Rick63
Active Member
I'm curious as to the ratio of indoor/mix/outdoor cats are here?
Mine is strictly indoors.
Mine is strictly indoors.
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Cat News?
- Thread starter VMAT4
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Claire, the darker one above, was a bit older when I got her. So I had to stick with her name.
Sonny was a kitten and his name was Noodles which I couldn’t live with. That’s the nickname of a toothless ex junkie regular at the pub I go to. I didn’t address the kitten by name for a week until I came up with his name. Definitely meant to evoke ‘Sonny and Cher’.
My cats are indoor only. After my beloved Marmalade was run over I can’t bear the thought of it happening to one of these two.
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4 feral born cats... there is no way they would adapt to indoor only life. Fortunately we are in a more rural area and the beastlets have a field to roam. We aren't too close to the road which they don't seem interested in... *fingers crossed
We do have occasional coyotes, a bobcat, some foxes... that is always a concern.
DonR
Major Contributor
Charlie is indoor and outdoor supervised (harness). Living on a farm, we have had primarily outdoor cats exclusively for 30 years. The males tend to roam a lot and then get run over. Our females tend to die of old age or disease (one contracted the infamous cryptococcus gattii). We live in a rural area but the road can get busy in summer and drivers are never cautious.
Tom C
Major Contributor
Three, all indoor only. Two are littermates we got as kittens, and to my knowledge have never been out of doors, save bringing them home and trips to the vet, always in a carrier. The third was a three-month-old stray that came a’knockin one rainy summer eve. We treated for fleas, and he’s been indoor only ever since.
Indoor/ outdoor here, by necessity..... 6 cats mostly in the house,but access to outside..8 cats in a backyard colony , they are all finally tnr'd( by me)...i had an animal hoarder landlord/ roommate do a " midnight move" on his own house and dump the cats in my lap... Neat guy...
Max started off as indoor only. He was a pure breed, and one of his '2 year warranty' terms was no going outdoors. He practically lived in the front dining room window and the two back windows in the family room. After about 5 months we bought a harness and leash so he could go outside on the patio with us. He hated the harness, but was delighted with the bugs, etc. hopping around on the lawn. One morning I brought him out without the harness and ran around but stayed very close. Over the next couple weeks he would stray into the two adjacent back yards.
These days he spends 6-8 hours outside every day. Unsupervised. He usually goes out in the middle of the night and comes in around 7 for breakfast, and then goes back out for an hour or two. He comes in and sleeps inside until mid afternoon. Then he goes in and out a handful of times until around 10 or 11 pm. Rinse, repeat.
We live on a busy street. He will wander out front, but he doesn't like it at all anywhere near the street. this past summer he slept every morning in a garden about 15 feet from the road but would not go any closer.
We are in the suburbs, but get a fair amount of foxes, racoons and deep in the yard. He's chased full-sized bucks away, but generally avoids the other critters. Although he did chase after a small possum the other night. And there is another cat that lives 3 doors down that regularly comes to camp out in our carport for 3-4 days.
He doesn't fight with other animals, thankfully. So he doesn't get scratches, bites, etc.
He has a territory now that extends more than two houses on each side, and into the yard behind us. There are a couple 6 foot high fences within his territory that he likes to sit on top of so he can survey his domain.
When I was a kid we took in 3 stray cats over about a 3 year period. We were in a very quiet neighborhood, and all of the cats freely went in and out whenever they wanted (assuming someone was home to open the door). A few years later my mom started transitioning into a crazy cat lady. After accumulating a small fortune in vet bills over the next decade or two she converted them into indoor cats, and has continued that practice with all cats since. At work, our office manager volunteers at a shelter, and also does not believe in letting cats go outside. So I get hit from two sides about it all the time. Yet Max is happy as can be, and my wife and I would rather let him enjoy the heck out of his life even if it means it may wind up being shorter than if we kept him in.
