I keep letting our cat out, but unfortunately the bloody thing keeps coming back.
Of course she didn't she's locked up in your house.
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Can/should I occassionally let my cats out?
- Thread starter thinbluebrine
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Sorry to hear that, but it sounds like your cat just had a bit of bad luck. We let our cats out all day and all night. They only come back to eat and occasionally take a nap. Sure, they get in fights and whatnot, but that's what cats do. Fleas? Just use flea medicine? Works pretty well for us. Protect them before they get them.
I mean really, the things you describe are what happens to cats and what cats do, you shouldn't try to raise one without accepting this.
I guess I just don't get the thinking of buying a cat and then letting it outside just so you can see it every now and then. I'm not being judgmental about what anyone does with their animals or property (which, I think animals are above being just property) it just baffles me that someone would buy a pet, then put it outside and see that pet every now and then. That's why we don't have a dog, I wouldn't be able to live with myself to just leave it outside because we are gone all the time.
Here is some generic quote I know I heard in some movie, but I think it's pretty fitting here:
"I'd rather die on my feet then live on my knees."
Ok, that's a valid point. If I didn't live on a quiet street with a decent size front and back yard I probably wouldn't let them out like I do now.
I've notided there is a small difference in cat ownership tendencies between the US and the UK. When I lived in the US I would never let my cats out, they'd get fecked up out there! Over here in the UK keeping them strictly indoors is almost seen as a cruel thing to do to a cat.
I think I prefer indoor cats but wouldn't do that to a cat that had previously been allowed to roam free. When they're kittens and have only ever traversed the house it's a bit different.
I digress.
I think I prefer indoor cats but wouldn't do that to a cat that had previously been allowed to roam free. When they're kittens and have only ever traversed the house it's a bit different.
I digress.
Applicable to humans, but not so applicable to the feline world. I'm not sure they'd understand the concepts of servitude and sovereignty.
Cats as pets, are many things to many people, but Human they are not.
Nope, that germane to the topic, and speaks to my point that what they do not know will not hurt them.
I'm not chalking up the death of a 5 year old cat to bad luck. And that was only one point. The reasons go both ways as you can check in this article: http://www.scvas.org/index.php?page=text&id=keepcats
Our cat almost never goes outside and when he does it's with strict supervision. The reason: where we live is frequented by coyotes, foxes, and possibly even mountain lions.
Occasionally we'll see posters for missing cats in the neighborhood. If your cat is missing for a few days, it's gonna be missing forever.
Occasionally we'll see posters for missing cats in the neighborhood. If your cat is missing for a few days, it's gonna be missing forever.
I'm not saying there aren't a few legitimate reasons to keep cats indoors. But I think they're a lot happier outside. Even if you think they don't know what they're missing, they probably do. Instinct and all that.
I can appreciate your thinking but it seems you have this view that people think animals are here to just serve us. While I agree that there are a lot of people that do have that view, I don't think it is fair to think that everyone who has animals has that view. I certainly do not, I love my cats more than anything and do not wish to see anything bad happen to them. I see these stray cats that come to my house to eat because I feed them all scratched up and sometimes bleeding due to the fights they get into. I refuse to allow my cats that I love greatly and that I have had my female for over 16 years be tore up because I think they are prisoners in my house. They are not prisoners, they have great lives and are very happy.
Again, I am not telling anyone what they should do with their pets, just giving my point of view. I do let my cats out for some fresh air and I think it is a good idea to do.
You know, I'd never considered anything else. If you walk down the street then you're likely to see a cat. Damn it. I just looked out of my window and there is one cleaning its coat across the road.
With that said, my Mum has too indoor cats at her house. I always thought it was weird. I was like 'who the hell keeps a cat locked indoors'. I guess I'm a little naive on this subject. I don't particularly like animals so I don't take a great interest but it has always seemed to be the done thing.
What rubbish. We had cats for 8 years and always let them out. God knows where they went, but they always came back safe and sound.
Sure, they caught some mice and rats every now and again but that is good for them. After all it is what they do naturally.
Personally it sounds like cruelty to keep them locked inside. Let them come and go as they please. If you do a good job with caring for them they will always come back.
You're always taking a risk, but generally it's worth it to see your cats happy doing what they've been doing for a very long time.
All I am saying is that if you let them out (and honestly I have never heard of anyone who did not let their cats out) then generally they are pretty safe. Occasionally a cat does get hit by a car or attacked by an animal, but then that happens to humans too and you wouldn't keep a kid locked up in the house because he might be hit by a car would you?
During the winter we have a family of foxes living down the bottom of my garden. Not once did my last cat ever get mauled by them. By the end of his life (19) he wasn't the quickest.
US houses tend to be larger then in the UK but still I find the idea of keeping cats indoors (unless you live in the centre of a city) really quite odd. Cats are animals, animals survived outdoors before we came along.
Have you ever seen a cat hit by a car? That should give any cat-lover reason to reconsider allowing their pet to roam around outdoors. Domestic felines are not wild animals. They don't need to evade cars, coyotes or other cats to live happy lives. They also won't be happier if they catch feline distemper or feline leukemia, and neither will you.
So your approach is to keep them locked up? Sounds more like you are looking out for your own happiness rather than the cats to me.
In my society we do not apply the same rules to pets as we do to children. For example, I can leave my dog locked inside a kennel for hours on end while I'm away from the house. Try doing the same with a child and see what happens if someone finds out.