Secret Lives of Cats

[niemand88f]

A researcher attached cameras to some outdoor cats to see where they go and what they do.... leading the researcher to strongly suggest they be kept inside! I think most people don't realize how far their outdoor cats might go, and they definitely don't play it safe outside. This is an interesting project though.

Follow the link to see a video: www.11alive.com/News/Odd/241598/186/Exposed--The-secret-lives-of-cats-

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ATHENS, Ga. -- Amy Watts of Athens has three cats who roam outdoors. She thought she knew them. Now she knows them much better.

"I knew that Booker T's favorite place to go was down in the storm sewer," Watts said. "And now I know what the storm sewer looks like."

She knows that because University of Georgia researcher Kerri Anne Loyd recruited Booker T for a project to expose the secret lives of outdoor house cats. When Loyd equipped Booker T with a three-ounce video camera attached to a collar, the cat obliged with an infrared tour of the neighborhood storm sewer.

"It's kind of frightening," Watts laughed. "I wish he would never go down there again."

As part of her project, Loyd said she gathered more than 2,000 hours of kitty-cam footage -- much of it framed on top by the animal's fuzzy chin and wiry whiskers. She partnered with National Geographic Remote Imaging to equip the cats with cameras.

The cats stalked their neighbors' chickens. They camped out under automobiles. They ascended the pitched roofs of their neighbors' homes. They had unnerving nighttime on-camera encounters with opossums and other woodland creatures.

And they stalked prey. Loyd said her cameras documented dozens of encounters between cats and slower-moving critters -- oftentimes resulting in the cat cheerfully relocating its hapless victim -- but more often, not.

"Most of them left their prey," Loyd said. "They would capture it, play with it for a few minutes, then leave it close to the site of capture -- rather than bring it home as a gift for the owners."

Loyd said the research has a point: To show cat owners what their cats really do outdoors, and to strongly suggest that indoor cats lead less perilous lives.

"We were surprised to see that 85 percent of our sample of 60 cats experienced at least one risk behavior in the course of a week. So that was a pretty high percentage," Loyd said.

The cameras told stories. In the case of Archie, a striped tabby, it exposed a double life beyond Amy Watts' property line.

"Got a whole other family," Watts said. When she viewed the video, "They held open the door for him, and he walked in. He just hung out in the house."

"I feel like one of those women on the talk shows: 'My husband has two wives.' My cat has two families," Watts said.

For an eternity, these stealthy animals lived secret lives. Now the lid is off.

And the cats -- do they look like they care?

[brittmk0922]

We had an outdoor cat when I was a younger child, and my mother was PARANOID about him coming back every day as she didn't want to explain that to any of us. Ever since then its been indoor cats only.
I don't think my cats would know what to do if they did get out... the kitten made a dash for the door one day when my fiance opened it, she got as far as the front porch and just froze.

[SpicedApplePie]

I wish cats were required to be kept indoors when they are unattended.

But I was laughing at the cat with two families. I would be super jealous if my cats had other humans.

[beaglechon2012]

Oh my God, so cool! I wish there was a place to go to see the footage.

ETA: Nevermind, I found it, if you're interested here's the link: www.kittycams.uga.edu/

[brit1017]

One of the cats got out on the back porch b/c one of our kids left the screen door open without us realizing it. He hopped over the back porches of the two houses next to us (we live in a townhouse), where they let him in and fed him. He was only gone for about 30 minutes total before we figured out who had him. Now that he knows someone else will feed him too, he's making it his life's mission to slip back out

[kellbell191]

Mine always think they want out, then totally lose it when they get out. Hunter once spent an hour running between the front and back doors howling, trying to figure out how to get back in but refusing to come to us.

Mine are not smart enough to survive outside. Plus the mice keeping come into my house, so they're busy here.

[ndolehan]

This was interesting. And I also loved the fact that one cat had a double life. I feel like Rosco Cat would do this.


As a kid we also had inside/outside cats. One of which did run away. I've never let Rosco Cat outside, and he's never tried since H almost shut him in the door - which he is now scared of, thankfully!

[falada45]

We had indoor/outdoor cats when I was a kid. My dad still keeps outdoor cats at home because he feeds a lot of strays. They're always going missing. He does have an old mama cat (that he trapped and got spayed) who has been around for years. But that's a rarity.

My cats are indoor only. One of them does like to escape out the patio door and roll around on the patio in the sun. The other one likes to look outside but the only time she ran out the door to chase a leaf, she totally froze once she made it to the grass. They're never outside unattended. I'd worry way too much if I didn't know where they were or what they were getting into.

[UMaineTeach]

May 18, 2012 0:01:32 GMT -5 beaglechon2012 said:

ETA: Nevermind, I found it, if you're interested here's the link: www.kittycams.uga.edu/

it was very Blair Witch inspired footage

[Deleted]

I'm alternating between watching these and looking at my rescue who is now an indoor cat. I have deprived him of so much excitement.

We had an indoor/outdoor cat when I was young and my mom was a constant ball of stress over him, especially when he didn't come home or we heard a fight. Only indoor since then for all of us.