I hadn't really meant to start an indoor/outdoor discussion, but for what it's worth: I can see both sides, even though I have a clear preference myself for keeping outdoor cats. What is "cruel" depends on the cat's personality, the owner and the surroundings, IMO, and doesn't warrant blanket statements. Yes, I might consider it cruel (or thoughtless) to keep an outdoor cat in a very dangerous environment. Or stupid, if you have a hunting cat and rare songbirds around. But we don't even have coyotes here. We have the occasional red fox, one type of venomous adder (and this is the first case of a cat being bitten I'd ever heard of) and extremely restricted traffic. I might equally consider it cruel to keep an active, young cat indoors in a small flat with little stimulation. Our cat became quite aggressive when we had to keep her indoors for 6 weeks this spring, even though we walked her 3 times a day and tried to play with her. OTOH I know people who go to great lengths to make sure their indoor cats are happy and content, and they obviously are safer. To each their own. As Irulan pointed out - arguing on the internet rarely changes anyones mind ;-)

Heheh, malkin, I have the same reaction whenever I see someone with their seat too low, I really want to yell out at them "PLEASE raise your seat!" I was known as the busybody mother who would adjust all the kids helmets when my son was small.