On the farm growing up the cats wanted little to do with the humans. Much happier living in the barn and hunting. Trying to catch and tame the wild kittens was fun.
Discussion
That's exactly how wild animals act. They rather be outdoors doing their normal instincts away from humans and they especially do not want to be cooped up inside in an apartment.
Cats are definitely much happier living in a barn setting or house.
Keeping them inside an apartment never to experience the outdoors is not low maintenance, it's sad for the cat. Cats need more attention inside in an apartment because there's nothing else for them to do.
They are still very much wild because we never bred them they way be bred dogs.
Watch the show my cat from hell and you will see that cats are not low maintenance at all. It's the owners who buy a cat and except the cat to be happy because they have this thing in their head that cats don't need anything but food and a litter box.
I agree that if you keep your cat in an apt. it no longer becomes a low maintenance pet.
Still, a cat given the space to roam is still probably the lowest maintenance pet you can have.