“All my cats have been former strays.”
Ditto for our cats — all indoors and tamed.
To each their own. We purchased an older home last year whose owners had a house cat. We experienced a leak in the basement a few, short months later. The water soaked the carpet in one of the bedrooms.
Guess what. We found out where the house cat peed. Wet carpet and cat urine is terrible. New carpet installation ensued shortly thereafter.
I have several barn cats at the research facility that I manage. I love them in that setting. My cats keep the rats and sparrows at bay. Overnight, a damn pack rat can chew the wiring in a tractor.... @ $1,000 in damage give or take.
I must clarify: not strays, found treasures. Their Majesties would be most perturbed to be labelled ‘strays’.
As I told a friend not long ago, I do not go to the pound to get pet cats. I just take whatever shows up in my yard. I'm not picky.