if I lived in a rural area, I would probably have a different view. you country dwellers do what you want, but I'm sticking to indoors. cats are adaptable.
They do all right at housecleaning. Just load 'em up with catnip before they start.
Before white folks came with their cats there were predators here. They ate the rodents and small birds.
We drove off most of those predators, but we didn't drive off the rodents and small birds. The cats eat them now. It may distress you to see a cat eating a gopher but in nature nothing dies of old age.
Maybe you don't mind when they catch a mouse in the house; you're probably distressed when they catch a sparrow. To us a mouse is vermin, fair game, and a sparrow is a harmless creature that deserves to live its life free and unmolested. But look at it the way mother nature does: a sparrow is a mouse that can fly. No difference really. Nature doesn't care what we find cute or beautiful or right and proper. Mother nature doesn't care what we think at all. Mother nature needs predators.
Cats were born to hunt. It's what they do. When they chase that laser pointer dot they're hunting. When they stalk and pounce each other they're hunting. When they sit at the window clucking at blue jays they're trying to hunt, but there's a window in the way. To deny hunting to a cat is to deny its very nature. A cat is an animal, not a sofa cushion that purrs.
My cats are indoor/outdoor and fearsome hunters. They live to ripe old ages. We still seem to have plenty of birds and mice and gophers. I can't imagine penning them up in the house any more than I could pen myself up all day. If I lived in an apartment I'd probably forego having cats just as I'd forego having a horse. But damn, I'd miss them.
One more reason I'll probably never live in an apartment.
i need something that can catch the deer in my area; overflowing with those large, tick carrying, hosta eating vermin. actually, I have a neighbor that lets their huskie roam their property (few acres), and often catches them, chews up the leg, lets them bleed out and then enjoys the venison.
i need something that can catch the deer in my area; overflowing with those large, tick carrying, hosta eating vermin. actually, I have a neighbor that lets their huskie roam their property (few acres), and often catches them, chews up the leg, lets them bleed out and then enjoys the venison.
We have deer here too, but they don't seem to be much of a problem. As far as I know nobody feeds them - probably against HOA. It's fawn season now, lots of little ones huddled down in the grass waiting for momma to come back. We have large enough lots (1 acre+), well-tended, they have no trouble finding food. They stroll behind our back yard - there's a pipeline with a wide easement, basically a deer highway - which drives the dogs nuts. But they're not concerned by the dogs a bit - they seem to know there's a fence.
Vermin-wise, the pipeline provides plenty of habitat for them. And makes good hunting ground for the owls and hawks. Occasionally one of the cats will bring in a dead mole (vole?), but they're pretty lazy. c.
Before white folks came with their cats there were predators here. They ate the rodents and small birds.
We drove off most of those predators, but we didn't drive off the rodents and small birds. The cats eat them now. It may distress you to see a cat eating a gopher but in nature nothing dies of old age.
Maybe you don't mind when they catch a mouse in the house; you're probably distressed when they catch a sparrow. To us a mouse is vermin, fair game, and a sparrow is a harmless creature that deserves to live its life free and unmolested. But look at it the way mother nature does: a sparrow is a mouse that can fly. No difference really. Nature doesn't care what we find cute or beautiful or right and proper. Mother nature doesn't care what we think at all. Mother nature needs predators.
Cats were born to hunt. It's what they do. When they chase that laser pointer dot they're hunting. When they stalk and pounce each other they're hunting. When they sit at the window clucking at blue jays they're trying to hunt, but there's a window in the way. To deny hunting to a cat is to deny its very nature. A cat is an animal, not a sofa cushion that purrs.
My cats are indoor/outdoor and fearsome hunters. They live to ripe old ages. We still seem to have plenty of birds and mice and gophers. I can't imagine penning them up in the house any more than I could pen myself up all day. If I lived in an apartment I'd probably forego having cats just as I'd forego having a horse. But damn, I'd miss them.
One more reason I'll probably never live in an apartment.
i need something that can catch the deer in my area; overflowing with those large, tick carrying, hosta eating vermin. actually, I have a neighbor that lets their huskie roam their property (few acres), and often catches them, chews up the leg, lets them bleed out and then enjoys the venison.
if I lived in a rural area, I would probably have a different view. you country dwellers do what you want, but I'm sticking to indoors. cats are adaptable.
Before white folks came with their cats there were predators here. They ate the rodents and small birds.
We drove off most of those predators, but we didn't drive off the rodents and small birds. The cats eat them now. It may distress you to see a cat eating a gopher but in nature nothing dies of old age.
Maybe you don't mind when they catch a mouse in the house; you're probably distressed when they catch a sparrow. To us a mouse is vermin, fair game, and a sparrow is a harmless creature that deserves to live its life free and unmolested. But look at it the way mother nature does: a sparrow is a mouse that can fly. No difference really. Nature doesn't care what we find cute or beautiful or right and proper. Mother nature doesn't care what we think at all. Mother nature needs predators.
