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There are no cars driving in my backyard. I was thinking of installing a cat proof fence topper. Since we aren't home for most of the day I thought it would be inhumane to keep it locked in the house all day.
Maybe it's just too much hassle for me to adopt a cat right now.
Cats don't stay put, generally. Personalities vary, but for the most part cats don't stay put. Letting them outside is essentially freeing them to the neighborhood, as far as they desire to roam.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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There is nothing inhumane about keeping a domesticated animal, inside. What would be considered inhumane is letting a exotic highly efficient predator outside to impact native wildlife populations. The native songbird, small mammal, and herp communities will thank you for keeping them indoors. They'll also be healthier and live longer being indoor cats.
Our kitty was an indoor cat. We'd let him loose in the courtyard of our condo but we'd usually be out there with him. He was old and not in the best shape, he wouldn't have lasted long if he didn't have a home and was outside all the time.
There are no cars driving in my backyard. I was thinking of installing a cat proof fence topper. Since we aren't home for most of the day I thought it would be inhumane to keep it locked in the house all day.
Maybe it's just too much hassle for me to adopt a cat right now.
Nah, but I agree with others who say that it is most definitely NOT inhumane to keep a cat inside. (I'm a cat person, I have a lovely floofy pal, Nimbus.)
There are MANY dangers- cars, other animals, psychos, parasites, viruses and bacteria, outdoors. They murder everything, disrupting the ecosystem, and it's hard to contain one in a backyard no matter how clever your fencing. They get out and poop in other people's yards and make a nuisance of themselves. At worst, they die horribly. Not worth it.
Just (my advice) feed an all-wet-food diet of mostly "birds & bunnies" (as opposed to fish) and scoop its litterbox once daily, and make sure it's spayed or neutered as early as it's safe to be done. Get some assortment of a cat tree or shelves to it can go "up high" and toys. The cat will entertain itself, napping, playing, madly dashing about like a total spaz, and looking out windows.
That's your best practices care for a cat. The wet diet will head off a lot of common health issues that cats often get. We haven't gone to a vet in years.
If you feel you need to allow the cat to go outside, and you really want to do the extra effort, cats can be trained to tolerate a harness & leash (a mere collar isn't enough, they can escape those, you need a body harness for them.) Or if you're really willing to put in effort, it's possible to build enclosures, heck I've seen people create chicken-wire mesh tunnels that traversed all over the backyard. But cats don't NEED that. It's extra.
I like dogs, but compared to all the training and walking, I find cats easier, so prefer to have a cat.
There is nothing inhumane about keeping a domesticated animal, inside. What would be considered inhumane is letting a exotic highly efficient predator outside to impact native wildlife populations. The native songbird, small mammal, and herp communities will thank you for keeping them indoors. They'll also be healthier and live longer being indoor cats.
This past weekend my neighbor let his cat out, and a bobcat took it's face right off. I hear and see wolves and coyotes not too far off, so....big nope.
This past weekend my neighbor let his cat out, and a bobcat took it's face right off. I hear and see wolves and coyotes not too far off, so....big nope.
We have plenty of local fauna perfectly capable of killing and eating a cat, so I try not to allow mine out. Unfortunately, one of my guys insists -- by zipping out before I can stop him. Nothing I can do except keep the acreage cleared enough to dissuade as many predators as possible, and making sure he has a few escape routes if necessary. I'd hate to lose him, he's a wonderful fellow (I'm an animal person all around, but not much of a cat person comparatively) and I'm quite fond of him. Still, I can't control his escapes all the time, try as I might.
Out here we've got coyotes, rumors of smaller wolves moving into the area, the occasional cougar, Great Horned owls, the occasional bobcat, skunks and raccoons (both will take down a cat if feeling threatened or feisty), Eastern rattlesnakes, copperheads and moccasins, corn snakes (constrictors), and loads of stray dogs. Finally, we have ignorant rednecks galore, and more than once growing up in a redneck environment I knew of people shooting at a cat in a field just to see if they could hit it. And there are always cars on the road.
So ol' Eleven takes his chances when he zips past me. Thankfully, he seems to limit his range to the immediate vicinity of house, garage, barn, and garden. I've seen him cross the road once or twice, but hope he avoids that.
We have plenty of local fauna perfectly capable of killing and eating a cat, so I try not to allow mine out. Unfortunately, one of my guys insists -- by zipping out before I can stop him. Nothing I can do except keep the acreage cleared enough to dissuade as many predators as possible, and making sure he has a few escape routes if necessary. I'd hate to lose him, he's a wonderful fellow (I'm an animal person all around, but not much of a cat person comparatively) and I'm quite fond of him. Still, I can't control his escapes all the time, try as I might.
Out here we've got coyotes, rumors of smaller wolves moving into the area, the occasional cougar, Great Horned owls, the occasional bobcat, skunks and raccoons (both will take down a cat if feeling threatened or feisty), Eastern rattlesnakes, copperheads and moccasins, corn snakes (constrictors), and loads of stray dogs. Finally, we have ignorant rednecks galore, and more than once growing up in a redneck environment I knew of people shooting at a cat in a field just to see if they could hit it. And there are always cars on the road.
So ol' Eleven takes his chances when he zips past me. Thankfully, he seems to limit his range to the immediate vicinity of house, garage, barn, and garden. I've seen him cross the road once or twice, but hope he avoids that.
Cats are natural hunters. I like cats, I think they are beautiful animals. I dig their cool independent spirit. They don't grovel like dogs do, even though I think dogs are great, cats just have that I don't give a........ attitude about them.
Hopefully your little dude doesn't wonder around much when he sneaks out and gets his butt back home.
We have a rabbit and we'd never let her out, I mean she's basically other animals menu items. LOL.
Cats are natural hunters. I like cats, I think they are beautiful animals. I dig their cool independent spirit. They don't grovel like dogs do, even though I think dogs are great, cats just have that I don't give a........ attitude about them.
Hopefully your little dude doesn't wonder around much when he sneaks out and gets his butt back home.
We have a rabbit and we'd never let her out, I mean she's basically other animals menu items. LOL.
I always find it funny when people say cats don't give a you-know-what... Or that they are aloof or whatever. My cat follows me everywhere, wants to be involved in anything and everything that I'm doing whenever possible, and is very concerned about me following predictable routines. He can be a little neurotic about it. If I'm not in bed by the time I'm usually in bed, he'll wander around complaining and come paw at me. He seems very concerned. If I'm doing the dishes, he wants to supervise. Boyfriend late coming home from work? Nimbus will paw at his bedroom door and sing the songs of his people. Loudly.
I've always thought that dogs are potentially smarter (generally) than cats, but you have to train them, program their little brain-computers, to get the best results out of them. You don't really need to program a cat, it'll probably be pretty good at catting without it, but they're relatively simple creatures with fairly simple motivations, for the most part.
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