Am I the only one thinking keeping cats inside or containing them in the outdoors is a bit odd? I feel bad enough that my dog cant hang out outside more; cats just seem to get bored and lazy when kept inside. While they have been domesticated, they are still very "wild" as evidenced by their strong hunting urges that either net birds and squirrels, or stuffed mice and feather toys. I understand peoples concern for their companion pets, but I think animals need the stimuli available the outdoors offers to be happy (at least, the cats I have had). I think I would be a lot more inclined to host a cat if I could let it out more easily. Unfortunately, It would not be easy to let a cat outside in my current apt building; and despite my mildly fetishist inclinations, I am not into storing poop in a box on my floor for all to see/smell.

I am aware of the dangers (cars, dogs, racoons, disease) but I have lived in some rural areas with a lot of cats wandering around so maybe I place less value on their lives, or I just think its somewhat cruel to "contain" them their whole lives... I just think these are the risks they/we take.

my 2cents.

I think that depends on the cat. When I lived in Seward, I sort of inherited a former roommate's cat and he was a badass. He went outside year-round, including the days it was 20 below. He would hardly use his litterbox - he'd go outside for that. He would catch rabbits and squirrels and hold his own against raccoons and dogs. I've never doubted his safety outside - he's quick and strong and I know that he's happier when he can roam free.

The cats I have now are indoor cats. I don't want to give them the taste of outside so that they don't want to go out and explore. These guys are too used to the peaceful life inside to learn the possibly harsh reality of being outdoors.

So I really think it's up to the owner to know what's right for their cat.

The cat AKA Dude, thought he wanted to go out just now. He took a look and decided not to.

Since I'm an asshole, I let him back in.

+1

My cat was a stray that was hit by a car or something and brought into an emergency clinic I was working at. The people that brought him in said that he had been hanging out in their back yard for a few weeks and was buddies with their poodle. I've had Bob for almost 5 years now, and he hasn't shown any interest in the outdoors and I like it that way.

The cat I had when I got Bob, never went outside in his life. He didn't know what he was missing. He would sit in the windows or look out the screen door and watch birds but never had any interest in going outside.

And how would one go about doing this?

I got a better idea. Dip-shit cat owners that let their cats wander the neighborhood should teach them not to wander all over the neighborhood. I got my dogs trained not to leave the back yard. As far as a cat coming into our yard? It's game on with my border collies.

Catios. It's a thing.

When I lived in a more rural area our cats were outdoor cats. And by "outdoor" I mean, they were half-wild barn cats. We never took them to the vet unless they had a problem or they needed to be neutered/ spayed. They pooped where they liked, they killed and ate birds, rodents, rabbits, fish... whatever they could catch was theirs. We let them sleep in the garage, put Advantage on them periodically and left food out for them, in return they would rub up against us sometimes or leave voles in my boots.

An anecdote:

My neighbors, a retired doctor and his horrible wife, really liked birds. So much so, that they built a couple of bird feeders right off their back porch. The porch was at the bottom of a slope, and they really wanted to be able to watch all the tweety-action, so they built the bird feeders 3 feet off the ground.

...

I gave them a super soaker, put 15 bells on my cats' collars, but it was just too easy. Dumb birds + low feeder + bad ass wild animals = feathers and blood.

The Dr. ended up trapping one with a can of tuna (That's just unfair! What kitty can resist toona??), and a few of our other cats just "disappeared."

I live in the city now, surrounded by cars in dense living situations. I have two kitties that I keep indoors all of the time, because they are not feral animals, but street-dumb little lovers that wouldn't know what to do with a mouse if it was doing the back stroke in their water bowl. (They'd probably kill it eventually...)

I also do not let them outside because of the $cost$ involved. You need to give them vaccinations (which I don't do because they have no contact with other animals) you need to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't bring in any gross parasites or pests, cats are territorial so they WILL get into fights. Fights = wounds = vet bills. Some people also get pets microchipped, which is $$$.

I've had people accusing me of keeping animals for my own pleasure in a way that is detrimental to their well-being, because they are wild animals. Maybe they are right, but I just keep telling myself that their brains are the size of walnuts, and I'm pretty sure they aren't missing the dangers and hunger and risks of being stray cats.

That said, I don't think having an outdoor or outdoor-sometimes cat is negligent ownership. Depends on the cat/ situation.

As far as training goes... Cats make their own territories, you can't tell them where they can or can't go, although I've had good results with positive reinforcement to establish boundaries in my home. Dogs have a pretty strong chase instinct. If you're going to chance a cat being an outside cat, don't feed them too much and make sure not to declaw them... running up a tree is what they do so doggies don't munch on them.

Oh, and if you keep the shit boxes clean they don't smell, and my cats' dainty dehydrated little turds are easier for me to deal with than a steaming pile of fresh poo. To each their own!

Just to reiterate, the title of this thread was a tongue in cheek parody of that other thread, and it is not to be interpreted as how I truly feel about cat owners.

I love kitties. I just like having a dog more than I like having a cat, and I don't feel I can properly afford both. Cat owners (for the most part, I mean, besides those hoarder fuckers) are animal lovers. Animal lovers are o.k. in my book.

The intention of the OP was not to say, "Control your cats," or, "Your cats had better watch out, or else!" It was to say, "IF you let your cats outside, please know there are risks." And, I posted this thread for two reasons:

1. I have interacted with many cat owners who held the best intentions by letting their cats out, but they were seemingly ignorant to these types of risks and seemed shocked to hear about them! What's worse, is they blamed dog owners for injuries that befell their pet due to the cat wandering into a yard full of dogs.

2. A place to post amusing gifs of cats and dogs either getting along or pwning each other.

But, yeah, totes with lowrah on this about making sure your cat has a sharp side to defend itself with and to provide it with the ability to scrabble up trees.

I think that's my fault for suggesting he spend more money on tires in another thread. He was snippy with me there too.

To take this thread into a more awesome direction, I think it should now be about cats on leashes.

Here's Heinrich!



Here's him and a special guest appearance by Megan Fox's thumbs.

No, they aren't right. Cats are a domestic animal.

Or did you mean the accusatory people are wild animals?

Ok, forget everything I said about being worried my dog would kill kitties. She got chased and cornered by a cat this morning, and ended up jumping into my arms a la scooby doo to save herself. Her tail was tucked so far between her legs, she looked like a dog doughnut.


My "vicious" beast:




Her attacker:






REALLY her attacker:

Ah, yep, should've told you a story I have from my younger time. When I was 14 we got a kitten, just a ball furry adorableness. Well a year later this guy, albeit bigger than an average cat, scratched the nose of our neighbors' curious dog, collie-golden lab mix, which was at least 5 times his size. No bloody fight ensued since the dog ran away and never came close to him again.

Cats that spend a lot of time outside are usually badass. End of story.

This cat was totally unprovoked! It came running after us from down the block and just went after Ruby! hahaha, poor thing. We had to run away. Like, seriously RUN away from this cat.