Current Events > How are people comfortable with having outdoor cats?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Just saw a ran over cat.

There's just so much shit that can go wrong. How do you know cat is coming back?

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Wtf are you talking about? Generally speaking, it's cruel to keep cats in. And most are fine. They just wonder in circles around their neighbourhood.

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Outdoor cats aren't really pets. They're like nosy neighbors that you chat with over snacks when you're lonely.

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yeah honestly i couldn't have an outdoor cat

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It's cruel to keep cats inside

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I have family that would regularly have outdoor cats that would always end up eaten by coyotes. Every two years or so one of their cats wouldnt come home, theyd assume it was eaten by the coyotes that prowl their neighborhood, and then theyd get a new cat.

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The only time I'd be comfortable with it is if I lived in the country in an area where they don't really have any predators. Even then, at that point it's probably a working cat. It's probably there to keep rats out of the barn.

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I had an outdoor cat for 18 years and he got along fine. He was a super dope cat and everyone kinda knew him.

my new cat is 6 pounds full grown though. Shes a lil baby and I dont trust her outside at all. Shes be bird food in a day. Though she tries ton make a break for it ever time I let the dog out lol

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SwayM posted...

I had an outdoor cat for 18 years and he got along fine. He was a super dope cat and everyone kinda knew him.

my new cat is 6 pounds full grown though. Shes a lil baby and I dont trust her outside at all. Shes be bird food in a day. Though she tries ton make a break for it ever time I let the dog out lol

What kind of area do you live in?

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Both my cats were out yesterday. My one cat (female) just sat in the front yard and slept under a tree for a couple hours.

The other one (male) disappears for over night and doesn't come back until the next evening. He very rarely goes out but when when he does he either comes back immediately, or disappears for the night.

There's a cat in the neighborhood who comes around every night around 10pm, sees our cats in the windows, so pisses on our brick walls to mark it as his territory. I assume my cat was looking for him that night to show him what's up. He's sleeping on the couch right now.

My neighbourhood doesn't have much traffic. If we did have more traffic I'd be more worried about them.

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Growing up, we had too many cats that disappeared. My cats are now strictly indoors. I dont see how its cruel to keep them safe. There are cars, wildlife, cruel humans, disease, etc. Contrary to what people believe, cats dont have some magical instincts that protect them from danger. They frequently lose their way too. As mentioned above, outdoor cats have a considerably shorter lifespan than indoor cats.

There are always people who go my cat was outdoors and lived until 20 just fine! Exceptions dont make the rules though. Not all smokers are going to get lung cancer but it doesnt make smoking any less dangerous.

It takes a lot of work to properly care for indoor cats. Feeding (not just free feeding dry food and let get them fat), fresh water, grooming, dedicated play time, litter cleaning, etc. People are just lazy though and would prefer to toss their cats outdoors and tell themselves thats what they should be doing.

iTs CrUeL tO KEep CatS inDOorS

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Cats should not be allowed to wander neighborhoods. They are partly responsible for the 30% decrease in bird populations we've seen since the 1960s.

I even saw it firsthand a few years ago when neighborhood cats killed all the baby mockingbirds growing in a nest by my house.

Cats are perfectly fine staying indoors. If I ever get one, and I live in a neighborhood where birds are raising their babies, I would keep it in the house.

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My ex had such a badass manx tomcat. He would roam and I would constantly hear him fighting other cats outside my bedroom window. One day someone ran him over and threw his body in her garbage, thats how she found him. I still miss him sometimes, he was a good cat. One of those that would bite you for no reason.

Wetterdew posted...

Cats should not be allowed to wander neighborhoods. They are partly responsible for the 30% decrease in bird populations we've seen since the 1960s.

depends on where you live.

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Squall28 posted...

What kind of area do you live in?

Residential

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EnragedSlith posted...

iTs CrUeL tO KEep CatS inDOorS

better to let them out where they can murder the fuck out of birds/get mauled by dogs/get run over by cars... FREEDOM!

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Choco posted...

depends on where you live.

How many places are there where birds don't roost? If you live somewhere like that, then I would agree, but if you live somewhere where birds roost (which is just about everywhere) and you let your cats roam, you're partly responsible for the decline in bird populations.

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Not gonna lie I saw a cat that belong's to someone living on my street jump into my neighbour's tree that I knew had birds nesting in it one spring and I actually went and pulled it out (not nicely) with a hockey stick.

Never saw it go in that tree again.
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My neighbor's cat likes to roam outside. When it's cold it sometimes comes meowing at my door so I let it in to warm up for a bit before it asks to go.

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https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/

Indoor cats live longer and healthier lives

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I live in a pretty rural area so there's a lot of small wildlife around - birds, chipmunks, garden snakes, etc. If I let my cats roam free they would just kill shit all the time. I take them out when I'm out working in the yard/garden so they can lounge in the sun and chase bugs and stuff. If I'm not gonna be out for long then I just let them out loose but if I'm spending the whole day outside I connect them to 50' leads so they have plenty of radius to explore without getting into too much stuff outside of my property.

