The article pixy linked isn't comparing indoor cats with indoor/outdoor cats. It's comparing them indoor to strictly outdoor.
I am sure there are risks associated with letting your pet outdoors, and those risks probably differ wildly depending on where you live.
That's an important point (in my mind) because our cats really were just basically dogs that meowed. But IIRC from the last time we had this conversation, Pixy opposes any outside time for cats. And obviously, a barn cat is an outside cat. There's no inside about it. Unless you count the barn as "inside."
I agree with Pixy, and I'm not even a cat person.
Strictly-outdoor as well as indoor/outdoor cats kill songbirds, ruin personal property and landscaping with their urine, get into trash cans and make a mess, and torment resident animals of properties they visit.
Both of,our indoor outdoor cats lived to be over 14.
But did they live to be almost 30?
This is the pressing question of the hour.
i had a cat that kicked it at 22. she was a mouser with no training from other cats who, at 20 and only front teeth would gut a squirrel and bring home the bottom half as a prize. most of our cats were amazing mousers, no matter when they started.
Post by mysterons on Sept 17, 2012 16:27:49 GMT -5
I haven't read all the replies, but I think you'd suck a lot for doing this. If your sister needs barn cats, there are plenty of cats that would make good candidates. She should contact a feral cat group or an animal rescue that is desperately trying to find a home for a non-adoptable cat. Your cats are used to living inside a home with companionship - they deserve to continue the life they are accustomed to. Your cat problems seems more like a human problem which you can made adjustments for.
Post by mysterons on Sept 17, 2012 16:50:19 GMT -5
I'll add that I'm also against doing the trial period. Like Pixy said, your cats are going to be traumatized by that experience alone (and that's not even taking into account that something bad may happen to them during this time). You don't have a friend who can keep them in a spare room or basement during this time? I'm scared for your cats.
ETA: I suggest watching a few "My Cat From Hell" episodes on Animal Planet. He has some really good tips for learning to appreciate cats, which it sounds like your H needs. He also has tips for behavioral problems - like if you don't want your cats in the bay window you need to give them an equally attractive place to hang out. You could put a cat tree next to the window or maybe put some beds on the seating cushion so it contains the fur. There are plenty of things you can do to make living with your cats easier although they sound like typical cats to me.
I have a cat that I got in college. It was a purely indoor cat for 5 years. The little shiit wouldn't stop escaping so I gave up on trying to keep it in. He used to be afraid of bugs. One day last year I watched him hunt, kill and eat 2 moles.
Post by meshaliuknits on Sept 17, 2012 16:57:03 GMT -5
Y'all have some bloodthirsty little kitties. My cats idea of 'hunting' is taking turns stepping on a spider and shaking your paw in disgust after making contact with it. And they both lived on the streets during their early years.
Post by lyssbobiss, Command, B613 on Sept 17, 2012 17:07:12 GMT -5
I hate my cats right now. I moved them with me after the divorce and they shit and piss wherever the hell they want. It's been over a year. Everyone else has moved on, fuckers. I clean the litterboxes. I've tried different litters, different foods - they are just being assholes. I'm sure I could bring in a pet behaviorist but frankly, no. I don't have a pot to piss in, and I'm sure my car has something else that will go wrong with it soon, because that's usually what happens every couple of months. They never took to XH, actually they hate most people and I have no idea what to do with them anymore. I feel like I'm just waiting for them to die so I can quit chasing them around with carpet cleaner.
"This prick is asking for someone here to bring him to task Somebody give me some dirt on this vacuous mass so we can at last unmask him I'll pull the trigger on it, someone load the gun and cock it While we were all watching, he got Washington in his pocket."
I hate my cats right now. I moved them with me after the divorce and they shit and piss wherever the hell they want. It's been over a year. Everyone else has moved on, fuckers. I clean the litterboxes. I've tried different litters, different foods - they are just being assholes. I'm sure I could bring in a pet behaviorist but frankly, no. I don't have a pot to piss in, and I'm sure my car has something else that will go wrong with it soon, because that's usually what happens every couple of months. They never took to XH, actually they hate most people and I have no idea what to do with them anymore. I feel like I'm just waiting for them to die so I can quit chasing them around with carpet cleaner.
Have you tried the feliway diffuser? It helped Darkness when the baby was born.
Post by Bumblebee on Sept 17, 2012 17:28:25 GMT -5
It's pretty bad. These are indoor cats, and sending them off to a barn will turn their world upside down. You love them so don't do that to them.
Your post sounds like you are exaggerating your "irresponsibility" as a pet owner and romanticizing the "appeal" of the barn to assuage your guilt. You are too smart for that.
Put the effort into keeping them. Let DH know that getting rid of them is not an option. Look into other solutions for the litterbox, grooming and allergy issues. Your cats are worth it.
I had to give up one of my cats when Ben was born. She went to live with my mother. She hated the other two males cats and really hated that Ben was there. She pissed on everything. Zero physical ailment could be found to cause the peeing on everything. My mother offered to take her and I was thankful, because if she hadn't, my cat would have gone to the local SPCA.
Anyway, if you think things will work better with them at your sister's farm, that's cool. I don't have a problem with that.
ETA: Lily, the cat, is 1000% happier at my moms. She's uber spoiled now and loves all the attention. She is just one of those no-kids-no-other-pets cats.
Post by polarbearfans on Sept 17, 2012 18:03:43 GMT -5
Spray feliway on the furniture they scratch every day for a month. Don't miss a day. It will break the habit of that spot. Be sure to have appropriate scratching spots available. My boys are vertical scratchers but the female is horizontal or slanted. I hate trimming nails, especially the back. The vet will do it for $7. Sometimes we trim, others we pay the vet.
