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Good idea in theory, but a cat is smart enough, small enough and fast enough to run outside the door while the dog is going out there too.
And, there lies our problem with forcing this kitty to stay inside. She is small, fast, and sneaky. Which just adds to my worries of what she will do if she does go outside. We estimate that on a normal day when the kids are out of school, the backdoor opens well over 30 times a day.
Our feral cat, now that he owns us, stays in our woods and comes as soon as we whistle. I do not know how/if we trained him to stay in our yard and to come on command, so there is little chance of repeating it.
Wilson-- you will come to find many cat lovers on this cat thread have two positions we stand pretty firmly on 1) Dont ask about declawing your cat...majority dont support it and people like me think it should be illegal; 2) If you want own an outdoor pet, get a dog, otherwise, keep your kitty inside away from the dangers of outside.
It sounds almost like you are saying anyone who thinks otherwise does not belong on these threads. Of course there are also those who believe capturing a stray cat and forcing them to stay inside is a cruel thing to do. I think you can be a good pet owner in either case, just take precautions which is why I first came here asking advice on making sure my kitty came back to us. In the future, I will seek different avenues for advice.
It sounds almost like you are saying anyone who thinks otherwise does not belong on these threads. Of course there are also those who believe capturing a stray cat and forcing them to stay inside is a cruel thing to do. I think you can be a good pet owner in either case, just take precautions which is why I first came here asking advice on making sure my kitty came back to us. In the future, I will seek different avenues for advice.
I hope you will not take offense for all of the subtext here. The comments to which your post refers, were meant for me, not you. At another time and another place, I earned the hostility that you perceived from the poster. I am trying to improve myself by trying to be nicer than my natural tendencies would have. You were an innocent bystander.
MSM_teacher I don't think a friendly kitty is in too much danger of getting adopted by someone else---not considering how difficult it is to find homes for cats in general. And you could put a breakaway collar on her.
But that friendliness puts her in the unfortunate position of being picked up for nefarious purposes. My cat used to go out for a few hours every day--she is old now and stays inside--but she was very skittish of people and never would have approached anyone and would run and hide from passersby. Maybe someone here has had luck with training a kitty not to bolt out a door??
In many cities these days, there are ordinances against letting your cat roam freely. Similar to the dogs leash law. People may want to check their city's laws regarding letting your cat roam free. Detailed Discussion of Cat Laws
In our neck of the woods the kitty would be shot. What gives cats the rights to roam on the land of others?
Our neighborhood has had problems with this for years. One neighbor has cats, lets them out.
The other neighbour has fancy cars and goes to car shows. He works hours cleaning and polishing his cars.
The cats get on the cars both outside and in his pole barn.
We will hear a few shots. Next thing I know the cat people can't find a cat or two.
I never understood why if they love their cats, they let them go over there.
I have to add...we also have a number of exotic cars that are shown and enjoyed. While, we would never ever shoot or harm a animal...if a neighbors cat came over and somehow scratched one of them...you can be sure, pics would be taken and that neighbor would be liable for the damage done. No different than a kid coming over and doing the same.
MSM_teacher I don't think a friendly kitty is in too much danger of getting adopted by someone else---not considering how difficult it is to find homes for cats in general. And you could put a breakaway collar on her.
But that friendliness puts her in the unfortunate position of being picked up for nefarious purposes. My cat used to go out for a few hours every day--she is old now and stays inside--but she was very skittish of people and never would have approached anyone and would run and hide from passersby. Maybe someone here has had luck with training a kitty not to bolt out a door??
Breakaway collars? The longest she kept one on was 10 minutes! Maybe someone could suggest a brand with good results. We did get her chipped.
I would love advice on teaching her to not bolt verses lectures from others on keeping her inside. Real advice on training a cat would be lovely.
As I posted earlier, our older cat runs away from strangers, comes as soon as we whistle and stays well within our yard (it is really large and backs up to a wooded preserve area with limited access). Even with all that in his favor, we were never able to train him to stay inside. He even walks out UNDER one of the dogs. And, he is not even half as sneaky as the new kitty.
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