Five Reasons to Keep Your Senior Cat Indoors

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Do you own a senior cat? Maybe you visited your animal shelter recently and made the decision to adopt a senior cat. Regardless of how you got your senior cat, there are many reasons to keep it indoors at all times. Look at five of those reasons.

Avoid Fleas and Ticks

When you keep your senior cat indoors, you can avoid dealing with the fleas and ticks a cat can pick up outside. A case of fleas can cause your cat to scratch itself dozens of times a day. This can be annoying to you and painful to your senior cat. Plus, fleas and ticks can fall off your cat and end up in your carpet. So, keeping your senior cat inside is a positive step in preventing a case of fleas and/or ticks.

Prevent Injuries from Other Animals

Keeping your senior cat inside means it won’t be at risk of being injured by other cats, raccoons, dogs, coyotes or other animals that may live in the area. Of course, no cat should be in a position to be attacked by another animal, but a senior cat is especially vulnerable to suffering serious injuries. It is not as strong as a young cat and less able to defend itself in an effective way. Keeping your cat inside allows it to be safe from this threat.

Know Where Your Cat is at All Times

Cats have a tendency to wander off. They may go elsewhere in the neighborhood looking for cats, birds or other things to look at. This wandering exposes your cat to illnesses carried by other cats. They may wander several neighborhoods away or even end up walking in the street. This wandering comes with a lot of risks. Keeping your senior cat inside your house gives you the opportunity to know where your cat is at all times ensuring it’s not in danger of being hurt on the road or lost in a strange area.

Build a Bond with Your Cat

When you have your senior cat indoors, you have the chance to establish a bond with it. You can play with it, pet its fur and talk to it to get to know your feline better. Alternatively, if your cat was outside most of the time, you wouldn’t have enough time to get to know its personality. When you bond with your senior cat, it trusts you more and feels more at ease in your house.

This is especially important if you’ve adopted a senior cat that lived with another family for years until it ended up at the animal shelter. A senior cat in that scenario will not trust you right away. You want to do everything you can to make your senior cat feel at home in its new place. This can take time, but is definitely a worthwhile pursuit.

Prevent Damage to Your Neighbors’ Property

Cats that are allowed to wander around neighborhoods and apartment complexes can get into trouble in a lot of ways. A cat may dig in someone’s garden and ruin a collection of roses or other delicate flowers. Or, a cat can dump over a bird feeder hanging in a neighbor’s yard or dig in a plant that is sitting in a pot on a neighbor’s porch. When your senior cat stays inside you take this type of damage out of the equation. You and your neighbors will end up having a more pleasant relationship.

Lastly, taking good care of your senior cat includes monitoring its health. If you think your cat may be ill, take it to your vet for a full checkup. Your vet may buy cat vaccines online from Vet Products Direct and has a medicine or advice that can help to keep your senior cat in great condition.