Cats were born to hunt. It's what they do. When they chase that laser pointer dot they're hunting. When they stalk and pounce each other they're hunting. When they sit at the window clucking at blue jays they're trying to hunt, but there's a window in the way. To deny hunting to a cat is to deny its very nature. A cat is an animal, not a sofa cushion that purrs.
My cats are indoor/outdoor and fearsome hunters. They live to ripe old ages. We still seem to have plenty of birds and mice and gophers. I can't imagine penning them up in the house any more than I could pen myself up all day. If I lived in an apartment I'd probably forego having cats just as I'd forego having a horse. But damn, I'd miss them.
One more reason I'll probably never live in an apartment.
I can appreciate where you and sirdroseph are coming from. You appear to be responsible pet owners and that is what makes the difference.
But there are more than a few people that are not so responsible. As I mentioned in another thread several weeks ago there is a big problem with what seem to be feral cats in my neighborhood. When Mom lived here she complained about it but I did not realize how bad it was until I started living here. It seems to primarily caused by the women next door that sets food out. I have counted at least 8 different cats that are constantly wandering around neighborhood. The guy across the street inadvertently shut one in his garage the other night, guess it woke him up in the middle of the night scaring the shit out of him, thought it was a human intruder in the garage. It is known among the neighbors not to leave your garage door open too long or you run the risk of a cat wandering in.
They used to gather in my back yard but with the weather getting better the last couple weeks, Petey is out a lot and I guess they don't want to deal with them as I only see one back there occasionally. Of course nice weather means open windows and have woken up in the middle of the night by their loud "social" interactions.
Before white folks came with their cats there were predators here. They ate the rodents and small birds.
We drove off most of those predators, but we didn't drive off the rodents and small birds. The cats eat them now. It may distress you to see a cat eating a gopher but in nature nothing dies of old age.
Maybe you don't mind when they catch a mouse in the house; you're probably distressed when they catch a sparrow. To us a mouse is vermin, fair game, and a sparrow is a harmless creature that deserves to live its life free and unmolested. But look at it the way mother nature does: a sparrow is a mouse that can fly. No difference really. Nature doesn't care what we find cute or beautiful or right and proper. Mother nature doesn't care what we think at all. Mother nature needs predators.
Cats were born to hunt. It's what they do. When they chase that laser pointer dot they're hunting. When they stalk and pounce each other they're hunting. When they sit at the window clucking at blue jays they're trying to hunt, but there's a window in the way. To deny hunting to a cat is to deny its very nature. A cat is an animal, not a sofa cushion that purrs.
My cats are indoor/outdoor and fearsome hunters. They live to ripe old ages. We still seem to have plenty of birds and mice and gophers. I can't imagine penning them up in the house any more than I could pen myself up all day. If I lived in an apartment I'd probably forego having cats just as I'd forego having a horse. But damn, I'd miss them.
One more reason I'll probably never live in an apartment.
Coincidingly, most species of sparrows were not in North America until European (mostly English) settlers brought them over.
Before white folks came with their cats there were predators here. They ate the rodents and small birds.
We drove off most of those predators, but we didn't drive off the rodents and small birds. The cats eat them now. It may distress you to see a cat eating a gopher but in nature nothing dies of old age.
Maybe you don't mind when they catch a mouse in the house; you're probably distressed when they catch a sparrow. To us a mouse is vermin, fair game, and a sparrow is a harmless creature that deserves to live its life free and unmolested. But look at it the way mother nature does: a sparrow is a mouse that can fly. No difference really. Nature doesn't care what we find cute or beautiful or right and proper. Mother nature doesn't care what we think at all. Mother nature needs predators.
Cats were born to hunt. It's what they do. When they chase that laser pointer dot they're hunting. When they stalk and pounce each other they're hunting. When they sit at the window clucking at blue jays they're trying to hunt, but there's a window in the way. To deny hunting to a cat is to deny its very nature. A cat is an animal, not a sofa cushion that purrs.
My cats are indoor/outdoor and fearsome hunters. They live to ripe old ages. We still seem to have plenty of birds and mice and gophers. I can't imagine penning them up in the house any more than I could pen myself up all day. If I lived in an apartment I'd probably forego having cats just as I'd forego having a horse. But damn, I'd miss them.
One more reason I'll probably never live in an apartment.
Thank you, I view it the same way but you express it much more eloquently.
Before white folks came with their cats there were predators here. They ate the rodents and small birds.
We drove off most of those predators, but we didn't drive off the rodents and small birds. The cats eat them now. It may distress you to see a cat eating a gopher but in nature nothing dies of old age.
Maybe you don't mind when they catch a mouse in the house; you're probably distressed when they catch a sparrow. To us a mouse is vermin, fair game, and a sparrow is a harmless creature that deserves to live its life free and unmolested. But look at it the way mother nature does: a sparrow is a mouse that can fly. No difference really. Nature doesn't care what we find cute or beautiful or right and proper. Mother nature doesn't care what we think at all. Mother nature needs predators.
