S/O outdoor cats (Bump c&p)

[redheadbaker]

forums.thebump.com/discussion/12331974/cat-with-a-negative-reaction-to-pregnancy#latest

"Put your cat outside! The RSPCA says it's good for them!"

[pixy0stix]

I can't handle this level of stupidity right now.

[redheadbaker]

May 5, 2014 9:20:36 GMT -5 @bunnybean said:

What the fuck?! What is wrong with the RSPCA?!

I believe she's referring to the organization in either the UK or Australia -- both have very different attitudes toward outdoor cats than the US.

[Cicero]

I love that the only negative reason put out is catching diseases from other cats. I'd think the bigger concerns are the cat being eaten by a wild animal or either picked up by animal control or shot when a neighboring property owner gets sick of having a cat trespassing onto their property.

ETA because people actually took my hyperbole seriously last time. I would not shoot a cat.

[pixy0stix]

Or the decimation of the song bird population.

Or the fact that the average lifespan of an outdoor cat is 5 years vs. the 15 of an indoor cat.

People be stupid.

[josieposy]

May 5, 2014 10:53:10 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

People be stupid.

That about sums it up.

[clo]

May 5, 2014 10:51:30 GMT -5 @bunnybean said:

Or your cat being hit by a car! I'd be terrified of that.

There was a regular poster on the Pets board years ago who learned the hard way about outside cats and cars. Her husband didn't see the cat when he was backing up out of their driveway and killed it.

[niemand88f]

  Not a good topic for me right now... I fed a precious 1 week old kitten this morning (brought from an outdoor cat's litter, not a feral colony kitten). His eye is literally falling out and he will lose it. His eyes shouldn't even be open yet and he'll never see from that one It can be so dangerous outside.

I'm thinking of signing up to foster so I can take him home

[Deleted]

My neighbors let their cat outside all the time. Consequently, one of my dogs tries to eat it all the time (extreme prey drive). The cat actually goes out of it's way to try and attack my dog through the fence. It once ran out of the house to come at him.

I've actually been muzzling him in the yard or taking him out on a leash for the past month. But I am terrified I'll forget and my dog will succeed and I will have to hide the body.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

May 5, 2014 11:28:04 GMT -5 @licia said:

We have a cat that wants to go outside all of the time. Having had a cat die pretty horrifically from being hit by a car, I subject this guy to this at least 30 minutes a day.

Don't feel bad for him. I promise, he's a jerk on the regular.

We have a kitty leash too, but as soon as it's on she sinks to the ground like a ton of bricks. She refuses to stand up or walk. Its hilarious, but I try not to subject her to that too often. Good idea for punishment, though!


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[sugarglider]

Small outdoor pets are also at risk of being kidnapped as bait animals for dog fighting.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

May 5, 2014 12:06:44 GMT -5 @licia said:

ChillyMcFreeze

We also have a cat tent, for times when he needs to get out of the house, and he's the juggling ball that didn't get caught.

That poor cat.

What does this even look like?? I want all the cat accessories. I saw a carrier that has a mesh dome so they have a 360 view. It's almost worth the $150. Car trips are harrowing ordeals.


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[redheadbaker]

May 5, 2014 12:13:03 GMT -5 sugarglider said:

Small outdoor pets are also at risk of being kidnapped as bait animals for dog fighting.

Or becoming a snack for a hawk, owl, coyote, fox ...

[zelda25]

What would be really awesome is a hamster ball for cats!

ETA: now that I think about how much fun it is to get a cat into a carrier, the cat-sized hamster ball might not be as awesome as I first thought.

[dirtyred]

I remember reading somewhere that in England (RSPCA is Royal Society for Protection of Animals), cats are considered more "wild animals" than pets and letting them roam outside is much more common, maybe even the norm.  So if this poster is from England, that's what she knows.

[Deleted]

May 5, 2014 13:01:57 GMT -5 dirtyred said:

I remember reading somewhere that in England (RSPCA is Royal Society for Protection of Animals), cats are considered more "wild animals" than pets and letting them roam outside is much more common, maybe even the norm.  So if this poster is from England, that's what she knows.

Yeah outdoor cats seemed pretty normal in South Africa. A lot of people had dog/cat doors so their cats could go in and out during the day. 

[msmerymac]

We have harnesses, but I'm afraid if I take Maximus outside on it, he'll lose what little fear he has of the outdoors. He's already kind of darting at the door at times. Thankfully, our house has a mudroom that is closed off from the kitchen before you get to the back door, and we plan on keeping the kitchen/mudroom door closed all the time. And you can see in the window of the front door to avoid him. We also got him microchipped and he has a safety collar.

Delilah has been out on the leash on our patio, and mostly just wants to go back inside. Frankly, if she got outside, 9 months out of the year, she'd think it was too cold and turn around and come back inside. The other 3 months she'd just think it was scary.

[sb]

We have a screened in porch, pretty much just because our cats love it. If we didn't have one, I'd totally get one of those tents for them. I love that they can spend time in the sunshine/fresh air (and their favorite, chattering at the doves that hang out in our yard) but aren't in danger.

We also have a harness but don't use it that often.

[Deleted]

We used to have a darter until we started taking him outside. We use a Kitty Holster (found on Amazon) as opposed to a regular harness, so much easier. I think it killed his curiosity.

[meshaliuknits]

Kali has no interest in going outside whatsoever. She was two when we adopted her. I figure she knows that she's got a sweet gig going on. The last time Darkness tried to get out, it was raining. He is now mistrustful of the door.

Besides, they have the internet.

[ringstrue]

a lanai or screened in porch is definitely on my wish list for a new place. Unfortunately walking my cat outside only makes him want to go outside more often.

[lasagnasshole]

We used to let Velociraptor out on our balcony, and then one day he fell. So then he was only allowed out with his harness, which was a less than successful venture.

It's probably for the best that Fatty is terrified of the outdoors because we would have to buy him a dog harness. He already wears a dog collar. 

[MauMau]

May 5, 2014 13:04:26 GMT -5 toledo said:

May 5, 2014 13:01:57 GMT -5 dirtyred said:

I remember reading somewhere that in England (RSPCA is Royal Society for Protection of Animals), cats are considered more "wild animals" than pets and letting them roam outside is much more common, maybe even the norm.  So if this poster is from England, that's what she knows.

OMG who was it that went on and on about this one day here?  And about how it was cruel to keep cats indoors?

THINK, brain.  THINK!

No idea.

But this was a thing in Switzerland. It was cruel to keep cats indoors. And cruel not to have animals in pairs.

[Deleted]

H's mom is becoming a crazy cat lady. A random cat was pregnant and had kittens. MIL got them all spayed/neutered (so that's good) and now they hang out in her backyard. Never inside. She goes out twice a day and shakes the food yelling "here friends! Here people!" They kill birds and snakes and she thinks it's awesome.

Apparently outdoor cats are the norm out there (she's in a small town in western NJ) but I still had to bite my tongue a lot this past weekend and definitely thought of this board.

[pixy0stix]

She's happy they're killing natural insect and pest control. Awesome.

[Deleted]

May 5, 2014 15:56:40 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

She's happy they're killing natural insect and pest control. Awesome.

Yup.

Plus, she looks crazy in her robe and slippers calling for her friends.

And their neighbor leaves their dog outside all hours of the day. Like 11 at night it wanders into ILs yard.

It's like a different world up there.