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For me, the "logic" goes like this: my cat wants to go outside, so I let him outside. (He was neutered, so not going to make any more cats.)

He's an adult (cat) and can make his own decisions.

I won't let my (small) fear of his death imeped his (great) desire to go outside.

Update: he lived a long-for-a-cat happy life and passed peacefully several years ago.

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it's nice to hear that your cat had a good life.

however your experience doesn't generalize, particularly your assessment of the risks and benefits.

i watched a neighbor's cat get hit by a car and then die in my hands. the mortality rate for cats in my neighborhood is probably north of 20% per year (huge). it would be irresponsible to expose my cats to such risk when they're quite content already. mortality would have to be less than 1% (small) for me to reconsider.

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