For cat owners who let their cats outside...

J

joejack

Cathlete
I posted this in the "Hug Your Pet" thread, but thought I'd cut and paste here.
When I had cats they were allowed outside, but what happened yesterday made realize how lucky I was that my cats weren't hurt.


"I'll take this time to remind cat owners how dangerous it is for their cats to be outside. I have 2 large dogs who are fenced in with an electric fence in our yard.

A stray cat without tags walked into our yard, and my dogs attacked it yesterday morning. I tried my best to stop them, but it was 2 against one, and the poor kitty didn't have a chance.

The dogs broke the cat's back, and I rushed it to the vet but there was nothing they could do. They had to euthanize it. It had on a flea collar, but was not neutered (the vet said the cat was at least a year or two old) so I'm unsure about the quality of care the cat got from it's owner. I figure someone who was really responsible would never let an intact male roam around outside. I've been calling around in the neighborhood, but haven't found it's owner yet.

It was so sad. It wasn't even my cat and I was crying my eyes out.

My dogs are wonderful dogs, but they will follow their instinct and chase squirrels, groundhogs, foxes, and cats when they are around. I wish it wasn't so, but it is. The vet was very kind and told me that it wasn't my fault, that the dogs were on my property and I did the most humane thing possible given the situation.

Anyway, thanks for letting me share."
 
Oh my gosh, so sorry you had to go through that. :(

I wish people would realize that just because a pet is a cat doesn't mean it should be allowed to roam at will into other people's yards. I have loose cats in my yard all the time, some are feral but I know a couple of them are just pets allowed to roam. I'm going to have to redo my compost because a couple of cats got in there.
 
This happened to my sister too. She has two chows. She was able to rescue the cat, transport it to the vet, pay the expensive bills, spent hours and hours trying to locate the owner, went back to the vet to microchip the cat and now the cat is living with them.

I am a cat lover, but this is certainly the most expensive and traumatic way to become one.
 
joejack said:
My dogs are wonderful dogs, but they will follow their instinct and chase squirrels, groundhogs, foxes, and cats when they are around. I wish it wasn't so, but it is. The vet was very kind and told me that it wasn't my fault, that the dogs were on my property and I did the most humane thing possible given the situation.

Anyway, thanks for letting me share."
Click to expand...

I am sorry, I am going to be the one dissenting. I'd recommend to consult a dog trainer or dog behaviorist to learn how to control your dogs - even on your property. Well-trained dogs can be called off and as a responsible dog owner I am sure you want to learn to control their instinct. What if that wasn't a cat but a child instead?

If you already know that your dogs are out for the kill, don't let them stroll around on your property unsupervised because it is a well-known fact that once dogs start killing the targets get bigger.
 
i am so frustrated with a friend of mine. i have tried to convince her to keep the male and female kittens inside. she hasnt even taken them to a vet to be fixed or have a collar put on! they are now a 2 months old.they were seperated from there mother at less than 6 weeks.maybe if i mention this to my friend she will listen!

laura
 
I am so sorry you had to experience that. It is truly heartbreaking sometimes when animals follow their instincts.

I live in a bad neighborhood where the cat population is out of control because the people are poor and not all that bright. It sounds cold but if you spent 30 minutes on my front porch you'd say I'm being generous. I have 5 cats and a sixth I care for in a separate part of my house. The sixth cat and two of mine go outside. One, I'm not too worried about but the other two... At any rate, the 3 would make my life a nightmare (two already do but it would get worse) if they weren't permitted outside. Two were outside cats when I found them and the third is just evil (yea, I'm talking about Tangee again) and won't tolerate being kept inside for too long. My other 3 are just fine being strictly indoors.

That said, I would say to anyone thinking of owning a cat that unless it's an absolutely impossible situation (like with my 3), PLEASE make your cats into house cats. Most cats are perfectly fine never going outside and the benefits of being strictly indoors are very well-documented (longer, healthier lives; no threat to the bird population and other small, defenseless creatures). I've cared for many strays, most of whom could never be made into strictly indoor cats and it's just agony all the time. You love them and become all invested emotionally, only to come home from work and find them dead in the street or worse (yea there IS worse), they just disappear. Where? Into an abandoned house? Did someone steal him (unlikely)? Did he get sick (antifreeze...?)? Did some evil person grab my little butterball and torture....don't want to go there? So many questions - and never an answer.

