When you adopt a cat, one of the first things you have to decide is whether you want an indoor or an outdoor cat. People tend to choose to have an indoor cat because they believe it will be the easier decision. You won't have to worry about your cat bringing home any dead animals, but there are a whole other group of struggles that come with owning an indoor cat.
1. Always worrying that they ran outside.
GiphyCuriosity is a plague that affects all cats, indoor or outdoor. Pretty much anytime a door is opened, indoor cats run to it. This causes indoor cat owners to have the constant fear that their furry little friend has decided to venture out into the outside world anytime the door swings open. Basically anyone that has owned an indoor cat at one point or another has had them escape and they'll tell you that it is one of the scariest experiences in their cat-owning life.
2. Never being able to find them.
GiphyCats love to hide, and will hide just about anywhere. There will be days that you don't see your cat until you put food down for them. And they usually resurface covered in dust from wherever they were hiding.
3. Their wake-up calls.
GiphyWhen they're awake, it means it's time for you to be awake. If you're not awake, they will wake you up whatever way they can. Sometimes it's standing on your chest and meowing until you wake up. Sometimes it's playing with your toes under the covers. Sometimes, they're not as nice and they'll just bite your nose until you wake up.
4. They eat and play with everything on the floor.
GiphyOne of the perks of having an outdoor cat is that they can go outside and explore and tire themselves out. However, with an indoor cat, they have to explore what's in the house. That means every little thing that is left on the floor becomes fair game for them. Hair ties becomes toys and bits of plastic become snacks.
5. The yelling.
GiphyNot all indoor cats are talkative, but if they are, they love to be quite loud. When cats want attention, they want it NOW. They will let you know by standing in the middle of the kitchen and yelling until you come and pet them. But don't pet them too much.
6. Inappropriate cuddle times.
GiphyCats sleep most of the day and love to cuddle. However, they really love to cuddle when you're busy. Oh, you're working on your laptop? Cat wants to take a nap on your lap. Have to go to the bathroom? Well, now there's a cat on your lap. Want to go to bed? There's a cat laying in the middle of it.
7. Litter everywhere.
GiphyOutdoor cats tend to have either a litter box outside or they just go outside instead of a litter box. However, indoor cats' litter boxes are inside, meaning that the entire section of the house that houses the litter box is usually covered with litter which is always a fun surprise to step on (not).
8. The random bursts of energy.
GiphyImagine this: it's 7 p.m., you're sitting down in front of the t.v. after a long day, it's all nice and quite. then a streak of color goes running through the room. It's your cat. They then proceed to bounce off of every piece of furniture and run through the whole house for another 10 minutes, until they decide they're done and it's time for another nap.
Cats can be quite a handful, but they're totally worth it. Just make sure to keep your indoor cat fully entertained with toys and lots of love and they shouldn't be that hard to handle.