Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate cats and I am allergic to them. I also dislike all the cats that just roam the neighborhood. Unlike a dog, you can’t kwwp them in a fenced yard. I hate seeing cats that have been hit by cars or mangled by fox on my street. The beheaded cat presumably attacked by a fox was then devoured by buzzards!!! In my neighbor’s front yard and scared the crap out of my 4yr old. This is in a dense part of N. Arlington, not some rural location.

I hate seeing cats stalking my neighbor’s bird feeder. I hate seeing them sunbathing on my deck and shitting in my sandbox and planters. I hate finding dead mice, moles, baby squirrels killed by feral or roaming cats. I hate the additional feral cats that are conceived with help from roaming pet cats.

Why not just don’t have cats at all? What purpose do they serve that a dog cannot?

Cats are great pets for many, that's not the point. But I question where PPs who claim to have long-living indoor/outdoor cats actually live. I live in Bethesda and in the last few months there have been a number of missing cats posted on the list-servs. Fewer than half were found alive. Dense traffic-y close-in suburban neighborhoods? Not remotely safe for cats to roam outside.

Anonymous wrote:I hate cats and I am allergic to them. I also dislike all the cats that just roam the neighborhood. Unlike a dog, you can’t kwwp them in a fenced yard. I hate seeing cats that have been hit by cars or mangled by fox on my street. The beheaded cat presumably attacked by a fox was then devoured by buzzards!!! In my neighbor’s front yard and scared the crap out of my 4yr old. This is in a dense part of N. Arlington, not some rural location.

I hate seeing cats stalking my neighbor’s bird feeder. I hate seeing them sunbathing on my deck and shitting in my sandbox and planters. I hate finding dead mice, moles, baby squirrels killed by feral or roaming cats. I hate the additional feral cats that are conceived with help from roaming pet cats.

Why not just don’t have cats at all? What purpose do they serve that a dog cannot?

Anonymous wrote:I hate cats and I am allergic to them. I also dislike all the cats that just roam the neighborhood. Unlike a dog, you can’t kwwp them in a fenced yard. I hate seeing cats that have been hit by cars or mangled by fox on my street. The beheaded cat presumably attacked by a fox was then devoured by buzzards!!! In my neighbor’s front yard and scared the crap out of my 4yr old. This is in a dense part of N. Arlington, not some rural location.

I hate seeing cats stalking my neighbor’s bird feeder. I hate seeing them sunbathing on my deck and shitting in my sandbox and planters. I hate finding dead mice, moles, baby squirrels killed by feral or roaming cats. I hate the additional feral cats that are conceived with help from roaming pet cats.

Why not just don’t have cats at all? What purpose do they serve that a dog cannot?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your cat wandered into my neighbor's yard their huskies would make short work of it. Be careful what you wish for.

Having an outdoor long lived cat only works well in areas with strict lease laws for dogs. In my old state, my neighbor kept on adopting new "outdoor cats" that would only last for a few months to a year.

The neighborhood dogs, also wandering around, would kill them. Along with the bobcats. They finally gave up and got a pit bull, which lived a long time, mostly outdoors.

Here, I've seen a number of dead cats on the roads. And, if I left it up to my dh, the "outdoor" cats who like to hang out in our yard and kill the birds would be dead too.

Leash laws don't apply inside your own yards. My dogs are free to run on my property.

That is correct. And if a neighbors outdoor cat goes into a fenced yard with dogs, it's the cat's problem.

Right.

And if the neighbor's outdoor cat roams into my yard, I will put it in a cat carrier and take it to the shelter.

Anonymous wrote:I hate cats and I am allergic to them. I also dislike all the cats that just roam the neighborhood. Unlike a dog, you can’t kwwp them in a fenced yard. I hate seeing cats that have been hit by cars or mangled by fox on my street. The beheaded cat presumably attacked by a fox was then devoured by buzzards!!! In my neighbor’s front yard and scared the crap out of my 4yr old. This is in a dense part of N. Arlington, not some rural location.

I hate seeing cats stalking my neighbor’s bird feeder. I hate seeing them sunbathing on my deck and shitting in my sandbox and planters. I hate finding dead mice, moles, baby squirrels killed by feral or roaming cats. I hate the additional feral cats that are conceived with help from roaming pet cats.

