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You must live in a very strange area of the USA where there are no sadists, cat haters, neighbor's to annoy, coyotes, hawks, owls, loose dogs, fox, cars and other motor vehicles, those who catch cats to sell to labs, no cat diseases or parasites, no kids with beebee guns... where on earth do you live? What state are you in? Seriously? I never heard of such a place.
Cats don't see life like we do so that's really no reason to allow them to wander at will. You're comparing an animal's mind to a human's mind. Anthropomorphizing them. We have 4 cats who have no idea what it's like to go outside and so have no desire to go outside. They, like us, can't miss what they don't know exists. They can't miss what they never had.
Actually unless I'm mistaken (possible) I glanced and saw this poster was from Florida. Isn't that where they arrested that sick kid who was torturing cats to death...?
But more to the point, "They can't miss what they never had." and in some cases, they've never had it SO GOOD! I put a harness and leash on my indoor cat and tried to take him out one day. It scared the bajeezus outta him and he tried to hide under the back porch/decking. He was freaked out. It only took a few minutes for me to realize this wasn't being a happy experience for him and gave up on it. He doesn't even try to go out now. We open a door and he may have been laying against it a moment ago, but he backs up a few feet and politely sits to wait for us to come in or out. Zero interest in escape. Not that I'd leave the door wide open to test that harder, but hey. He seems VERY content.
From your link, regarding psi trailing, I'm familiar with it, but I like the way this writer presented it as if there are even more possibilities ...
" a few explanations for this phenomenon. One is that perhaps there is some dis-equilibrium when closely bonded creatures are separated, something that could one day be explained with something similar to Bell's Theorem. <snip> If we mammals are made of cells, molecules, and atoms, maybe the bond between two creatures is not just with the "heart" but also some sort of "rhythm" on an "actual" cellular or atomic level that is disrupted when the physical bond is disrupted?
I've had experience with "disappearing cats" over the years.
One was very timid and didn't spend too much time outside and when we had our carpet cleaned she went into panic mode, ran under a huge hedge of junipers between the houses and stayed there for a week. We knew exactly where she was even though we couldn't get to her, and put food on paper plates and stuck it into the bushes where the foliage was thin. Eventually she realized the scary thing was gone and came back to us but she had never spent the night out before that.
Another cat, our 12 year old, disappeared for over a week last year. It was not normal behavior and we called all the animal shelters and whatnot and posted flyers and had given up on seeing him again when I heard a familiar howl at the front door, skittish and hungry but really no worse for wear. I suspect he got locked in a neighbors garage or shed or something.
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I had one cat, Chelsea, that escaped 2-3 days after we moved in to a new house. We never found her again. She was a very skittish cat. We searched the neighborhood and put out flyers, but no luck.
I had one cat, Chelsea, that escaped 2-3 days after we moved in to a new house. We never found her again. She was a very skittish cat. We searched the neighborhood and put out flyers, but no luck.
I'm so sorry about that. That's pretty much the worst case scenario when the cat is unfamiliar with the area. We had several cats escape from their owners at my vet hospital, and in every case they were never found, even when we put out traps.
Addressing the idea behind the OP..I really dislike the idea that if a cat disappears it wasn't 'fated' to be or that the cat wasn't really 'yours'. An animal doesn't become less 'yours' if youdon't like that cat or the cat doesn't seem to like you. Now, that mean thebest thing you can do in terms of being responsible is to find a new home wherethat animal will be more settled and happy. But passing the responsibility ontothe animal to do so on his/her own by neglecting the basic job of keeping themsafe is not about 'fate.'
When I was a child we had indoor/indoor cats. One disappeared for three months,then appeared one night on our doorstep like nothing happened. She didn'tdisappear because 'things weren't meant to be', and she didn't reappear becauseof some miracle. We failed to live up to our responsibility to her, and it was tremendousluck that the story had a happy ending.
(sorry for weird formating/text size...I'm having MAJOR computer issues)
If I open the door the and the cat wants to go out I let it go out if it wants to stay in I never force them out but I would never ever force a living breathing animal such as cat or dog to live its life inside a cage. that is exactly what a house is its a larger version of a cage. the only place i believe you should see animals caged is in the pet store or the animal shelter waiting for a good home. no person can tell me how a cat views the world around them because they are not a cat. so don't try and sell me on how my cat's view the world around them. I can see by their actions and personality that each and every cat would view the world differently just like us humans do. hell we have yet to figure out how the human mind works let alone the feline mind. If you have a window or a door in your home your cat has seen the outside world and knows it exists whether you choose to believe it or not unless your cat is blind and or deaf. some cats i have had never leave the porch or deck, some never leave the yard, others i find will follow me on a 1/4 mile walk to the convenience store or hop right into my car for a ride around town. I believe in the good of human nature and don't worry about people poisoning my cats or running them over or whatever other crazy stuff you insinuate could happen to them. so far its been working out good for me and the cats. call me crazy but I believe karma is a ***** and what comes around goes around. if i was such a worry wort about those things them i would not even own a pet and i would probably be on anti depressant drugs to cope with such a short sighted dismal view of life. Life is too short to worry about what might happen so i enjoy it in the here and now just like the cats do. you just never know what life will bring so stop waiting for something to happen and enjoy it now. that is how i see it for me and the cats. for those who want to know, my main home is in a standard American cookie cutter SFH on a 1/4 acre in a 1960's housing development in southeastern PA with a street 70 feet from my front door and i have seen many of my and neighbors cats run when they see or hear a car coming down the road. its obvious to me the can tell the danger a moving car possesses and will stay out of the street. I also travel with my some of my cats b/w NJ FL and PA and they love the change of scenery as long as they get the required petting when requested everything is A-OK!!
I believe in the good of human nature and don't worry about people
poisoning my cats or running them over or whatever other crazy stuff you
insinuate could happen to them
if i was such a worry wort about those things them i would not even own a pet and i would probably be on anti depressant drugs to cope with such a short sighted dismal view of life.
It's not a "short-sighted dismal view"; it is a view that understands reality. (See the post right above this one as a horrible example ...)
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigh110
... i have seen many of my and neighbors cats run when they see or hear a car coming down the road. its obvious to me the can tell the danger a moving car possesses and will stay out of the street. ...
Oh, so this is why cats never get hit by cars. What an utterly, utterly ridiculous statement.
Indoor cats live on average 3-4 times longer than outdoor cats. Some people are very lucky and nothing happens to their cats who go outside; most people who have cats over a lifetime will not be that lucky.
My sister's neighbor killed one of her cats (and others in the neighborhood). She called me when the cat first went missing and was frantic with worry (unfortunately, with good cause, as we found out later). I was sympathetic but I got off the phone and was so frustrated I wanted to scream -- I had suggested to her over and over and over again that she keep her cats safe and sound indoors, but she didn't. I will never understand this and there are times when I think of her poor kitty and I get FURIOUS at my sister (although I will never tell her that, she feels bad enough).
I have a family member who's had 4 or 5 cats in the last dozen or so years. One, she has had for most of that time. Of the rest, one was hit by a car right in front of her house and the others simply disappeared.
Two of my three cats have never tried to go outside, so I have to think they are perfectly happy indoors. They don't seem to think they have a dismal life! My oldest used to sneak out until we got her a crate for sitting outside in the nice weather. She never tried to slip past us after we did that. So apparently she's satisfied with the arrangement. She's safe, and so are the songbirds! When we are outside with her, we put her on a tie out and take her on a little walk around the yard, and just let her sit on the patio with us. It's enough for her!
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She was a very skittish cat. We searched the neighborhood and put out flyers, but no luck.
What an utterly, utterly ridiculous statement.
