(1)However, from the way you cerita and describe Ashley, my gut feel is that she is competent enough to be free, and will not wander off to leave you unless she has an unfortunate accident. But then, we are only stewards and one day, all of them will leave us. Outdoors (at least controlled outdoor environment with our watchful eyes always on them) is their natural environment and they need the freedom and stimulation and they need to be the cats that they are. Loving is being able to let go, dear, and Ashley will be a very happy girl.
(2) However, what I say here applies specifically to Ashley alone, not the other cats that have not know outdoors because they lack the street-smartness of Ashley who had the opportunity to sekolah outdoors dulu.
(3) That is why domestic pets suffer more and are more sick when abandoned by owners to live outside on their own compared with strays. They were deprived of the chance to sekolah and be street smart. They were also deprived of precious life lessons from their mothers - what can be eaten, what to ignore, what to watch out for, social skills, who to attack and who to run away from.
Hope this helps. I love dear Ashley.
(4) p.s. ... and since you mention that she is a heights girl (she climbs) - no collars whatsover even an elastic one. Though they look cute and can serve identification purposes, none of my cats wear any for absolute safety. That one I take absolutely NO chances!
