more to 'encourage' him into going out for a walk. Jessie
doesn't need a harness and lead as she sticks close to me on our
little walks, she won't go far away from me at all.

right now though, all 3 seem to gone into early hibernation with all
the sh.t weather we are having right now, it really does feel like
november this evening, very windy, no fun at all on the river. There
seems to be a snoring ball of fur somewhere in each room right now, on
a sofa, on a bed, on a beanbag, and they dont't seem to be too
bothered about going for excursions right now, they are not stupid,
they know where it is warm dry and close to copious amounts of food
and human slaves.

gettign mr mcgregor with his 'wandering' habit has made me think about
gettign the backl garden more enclosed and secure and I know i will
have to do that before he goes out into it, but i am not keen on
building a massive enclosure over the whole thing. for a start i have
no money to do so, and also this house is rendted and I doubt that the
landlord will take too kindly to us dong weird stuff in his back
garden, not that he would ever come round to check, but i don't want
to push it.

any decisions on the case with the negligent vet, re-lilly?  any
fuirther thoughts on what you will do?
bookie

Actually, most of the people I know with strictly indoor cats have
some kind of enclosure. Some are large
and elaborate, and some are just a small deck enclosed with wire, just
large enough for the cat to enjoy
lying in the sun. Our shelter has a fairly large enclosure. IMO, it is
a great compromise for the cat to enjoy
the outdoors and still be safe.
We enclosed an existing patio at my daughter's house, and installed a
cat flap for access. They absolutely loved
it, and it was fairly cheap to build.

Sherry

In fact, I've been thinking seriously about building one. I like to let
my cats outdoors, but with a significant guarantee of safety. I think
anyone who has outdoor cats should use an enclosure.