I've had indoor/outdoor cats my whole life and am now I firm believer that, except in the absolute most extreme cases, all cats belong indoors at all times.

Also, I agree with Carolla about training your dogs. It can be done. Just 4 nights ago I came home from work and heard some horrific noise coming from the bushes. I went to get my flashlight and found nothing. Then I heard the sound again but it was coming from my neighbor's porch. What I found was a little bitty defenseless orange and white kitten (with a purple elastic string tied around its' neck, If you can believe it - I couldn't), bleeding all over the porch, being set upon by a large black stray tomcat. I got him to the emergency vet clinic where they told me it was just a "flesh wound." Poor thing was so terrified that he didn't come out of the cat carrier to eat, drink, or relieve himself all night. After a nice, peaceful night alone I took him (simultaneously hissing and purring...) to the Humane Society the following afternoon. He's a kitten so the odds are he'll be adopted. But I am livid that someone actually thought such a tiny creature would be fine OUTSIDE, knowing how many big, territorial stray toms roam the 'hood. Unbelievable.
 
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josiespcah6ojsh said:
i am so frustrated with a friend of mine. i have tried to convince her to keep the male and female kittens inside. she hasnt even taken them to a vet to be fixed or have a collar put on! they are now a 2 months old.they were seperated from there mother at less than 6 weeks.maybe if i mention this to my friend she will listen!

laura
Click to expand...
www.FeralCat.com

One pair of intact cats can produce two litters per year. Within 7 years you can wind up with 420,000 unwanted offspring, thanks to HUMAN stupidity. It's a national disgrace so, yes, please straighten out your friend.
 
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OMG that is so sad.

I have 4 cats, all indoors. I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s and no one thought anything about it.
When I moved into my 1st apartment in 1973, I lived on a busy road, so there was no two ways about it; my cat stayed in. Every cat I've had since stays in.

I have three siblings, all have multiple cats, all are indoor/outdoor cats.

My youngest sister had a cat who went missing for 5 or 6 weeks, she was distraught. She finally got him back (someone had adopted him, and someone else saw the poster in a local store), but she was beside herself. That was years ago, yet her cats still go out.

My middle sister backed out of her driveway and ran over her momma nursing cat, in full view of her youngest child, who was about 8 at the time, and is still upset about it (she is 14 now). Jezabelle died. Her cats still go out.

My brother woke up one morning to "screaming" and interrupted a fisher cat (a badger-like wild animal) attacking a neighbor's cat. He chased it away, but the neighbor's cat died.
One of my brother's cats climbed a tree about 50 feet high and was stuck up there for about 4 or 5 days. They had to call a tree service to get her down. (no the fire dept wouldn't). They live in rural Vermont.
Their cats go out.

My old neighbors had 5 cats. One of them, Cleo, used to come around my house when my son was younger and he loved her. One day, the man told my son and the boy next door that a coyote attacked and partially ate Cleo. His other cats still went out. They don't live here any more.

I do not understand why, especially after all that, people still let their cats out.

The neighbor's cats used MY flower beds as a litter box. It made me very angry. I have 4 cats and litter boxes, I don't need to be digging in my garden and find someone else's cat s.hit! If you let your cats out, they do not s.hit just in your yard, they s.hit in your neighbor's yards too. Not very neighborly.

Off my soapbox. I don't get the mentality.
Barbara P

PS and I agree about the dogs, even if they are on your property, you have delivery people, children etc.
There are some insurance companies who won't even insure dog owners, and some who won't insure owners of certain breeds (I know, I worked for one for 34 years.....) it's not really the dog though...it is the owner.

And cat and dog owners alike must spay and neuter as soon as the pet is old enough.
 