Cats were born to hunt. It's what they do. When they chase that laser pointer dot they're hunting. When they stalk and pounce each other they're hunting. When they sit at the window clucking at blue jays they're trying to hunt, but there's a window in the way. To deny hunting to a cat is to deny its very nature. A cat is an animal, not a sofa cushion that purrs.
My cats are indoor/outdoor and fearsome hunters. They live to ripe old ages. We still seem to have plenty of birds and mice and gophers. I can't imagine penning them up in the house any more than I could pen myself up all day. If I lived in an apartment I'd probably forego having cats just as I'd forego having a horse. But damn, I'd miss them.
One more reason I'll probably never live in an apartment.
fair to the cat? my cats are perfectly happy inside. so are millions of others. you might not see it out in the country, but there's a huge problem with feral cats in urban areas and even now in the suburbs. We domesticated them, we need to take care of them. I'm not totally opposed to letting them outside in certain circumstances, but not in urban and suburban areas. they're a pest to the neighbors and an introduced predator to wildlife. you say let them roam as soon as their fixed? didn't you have an unfixed cat run off on you? that's a bunch of litters waiting to happen. oops. you probably started a colony,
I just don't see the point of having a cat if it lives outside the majority of the time. might as well point at a squirrel, give it a name and call it a pet.
How about outside dogs? My cats don't roam, a roaming cat is a dead cat. Who said I don't take care of them? Who said they spent the majority of their time outside? What is that about? Our cats spend about 80% of their time indoors because they choose to, we have a cat door and they go to the bathroom outside. Our house does not stink and we have no litter box. We always fix our animals as soon as they are old enough and have never had that happen before, we rescued this cat and were keeping her indoors until she got fixed, but she got away. That was clearly an unintended accident, perhaps since there was the possiblity of something like that happening we should not have rescued her? BTW, I mentioned it somewhere else, but she has come back and is settled in her new home. We are going to let her have the kittens, keeping a couple of them, giving away the rest and promptly getting her fixed as soon as it is medically safe for her. Hopefully this meets your approval.
No, I am not saying that at all. There are many ways for cats to safely have outside time.I don't think it's "fair" to expose domesticated cats to the dangers they face outside from predators and disease and human vehicular traffic.
(edit) I'm with Jrzy.
Perhaps I am not understanding, what ways are these?
So you are saying that all domesticated cats should be forced to live their entire lives inside? Personally, I don't think that is fair to them. What about dogs? They should have the freedom to go outside because they don't kill birds, does not seem fair to the cats to me.
No, I am not saying that at all. There are many ways for cats to safely have outside time. I don't think it's "fair" to expose domesticated cats to the dangers they face outside from predators and disease and human vehicular traffic.
So you are saying that all domesticated cats should be forced to live their entire lives inside? Personally, I don't think that is fair to them. What about dogs? They should have the freedom to go outside because they don't kill birds, does not seem fair to the cats to me.
fair to the cat? my cats are perfectly happy inside. so are millions of others. you might not see it out in the country, but there's a huge problem with feral cats in urban areas and even now in the suburbs. We domesticated them, we need to take care of them. I'm not totally opposed to letting them outside in certain circumstances, but not in urban and suburban areas. they're a pest to the neighbors and an introduced predator to wildlife. you say let them roam as soon as their fixed? didn't you have an unfixed cat run off on you? that's a bunch of litters waiting to happen. oops. you probably started a colony,
I just don't see the point of having a cat if it lives outside the majority of the time. might as well point at a squirrel, give it a name and call it a pet.
And as I have pointed out before, not only do outside cats negatively affect the songbird population (I know there is disagreement about that and I'm not going to get into an argument about it) but, as any falconer would tell you, they carry a bacteria that can kill raptors. Any time, any time, my ex's golden eagle would touch a cat ... not even draw blood or kill it ... he would have to put the bird on an antibiotic regimen.
So you are saying that all domesticated cats should be forced to live their entire lives inside? Personally, I don't think that is fair to them. What about dogs? They should have the freedom to go outside because they don't kill birds, does not seem fair to the cats to me.
I don't see the point of having a cat as a pet and then tossing it out to live in the wild. might as well adopt a squirrel or chipmunk.
And as I have pointed out before, not only do outside cats negatively affect the songbird population (I know there is disagreement about that and I'm not going to get into an argument about it) but, as any falconer would tell you, they carry a bacteria that can kill raptors. Any time, any time, my ex's golden eagle would touch a cat ... not even draw blood or kill it ... he would have to put the bird on an antibiotic regimen.
I don't see the point of having a cat as a pet and then tossing it out to live in the wild. might as well adopt a squirrel or chipmunk.
I have never tossed any of our animals, we have fencing to keep all fenceable animals in. Cats are not fenceable, they come and go as they please and they happen to prefer to stay with us all the time, they have decided to live with us and we are pleased with their decision.
That scared me for a bit.
I'm with Jrzy.
