Posted on 11/22/2013 5:45:02 PM PST by Perdogg
Daddy had a rule. He would give milk to his cat but it had to earn everything else.
I used to think cats needed to be allowed outside. Not any more based on heart-breaking experience.
Remember “Yakkety-Yak” by The Coasters? There’s one verse in the song that sounded sort of cruel to cats. “....and when you’re finished doing that, bring in the dog and put out the cat.” I was thinking that Kitty was curled up in front of the fire and some giant picks him out and deposits him outside in the wind and the rain; Fido is hustled back in the den to take the warm spot recently vacated by Kitty. We keep our cat, an ill-tempered Persian named Buddy, on our screened in porch all year (we’re in FL). Our new cockapoo puppy, Bailey, only goes out on a leash.
By natural design, cats are made to specifically live
outside. Year around all weather. They are naturally born
with a fur coat, teeth and claws and an agility that
gives them an advantage over their prey. My personal point
of view is, let the cat decide.
Wouldn’t the expert on fulfillment be the cat itself? Or were these experts cat whisperers?
My dad used bring my cat table scraps from Golden Coral. He would even swipe leafovers left on other tables and I have never seen a cat’s tail go so high and a meow go so deep when my dad got home. LOL!!!!
We live in the city. Lady a few doors down has several cats - I don’t know if she just feeds strays or she got them on purpose.
If I leave the garage door open, they slip in and crap in odd places. If we let our dog out (who doesn’t leave the yard otherwise), and a cat is out there, there’s a chance our dog will chase after it.
I find them to be a nuisance. If I wasn’t worried about hitting the neighbors in such a closely packed area, I’d be shooting them.
IMHO, if you want to let your cats out - fine. Keep them in your own yard. If you can’t, then don’t let them out.
Coyotes feast on outdoor cats around here.
It has to be a horrible death for the moggie.
I have had cats that targeted my bird feeder and I had dead birds and squirrels or squirrels with missing tails. Many cats got reincarnated. If you let cats outdoors, don’t cry if they get karma.
I live in a townhouse and because I’ve kept my cat inside since a kitten, when he does go outside, he never leaves the yard.
My other cat, when she gets outside, will hop the fence but she never goes farther than the next yard.
Both come when they are called.
Yours sound most like my last beloved cat.
As a child we had our first family cat. He was wonderful and lived entirely in the house his whole life. Died at 11 of intestinal cancer (blockage).
My last cat (looked much like the 1st) was intended for indoors, but met up soon after housebreaking with my sister’s stupid flaky cat when she came in to live with us again (basement apt). He discovered she was urinating anywhere she wanted and soon, he stopped being housebroken too and did the same thing. We gave up and tossed him out. He became an outdoor cat (as did the dumb girl), and very good at it. Over the years we had a few cats come and go, but he was always boss no matter what, and stayed in our areas.
As he got older, he sometimes slipped in and we got to trust him more and more to use the litter. So he got to be more of an in/out cat. I even moved far away into an apt and he was just fine staying in the area of the apt even though it wasn’t our old home. He spent most of the time inside but I let him out to try to minimize the cat litter issues.
By the time we returned home, he was mostly indoor, but still went out.
Also - he treated indoors as his vacation time. Excellent hunter outside, but disinterested in mice indoors, even right in front of him. He became useless indoors for pests.
Trees aren’t always an adequate protection for cats against coyotes, because coyotes can jump upwards of 6 feet off the ground.
if you don’t give a crap bout following leash laws, dont’care your neighbors don’t want to hear you scream at the top of your lungs for your cats, have your cats get into fights with other cats, and crap and hunt in your neighbors’ yards, then yes it’s okay.
if you want to live by the golden rule and realize your don’t have a right to unleash your animal on other peoples’ property, much less you come walking over other peoples’ proprty looking for them and yelling for them, maybe realizing your behavior may not be appreciated by others, then no.
Our Russian Blue loved to hunt mousies at night. So did the owl ….
I might ask... Should you be allowed outside???
Perhaps you would live longer not being subjected to the dangers of the out doors...
Huh?
Perhaps you intended to reply to someone else; I said nothing about *trees.* [sic]
You brought up coyotes and I was just stating a fact about them.
LOL. that is SO true. We have two cats...they are indoor/outdoor. Many is the time we have watched from the window as we observe them "hunt" a squirrel...as we are indoors begging them, KILL IT, KILL IT! It has never happened. They crouch, slink, and stalk as if their very existence depends on capturing the squirrel...only to eventually just sit. 6 years now. Never finished the job. We're pretty sure they are mentally "limited". :)
Our vet has indoor/outdoor cats...our cats have all their rabies, leukemia shots..and all their claws. :)
My cat Spider, he's 9 now, started doing the same thing in our house. He now lives in a heated horse barn and is very happy, he's lived there 7 years now. I am happy too, it's nearly impossible to get rid of cat pee smell.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.