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SirenSongWoman said:
Also, I agree with Carolla about training your dogs. It can be done. Just 4 nights ago I came home from work and heard some horrific noise coming from the bushes. I went to get my flashlight and found nothing. Then I heard the sound again but it was coming from my neighbor's porch. What I found was a little bitty defenseless orange and white kitten (with a purple elastic string tied around its' neck, If you can believe it - I couldn't), bleeding all over the porch, being set upon by a large black stray tomcat. I got him to the emergency vet clinic where they told me it was just a "flesh wound."
Click to expand...

Do not get me started on this! I found my Josephine (my avatar) like this. Not hurt, but scared, someone dumped her, aged 6 weeks, all alone in bushes in front of a vacant house next door to my late MIL's house which was unoccupied. I was lucky to find her. She is 3 now.

I believe there is a special Hell for people who are cruel to animals, made just for them.
 
I am so sorry about what happened! My heart wouldn't be able to take it! We have a cat problem in our area as well! We own a cat, but he is strictly indoors! He is very happy like that even though he paws at the doorknob and asks to go out sometimes! I take him once in a blue moon out back on his leash and he never knows quite what to do when he gets out there!

We are missing a window in our shed and neighborhood cats used to go in there (we stored an old Porsche in there for a while) and give birth to their kittens and sleep in the car during the winter! We got rid of the car and are cat free for the most part. I think it's a shame that people own pets (cats in this case) and just let them wander! If you don't want to have to take care of a pet, don't get one! Don't just get a cat and let it do it's own thing. Oh, wait a minute, that's what they do with their kids in our neighborhood, too, so why would I think they would treat a cat any better?

Again, I'm so sorry about the poor kitty!

Tricia
 
josiespcah6ojsh said:
wow! 420,000 is alot. once a cat becomes pregnant, how long does it take for her to become pregnant again?

laura
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That, I don't know. I thought it was right away but the feral cat people say "two litters per year" which isn't as much as I thought.

I had a truly disgusting neighbors who used to live across the street. They had a sweet big white dog that used to "get out (please)." That poor critter was never not pregnant. There ought to be laws that put pet owners in prison for this stuff. One morning I looked out the window and that sweet pooch was laying in the street, dying, having been struck by a hit-and-run. I woke the family and the trashy couple made a big show of picking her up and "taking her to the vet" only because they were afraid I might report them or something (which would result in nothing but they didn't know that...). I know they just drove around until she died then dumped her in some dumpster somewhere. I get sick thinking about all that unconditional love not being reciprocated all the years they owned her. All that love... wasted.
 
josiespcah6ojsh said:
once a cat becomes pregnant, how long does it take for her to become pregnant again?
Click to expand...

Can't give you an exact answer, but it can happen **much** sooner than I anticipated... We had a stray cat come to us, already pregnant. She had her kittens on our porch (couldn't make her an indoor cat, we had a very old dog at the time who disliked cats immensely). I had plans to have her spade but thought I had a few weeks afterwards... But within 2 weeks of her babies being weaned, she was pregnant AGAIN. (Fortunately I learned my lesson that it can happen fast and had her spade immediately after weaning the second litter.)

Bernadette
 
Also, outdoor cats kill birds

I agree with SirenSongWoman's point that pet cats should be trained as indoor cats. I just want to add an additional reason to promote indoor cat-living: freeroaming cats kill millions of birds each year. I feed birds from a bird feeder high enough off the ground to avoid cat attacks. But some birds feed on lawns -- away from bird feeders -- and are naturally vulnerable to cats.

One request: if one must have their cats roam outside, please put a warning bell on their collars.
-- David
 
I forgot to mention that in RI you have to register and license your dogs, they don't require anything for cats. Tell me how that's right!

Tricia
 
syzygy314 said:
I forgot to mention that in RI you have to register and license your dogs, they don't require anything for cats. Tell me how that's right!

Tricia
Click to expand...

I don't think that should be right. I think it's the same in CT....but it shouldn't be. At least rabies shots are required for both. I think the laws should also be the same. You also are required to pick up your dog's waste, they are not allowed to s.hit on others' property....why should cats be any different? I hate digging up cat s.hit. I have enough of my own (indoors)! Besides being so totally inconsiderate and thoughtless.

