Cat Ballaching

[Epona]

Why ever not? Don't they want to?

Because they don't need to. I get fed up with explaining myself. No other animal that is kept as a pet is allowed to wander around freely, if I had a dog and stuck it outside every morning by itself to do its own thing all day, it would be picked up by a shelter or the RSPCA and everyone would agree that it was unacceptable.

In the UK, 1 cat dies every 12 seconds being hit by a car. There's also feline leukemia virus which is fatal in 100% of cases (the vaccine is only about 80% effective), worms, fleas, lungworm from eating slugs/snails, foxes, bored kids looking for ways to make their day more exciting, and people who train fighting dogs looking for bait.

I would almost certainly end up losing both of my cats to cars or theft if I let them out around here, one of them is a Cornish Rex cross and consequently has absolutely no common sense whatsoever and would probably try to ambush passing cars, and the other is a pedigree Oriental Shorthair who could fetch a good price. Owners of these breeds are advised (and in many cases it is in their purchase contract with the breeder!) to keep them indoors for the reasons I've specified.

Cats do not need to be outdoors.

 

[Orang Utan]

Cats do need to be outdoors in my opinion - nothing should be imprisoned like that

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Or, putting my finger in the cats mouth when it yawns.

I do this with my wife.

 

[og ogilby]

I do this with my wife.

I do it to my girlfriend too but I always wash my finger before I'd do it to my cat.

 

[tarannau]

Cats do need to be outdoors in my opinion - nothing should be imprisoned like that

Well, put 'em on a lead and take 'em for a walk then. Stop just shovelling your feline outdoors in lazy fashion, ready to shit in other peoples' gardens . Amazingly, in areas where the cat's got natural predators, or where there's been a bird-flu epidemic, cats being let outside are often in the minority.

Quite a few bird experts are pleading with cat owners to keep their moggies in at night, or at least fit them with a bell - they may be good low maintenance pets for the 'at work' generation, but they are capable of decimating local wildlife. I'd love to set my mate's dog on the moggie that ripped apart our garden's pet Robin, but I suspect people would be up in arms about that. Double standards?

 

[og ogilby]

Cats do need to be outdoors in my opinion - nothing should be imprisoned like that

I used to be of that opinion to mate but I lost three cats in a short space of time to cars and disease caught from fighting with other cats.

Now mine stay indoors with access to a large pen in the garden.

 

[Orang Utan]

My cat goes out the back into a field - she likes going out - I wouldn't dream of keeping her in.

 

[Orang Utan]

one of them is a Cornish Rex cross and consequently has absolutely no common sense whatsoever and would probably try to ambush passing cars, and the other is a pedigree Oriental Shorthair who could fetch a good price. Owners of these breeds are advised (and in many cases it is in their purchase contract with the breeder!) to keep them indoors for the reasons I've specified.

I find that well disturbing for some reason - what next? Cats bred without claws so they don't mess up the furniture?

 

[quimcunx]

Our old cat used to ballach us.

She would sit outside the living room door meowling to get in until one of us got up and opened the door. She would then look at us as if to say. 'Yesssss, Can I help you, at all?'

 

[sojourner]

Because they don't need to. I get fed up with explaining myself. No other animal that is kept as a pet is allowed to wander around freely, if I had a dog and stuck it outside every morning by itself to do its own thing all day, it would be picked up by a shelter or the RSPCA and everyone would agree that it was unacceptable.

In the UK, 1 cat dies every 12 seconds being hit by a car. There's also feline leukemia virus which is fatal in 100% of cases (the vaccine is only about 80% effective), worms, fleas, lungworm from eating slugs/snails, foxes, bored kids looking for ways to make their day more exciting, and people who train fighting dogs looking for bait.

I would almost certainly end up losing both of my cats to cars or theft if I let them out around here, one of them is a Cornish Rex cross and consequently has absolutely no common sense whatsoever and would probably try to ambush passing cars, and the other is a pedigree Oriental Shorthair who could fetch a good price. Owners of these breeds are advised (and in many cases it is in their purchase contract with the breeder!) to keep them indoors for the reasons I've specified.

Cats do not need to be outdoors.

Word


OU - imprisoned? Bit of an emotional word for keeping a cat indoors innit? My 2 are very happy thankyouverymuch, life of bloody Riley they lead, and don't appear to have any kind of prisoner syndrome that I can see

 

[Orang Utan]

I'm frankly appalled

 

[sojourner]

I'm frankly appalled

Why? What exactly is it that appalls you? Do you think they are somehow suffering?

 

[Orang Utan]

Why? What exactly is it that appalls you? Do you think they are somehow suffering?

Imprisoning cats indoors shocks me! I'm surprised so many people seem to think it's acceptable. Would you do the same with dogs? Or humans?

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I do it to my girlfriend too but I always wash my finger before I'd do it to my cat.

