People with outdoor cats should have their pets taken away

[protege]

Whether or not I called animal control is almost beside the point. The point is that well-fed housecats can cause a great deal of damage unsupervised.

Yep, they can. Mine will spend hours chasing each other around. Doing that, they'll knock over lamps, anything on the table, dishes in the sink, etc. But, at least they're no longer attempting to "climb" the window screens or my drapes

[Cats]

I can present the facts to others and alert them to the problems and risks of allowing their cats to roam, but I will not condemn them if they choose to ignore those facts.

All I can hope is that their kitties continue to stay safe.

And that's all I'm really asking. You may not agree, and that's fine. The concerns and risks are real regardless, and a responsible pet owner does the best they can to minimize them. Some places are safer than others, but no creature is 100% safe at all times, indoors or out.

While it can be dangerous outside for kitties (or they can be destructive), one has to consider the benefits as well. One of my cats doesn't care for the outside, while the other loves just running around in the grass chasing bugs. When we had to keep her cooped up inside for a few weeks on vets orders, it was very clear that she was stressed. Outside has a chance for her to get hurt, yes, but with her personality, keeping her inside at all times is a guarantee of her becoming depressed (inside play helps, but it's not the same).


Not all cats (or neighbors) fit into the same box. While it is generally safer to keep kitties inside, one has to look at the risks and benefits and the personality and needs of the cat in question on a case-by-case basis.

[Amanita]

^THIS. I couldn't agree more.

[Greenday]

Because a cat obviously needs the entire neighborhood to roam. Watching them in your backyard would definitely be too much trouble. I have to agree with the main argument here against cats being allowed to do whatever they want with no control over them. If I let my dog loose on the neighborhood, I'd be a bad owner and I'd get in trouble. But it's perfectly okay for a cat to be let loose on the neighborhood?

And people who let their cats outside for the day don't watch their pets. You let your cat out, then at the end of the day you wait for your cat to come back in. You have absolutely NO idea where your cat ventures each day. So if a neighbor was to actually tell you to keep your cat off their property, you have no way of stopping your cat since you know you will not be spending the entire day, every day outside with your cat. At least with my dog, I can let him out back and not have to worry about whose yards he's messing with.

[Lace Neil Singer]

And that's all I'm really asking. You may not agree, and that's fine. The concerns and risks are real regardless, and a responsible pet owner does the best they can to minimize them. Some places are safer than others, but no creature is 100% safe at all times, indoors or out.

Exactly this. Reading this thread made me think of a couple of stories of cruelty by people poisoning cats, who obviously hated the cats roaming their neighbourhood. While this is an extreme reaction by obviously sick individuals, it's still worth mentioning.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ridgwater.html

There are better ways of keeping cats out of your back yard; obviously, it would be preferable to not have them there, but still better. Hope the following link helps those who are troubled by cats:

http://ezinearticles.com/?30-Tips-To...rden&id=598141

Finally, in the UK anyway, if a driver runs over a dog, they HAVE to report it. However, they don't have to report hitting a cat, so the argument about dogs vs cats cuts both ways. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

[Bloodsoul]

Our present feline is strictly an indoor cat; I've taken him outside a few times to wander around the yard while I watched him, but after he slipped through the old fence and into a neighbor's yard I've since stopped doing this. He seems fine with being indoors, though, and probably gets his adventures from wandering around the attic.

Probably nice that my parents screened in their porch so that their cats can't get away quite as easily. Growing up we did have an indoor/outdoor cat that lived a fair life, though.

That couldn't have been cats Boozy. Apparently all cats that run wild never cause any damage and are beloved by all who see them, and instantly know who the owner of the cat is because apparently everybody knows who all cats belong to. Must have to do with loving the cats so much.

What you think is a good cat is actually Tex-Mex.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I've only skimmed the thread, but..


Why return Community (ie, feral) Cats after they are trapped?

