[GovernmentShrinker]

My cats roam freely. One was hit by a car at age 13, but the rest have lived very long healthy lives. I wouldn't dream of depriving them of the joy of the outdoors. Of course they are all fixed, so they can't go around increasing the cat population.

They don't kill much either -- just unusually slow birds (probably sick already, and only 2-3 a year between 3 cats) and a few mice. My five year old got 3 baby birds his first year, but then got too fat and complacent to catch anything. I feed the birds (and squirrels) by scattering seed in the driveway -- the cats love to watch, and occasionally make half-hearted efforts to give chase, but it's really rare that I find a dead bird in the yard (and only one of my cats -- the fat one -- spends any significant time in neighbors' yards).

[w_over_w]

My five year old got 3 baby birds his first year, but then got too fat and complacent to catch anything.

Doesn't have to be that way. Our grey tabby got up to 25lbs and was getting stuck in the porthole of her cat box. We took her to the Vet who prescribed Eukaneba Restricted Calorie Diet mixed with regular puffed rice. It made her fart like a pack mule but we got her down to 18.5 lbs. and now she enjoys her backyard hunting and potty time.

[toddst]

My cats roam freely. . . . I wouldn't dream of depriving them of the joy of the outdoors.

A "fixed" and well-fed pet cat is little threat to birds or other critters. One key is to bring them in at night. If done this way the cats do enjoy being outside during the day but pretty much bother no-one. Until recently we had two cats managed as described. Both died of old age at about 17 people years (very old for cats.)