In the U.S. and Canada, it’s common for cats to be purely indoor pets, rarely if ever going outside. Some cat owners build “catios” to give their feline friends a taste of the outdoors, others make use of harnesses and leashes (if the kitty will abide) and others provide contained, supervised outside time on occasion.
Of course, containing a cat is no easy feat, so you have to have a pretty specific outdoor space to be able to do that successfully, which is exactly what the owners behind the “Adventures of Chai” TikTok channel have.
With high hedges, a tall brick wall, and a large swath of grass, the backyard that Chai the cat gets to play in is perfectly suited to allow her inner-outdoor-cat frolic safely. And Chai’s joy at getting in a little “garden time” is absolutely a must-see.
The video is captioned, “POV: you let your indoor cat out and have never seen her happier.” I mean, she does a complete backflip, for the love. And there are so many things to stalk, chase after and catch, you can tell she’s having a blast.
Watch:
@theadventuresofchai It is so cute to watchđĽşâ¤ď¸ #kitten #cat #cattok #petsoftiktok #catlove #catlover #britishshorthair #cats #scottishfold #cutecat #funnycat
Her sheer joy is 100% contagious. The video has more than 10 million likes and over 52 million views and people in the comments simply could not get over the flip.
“No one talking about the fact that the cat did a literal backflipđ”
“She was so happy that she did a backflip đ”
“Did your cat just do a backflip đ”
“DID BABE JUST DO A BACKFLIP”
“THAT JUMP WAS SPECTACULAR”
“THE CAT FLIP SAYS IT ALL HAPPY TO BE ALIVE.â¤â¤â¤â¤”
Of course, getting her back inside is not quite as enjoyable. “She loves to make us run for her,” Chai’s owner wrote on a video of Chai doing everything she could to avoid being brought back inside while her humans chased her around.
@theadventuresofchai She loves to make us run for herđ #kitten #cat #cattok #petsoftiktok #catlove #catlover #britishshorthair #cats #scottishfold #funnycat
People the comments also debated the merits of keeping cats indoors vs. letting them roam outside. Some people feel strongly that cats are meant to live outdoors and that depriving them of that life is limiting their happiness. Others pointed out that being outdoors can be unsafe for domesticated cats and that cats themselves pose a threat to wildlife like birds.
Most experts recommend keeping cats indoors with some safe outdoor access, but of course individual cat circumstances can vary. Outdoor cats tend to have shorter life spans and are at higher risk of disease and parasites as well as injury and fatality. Risks from humans and traffic are especially high in urban areas. However, out in the country, “barn cats” are often used to keep rodent populations down, protecting livestock from disease mice and rats can carry.
In Chai’s case, she appears to have the best of both worlds, being an indoor cat with a large outdoor area to play in with her humans’ supervision. And boy, is she obviously happy about the arrangement.
Find more Chai fun on @theadventuresofchai on TikTok.