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It's only cruel to keep your cat indoors if your house is small and doesn't provide enough for your cat to play, explore, and feel safe. When your cat is out you're letting an invasive species interact with the natural environment. Cats are terrible predators. They kill native species for fun and they don't even kill efficiently. You're exposing them to disease and parasites. You're risking them getting attacked from another animal. There are people that are very protective of their homes and won't mind hosing down your cat, throwing rocks at it, poisoning it, or shooting it. You have to be in denial to think that it's never okay to keep a cat as an indoor cat.

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Both of my cats hang out outside, but I dont consider them outside cats. They chill out there and pee and poop, but theyre in most of the time. Ziggy, my best friend,
is around 14 and the only trouble hes been in was getting jumped by a chicken a few months back that was in my back yard. Dynamite is 8, and she is in great health.

But it does make me nervous, especially when you first are getting to know them and theyre young.

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Jabodie posted...

My neighbor's cat likes to roam outside. When it's cold it sometimes comes meowing at my door so I let it in to warm up for a bit before it asks to go.

There's also this. You let a cat out and you don't know what neighbors are doing to it or what kids are doing with it. What if other people are feeding your cat and giving your cat water? You could be overfeeding your cat without realizing it. Or your neighbors could be feeding your cat things it's not supposed toe at.

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Beveren_Rabbit posted...

There's also this. You let a cat out and you don't know what neighbors are doing to it or what kids are doing with it. What if other people are feeding your cat and giving your cat water? You could be overfeeding your cat without realizing it. Or your neighbors could be feeding your cat things it's not supposed toe at.

Haha I know the owner a bit, so she knows I let her cat in once in a while.

She's a friendly cat, but when she tries to get in my lap it's kinda painful since she takes the claws out when she relaxes.

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I never get brought dead birds, only dead mice. And yes, they give them to me as a gift. The body is always next to my shoes, lol.

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Aeriis posted...

I wonder the same thing! I think the average lifespan of an outdoor cat is around 6 years... When cats can easily live to 15-20

I have known many outdoor cats who lives 15-20. Makes me wonder about your statistic.

Probably, it is counting outdoor cats with no actual house to lounge and get food from. No surprise a cat in the alley would only live 6 years.

You dont truly love your cat if you keep it locked inside for life.

Thats like never letting your kid out of the house, or locking your girlfriend in the basement imo

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All of my cats have been exposed to feline leukemia, so they're not going outside
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solosnake posted...

You dont truly love your cat if you keep it locked inside for life.

Thats like never letting your kid out of the house, or locking your girlfriend in the basement imo

yes, i to believe you should let your toddler out to run in front of cars.

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MarqueeSeries posted...

All of my cats have been exposed to feline leukemia, so they're not going outside

you're like the opposite of my former neighbor, who owned a cat that acted as the local reservoir for the disease...

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Beveren_Rabbit posted...

There's also this. You let a cat out and you don't know what neighbors are doing to it or what kids are doing with it. What if other people are feeding your cat and giving your cat water? You could be overfeeding your cat without realizing it. Or your neighbors could be feeding your cat things it's not supposed toe at.

When I was a kid, I always fed my neighbor's cat when they come by. He liked whipped cream the most so that's what I gave him. It's probably terrible for the cat in retrospect.

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Squall28 posted...

He liked whipped cream the most so that's what I gave him. It's probably terrible for the cat in retrospect.

yeah, it could easily get diabetes

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Around here coyotes will get your outdoor cat eventually, so unless you want it to be murdered by horrible monsters, you gotta keep it indoors.

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Everybody in my neighborhood seems comfortable with it, since there's more cats on the streets than people.

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I think it depends on where you live. I grew up living in the middle of nowhere and my dad still does. Had cats his whole life and never lost one to a car accident or anything like that. Most lived well into their teens. The current one is almost 20, but she doesn't even want to go outside now. He always sends me pictures of her just laying in front of the TV.

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Wetterdew posted...

How many places are there where birds don't roost? If you live somewhere like that, then I would agree, but if you live somewhere where birds roost (which is just about everywhere) and you let your cats roam, you're partly responsible for the decline in bird populations.

this is mostly a north-american problem.

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The worst kinds of ppl are okay w this

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Squall28 posted...

When I was a kid, I always fed my neighbor's cat when they come by. He liked whipped cream the most so that's what I gave him. It's probably terrible for the cat in retrospect.

another reason i could never have an outdoor cat - people will think it's ok to feed it, including very unhealthy stuff :|

not that i blame you, since you were a kid, but even adults do this

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My friend just got her cat taken into the rspca because he keeps losing his collar and someone reported it as a stray.

She mentioned having to pay something like 300 to get him back and that her case is non urgent during this corona crisis so she doesnt know how long she'll have to wait to get him back.

And i probably mentioned this a year or 2 back. I know this fat lady, sometimes i give her a lift home because she works at a gas station and shes friends with my mum. She wouldnt shut up about her cats, every trip, its about her cats. I found it annoying obviously, until one day she said one of them got ran over and i felt quite sad to hear it.

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I miss the outdoor cats that used to linger around my house because they are the finest mouse shield you could ask for. Once they were gone we started having issues with them, living near woods you get all kinds of weirdness.

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