I've only ever had house cats
Well, except for that one when I was 2 and he ran away fairly sharpish. But that might have been because I was 2.

My first housecat was an only cat. She was declawed (front only) and fixed. She was actually quite afraid of the front yard but would happily play in the back yard on the odd occasion she was feeling adventurous. She was quite content to be housebound, but then everything and everyone in the house revolved around her. This is her:



My second/third housecat were a pair of boys but from different litters. I got them when the youngest was 3 months and the oldest was around 9 months old. They too were declawed (front only) and fixed. They only ever lived in apartments. Their only outside exposure was either on the patio/balcony or walking around on a leash. Both were very happy, kept each other company, and were constant companions. But they didn't ignore the humans in the house and loved a good cuddle....albiet, the youngest only wanted a cuddle when his big brother wasn't around after he hit the kitty-teen years. It just wouldn't do for him to be seen being petted by his mummy. (I don't have any pics of them on my computer)

Frankly, I wouldn't have an outdoor cat for anything. Their life expectancy is greatly shortened by the outdoors (disease, cars, bad kids, other animals, theft) (at least that is the case in the US) and I've only ever seen one indoor cat that was unhappy with the situation (but he was a feral kitten and wasn't ever able to be domesticated).

Now, if you can't have or don't want to deal with a live cat, my daughter got one of these today:

It meows, purrs, hisses, flicks it's tail, blinks, etc.....it is a really great fake cat. We had to order it at the beginning of December. It is so neat that her sister is planning to empty her savings account to buy one for herself (They are $39.99).

Good luck!
( flirting with badgers What? It sounded good at the time., Fri 30 Jan 2009, 1:14, Reply)