Me, an intellectual: Keep your cats inside always (unless they’re on a harness or in a catio).
Some people have tried to challenge me on this so listen:
-Cats are responsible for the deaths of billions of birds and small animals a year, making certain species at risk for extinction.
-Outdoor cats interact with each other, leading to fights (which can cause infections or other injuries), unwanted litters of kittens if they’re unaltered, and contributing to the spread of feline HIV.
People are trying to tell me that roaming outdoors is natural for cats, and it’s cruel to keep them cooped up all day. If you wouldn’t let your dog out to wander the streets and fend for itself, why would you let your cat? You’re saying that being vulnerable to
-Being hit by a car
-Taken as a pet by a stranger
-Being taken by a stranger for more sinister purposes
-Being attacked by a wild animal
-Being attacked by other cats
-Accidentally ingesting antifreeze or other toxins
-Being at risk for rabies or other diseases
is worth your idealized image of an independent cat? Cats, if they’re properly entertained, are perfectly happy being left inside. If they like going outside, harness train them or build a catio (cat patio), so they can enjoy the fresh air while being supervised. According to numerous studies, outdoor cats live a much shorter lifespan than indoor ones, and I just think that’s an irresponsible and neglectful price for a cat owner to pay for their stubbornness.
Gonna guilt y’all. What if my beloved squish bird got lost? Idk, maybe her harness leash snapped or something. Shit happens.
Look at that face! Now what if you happened to have an outdoor cat, mind you this bird is domesticated and lives with cats and has no fear of them. How shitty would y’all feel if your outdoor cat got a hold of her? Pretty damn shitty, I hope. Keep your cats in, if not for the sake of your cat or wildlife, but for the sake of this lil pigeon.
also the argument that “my cat is bored” is a weak one because guess who is the responsible care giver in this scenario? you, the person who got a cat! the person who got the cat is wholly responsible for making sure a cat has the proper stimulus in their environment, which includes a scratcher, a hide or two (could just be cardboard boxes they’re not fussy) and toys! can’t afford toys? crumpled paper balls, play with a spare shoestring or drawstring, or just a piece of yarn, give them milk rings, cats love to play with garbage! a bored cat doesn’t need to go outside, a bored cat needs toys and time with you to play and interact with them.
Now, I don’t have cats, I will never own a cat, I’m allergic to cats.
But when people make this argument I want to ask them “Why not keep the cat in a tiny little kennel except take it out to play with every once in a while?” Bird people have already made this compromise and don’t even realize it. Jebus, clipping a bird’s wings??? Not allowing it open air?? Tiny bird cages as a common standard and nobody asks “isn’t that cruel?”? Hey, I’m fine with that, really, but own it, and don’t expect everybody should feel the same.
The argument that cats shouldn’t cat because catting is evil argues that we should get rid of all cats, right? Because cats can’t cat indoors and if you feel cats shouldn’t cat outdoors (because what about the birds and mice?j, it’s cruelty either way, therefore nobody should own a cat.
Orrr, we can agree that some of us feel that cats can cat and that we get to play God with the universe, or at least share the role within our neighborhoods, like we do when we hire pest control, build houses, water plants, mow, farm, kick off our leather shoes and go sit in our wooden chairs in our woolly socks, walk into a grocery store to buy a single damn thing, raise birds to not be afraid of cats when we know that outdoor cats exist, ….
ALTERNATIVELY you could actually care for your animal!! Crazy right??
See, I don’t put my bird in a cage. Sure is convenient I bet, similarly to how having an outdoor cat is convenient because you don’t have to put effort in providing them with mental stimulation I wouldn’t have to clean up poop all over the house, I wouldn’t have to entertain her when she demands it and could just ignore her while she’s in her cage…but instead I put the extra effort in and provide her with a safe space where she can stretch her wings!
It’s not always easy, I spend an hour a day cleaning shit, I step in shit a lot, but damn if that bird doesn’t get praised for being so muscular and the perfect weight compared to other house birds every time she goes to the vet.
When you get an animal, you should be able to provide them with all their natural behaviors without putting them at risk. If you can’t do that, you don’t deserve to have that animal. Rex can fully spread her wings and fly any time she wants, she has foraging toys to keep her occupied, I spend many hours a day training her to stimulate that ridiculously intelligent mind, she had her own outdoor aviary built so she can get some sun, if she wants a bath all she has to do is ask, she has nesting areas and material since going broody is important to pigeons.