As far as # of litters and cats getting pregnant, back in the 1960s when there wasn't the problem there is today....we had a cat that was getting pregnant about three times a year. The gestation period is 60 days. But all of the kittens were spoken for before they were born; in fact we would get calls all the time to see if we had kittens. With 4 kids in our family, the kittens were socialized well.

But I certainly would never do that now!
Barbara JP
 
Davidj said:
I agree with SirenSongWoman's point that pet cats should be trained as indoor cats. I just want to add an additional reason to promote indoor cat-living: freeroaming cats kill millions of birds each year. I feed birds from a bird feeder high enough off the ground to avoid cat attacks. But some birds feed on lawns -- away from bird feeders -- and are naturally vulnerable to cats.

One request: if one must have their cats roam outside, please put a warning bell on their collars.
-- David[/quote



Not only that, our zoo here in Des Moines lost some of the big cats to distemper spread by feral cats. $$$$$!!!

Our dog catcher here in our area used to send out a letter each year. It was directed to dog owners but it pertains to cats as well. It said something to the effect " If your dog [cat] can't recite it's name, address and phone number it needs to have a license and be on a leash." I would have added "if your dog/cat doesn't know how to look both ways while crossing a street it needs to be on a leash"

I would add too that once while I was at a stop light I was watching this cat walk down the street and right down into the sewer it went! probably going down there to hunt rats/mice. Talk about dirt and germs and disease. ewww.


Also cats get hit by cars, poisoned, bit by dogs as mentioned, shot, caught in traps. There are too many dangers in letting your pets roam. This gal I used to work came to work crying one day because these 8 or 9 year olds caught and tortured her cat by pounding it to death with rocks and they were lauphing abount it. :(
My mom had to disect a cat in her biology class in college and these cats were rounded up strays.
One evening we were driving around and the car ahead of us we saw was dragging something. When we got close up we saw it was a cat (dead of course.) It was probably up under the wheel wells napping and got caught somehow. :(

When I had my cat I kept him indoors and one time he got out accidently he didn't know what to do, he was scared.
I understand though that once they've gotten the 'taste' of the outdoors there is not containing them.
Click to expand...
 
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syzygy314 said:
I forgot to mention that in RI you have to register and license your dogs, they don't require anything for cats. Tell me how that's right!

Tricia
Click to expand...

In Calgary (Canada), both dogs and cats must be licensed. I NEVER let my kitties Mickey, Puddin and Lulu out, no matter how much they beg.
 
joejack said:
I posted this in the "Hug Your Pet" thread, but thought I'd cut and paste here.
When I had cats they were allowed outside, but what happened yesterday made realize how lucky I was that my cats weren't hurt.


"I'll take this time to remind cat owners how dangerous it is for their cats to be outside. I have 2 large dogs who are fenced in with an electric fence in our yard.

A stray cat without tags walked into our yard, and my dogs attacked it yesterday morning. I tried my best to stop them, but it was 2 against one, and the poor kitty didn't have a chance.

The dogs broke the cat's back, and I rushed it to the vet but there was nothing they could do. They had to euthanize it. It had on a flea collar, but was not neutered (the vet said the cat was at least a year or two old) so I'm unsure about the quality of care the cat got from it's owner. I figure someone who was really responsible would never let an intact male roam around outside. I've been calling around in the neighborhood, but haven't found it's owner yet.

It was so sad. It wasn't even my cat and I was crying my eyes out.

My dogs are wonderful dogs, but they will follow their instinct and chase squirrels, groundhogs, foxes, and cats when they are around. I wish it wasn't so, but it is. The vet was very kind and told me that it wasn't my fault, that the dogs were on my property and I did the most humane thing possible given the situation.

Anyway, thanks for letting me share."
Click to expand...

I am so sorry that you had to go through this horrific experience. I can only imagine what it was like for you. You did the most responsible thing one could do in this circumstance. I hope the pain eases with time. (((((( HUGS )))) to you.

Bam
 
I've recently taken in a stray and I don't know how long she lived outdoors. She is yearning to get outside. She cries and cries to go out. I don't like having an outdoor cat but when we were in the process of deciding to keep her or not, she would come in, go out but stay right around the house then come in again. I'm not yet sure if I'm going to only be a foster parent for her but she is just not happy being inside.

Bam
 
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