Anonymous wrote:I love rescue orgs because they usually have well socialized animals and detailed info on the temperaments of each cat. Gives you a much better sense of what you're getting, and has assisted us immensely in finding a good fit for our family, including current pets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I understand both sides of this issue. Certainly in terms of longevity, cats do best indoors. Some cats are unhappy being indoors only, and we have tried being flexible. But here are the results: our indoor only cats are still with us, our indoor-outdoor cats have all died prematurely. Three (one older, two young) hit by cars when they wandered too far from the house, one got into something toxic that poisoned him. My DH felt for a long time that we should respect cats' instinct to go outside, but he now agrees we should commit to indoor only. It's not always easy, but we believe it's the better choice for the cats' wellbeing. Many (most?) shelters feel strongly about this, because they know the statistics and have seen lots of bad stuff.

I had three outdoor cats - one was hit by a car, the other was killed by the neighbor's dog, and the third simply disappeared. All of them were over the age of ten (maybe even 15) when they died, and perhaps being elder cats contributed to their demise, e.g., couldn't get over the fence in time to escape the dog. The other thing was, outdoor cats have a really notable effect on the local ecosystem. Cats are predators. The outdoor cats brought countless birds and rabbits into the house - sometimes still alive, or barely alive - and from time to time I'd wake up to find a heap of animal entrails on the kitchen floor. In the back yard there was also one particular place where they'd leave things they'd killed. On the plus side, no litter box to clean - they always went outside to poop and pee.

My next two cats were indoor-only and lived to the age of 18. When I get new cats, they will be indoor-only.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that some rescues go overboard.
At the same time, reading through many threads on this board and seeing how often people consider their pets disposable when inconvenient, makes me understand why the rescues have high standards.

Yes I know, there are some no kill shelters. But what's better, take a chance with someone who takes the time to go to a shelter and look for a cat they plan to adopt or have high standards and euthanize the cat when they can't find a home for it?

Shelters are more reasonable than rescue orgs because they can’t refuse to take animals. Look at AWLA’s Home for the Holidays program where they convinced people to foster animals over Christmas. It’s genious because it means less employees need to work over the holiday and some portion of the people who take the animals home will decide to keep them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that some rescues go overboard.
At the same time, reading through many threads on this board and seeing how often people consider their pets disposable when inconvenient, makes me understand why the rescues have high standards.

+1. If people aren't willing to deal with a few small hoops to adopt, why would rescue orgs think they'd be willing to deal with any hoops once they take a cat home? Any pet can have issues, from behavioral to health, and they're trying to get a sense of who will be a committed owner.

Even the strictest rescue orgs rarely take more than one week to go through the process. And that's with one that required reference letters and a home visit.

Anonymous wrote:I agree that some rescues go overboard.
At the same time, reading through many threads on this board and seeing how often people consider their pets disposable when inconvenient, makes me understand why the rescues have high standards.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that some rescues go overboard.
At the same time, reading through many threads on this board and seeing how often people consider their pets disposable when inconvenient, makes me understand why the rescues have high standards.

Yes I know, there are some no kill shelters. But what's better, take a chance with someone who takes the time to go to a shelter and look for a cat they plan to adopt or have high standards and euthanize the cat when they can't find a home for it?

Anonymous wrote:I agree that some rescues go overboard.
At the same time, reading through many threads on this board and seeing how often people consider their pets disposable when inconvenient, makes me understand why the rescues have high standards.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think all animals would generally live longer if they were kept indoors all the time, so would people. All I can say in defense of people who let their cats outside is that my cats loved going outside. I'd leave the patio door open and they would come in and out as they pleased panting with their pink tongues hanging out. When outside they would sneak up on each other and play, and one used to love climbing up on the tree.

Just another thought. If vets now said that dog owners should keep their dogs inside and never take them out for walks or let them meet other dogs because this would make them live longer would it be OK to keep dogs indoors 24/7?

Anonymous wrote:I think all animals would generally live longer if they were kept indoors all the time, so would people. All I can say in defense of people who let their cats outside is that my cats loved going outside. I'd leave the patio door open and they would come in and out as they pleased panting with their pink tongues hanging out. When outside they would sneak up on each other and play, and one used to love climbing up on the tree.

Anonymous wrote:
I understand both sides of this issue. Certainly in terms of longevity, cats do best indoors. Some cats are unhappy being indoors only, and we have tried being flexible. But here are the results: our indoor only cats are still with us, our indoor-outdoor cats have all died prematurely. Three (one older, two young) hit by cars when they wandered too far from the house, one got into something toxic that poisoned him. My DH felt for a long time that we should respect cats' instinct to go outside, but he now agrees we should commit to indoor only. It's not always easy, but we believe it's the better choice for the cats' wellbeing. Many (most?) shelters feel strongly about this, because they know the statistics and have seen lots of bad stuff.