This site is closed to new comments and posts.

Notice: This site uses cookies to function.
If you are not comfortable with cookies then please don't browse this website.

Indoor cats that want to go outdoors - Page 2 — Brooklynian

Indoor cats that want to go outdoors

2»

Comments

  • caseopele
    caseopele
    http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/38/30_38catfight.html
  • dakotas way
    dakotas way

    Subject: Letting cats outside

    First of all....cats are cats. They will do what they damn well please and if you're outside with them loose and call them, they'll come if they want to and won't if they don't.
    And cats will scale fences if they decide to leave. Our cats are declawed and when we lived in our last house they would pine to go outside. But they also didn't know traffic and there were feral cats out there without shots and with feline aids among other things.
    Your cats will get into scrapes with these cats and you may not be able to fix the disease they could get from the uninocculated cats.
    What I did was to find a dog spike (of sorts) at a pet store that was screwed into the ground and figured out how far the cats could go on a clothesline tied to it without any chance of jumping onto anything that they could hang themselves on. I made sure the collars were tight enogh, which the rule of thumb for any collar is that you should be able to fit two fingers snugly between the collar and the animal. Then I would allow the cats to be tied to it if I was out with them or could see them from where I was working (I worked from home.) That way they could sit in the sun, eat grass and laze around without encountering the cars, dogs and other cats in the neighborhood who may injure them.
    I say never let cats out in a city environment and think they're not going to be hurt or killed.
    I hope we don't see a post soon asking if anyone has seen your cats or who is the best vet to use for a cat just hit by a car.
    Don't let them out loose...you'll be very sorry if you do.
  • guvna
    guvna
    sweet tea wrote: i've had indoor cats, indoor/outdoor cats, and cats who had various lifestyles at various points.

    none of them was/is my "toy" or "plaything". that's an obnoxious assumption, frankly. neither did i not care or take seriously the health and happiness of the ones who were allowed outside. ditto.

    also, fwiw, my fattest cat was always fat, even when she spent lots of time outside chasing squirrels and getting dive-bombed by blue jays. my least bored cat, over all, is probably my current tom, indoor for life, who nevertheless finds many potential entertainments in our small apartment. (already today he has learned new things about trying to stand on the shoulders of garments hung in the closet -- it works only up to a point.)
    I'm sorry that you saw it that way. However, in my view confining a cat to an indoor life is something that I would never do. My entire childhood our cat lived inside, roamed outside. We had fun with her inside, but we allowed her to have her own life too. And she did.

    It seems the "inside cat" owners say the "outside owners" are irresponsible, while I say we actually allow cats to be cats. A cat forbidden to go outside, to me, is about as sad as having a caged bird. I do not have a cat now simply because I do not have a backyard and I wouldnt think of leaving a cat in the house. I know lots of people do so, but knowing how my past cats enjoyed the outdoors, I couldnt bring myself to deny a new cat the same lifestyle.

    Also, i would never de-claw my cat.
  • guvna
    guvna
    caseopele wrote: http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/38/30_38catfight.html
    Where to start? One swallow does not make a summer. However, as was alluded to earlier, stuff happens in life. If you try to take all precautions against all possibilities you could still never account for all possibilities. That doesnt stop any of us from going to work everyday. To enjoy life we all take certain risks. A cat going in the backyard also takes risks. That is clear. However, the odds on them encountering some of the risks on that list above dont seem that high in my experience. Not to the point where I would refuse to let my cat go into the backyard. That it happened to that couple sucks, but that looks isolated to me. I wouldnt confine my cat based on that.
  • caseopele
    caseopele
    Guvna, you say all the cats you've had needed to go outside and loved it and all the indoor cats you've seen were obese playthings who were miserable. Well, all the indoor cats I've seen and had have been happy, healthy, and active members of the family. Sure, they liked to stare out the window and watch the birds but they weren't pining away indoors. There are toys, other cats when possible to play with, they interact with their family and people who come over. Unless you have a feral cat or a cat that lived outdoors and can't adjust to life indoors, there are ways to keep most cats happy and entertained inside. Pets take effort, not all of them can amuse themselves. When you take a pet into your home, you are responsible for not only for their health and safety but for their well-being. There are plenty of cats who would love to have a warm home with ample food and love.

    In my neighborhood there are tons of stray cats, their lives are not happy ones. In a span of about 2 weeks, 3 of these strays were "accidentally" killed by a dog. The person who owns this dog is a nasty grimy person who gives pitbulls a bad name. Not all dog owners are responsible, that goes double for pitbull owners. I have a pit who would never hurt a cat, she loves our cats and even tries to mother the little kitten I'm taking care of. Unfortunately, the wrong people are attracted to pitbulls and abuse them to make them vicious. There are people like this everywhere. Maybe you read about the guy who fed live injured cats and kittens to his pitbulls?

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070921/ap_on_re_us/cats_killed

    Have you heard about bunchers?

    http://www.helpinganimals.com/Factsheet/files/FactsheetDisplay.asp?ID=41
    http://www.hsus.org/animals_in_research/animals_in_research_news/Class_B_Dealers.html

    Cats and kittens used as bait in dog fights?

