Hey. So… i live rural and my cats are pets but also are working cats to keep the rodents out of my house.
Just saw some saltiness going on in the comments and wanted to address it.
Didn’t make this post with the intention of making anyone upset and I apologize to those I did.
I keep my cats indoors to keep them healthy and safe, and prevent the decimation of local birds.
Does the bird decimation happens in the wilderness too? When birds have trees enough to hide? The cats we’ve had very rarely brought birds home. I think our livingroom windows have taken out more birds than our cats ever did. They brought back mouse often instead.
So my guess is that it is also the lack of cat-safe hiding spots that get small birds killed in cities. Not all birds are able to stay on roofs when its a bit of wind. And cats can easier sneak up buildings than out on a thin tree branch.
Cats are an invasive species in much of the world. They’ve driven species of birds, mamals, and reptiles to extinction, and many more to the brink.
If someone let’s their cats run loose outside, they are an irresponsible pet owner. Not to mention the risk of the cat(s) being hit by a car or mauled by a dog or something. Bonus irresponsibility if one let’s non-spayed/neutered cats roam free and lead to more invasive strays.
Cats are very effective and sadistic predators who kill for fun. Keep them contained and instead of contributing to a the decimation of birds and small wildlife in your area. (Meaning the universal you btw, not directing this at you personally!)
Cats kill many billions of birds annually just for fun whether there are trees or not.
You only really need to do that in spring when there’s loads of baby birds about. Birds are pretty good at evading predators, just don’t feed birds in your garden if you have a cat.
Not sure it’s healthy to keep an animal locked inside for all of its life. I rescued my cat from some nutter who had 20 cats in a flat. The charity wouldn’t let me take her without a home visit to check it was a suitable home.
You can also have them supervised outside or on a leash. You’re presenting this as a false choice between two options: keep them locked up forever, or let them roam unsupervised.
There are ways to be a responsible cat owner. Letting them decimate local birds, reptiles and small mamals is irresponsible.
Also, allowing pets to wonder and be hit by cars is very irresponsible pet ownership as well. I get so pissed off at whoever the guardian was any time I see a cat or dog hit on the side of the road (happens too often around here). If someone let’s their animal wonder freely and it’s struck/lost/killed, the pet’s guardian is fully responsible.
“My cat/dog knows better…” Yeah, until they don’t and they’re dead…
Maybe you could choose a pet more suited to your environment instead of having what you want
My roommate had a Persian that wasn’t allowed out unless on a leash. It tried to hang itself at the first opportunity.
We took the ability to live in the wild away from them, now it’s our responsibility to keep them safe.
Safe from what? they’re an urban apex predator
Vehicles mostly, but also predators that are larger than them. I live in what is essentially an urban forest and cats absolutely get picked off by larger predators. Domestic cats are only predators to small, essential ecosystems now.
True. I grew up in a village and cats got ran over often. I live in town now and rarely see it. Town cats are different, one sits in the middle of the roundabout near me and stares down every dog, car or pedestrian lol
You should keep your cats inside
Sounds like a prison. Don’t listen to this one.
Sounds like not cutting a cat’s life expectancy in half while contributing to the decline of local wildlife to me
Quality over quantity. Always.
Don’t get a cat at all then? Leave them in the wild where you think they belong
Exactly. Or get one but leave it a way out.
Still sounds like a prison to me. Leave em cats alone if you wanna keep them in a box. That’s no animal life.
They’re either domesticated or not. Letting your cats outside is deliberately introducing and invasive species into the wild.
They’ve always been outside since they started living with us. What the hell are you saying?
Starling live outside therefore I should release 1000 into the wild
My cats are not allowed past the catio because they will either destroy everything in sight or be destroyed. If you love your cats, don’t let them roam.
I mimic their sounds and am not ashamed of it :-) Whether cats, dogs, or birds, or the pair of wild crows i feed outside, it doesn’t matter. I even mimic the sound of danger that our wild doves make when they see a sparrow hawk. So, if i see one while hand feeding a dove, i point and make the sound and look up very obviously so they know there is one circling around our garden (but often they notice before i do).
Not pets, but I greet the wild birds around here with “Gmorning, boids” or something. The reason is simple: I hate being a bother, even to animals, and the birds are less likely to be scared and fly away if I speak to them.
Also when I lived with cats, no cat who was let out would ever forget to say “mrr”, which I interpreted as a “thank you”. Of course I responded to them like I would a human.
I do this with crows because i dont want to piss them off… They remember
I sometimes call our family cat fat pussy.
I’ve been known to tell my husky-mix “Return with the survey results” when I let him out into our fenced yard. Every time he goes out he seems to do a systematic grid search of the entire area.
When I take my dog outside and he shuffles around looking for the perfect spot to crap, I tell him to “get with the program.” He seems to understand that I’m becoming impatient.
My pig is 4-yo and I’ve never seen him poop, not once. He has his own spot of yard and packs that shit in like Teris bricks. Once an area is full, he moves on. LOL, you should see the plants out there!
We like to say that our dog is searching for their poop, then when they finally actually poop somewhere we congratulate them for finding it.
Hey man I feel you. I should have added that I live rural and they are working cats as well as pets.
I’m sorry I caused you such anger.
Be well.
When my cat comes in, I always say “All hail the Cat King!”
EDIT: English not my native language. “Heil” was not intentional.