Of course it sounds like you have a whole lot of neglect going on so it may be better to find them a new home, perhaps with a family that will keep them indoors and meet their socialization needs.
Lily, the cat, is 1000% happier at my moms. She's uber spoiled now and loves all the attention. She is just one of those no-kids-no-other-pets cats.
Not exactly comparable. Your cat went to live in a home. These cats would be living in a barn, a scenario they've never encountered before.
OP, considering you mentioned that you really do love your cats, I'm really surprised you're even entertaining this idea.
Yes. I know it's not comparable. However, they're her cats. It's her relationship with her husband. If she wants to send them to a barn, I'm saying that *I* wouldn't judge her for it.
But honestly, I don't really care too much re: people rehoming pets. That's their business.
Wawa - why do you even need the opinion of this board? If you don't want to do it, then you shouldn't. If you do, the do it. They're you kitties and your responsibility. Do as you see fit.
We not talking about sending a child back to his home country because she doesn't want to care for him any more. We're talking about pets.
Post by iammalcolmx on Sept 17, 2012 18:10:35 GMT -5
Who was it that had the cats who did nothing while mice ran around the room and their owner was screaming and jumping on the bed? I don't have cats but if H suggest I give my dog away I would pluck his ball hair. No lie. I wish a mofo would.........
Wawa, how do you know your cats will even survive this trial period? If they're going to be outside, and they don't spend the entire week hiding out of fear, they're going to get lost. They'll have no idea where they are.
And what's the problem with being in a bay window? Sounds like a great spot to get some sun.
I find it funny that people think you must keep your cats in a life they become accustomed to at the detriment of your own, human lives. I wouldnt flame you for it and honestly, I think you need to consider your own standard of living vs what a message board thinks. Im crossing my fingers that the trial period goes well and this can work for you but if it doesnt and you have to put up with them being even worse once they get back...well, Im just sorry and would keep trying to find them homes.
That's an important point (in my mind) because our cats really were just basically dogs that meowed. But IIRC from the last time we had this conversation, Pixy opposes any outside time for cats. And obviously, a barn cat is an outside cat. There's no inside about it. Unless you count the barn as "inside."
I agree with Pixy, and I'm not even a cat person.
Strictly-outdoor as well as indoor/outdoor cats kill songbirds, ruin personal property and landscaping with their urine, get into trash cans and make a mess, and torment resident animals of properties they visit.
I can't even respond to this question rationally because I motherfucking hate the ("indoor"?/)outdoor cats in our neighborhood so much. The next "Lost Kitty!!" sign that goes up in my neighborhood is going to have "I would never be able to tell your precious lost kitty apart from the 10,000 other hairballs tormenting my dogs on a daily basis" scrawled across it in Sharpie.
I find it funny that people think you must keep your cats in a life they become accustomed to at the detriment of your own, human lives. I wouldnt flame you for it and honestly, I think you need to consider your own standard of living vs what a message board thinks. Im crossing my fingers that the trial period goes well and this can work for you but if it doesnt and you have to put up with them being even worse once they get back...well, Im just sorry and would keep trying to find them homes.
Not everyone can make the commitment to pets that they require, and therefore should not have pets. It sounds like this might be true of you.
Yea, I was flamed a year or two ago for having an indoor/outdoor dog so I already know I am the devil. The right answer apparently would have been to let her be put down in the crowded shelter. ^o) It also sounds like Wawa might not be able to make the right commitments to having pets right now but how does she get to the 'just not have them' stage? I say give them to your sister for the time that you have to and keep looking for another home. Even if you dont find another home, your sister will take care of them so I just dont find this to be a flameful situation. Taking them to a shelter would be.
Post by ringstrue on Sept 17, 2012 19:53:31 GMT -5
I am in no way recommending this for this situation, BUT, it's definitely better to have an animal be put to sleep than to have them die in an outdoor accident - if those are truly your only options.
I'm a minority in that I am a animal rescue/shelter person BUT I do think the outside world has it's place under the right circumstances. It's harder and you gotta do it different than how your granny did it but it can be done.
But it sounds like that's talking about a cat that's truly outside, and truly on its own. A wild cat.
I get the impression that a barn cat would have some protection from the elements and that it would be fed? It shouldn't have to worry about traffic, if it's on a farm. Two years sounds like a pretty dire prediction, but then I also found the quote "most of us are ecstatic if our cats reach their teens" odd too. I wouldn't be ecstatic because it's what I expect. All of my cats have lived into their teens, and the last one was 18 1/2; she was an indoor cat when older but used to be indoor/outdoor when younger.
Not exactly comparable. Your cat went to live in a home. These cats would be living in a barn, a scenario they've never encountered before.
OP, considering you mentioned that you really do love your cats, I'm really surprised you're even entertaining this idea.
Yes. I know it's not comparable. However, they're her cats. It's her relationship with her husband. If she wants to send them to a barn, I'm saying that *I* wouldn't judge her for it.
But honestly, I don't really care too much re: people rehoming pets. That's their business.
Wawa - why do you even need the opinion of this board? If you don't want to do it, then you shouldn't. If you do, the do it. They're you kitties and your responsibility. Do as you see fit.
We not talking about sending a child back to his home country because she doesn't want to care for him any more. We're talking about pets.
This is my favorite response. I will say pets do get 100 times more annoying after children.
Post by StrawberryBlondie on Sept 17, 2012 22:00:48 GMT -5
I have to admit, I'd judge you really hard if you did this. The thought of how my kitties would react to something like what you're proposing is almost literally making me cry. I can't imagine how traumatic that would be to a cat that's lived indoors its whole life.