Yes, she is trained to not be overly fearful of cats and dogs, because in a house where she lives with them (but is never in the same space as them without someone there), I don’t want her to freak out all the time near them. I want her to be able to relax while I keep the cats and dogs stay in check and away from her so she can interact with her flockmates (my family members) and get even more exercise. Not an unreasonable thing to teach your animal. Also pigeons are domesticated and have been for thousands of years, they don’t have a whole lot of fear to begin with.
If I can provide my pigeon with all her natural behaviors inside, you can with your cat. You don’t have to put the environment or the cat at risk. It’s selfish to believe you do, and real fucking lazy. And yes, nobody should own a cat if they’re not willing to do that.
Cats like to hunt so take an hour or so a day to actively play with them, you can use a laser pointer, a fishing toy, it’s up to you to figure out which your cat likes best. Cats like sunlight, so build them a catio, harness train them, you can even let them outdoors WHILE SUPERVISED with a SOLID RECALL harness-free just like you can with dogs. My pigeon has all of the above, an aviary, a harness, and she is trained to recall outdoors (though I don’t like the risk of doing so, so I don’t). If I can do it with a pigeon you can with a cat.
Cats like smellin shit, so get cat grass, bring in rocks, logs, buy scented things specifically for cats to stimulate their senses. Provide them with a quality scratching post, places to hide, places to jump and climb, window perches, foraging toys, raw food.
You can have a cat that can “cat” all it wants without putting it in danger, or destroying an already suffering environment. If you can’t do that, you don’t deserve to have a cat. Also you don’t have one…so like, why argue about it? You’re saying it’s okay for cats to literally make thousands of species go extinct and for what? I’M arguing because I care a lot about the environment, honestly Rex isn’t at risk of getting lost and eaten or injured by a cat since she has a very solid recall and I make sure I get sturdy enough harnesses for her powerful high-flying breed’s wings.
Just trying something, anything to get people to listen. To understand how important this is, it’s not about your culture or your cat’s happiness. It’s about the existence of our wildlife. It’s not about morals. It’s about an imbalance in nature that is destroying ecosystems. It’s not about animal welfare. It’s about the welfare of our planet as a whole.
If you can’t make the indoors enriching and fulfilling for them, then don’t get a cat.
Peace. ✌🏻
Cats are natural hunters. Bred from wild felines. They are outside animals.
Yes, dangers exist.
If you live in the middle of a busy city with crazy roads, obviously keep them in. If you live in a quiet suburban area, collar track them if you must, but…
…Rae, this is one thing we disagree about. I completely respect your opinion; frankly, after Mika, mine is changing, but…
I do think it depends on the environment. Suburbs, city, country…
Cats are outside animals to me. Inside-outside. They can rest in my bed, cuddle with me, and still go out.
Just be careful. Every cat is different, as is every neighbourhood. My boy recently died from anti-freeze poisoning, in autumn. No need for anti-freeze in cars yet. This was after ten years.
Just be safe. Keep your babies safe. You are their caregiver, after all.
There’s nothing “natural” about domestic cats, they’re domesticated pets.
They are not outside animals just because they can survive outdoors when forced to. And if you let your cat outdoors, you should contain it appropriately.
What other domestic pet do you allow to run wild?
Dangers to cats exist outside of big cities; wildlife will kill cats. Diseases. Injuries. Other human beings. Weather. Poisonous plant life. There is no need to expose your cat to that many risks.
I am that most despised of creatures (on tumblr). One who has had free roaming cats, outdoor cats, indoor cats, and an indoor cat who was ejected into the great outdoors.
Oh, and I worked for a vet who adopted three very friendly barn cats.
Chickens are a livestock species, they were not domesticated for companionship and therefore were not housed inside. You don’t house your food inside. And, I don’t know about you, but I don’t let my chickens freeroam without supervision because I know they can get injured or killed if I am not watching them and I prefer to keep my animals alive.
I don’t see how your vet adopting three barn cats has anything to do with outdoor cats? I had outdoor cats for most of my life. Out of the three I had, two disappeared, never to be seen again and one disappeared for 18 months before coming back. She has been an indoor cat since even though she was born and raised an outdoor cat.
YOUR cats might have lived outside for a long period of time, but mine didn’t. They died. Dead. I will never see them again. Why does your experience mean more than mine?
