Please let your cat be a cat!

[Anonymous]

My cats live a happy and full life inside, thank you. They have each other to interact with, toys, tunnels, and more. They are also now 13. They have no idea how to go from being an indoor cat to being a safe, outdoor cat. They will live out the rest of their lives quite happily inside, thankyou.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never known responsible pet owners to have outdoor cats, and I'm in my 50s.

If you want your cat to not get run over by a car, not kill birds, not be exposed to your neighborhood pesticides it's best if they stay indoors. Mine love the screened in porch.

I mean, if you live in a rural area and need a barn cat to kill the mice, it makes sense. Or you live in DC and need a cat to kill rats and mice, makes sense. In the suburbs, no.

Our 19 year old cat is an indoor and outdoor cat. In the suburbs. Her whole life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As long as you have a coyote roller on your fence that stops your cat from going out of your yard, fine.

It's beyond obnoxious to let one of your animals roam around onto others' property.

+1 If I have to keep my dogs in control and on a leash, you shouldn't be able to allow your cats to roam the neighborhood and be on other people's property.

[Anonymous]

I want my cat to be a dinosaur. Can’t we just let them be dinosaurs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My mom’s indoor/outdoor cat lived to be 25.

I don’t think there is a one rule fits all. Some cats enjoy being outside and are generally safe. Others get scared, lost, or hurt.

Just be sure to get them spayed or neutered.

I agree with this but too many cat owners think that their cat can't handle it. Yes sometimes things happen but if the cat lived a happier life that is better than living a bored longer life.

Tell that to the ones picked apart by suburban coyotes.

I still let my kids go outside, although they'd probably live longer if they weren't exposed to illnesses by other people and the risks of getting into a car accident. Locking an animal in a house all day is a cruel thing to do.

What an absurd false equivalency. You can train a child in safety measures, and drivers are on the look out for them. You can't train a cat, which drivers often simply can't see. The statistics for cats allowed to roam outdoors are grim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My mom’s indoor/outdoor cat lived to be 25.

I don’t think there is a one rule fits all. Some cats enjoy being outside and are generally safe. Others get scared, lost, or hurt.

Just be sure to get them spayed or neutered.

I agree with this but too many cat owners think that their cat can't handle it. Yes sometimes things happen but if the cat lived a happier life that is better than living a bored longer life.

Tell that to the ones picked apart by suburban coyotes.

I still let my kids go outside, although they'd probably live longer if they weren't exposed to illnesses by other people and the risks of getting into a car accident. Locking an animal in a house all day is a cruel thing to do.

What an absurd false equivalency. You can train a child in safety measures, and drivers are on the look out for them. You can't train a cat, which drivers often simply can't see. The statistics for cats allowed to roam outdoors are grim.

Cats have reflexes. They're not running towards cars. My cat is arguably more street smart than my toddlers. I would imagine that the mental health statistics for cats locked indoors all day are grim. But they're alive and available to snuggle, and that's all that matters to some people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as you have a coyote roller on your fence that stops your cat from going out of your yard, fine.

It's beyond obnoxious to let one of your animals roam around onto others' property.

+1 If I have to keep my dogs in control and on a leash, you shouldn't be able to allow your cats to roam the neighborhood and be on other people's property.

I don't have a cat or a dog, but dogs bark and bite and poop on properties. Cats typically don't do any of that. We love when our neighbor's cat visits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as you have a coyote roller on your fence that stops your cat from going out of your yard, fine.

It's beyond obnoxious to let one of your animals roam around onto others' property.

+1 If I have to keep my dogs in control and on a leash, you shouldn't be able to allow your cats to roam the neighborhood and be on other people's property.

I don't have a cat or a dog, but dogs bark and bite and poop on properties. Cats typically don't do any of that. We love when our neighbor's cat visits.

Wait until it decides a particular part of your garden is its litter box. You will be able to smell it with no difficulty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as you have a coyote roller on your fence that stops your cat from going out of your yard, fine.