We have an ongoing 7 year game. If you can get the finger in and out without touching the sides or a bite ,you get a point.

 

[Hellsbells]

I think it's alright to keep a cat indoors if it's all the cat has ever known.
But reckon it's a bit cruel to suddenly stop letting a cat outdoors.

Personally I like being able to give my cats freedom and it makes me happy to see them leaping around the garden

 

[tarannau]

Put a cat outside in a pen then. Or the aforementioned leads, both of which are commonly used in the US for example.

I've never understood why folks think it's ok to buy a pet and then let it out of their sight all day. Hardly responsible pet ownership is it?

 

[Orang Utan]

I think it's alright to keep a cat indoors if it's all the cat has ever known.
But reckon it's a bit cruel to suddenly stop letting a cat outdoors.

Personally I like being able to give my cats freedom and it makes me happy to see them leaping around the garden

Indeed - they love it - that's where they are from after all!

 

[pogofish]

Imprisoning cats indoors shocks me! I'm surprised so many people seem to think it's acceptable.

Depends. Some breeds of cat take well to being all-indoors - esp if they are raised to it from birth.

 

[sojourner]

Imprisoning cats indoors shocks me! I'm surprised so many people seem to think it's acceptable. Would you do the same with dogs? Or humans?

No, I wouldn't do it with dogs, that's why I haven't got a dog. But dogs can't get the same amount of exercise in a house that cats can. Dogs don't run up curtains, or walls, or jump about on doggy gyms. They tend not to race/fight themselves up and down stairs.

And humans? Same thing ^

 

[zenie]

We have a total of 15 cats in the house at the moment. Meow!

Your house must fuckin stink

*hacks*

 

[Orang Utan]

Put a cat outside in a pen then. Or the aforementioned leads, both of which are commonly used in the US for example.

I've never understood why folks think it's ok to buy a pet and then let it out of their sight all day. Hardly responsible pet ownership is it?

They can usually look after themselves - they managed before domestication - better than being cooped up all day destroying the furniture in frustration

 

[tarannau]

Indeed - they love it - that's where they are from after all!

What? Your breed of cats originally came from Brixton then, a native species of Blighty. Or is it some selectively bred thing which really has been imported here by humans?

 

[sojourner]

They can usually look after themselves - they managed before domestication - better than being cooped up all day destroying the furniture in frustration

Cos of course outdoor cats NEVER destroy furniture do they?!

 

[Orang Utan]

Depends. Some breeds of cat take well to being all-indoors - esp if they are raised to it from birth.

I didn't know that! I've always seen them as outdoor creatures which is why I'm shocked to find it seems to be a common practice to keep em in

 

[pogofish]

Quite a few bird experts are pleading with cat owners to keep their moggies in at night,

Like fuck they are!

This particular campaign is the work of a nutter-faction within the general RSPB membership. Most of the experts are more concerned about the more serious issue of habitat loss & pesticide use in industrial farming instead.

 

[tarannau]

They can usually look after themselves - they managed before domestication - better than being cooped up all day destroying the furniture in frustration

Dogs can look very well after themselves and get frustrated at home too. Why shouldn't dog owners just be able to turf their pets out when they're at work?

 

[bluestreak]

while i can see whare OU is coming from, reading this thread has made me decide that experience suggests it's ok to keep a cat inside. seeing as lots of nice responsible urbanites have happy housecats has made me decide that i can get one too. i don't give a damn about them destroying the furniture, it's what it's there for, and it's a big old flat with three storeys of staircases to tear up and down. doesn't seem too worrying.

 

[Gromit]

Cats should be outside.
People think they are domesticated animals but really they are only semi-domesticated and live like little wild tigers at night hunting, fighting and patrolling etc.

I’ve always had dogs but would like a cat one day.
Well really I’d like a house with grounds that 2 dogs could run around in along with having two cats as well who all love each other. That would be cool. I’ll settle with one cat though.

Other people’s cats always like me, even ones who don’t normally like strangers.
I’ve been to many a friend’s house and their partners who didn’t really know me decide that they like me because their cat does. If their fussy cat likes me then I must be cool. Funny how people think that way but hey it works in my favour so I’m not complaining.

Mind you if I had a cat I'd tease the damn thing to death. I'm evil like that.

 

[og ogilby]

I keep my cats locked up while I go out having fun shitting in my neighbours gardens and playing chicken with the cars on the main road.

 

[tarannau]

Like fuck they are!

This particular campaign is the work of a nutter-faction within the general RSPB membership. Most of the experts are more concerned about the more serious issue of habitat loss & pesticide use in industrial farming instead.

Rubbish. That Chris wotsit name fella was in The Guardian the other day suggesting just the same. I would find a link, but I'm deluged by a load of saddo cat sites under the search terms


Equally, plenty of US states offer the same advice - here being an example from New Jersey:

http://nj.gov/counties/mercer/community/wildlife/about.html