    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4f4_1187802936
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6928351.stm
    http://www.hsus.org/hsus_field/animal_fighting_the_final_round/dogfighting_fact_sheet/
    http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/10638/TX/US/
    http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/7220/CA/US/
    http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/7910/NY/US/
    http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/4665/OK/US/
    http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/11044/IR/UK/
    http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/5495/EN/UK/
    http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/789/CA/US/

    I won't even go into the many cases I found on the last site where people tortured and killed cats for fun. There are some sick f*cks out there, I would never put any of my pets in a position where they could come into contact with these people. And yes, it could happen to people too but people can be responsible for themselves. Humans have put cats in a position where they are pretty much dependent upon us. Any kind of horrible things could happen to me but I have to go out. Cats don't have to.
  • bklynpetunia
    bklynpetunia
    With all due respect to Guvna (and the fact that this discussion is still civilized 2 pages in), I've gotta say I just can't agree with these libertarian views on pets. Cats can be cats indoors just as happily as they can outside, the former just takes more work on the owners' part. Cats do have natural hunting instincts, sure, but they are not wild animals who must hunt to survive. They are our pets, domesticated for thousands of years, and therefore we have a responsibility not only to keep them safe and healthy, but to keep them from being a nuisance to others. The indoor/outdoor cat I had as a kid in the suburbs was way fatter and lazier than any of the cats I've had in the city. I just think if you leave your cat outside all day while you're away at work, it's probably doing something annoying in someone else's yard that you don't know about, whether it's hunting songbirds, using a garden as a litterbox or fighting and making a huge racket for the whole block to hear. (I appreciate Kelchan's offer by the way, but that's ok, the chances are pretty slim it's one of your cats in my neighbor's yard.)

    All domestic animals have natural instincts to fulfill but that doesn't mean the animal gets to choose how to channel its basic drives. They can satisfy their hunting instincts with some quality playtime with their owners, rather than their Fancy Feast-fed selves being allowed a canned hunt out in the backyard, because it's "natural.". Obviously, I'm sure most cats would prefer killing a real bird to playing with a toy, but by that logic, should I let my dog satisfy her "natural instincts" and let her chase and kill the cats and squirrels that go in our yard? No, right? (not that she'd be able to catch them, but that isn't the point).

    What I do notice on my block, though, is that my neighbors' cats who are let out for shorter periods tend to stay in their own yards. The problem cats seem to be the ones who are out all day, most every day. My own cat is a wimp who naturally stays in her own yard, but I've never let her out long enough to actually test that. Has anyone else had success letting their cat out just for an hour or two?
  • apollonia666
    apollonia666
    Ahem:
    http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=38055

    Even if your cat doesn't get bitten by a rat or raccoon or another cat, or get hit by a car, or pick up fleas or ringworm or some other parasite, there's always the chance of their being targeted by a crazy person and/or asshole.
  • guvna
    guvna
    Ok folks, I have been persuaded. I wasnt aware of all of the craziness out there.

    My friend recommends this fence that she has recently installed. She said it was very easy to install, and works like a charm. The cats are not harmed, and they simply cannot scale the fence.

    http://www.catfence.com/pictures.htm

    This way the cat can enjoy the backyard, and you can have peace of mind.
  • filmlover44
    filmlover44
    Newsome wrote: It seems a cat is at much less risk staying inside. This likely means a happier owner but I'm not so sure about a happier cat.
    I agree. I don't come down on one side or another.

    When I lived in New Jersey, someone I know lost her cat to a pack of loose dogs who had decided to pack for the evening. When she called the local Animal control about the dogs, she was berated for letting her cat be outside (dogs will be dogs after all).

    I had a cat who was an indoor cat for most of his life - he showed absolutely no interest in going outside. He was also miserable...until his teeth were removed. He started sneaking out regularly until we just let him out. He was delightfully happy. Sadly, he was hit by a car.

    I guess that if you keep your cat indoors you are trading safety for happiness. I don't let my huge dominant male hunter cat out without supervision even though I do have an enclosed yard. Instead, I buy him lots of toys. This keeps him from pouncing on me and trying to eat me for dinner.
  • filmlover44
    filmlover44
    Guvna wrote: [quote=caseopele]http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/38/30_38catfight.html
    Where to start? One swallow does not make a summer. However, as was alluded to earlier, stuff happens in life. If you try to take all precautions against all possibilities you could still never account for all possibilities. That doesnt stop any of us from going to work everyday. To enjoy life we all take certain risks. A cat going in the backyard also takes risks. That is clear. However, the odds on them encountering some of the risks on that list above dont seem that high in my experience. Not to the point where I would refuse to let my cat go into the backyard. That it happened to that couple sucks, but that looks isolated to me. I wouldnt confine my cat based on that.

    I've had lots of cats. It's really difficult to keep a feral cat inside. The people criticizing this couple have obviously never rescued feral cats.
  • drano
    drano
    filmlover44 wrote: I've had lots of cats. It's really difficult to keep a feral cat inside. The people criticizing this couple have obviously never rescued feral cats.
    Tough situation, to be sure - but I think they were trying to have it both ways by considering something "theirs" while at the same time having no real control over it.
  • filmlover44
    filmlover44
    Yeah, perhaps. Yet who really owns a cat?
  • drunken revival
    drunken revival
    I can't believe I just read every single post here... They are cats people. CATS!!!
  • stacey
    stacey
    Drunken Revival wrote: I can't believe I just read every single post here... They are cats people. CATS!!!
    They are NOT just my cats they are my family and they mean a lot to me and my son - plus they don't call the cops on you when they get angry ;)
Sign In or Register to comment.

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In

Categories