My first cat was an indoor/outdoor cat. He showed up in our driveway one day and refused to be scared away. My mom took pity on him after a few days and put out food, and made him a little bed on the porch (it was January). He gradually worked his way into the house. She took him to the vet to make sure he was healthy, and when no one answered the lost cat ad she decided to keep him. Over a few months he went from not being allowed in the house when no one was home to not being allowed out of the house when no one was home. He was very sweet, definitely not feral, and fixed; I have no idea if someone dumped him or if he was lost or what. But since he was a stray to begin with, he never became a completely indoor cat. I don't know how far he roamed, but he did spend a lot of time on our front porch or back deck, or visiting my neighbor's cats (they were indoor cats and they would watch each other through the glass door). The neighbor's son-in-law was feeding him, too, until my mom figured out that's why he sometimes didn't eat the food she put out, so he stopped. He occasionally got in fights with neighborhood cats (don't know if they were feral or not) and had to go to the vet for treatment (twice had to have an abcess in his cheek drained). We had him for 7 years; he was at least 12, probably older, when he died (the vet originally estimated him at around 5 when he first showed up, but before he died they said he was probably older than they thought). I only once recall him bringing home a dead animal, and that was a baby bird that came from the nest in our tree and was flitting around the porch one day when I left for work. The next morning he was on the doormat.

Our current cats (2) were found on my cousin's boat as 2-3 day-old kittens. (They're almost 4 now.) There were 4 of them, and he found them the day after the boat had been put into the water for the season. Don't know if the mother had just gone off to find food or if something happened to her; I'm guessing she was probably feral but obviously have no way of knowing. His wife raised them for 7 weeks and then found homes for them all (they already had a not-so-friendly cat and my cousin is allergic, so they couldn't keep them). We took two, and the others went to two friends of theirs. They have always been indoor cats (and will always be, as they are declawed in the front - which is a whole other debate, was not my decision, and does not seem to adversly affect them in any way). The boy has gotten out a couple times; after he was out overnight last time he seems less inclined to try to sneak out the door again. (My mom used to take him out on a leash, but that just seemed to encourage his escape attempts, so she stopped.) The girl is afraid of her own shadow and wouldn't go outside for all the parmesan cheese in the world. Though being indoors has not stopped her from bringing me a dead baby mouse in the living room...also the occasional cricket...

[elsporko]

Our present feline is strictly an indoor cat; I've taken him outside a few times to wander around the yard while I watched him, but after he slipped through the old fence and into a neighbor's yard I've since stopped doing this. He seems fine with being indoors, though, and probably gets his adventures from wandering around the attic.

Probably nice that my parents screened in their porch so that their cats can't get away quite as easily. Growing up we did have an indoor/outdoor cat that lived a fair life, though.



What you think is a good cat is actually Tex-Mex.

What you think is tex-mex is actually a cat.

[Rapscallion]

Finally, in the UK anyway, if a driver runs over a dog, they HAVE to report it. However, they don't have to report hitting a cat, so the argument about dogs vs cats cuts both ways. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

I thought that requirement ended when dogs were no longer required to have a licence?

Rapscallion

[Lace Neil Singer]

I googled and couldn't find anything that suggests that the law has changed; perhaps you'd have more luck. X_x I found a lot of stuff that suggested the law was still the same, and most people would think so anyway and not report that they killed someone's cat.

[Rapscallion]

https://www.askthe.police.uk/Content/Q434.htm

Yup - looks like that didn't actually change, though for a different reason. I think they class dogs as a large enough animal to worry about if you have a collision with one. I sit corrected.

Rapscallion

[protege]

While it is generally safer to keep kitties inside, one has to look at the risks and benefits and the personality and needs of the cat in question on a case-by-case basis.

That's why I never let Snow outside. I'm sure she would have loved playing in the yard. Because of her deafness though, it simply wasn't safe. All it would take is for a dog to sneak up on her, or for her to wander into the street...

[Stormraven]

One thing I would love to do if I had space and money, is to create an outside space for our cats. Large enough to hold a sunning rock, a good sized patch of cat grass and a large sand box, at the very least, with fencing designed to keep them in and threats out, and a cat door so they can go in and out at their leisure.

[BookstoreEscapee]

One thing I would love to do if I had space and money, is to create an outside space for our cats. Large enough to hold a sunning rock, a good sized patch of cat grass and a large sand box, at the very least, with fencing designed to keep them in and threats out, and a cat door so they can go in and out at their leisure.

I have actually thought of that myself. I'd love to be able to let the cats out for some fresh air and sun and not worry about them getting lost or hurt.

I have a cats page-a-day calendar at work, and today's page mentioned this website; seemed appropriate for this thread: Indoor Cat Initiative

[guywithashovel]

I haven't read each post thoroughly, but I think this mostly depends on how everyone in the neighborhood feels about it. When my aunt was still alive, she used to let her two cats outside periodically throughout the day. However, they stayed on her property most of the time, and if they did venture beyond her yard, it wasn't a problem, because her neighbors didn't mind. In fact, most of them had cats, too, and the cats would usually play together.