Why not just don’t have cats at all? What purpose do they serve that a dog cannot?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:humans aren't supposed to live indoors either...

Yes we are. Before we had houses we lived in caves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your cat wandered into my neighbor's yard their huskies would make short work of it. Be careful what you wish for.

Having an outdoor long lived cat only works well in areas with strict lease laws for dogs. In my old state, my neighbor kept on adopting new "outdoor cats" that would only last for a few months to a year.

The neighborhood dogs, also wandering around, would kill them. Along with the bobcats. They finally gave up and got a pit bull, which lived a long time, mostly outdoors.

Here, I've seen a number of dead cats on the roads. And, if I left it up to my dh, the "outdoor" cats who like to hang out in our yard and kill the birds would be dead too.

Leash laws don't apply inside your own yards. My dogs are free to run on my property.

That is correct. And if a neighbors outdoor cat goes into a fenced yard with dogs, it's the cat's problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your cat wandered into my neighbor's yard their huskies would make short work of it. Be careful what you wish for.

Having an outdoor long lived cat only works well in areas with strict lease laws for dogs. In my old state, my neighbor kept on adopting new "outdoor cats" that would only last for a few months to a year.

The neighborhood dogs, also wandering around, would kill them. Along with the bobcats. They finally gave up and got a pit bull, which lived a long time, mostly outdoors.

Here, I've seen a number of dead cats on the roads. And, if I left it up to my dh, the "outdoor" cats who like to hang out in our yard and kill the birds would be dead too.

Leash laws don't apply inside your own yards. My dogs are free to run on my property.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid, my family had a couple of cats, both were indoor/outdoor cats. They lived long lives and died in the house. The only problem I would have now with having indoor/outdoor cats is that I wouldn't like them to be pooping on the neighbors property.

Yes, I do believe that a cat that's locked up in a house 24/7 will likely live longer than an outdoor cat but it's natural instincts have been suppressed.

Cats are domesticated.

Really? I've seen "domesticated" cats when they see a bird in the street. They crouch down and slowly move towards its prey just like a lion does in the jungle when it sees dinner. It's amazing that their actions are so similar.

Yes, dogs do that as well. They, too, are domesticated.

I think the point that was being made, is that the "domesticated" cat even though it hasn't been anywhere near the jungle, shares the same instincts as a wild big cat in the jungle.

How does that translate to it being ok for cats to roam suburban neighborhoods, killing native bird species, pooping in gardens and sandboxes, developing worm issues from eating rodents, being prey for coyotes and foxes, and being hit by cars?

It doesn't.

The cats my family had when I was a child never had any of the problems that you have mentioned and they were outdoor cats.

Yes, I am sure you followed them around to keep them from pooping in other people’s yards and killing wildlife.

Cats are animals. When you stop them from killing wildlife, you're interfering with what they're bred to do. But if you feel that bad about fluffy eating a bird, you can put a bell on her neck. But keeping an animal indoors all day is sad and cruel, especially if you have only one cat.

Anonymous wrote:Our cat is scared to go outside. Maybe she can smell or sense that there are dangerous feral cats in our area

Anonymous wrote:

Cats are domesticated.

Watched a fascinating documentary a while back and cats are not as domesticated as dogs. Dogs have developed a natural dependency and tendency to look toward humans for help. There is an experiment with dogs and wolves that has the animal try to access food that is in a box that they can't open. The dog will stop and go to the human to help get the food. The wolf will continue to ignore the human and keep trying to get the food or give up. Cats have a similar as wolves. A domesticated cat has lost its fear of humans and is less aggressive but it never developed the consistent dependency that dogs do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your cat wandered into my neighbor's yard their huskies would make short work of it. Be careful what you wish for.

Having an outdoor long lived cat only works well in areas with strict lease laws for dogs. In my old state, my neighbor kept on adopting new "outdoor cats" that would only last for a few months to a year.

The neighborhood dogs, also wandering around, would kill them. Along with the bobcats. They finally gave up and got a pit bull, which lived a long time, mostly outdoors.

Here, I've seen a number of dead cats on the roads. And, if I left it up to my dh, the "outdoor" cats who like to hang out in our yard and kill the birds would be dead too.