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Ours are indoor at the moment, and we are in a big quandry whether to ever let them out (we will microchip them first). I read a statistic recently that the avarage age of indoor cats (in the UK) is 15 years, and for the average outdoor cat it is 2! Frightened us a bit. My last cat, Dagny, was an outdoor girl, and she lived to 23, so who knows?
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That last statistic (2 years average) derives from the tendency of outdoor cats to fight, develop infections, and then hide from their families and die - especially unfixed male cats; and from increased road traffic in all areas of the country posing a danger to un-street-wise cats.
My cats are micro-chipped too, but the collars are an extra safety investment in case they get loose and turned into a facility without a chip reader.
I'm contemplating taking Stella outdoors because she is growing so freaking big so fast I think she would benefit from the additional exercise and mental stimulation - and leave the other 2 older cats alone (who have absolutely NO interest in going outside - I can leave the deck door open and both will lie at the threshold and look out but not take a step outside).
I know this picture is poorly lit, but can you tell which cat is the 5-month-old kitten and which is the 6-year-old adult cat?