It's beyond obnoxious to let one of your animals roam around onto others' property.

+1 If I have to keep my dogs in control and on a leash, you shouldn't be able to allow your cats to roam the neighborhood and be on other people's property.

I don't have a cat or a dog, but dogs bark and bite and poop on properties. Cats typically don't do any of that. We love when our neighbor's cat visits.

Cats poop on other people's properties ALL the time. And they don't have their owners running after them to pick it up, now do they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as you have a coyote roller on your fence that stops your cat from going out of your yard, fine.

It's beyond obnoxious to let one of your animals roam around onto others' property.

+1 If I have to keep my dogs in control and on a leash, you shouldn't be able to allow your cats to roam the neighborhood and be on other people's property.

I don't have a cat or a dog, but dogs bark and bite and poop on properties. Cats typically don't do any of that. We love when our neighbor's cat visits.

Cats poop on other people's properties ALL the time. And they don't have their owners running after them to pick it up, now do they?

Most cats are trained in their litter boxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wolves? Where do you live?

Also - indoor/outdoor cats are much smarter than anyone gives them credit. They can do fine in outdoor areas with predators around and they are skillful in avoiding them.

I lived in Westchester County, NY as a kid and we had a cat killed by wolves. Lots of them in the woods up there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as you have a coyote roller on your fence that stops your cat from going out of your yard, fine.

It's beyond obnoxious to let one of your animals roam around onto others' property.

+1 If I have to keep my dogs in control and on a leash, you shouldn't be able to allow your cats to roam the neighborhood and be on other people's property.

I don't have a cat or a dog, but dogs bark and bite and poop on properties. Cats typically don't do any of that. We love when our neighbor's cat visits.

Wait until it decides a particular part of your garden is its litter box. You will be able to smell it with no difficulty.

They love fresh dirt in particular. It doesn't bother me--I always use gloves and view it as fertilizer--but some of my neighbors are very peeved about one neighborhood cat's visits. They also suspect the cat leaves dead birds in their yards from time to time. I've found two in the past year, and do wonder. Your neighbors do have the right to decide that letting your cat free roam into their yards is inconsiderate. They're not wild animals, they just have owners who refuse to control them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This trend of not allowing cats to be normal cats and never go outside is just cruel to the cats. An indoor/outdoor cat may not live to be 28 years old but cats were not designed to live until they are this old. Its better to let it have a happy life. Indoor/outdoor cats are so much more pleasant and don't have any of the crazy problems like peeing all over the house or ripping up furniture that you see in indoor cats ALL THE TIME. An indoor/outdoor cat doesn't get bored or destructive. It enjoys being a cat and in the end is a better companion.

Free your cat.

In Virginia we have foxes. Foxes eat cats. So no outdoors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as you have a coyote roller on your fence that stops your cat from going out of your yard, fine.

It's beyond obnoxious to let one of your animals roam around onto others' property.

+1 If I have to keep my dogs in control and on a leash, you shouldn't be able to allow your cats to roam the neighborhood and be on other people's property.

I don't have a cat or a dog, but dogs bark and bite and poop on properties. Cats typically don't do any of that. We love when our neighbor's cat visits.

Cats poop on other people's properties ALL the time. And they don't have their owners running after them to pick it up, now do they?

Most cats are trained in their litter boxes.

Until they discover the joy of pooping outside. Then they stop using their litterboxes except when they have to.

[Anonymous]

I would prefer if the neighbor cat did not poop in my vegetable garden. I would prefer if it had not peed on my child's pool in the time while we popped inside quickly for a potty run. I had never seen a cat lift their leg to pee before. I wish my child could unsee returning home to find the cat munching down on the backyard chipmunk we had been hand feeding for over a year. I wish I did not have to go outside to unhook a cat from out patio screen door from when it tried to attack our indoor cats through the screen. I wish I did not have to keep the lower floor windows and screen door closed to prevent further attacks and pissing contests.

I wish multiple neighbors would keep their cats inside.