Posted on 11/25/2012 3:17:35 PM PST by Hot Tabasco
There is a house cat that is being allowed to roam free. What do I do?
Don’t have to worry about them getting injured or diseased out here, the coyotes just eat’em.
I was going to suggest that, but I have been in enough trouble around here lately. Actually it is easier to just catch them in one of those Haveaheart traps, then just drop the whole trap in the pond for about 10 minutes.
All you folks must live in or very near the cities; out here the only feral cats that are ever seen are the ones that have mutated into solid killing muscle, saber toothed hellcats.
Any tabby type that is dumped by an idiot or strays from the house is just coyote food. The ones that survive in these mountains don’t much like people and are very hard to spot, much less catch.
No; the problem was not solved, just pushed off onto some body else.
Keep an eye on it, track its movements like a good hunter. When the SHTF you’ll want to shoot & eat it. Make sure to keep some kind of juice as a marinade.
It appears to me that you are operating under some misconceptions about cats and how to care for them. Contrary to a popular misconception, cats do not have to roam, although intact cats are driven to roam by biological urges to breed. Once a cat is spayed or neutered, it doesn’t have those breeding urges and thus, has little desire to roam.
My present cat literally just walked into my house, decided he liked the accommodations and stayed. He has no desire to roam. In fact, if I open any door to the outside, he runs and hides. He has a good life with me and there is no way he will risk being “accidentally” put outside.
I suggest that sometime you should read up on proper cat care. You may be surprised, as I was, about how much you don’t know and how many misconceptions you have.
Agreed that there are millions of house cats perfectly content to perch at the windowsill or play in an enclosure pen watching the world and its dangers go by. They still have fun with the occasional house bug but it isn’t worth risking life and limb over a rodent. Kitties were not bred to be hunters in the wild like dogs, they aren’t automatons and it isn’t their job to be your pest control service. And btw, no political affiliation has a monopoly on love of animals. I have known just as many liberals with outdoor cats as conservatives (actually more, and more irresponsible owners). These are animals without the mentality of future danger risk or personal responsibility for heaven’t sake, not pawns in an ideological battle.
Well, I caught "it" only it wasn't the same cat...LOL! This one was a beautiful big black and white one. I didn't have the heart to do anything with it so I released it in the hopes that it learned a lesson and won't return to my place.
As for trying to put a collar with a note on it around the cat's neck, that didn't work out too well. Just getting the trap's door open while the cat is jumping and snarling and spitting was a chore and I wasn't going to risk my life trying to grab it.........
What I'll do for a while is not let my cat into the den where the doorwall window is and maybe these cats will stop coming around.
To address comments from several others here, my cat is a female and she is neutered, there's no way would she voluntarily go outside even if I forced her to, plus she would never survive.........
"She" IS fixed......thanks for the advice tho
Then don't click on them stupid! You can't figure THAT out?
Finish your beer and go to bed........
Aw, you’re a nice fellow. You know, if you just adopted all these cats, you’d be perfect! ;^) (Disclosure: I have 4)
I have heard they taste like chicken...
just sayin’
it seems like there are a lot of shoot-from-the-hip comments but you have to think about this slowly
1) Thoe apartment complex you live in does not allow cats but who is to say it is FROM your apartment complex? I found my cat once 5 miles from my house. I think he was lost because I opened the door and called him and he ran right into the car (never did that before)
2)cats outside at night ARE a good way to keep pests down- especially rats and mice. I do have several feral cats who moved into the area and since then my mouse sitings have dropped to almost nothing
3) if it has a collar, then you can trap it and put a notice up for the owners, or give it to the SPCA
4) if it is only bothering your cat when it is on your porch, can you prevent it from getting on your porch?
5) the claw hammer cat removal kit from post #8 is to be considered a last resort
Perhaps the cats feel your antagonism towards them...they do things like that, you know.
I also have an indoor/outdoor cat and an indoor cat. The indoor cat's coat looks terrible and she is always ailing. It's unnatural to have cats indoors 24 hours a day. I'll never do it to a cat again.
If your indoor cat is ailing, it needs vet care. Doesn’t mean the cat should be outdoors. Could be a sign of age, an illness, maybe improper diet. An unhealthy coat could be a sign of illness, but it could also mean the cat needs more frequent brushing.
Statistically, indoor cats live longer than outdoor cats. An outdoor cat lives on average five years. The average lifespan for an indoor cat is 15. A close friend’s indoor cat lived to age 21. Give a cat the proper diet, plenty of exercise and regular vet care, and it can live a long time.
Thank you.
As a volunteer with the ASPCA, I know ferals (not wandering house cats) live to around 5 years but those in trap/neuter/release programs live up to 12 years. My new indoor/outdoor cat (she belonged to my aging mother) is close to around 12. She’s got the most beautiful coat I’ve ever seen. She’s had quite a nice life - filled with adventure.
Indoor cats don’t live longer - it just feels like it!
Wow, how'd you get "antagonism" from my post?
I simply stated that the neighborhood cats don't seem to have any effect on the mouse population that occasionally try to setup house in my garage but the cats do pee under my three season porch. Where do you get "actively expressed opposition or hostility" from that statement?
Don't go all "Eleanor Abernathy" on me here
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