These days he spends 6-8 hours outside every day. Unsupervised. He usually goes out in the middle of the night and comes in around 7 for breakfast, and then goes back out for an hour or two. He comes in and sleeps inside until mid afternoon. Then he goes in and out a handful of times until around 10 or 11 pm. Rinse, repeat.
We live on a busy street. He will wander out front, but he doesn't like it at all anywhere near the street. this past summer he slept every morning in a garden about 15 feet from the road but would not go any closer.
We are in the suburbs, but get a fair amount of foxes, racoons and deep in the yard. He's chased full-sized bucks away, but generally avoids the other critters. Although he did chase after a small possum the other night. And there is another cat that lives 3 doors down that regularly comes to camp out in our carport for 3-4 days.
He doesn't fight with other animals, thankfully. So he doesn't get scratches, bites, etc.
He has a territory now that extends more than two houses on each side, and into the yard behind us. There are a couple 6 foot high fences within his territory that he likes to sit on top of so he can survey his domain.
When I was a kid we took in 3 stray cats over about a 3 year period. We were in a very quiet neighborhood, and all of the cats freely went in and out whenever they wanted (assuming someone was home to open the door). A few years later my mom started transitioning into a crazy cat lady. After accumulating a small fortune in vet bills over the next decade or two she converted them into indoor cats, and has continued that practice with all cats since. At work, our office manager volunteers at a shelter, and also does not believe in letting cats go outside. So I get hit from two sides about it all the time. Yet Max is happy as can be, and my wife and I would rather let him enjoy the heck out of his life even if it means it may wind up being shorter than if we kept him in.
DonR
Major Contributor
Our previous cat lived 17 happy years coming and going as she pleased but she was born and raised on a farm and was generally a very timid cat. I really think it depends on the cat.
the cats here used to disappear on a regular basis , but neighbors come and go and i think the abuser died or moved, there are still night time raids by urban coyotes but the indoor cats stay indoors at night after i saw a 40 lb'er chasing my best little buddy at 3 am one morning..the cat is fine , he had an open window for escape... i keep a loaded .22 for home invaders and stray coyotes nowadays..i had an outside kitty get eaten by a coyote last summer (the tamest , nicest cat in the colony of course)... the outside cats have plenty of hiding places, the coyote got "lucky" i think...i've tnr'd about a dozen cats and i have a neighbor that has tnr'd about 30 (and feeds them).. unfortunately a couple of the neighbors think i'm the problem rather than the solution to the cat "problem" ....
NewsFlash: I guarantee you will find out that cats (more specifically cats' claws) and leather furniture just don't mix well!
I already see telltale signals of this imminent destruction (in above photo)... You may wish to consider breaking Jason's habit of parking on leather furniture.
Funny that you mention this!
Have you ever seen those "Lost cat... call..." signs posted around your neighborhood' utility poles?
For every one of those signs that I see; my first reaction is "Another eulogy!"... followed by my next thought of "Irresponsible #$%@ pet owners!".
Don't get me started...
You'd rather shoot a 'stray[?]' coyote, to protect your 'pet'?
May I recommend that you read up on coyote family units and how they have to survive in urban jungles.
The number in each coyote-pack is crucial for their survival and many US cities have learned (and advise) to NOT attempt to eradicate them...
The problem is NOT the coyotes.
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They aren't my " pets" they are my family, and 8 of them are outdoor only semi ferals ....I'd assume you missed the part of the post that indicates they were abandoned?... Either way, i agree 100% that the coyotes aren't the problem, what they are is damage fodder of a cat hoarding situation... It's not likely I'm going to kill one, but if they're hunting my family and i can stop it, it's bye bye Wiley .. I hope you understand, best regardsFunny that you mention this!
Have you ever seen those "Lost cat... call..." signs posted around your neighborhood' utility poles?
For every one of those signs that I see; my first reaction is "Another eulogy!"... followed by my next thought of "Irresponsible #$%@ pet owners!".
Don't get me started...
You'd rather shoot a 'stray[?]' coyote, to protect your 'pet'?
May I recommend that you read up on coyote family units and how they have to survive in urban jungles.
