What Is Your Opinion on Letting (Ragdoll) Cats Outside?
July 22nd, 2010
I live in a property which has a back garden surrounded by a 5.5 foot high back fence.
I have a three month old ragdoll and have been told they are better suited to the indoor life. I was wondering whether you feel it appropriate (or inappropriate) she be allowed out the back for increasing periods of time during the day, starting with daily supervision for the first month.
Is it possible a ragdoll cat could jump a 5 + foot high fence?
All opinions welcomed.
My opinion is that no cat should be let outside. There are many risks that just exceed fleas and ticks. There is feline AIDS and Leukemia, coyotes, fisher cats, other cats, dogs, and many more risks.
And to answer your fence question, if a cat really wanted to, they would find a way to get over any fence.
Sure cats can jump that high but you better stay with it. I think those Ragdolls are the cutest things I have ever seen.
well, cats can jump high. but there’s a chance it can climb up a tree over the fence or something. people around my neigborhood leave cat’s outside all the time. they end up dead in like a month because they get ran over by a car or starve or get attacked by a snake.
All cats can climb the fence if they so choose. I personally would not let my ragdoll outside. If you let her out, you may have to deal with fleas, depending on your area. She may want to be outside all the time if you give her a taste of it. In that case, you may have to deal with cat fights and injuries. I like my cats inside where they are safe.
Cats don’t "jump" fences they boost themselves up in several leaps by using their back claws for support. So don’t count on your kitten not going over the fence.
No three-month old kitten needs to be outside at all. You are also looking at a change of seasons – in just two months the days will be shorter and daylight saving will be gone.
Believe me you don’t want to be out in the dark, rain and cold looking for your baby. It is also a more dangerous time for her to be out and lost.
Get her spayed in a few months and maybe start her outdoor life next spring when the days get longer.
I have a thirteen year old cat I got from a shelter. She was a "lost"a kitten in the fall and spent a month in "warm cats" because she got an upper respiratory infection from exposure.
Just about any cat can clear 6′ if they try, and some I’ve seen go as high as 8′ straight up (the book case) without touching anything on the way up. A five foot fence isn’t tall enough.
There is a fencing system that hangs inward on existing fences that can keep cats in a yard, but I’m not sure what the brand is called.