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Average life span of a cat allowed outside is 5 years? ROFL Where the hell did you get that figure? Let me guess, you mean all feral cats are included with that number. .
Keep Your Cat Safe at Home: HSUS's Safe Cats Campaign | The Humane Society of the United States (http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/cat_care/keep_your_cat_safe_at_home_hsuss_safe_cats_campaig n/ - broken link)
Actually The Humane Society says that an outdoor cat's average lifespan is closer to 3 years. Now, they obviously have a specific point of view as indoor-only advocates so take from that what you will.
When I read the original post I was anoyed. The words of a pet owner who really does not care about being a good neighbor. As long as their pet is happy is all that matters. Like OP there are dog owners who feel that their neighbors should feel blessed to have to deal with someone elses pet.
Then I read many many posts by respectable pet owners. Owners who take 100% responsibility for their pets. I have owned Labs all of my life. All well trained and well disiplined and always under control.
I often hear the excuse cats are meant to roam free. Unfortunately a pet that is out of sight or out of your yard unattended is no longer under control. In short they are a burden upon society. Free roaming cats get hit by cars no doubt by the thousands every year. How many drivers swerve to avoid the cat. A reflex action resulting in massive damage to their property and others? Damage to landscapeing? Urinating on other peoples property etc. How many diseases to they spread? Contracted from socializing with wild cats, or cats whose owners feel no need for vet checks and shots? The same applies to dogs as well.
In short as a pet owner you have a responsibilty to be in control of (your) pet at all times. It really isn't too much to ask is it?
Has no one thought of the fights cats get in, the abcesses they get, the diseases that are passed from cat to cat when they are allowed to roam free?
My cats are happy AND healthy the way they are, they have access to a screened in porch and thats the way they will stay.
One of my beloved cats got out when I lived in Texas totally on accident. A neighbor who shall remain nameless, shot him with a BB gun. Thankfully at the time I didn't know who had done it or I might have beat him with his own BB gun.
Here in Florida some boys who thought they were CUTE took a cross bow and shot a kitten with it. The little black and white kitten was walking around with the bolt in him until someone could catch him. They showed the xray, the bolt just missed ALL his major organs and the cat surely only had 8 lives left after that encounter.
NO THANKS, my cats will stay indoors.
I can only imagine what my nutcase neighbor would do if one of my cats took a poo in his precious flower bed, there would be WAR.
Not too mention in many towns and HOA, its against the rules to allow an animal outside if it leaves your property.
My very first cat as an adult roamed outside/inside central Denver and lived to be 17. His little "sister" did the same, and lived to be 20.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JViello
Safe doesn't always equal "better" or "happy".
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I agree.
My current cat is formerly a semi-feral (her mom's owners deserted her and the litter of kittens, they had to fend for themselves).
She goes out in the day, and stays in at night.
It's just a risk I have to take; our current neighborhood is actually safer and quieter than the Denver one. We have 'coons but no coyotes--in urban Denver we had coyotes as well as foxes, not to mention stray domestic animals--and traffic.
I tried to make her an inside cat but it didn't work, even the vet agreed. She wears a bell and a tag on a breakaway collar.
She's in and out, doesn't go far, sometimes she's just in our screened back porch.
But she loves that fresh air and sunshine.
I won't judge those who keep their kitties safe inside, but please don't waggle your fingers at me.
After spending the first several years of her life in condos and apartments, our cat now has a fenced-in backyard to explore for a couple of hours in the morning or late afternoon, during spring and summer. Going out is the highlight of her day, but we wouldn't consider it without the fence. Too many dangers, including coyotes, and sad "lost cat" signs around where we live.
Now this is the only way that I would let my kitties out! Wonderful!
Yes, I believe that they would enjoy this. It is enclosed but yet they are "free" to enjoy outside, fresh air, plants, ... nature.
Fast cars, other cats and animals, kids and adults that may want to hurt them, not worth it and all the risks that go along with them roaming the neighborhood, in a busy area.
I'm not for or against one way or the other; I've had both innies and outies and there were probs with each and advantages as well.
The cat I had when I married hubby, started out living indoors til we moved to the 'burbs. After that, she lived outdoors every time we moved to a new place...country and city. She always had all her shots, etc, and stayed close to home in the day time, mostly sleeping. We put a doggie door in the garage jst for her... and our entire yard was fenced. When we moved to Glenwood, there weren't any stray cats around because people in that area let their dogs run loose. Our back yard was fenced and Tigger managed quite nicely; she lived to be fifteen.
The cat we have now is from a litter of five from a feral mom. I spent the entire spring and summer of '07 saving two litters from that mother. We kept one little male..a one-eyed black and white sweetheart. I tamed him down when he was probably seven weeks old and he ended up bringing his mom's second litter to our back deck, where I managed to tame some of them. He was their baby sitter and I have pics to prove it.
We tried the indoor thing with him and our dog wouldn't have it...he was too playful and she's too old to handle it. She has always been cat friendly til this little guy's claws found the wrong spot and almost got him...so he's an outside cat who likes to come in on cold winter nights to visit but prefers to sleep in his covered bed on the back deck. We keep him up to date on his shots and vet care and he's happy. Hubby fixed a nice hidey hole in the floor of the back deck for him to go when he needs to feel safer.
Wendi lets him rub all over her while she stands eating her breakfast every morning so they have made peace but when he's in...he wants out. For him, there's just so much to do and so little time it seems! Having only one good eye hasn't hurt him at all...he brings us a dead fish or two from the creek out in the back yard at least once a week. Uneaten. But just as dead.
My very first cat as an adult roamed outside/inside central Denver and lived to be 17. His little "sister" did the same, and lived to be 20.
I agree.
My current cat is formerly a semi-feral (her mom's owners deserted her and the litter of kittens, they had to fend for themselves).
She goes out in the day, and stays in at night.
It's just a risk I have to take; our current neighborhood is actually safer and quieter than the Denver one. We have 'coons but no coyotes--in urban Denver we had coyotes as well as foxes, not to mention stray domestic animals--and traffic.
I tried to make her an inside cat but it didn't work, even the vet agreed. She wears a bell and a tag on a breakaway collar.
She's in and out, doesn't go far, sometimes she's just in our screened back porch.
But she loves that fresh air and sunshine.
I won't judge those who keep their kitties safe inside, but please don't waggle your fingers at me.
And what do your cats do when outside unattended? Do they use your neighbors lanscape for a toilet? Walk on their car? What if while crossing the street a car swerves to avoid your cat? A new driver swerves and runs over a child? All so that the Kitty can feel at one with nature. Do you see the point? When pet owners allow their pets to run free they make it a burden upon society. It all seems harmless until bad things happen. If your cat gets run over by a car will you blame the driver or the person who looks back at you in the mirror? What about the driver? The guilt they will feel knowing that they killed a beloved pet?
Thats why I control my pets at all times. The pet is my burden by choice and I will not force the burden upon my neighbors.
I don't see it so much as the outdoor cats being a burden on the neighbors as dangerous for the cats. Unless you have a particularly safe place to let them out, keep them in for their own sake.
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when he was probably seven weeks old and he ended up bringing his mom's second litter to our back deck, where I managed to tame some of them. He was their baby sitter and I have pics to prove it.