The number in each coyote-pack is crucial for their survival and many US cities have learned (and advise) to NOT attempt to eradicate them...
The problem is NOT the coyotes.
Are you a cat owner?Funny that you mention this!
Have you ever seen those "Lost cat... call..." signs posted around your neighborhood' utility poles?
For every one of those signs that I see; my first reaction is "Another eulogy!"... followed by my next thought of "Irresponsible #$%@ pet owners!".
Don't get me started...
You'd rather shoot a 'stray[?]' coyote, to protect your 'pet'.
May I recommend that you read up on coyote family units and how they have to survive in urban jungles.
The number in a coyote pack is crucial their survival and many US cities have learned (and advise) to NOT attempt to eradicate them...
It takes a very great deal of effort and attention to replicate a natural "day" for an obligatory predator.
I wish it weren't so, but that ship sailed a very long time ago, upon the earliest interactions of small wild cats and nascent human social gatherings or population centers. For whatever reason, us humans got sucked in to the cat "guardian" lifestyle and turning back from that is nigh on impossible.
So yes, the "healthiest" cat is one who get to live out it's Hunt-Kill-Eat-Sleep lifestyle. This is its natural state and order for them. For all of our attempts, perhaps, this has not changed much at all.
Compare that to dogs where the modern dog as we know it in western society is no longer defined by its wolf ancestry. Modern dogs have had the "hunt" bred out of them and are now much closer to true scavengers. Where dogs may go on the hunt with humans, they no longer have the kill-to-eat mentality of an obligatory predator.
The "domesticated" cat still has this instinct.
I see that between when I loaded this page and quoted your post you had included an edit. I am not commenting at all on the appropriateness or value of killing coyotes in any setting. Not going to lie about my own inclination toward this desire... but will say I have never followed up on it.
Regardless, whether the individual guardian that lets a cat out on a regular basis and decides to inquire about its whereabouts via sign-on-post communication is unfortunate. I recognize fully that every time one of our friends goes outside may be the last time I see them. Not that this sits easily with me, but it is their natural way. It is in our "contract," so to speak: much in the way that every time I leave the house is the last time they might see me...
At least they are not locked in so that if the Lady and I were to never return due to fatal traffic accident... they may still live rather than dying of starvation locked in the house.
All of this is to say that we, humans... Masters of the Great Realm...
Are really nothing but egotistic fools.
We created these modern versions of otherwise wild animals and now falter at their needs and care. Certainly, dogs which have accepted a change to their nature get the reprieve of our previous interaction. Cats on the other hand are now vilified for the "damage" they do to the ecosystem.To quote you, friend @pseudoid ...
"Don't get me started."
Yes, I do... but I draw a distinction between a 'wild' cat and one that is the domesticated 'pet' kind... similar to my appetite for veal, without feeling guilt for consuming it
Amen!"Don't get me started."
My kingdom for a good Foie Gras steak!
A friend from my old restaurant days once said, "if reincarnation is real, I'm going to come back as a lobster for all the ones I've killed!"
Granted, I haven't personally harvested the ducks...
But I miss eating Foie.
And this, I get. I would love to think my little friends are pets. When Iggy jumps up on my lap or hobbles me in bed by lounging on my ankle, I do feel true affection. But then the blood stains of 100 dead gophers, which will likely never come out of our carpet, tell the other story.
Somewhere in between is the balance...
Or if you ever watch a few episodes of Jackson Galaxy's old show... it is our responsibility as their guardians to satisfy the need for hunt-kill-eat.
And so it goes.
You mean "When Iggy Pops up on my lap..."
Pops (Poppy) is his litter-sister.You mean "When Iggy Pops up on my lap..."
FWIW, most of the notices I see about missing cats are ones that are kept indoor, but somehow got out.
That's a good point, my cats know the neighborhood, and most of the neighbors kinda look out for a couple of my buddies... An indoor/ outside cat has a much better chance of survival than an indoor only that gets out....Edit: this is obviously subjective, but I'd bet a months rent it's the gospel....
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