There are hundreds of people that claim that cats are, in fact, wild animals and that they belong in the wild. This is false. The domestication of cats began around 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, from F. s. lybica, a subspecies of the Wildcat known as the African Wildcat or the Near Eastern Wildcat. We have since selectively F. s. lybica and turned the old species into our modern day housecats. We have directly changed their genetic level and changed their biological tendencies. Through selective breeding and domestication, we have impacted the temperament of the domestic cat and made them marginally better at utilizing plant-based proteins. Cats are domesticated and no longer have a natural role to play in the ecosystem.
Cats have a huge environmental impact that most people don’t realize. Since they are domesticated animals, they are considered an invasive species. Not only are these animals features on the Global Invasive Species Database, but they are considered one of the top 100 worst invasive species in the world. It is estimated that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.3–4.0 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals per year. Free-ranging cats have been introduced all around the world and have even been known to cause extinctions on islands. Free-ranging cats on islands have caused or contributed to 33 (14%) of the modern bird, mammal and reptile extinctions recorded by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. It’s not limited to the United States, either. ln under a year British cats killed between 85 – 100 million animals, according to one study, and is considered to be of sufficient magnitude to affect populations of preyed upon species. European songbirds are too afraid of cats to breed, for example, and in Italy they threaten bat populations. It is also well documented that European free-roaming cat owners are disconnected from the realities of their cats’ impact on the well being of European environment and conservation efforts, even reducing the effectiveness of protected parks.
When humans domesticated cats, we took on the responsibility for their health and welfare. This includes protecting them from all possible dangers. When outside, cats are exposed to diseases, cars, and deadly wildlife. They also have the chance to maim or kill OTHER cats that are also outside.
Feline Immunodeficiency Virus or FIV is just one deadly disease that cats can get if they are allowed outdoors unsupervised. FIV retrovirus in the same family as the human AIDS virus, with a few significant differences. It is estimated that in the United States, 2% of cats are infected with the FIV virus. This is not the only disease that outdoor cats can catch; they are also at risk for FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis), Panleukopenia (Feline Distemper) and Zoonotic Diseases. Not to mention that mice your cat may eat or bring home can also cause a host of other dangerous diseases that not only threaten cats, but the humans they live with as well.
Cats kept indoors are safe from predators such as coyotes, dog packs and other stays. The average lifespan of an indoor cat is 12 – 15 years; the average lifespan of an outdoor pet cat is 2 – 3 years less. Outdoor cats are below wildlife predators in the food chain, and they are sitting ducks for owls, raptors, coyotes, and native big cats. Dogs running in packs will consider a cat fair game; even one large dog can easily overpower and kill a cat. Even dogs that are owned by people can cause a cat harm. Many dogs carry a high prey drive and cannot be blamed when they see a cat run and their instincts take over.
Indoor cats do not get hit by cars. Period. Cars kill about 5.4 million cats per year which is a million more than are killed in shelters. Most of these cats are hit at night because the beams of cars can confuse and disorient them and they don’t have enough time to move.
There are more reasons not to let cats outside. Such as monitoring cat’s urinary tract and bowel health, not going in neighbor’s yards, getting abscesses from fighting, human abuse, getting lost, getting stolen, or freezing in the winter.
Some argue that their cat is depressed or bored when they are forced inside. Cats will sleep an average of 15 hours per day, and older cats may sleep as many as 20 hours without it being abnormal. Cats are naturally crepuscular, meaning they’re activity peaks at dawn and dusk. It is important to distinguish lethargy, an actual a symptom of depression, or merely your cat doing a normal cat thing. A cat that is kept inside will never be bored if they are being provided enough enrichment. Enrichment is the most important part when bringing cats inside. If a cat is not provided enough enrichment, then that is on its owner and not the cat. Going outside should not be a cat’s only enrichment. If the cat’s owner can not provide the enrichment a cat needs, then the owner should not have a cat. If a cat absolutely needs to be outside, then they can be outside in a secure and supervised environment or on a harness. A catio, which is a patio specifically made for cats and fenced in, can be built.
Cats are the only domesticated animal that is let outside unsupervised. People do not let their dogs, ferrets, gerbils, chinchillas and rabbits free-roam because of the dangers toward them and the impact they create. Even though dogs, also natural born hunters and predators, are not allowed to roam free. Why? To protect them and the environment. Cats should not be the exception. This needs to stop to improve the environment, protect the animals that live there and promote the safety of our own pets. Humans should not be advocating against the protection of their own pets and education efforts to warn of the dangers of outside cats should be more prevalent. Leaving cats outside and unsupervised is irresponsible and needs to change. It is irresponsible and damaging to the ecosystem and frankly, there is not a single good reason to keep them outside.
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