Do you let your cats run at large?

[Miss Z]

I don't have a cat right now. When I did she was an indoor/outdoor cat. I find nothing wrong with an outdoor cat. In my opinion some cats are happier outside. Even though I do not have a cat I still find it offensive.

Totally agreed!

My RB cats Brando and Zsa-Zsa were allowed access outdoors all their lives (apart from Zsa-Zsa's final year, when she went blind, although she could go in our fenced back garden whenever she liked). They were happy, healthy cats who led enjoyable lives; they could roam about in the park next door as much as they pleased.

Before I joined Pet Talk I had no idea the indoor/outdoor cat topic was so heated. I realise now that in my part of the world it is far more customary to let cats outdoors and that in others it is frowned upon. But, even now when I no longer own a cat, am highly offended when people pick out such statistics that outdoor cats don't live as long as indoor cats (my cats lived to be 15 and 16), cannot cope with being outdoors (hmm, cats running across fields and jumping up trees to their heart's content sure looks risky) and are owned by horrible, irresponsible people who don't neuter/de-flea/remotely care about their pets. I could say that most indoor cats I know *in person* are fat and bored out of their mind and that their owners are over-protective and cruel to keep them cooped up. But I know that isn't reflective of indoor cats and their owners on the whole and so I never say it. So I don't see why anyone else has the right to assume so many things about the people who let cats out.

I can understand why keeping cats indoors is a good idea in certain circumstances, such as if the cat is disabled in some way, the owner lives near a very busy road, it is not allowed in their area or if there are predators about. But other than that I don't think it's fair to deny a cat a bit of freedom. They are naturally independent animals and like to have time by themselves, unlike a dog, which likes being around people or their own kind.

Rest assured any cats I have in the future will go outside and I'll carry on being a 'jerk' to the end of my days.

[Suki Wingy]

I think it's more the issue of intact cats running at large and cats that run into the streets and get hit by cars, which happens unfortunately a lot.
I used to think the standard life span for cats was 20 years, since until we lost our cat at 23, I had known several cats in their twenties, all indoor cats.

[jennielynn1970]

I am so sick of these animals. If they aren't spayed then they probably aren't vaccinated. What if all their poop all over our yard gave something to myself, my animals, or my family? I'm at the point where I want to trap them and take them to a far away shelter, then send their owners a nasty note and make them think I did something bad to hurt their cats. Either way, I'm going to set traps.

None of my cats go outside. I live in the city, and that is not the place for an animal to be roaming free. We have strays in the area, and I have done trapping and gotten them neutered/spayed and found them new homes.

My mom and dad have 3 cats that do go indoors and outdoors (on a 100 acre farm...), but they spend the nights indoors always, and are also spayed/neutered.

While I can understand you being annoyed by the howling and all that, your alternative to trap them, take them far away and sending a nasty note to the owners is just as bad as letting the cats run at large.

Do you actually rescue?? I'm not sure I'd want someone with your attitude as a rescuer, or for that matter, a neighbor.

[pitc9]

I am not a cat owner, but I did find your poll a little harsh.

In just the same way bad owners spoil dog breeds... the same happens to indoor/outdoor cats.
A few rotten apples shouldn't spoil it for everyone.

And your comment about TNR, wow!!
Do you realize exactly what those people do?
The time, money, blood (literally) sweat and tears they put into doing that all because the REAL irresponsible jerk dumped a few cats off thinking they would be able to take care of themselves on their own??
THERE... there are your irresponsible jerks ... the people that dump the cats that end up forming colonies that people work their asses off to TNR.


My parent's have a beautiful Maine Coon names Leroy and he is an in/out cat. They are responsible owners and had him neutered and gets shots every year and he has 5 acres to himself and he sleeps inside everynight!

So to answer your poll... my parent's cat is an indoor/outdoor cat but they are by NO means irresponsible jerks.
So I guess that makes them responsible jerks!

[Twisterdog]

My two cents worth, sure to be unpopular:

I own dogs. I keep my dogs on my property. They are NEVER allowed to run loose, in my neigbors' yards. If my neighbors wanted dogs, they would get their own. My dogs are my responsibility, and I would never subject them to danger running loose, nor would I subject my neighbors to their presence.

So WHY do cat owners think it is different for them? I'm sure some cats are happier running loose around the neighborhood. My dogs would be happier running around loose, too ... peeing on everything, digging up flower beds, pooping on other people's grass. I do not, for one second, however, think that my dogs' happiness gives me the right to intrude on the rights of other people.

My neighbors' cats use my flowerbeds for litter boxes. They scream and yowl all night on my fence. They have kittens in my shed. If I would have wanted to deal with all this, I would have gotten a cat. It's not fair, and it's not right. I don't park my car in my neighbor's garage. I don't let my kids go into my neighbors' yards and break things. I don't let my dogs run amok on my neighbors' property. WHY, just because it is a cat, is it somehow different? It is NOT.

I don't care if it is a child, a dog, a cat, a rabbit, a ferret ... if it belongs to you, keep it on your own property and don't invade the space or property rights of others.

[Suki Wingy]

I actually agree with everything you just said, Twisterdog.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

As a responsible cat owner I find your post highly offensive. Clearly trying to resurrect the indoor v outdoor cat issue which is never going to be resolved amicably. Brody has 24 hour access to the house so is neither an indoor or outdoor cat but that does not make me a jerk

I agree 100% !!!It isn't very nice to call people who let their cats out are all irresponsible and jerks . When you make a poll, you have to give all possible solutions, not just the ones that are right in your opinion..........

[kt_luvs_kitties]

I am going to completely ignore this poll...

I think you need to rethink your position, and you DO blame the cats, or else you would not want to take them away to a far off shelter.



If you are that concerned, and want the howling to stop, DO TRAP THEM. then take them to be fixed.... That would solve the problem of howling and wandering into your yard, mostly.

It is ALOT harder than you might think. I have done TNR... and they were MY problem. I have 15 cats(indoor only), thats as many as I can keep. That was the only rational choice I could make for the strays.... I never thought of it as "they are not my problem."


And if it is that bad, tape a note to the cats collar, follow them, post signs and talk to the owner.

PS- You DO NOT have the right to shoot them. Noone does.

[Alysser]

I agree with Twisterdog, though I don't find it a big deal if your cat is in your yard/garden/balcony and supervised or trained to not go outside. I know if dog owners let their dogs run around a neighborhood their would be BIG problems.


I'm sorry you are having problems with these cats, but I think this poll is way out of line. I don't understand why you have to be so rude? There is no need for it. Just because a cat is let outdoors doesn't make a person an idiot or irresponsible. You let your dogs outside to go to the bathroom, does that make you and idiot? That's basically what you're saying to me. By the way, if you trap the cats and tell the owners you posioned them or something I hope they call Animal Control on you. I find that really, really stupid to even say that to someone. You could just say you did them a favor and spayed humanely trapped their cat's for them and got them spayed so they wouldn't be such a nuisance or not even say anything at all.

[luvofallhorses]

I also find it (the poll) very offensive.

As a proud responsible owner of two wonderful cats, I do NOT let my cats outside. They do sneak out once in awhile but venture into our neighbor's yard and that yard only. The neighbors are friendly and don't mind them but they don't "run at large" or dig in flower beds. they just lay under the trees in that yard but they are rarely outdoors because we live by a busy street and letting them out frequently is very irresponsible in my eyes because they could easily get killed by being hit by a car. that is my worst nightmare, that's why they are 99.9% inside.

My 5 wonderful dogs don't run at large either. they go outside to play and go potty and lounge in the sun with food and water provided. they hate being outside and are always indoors unless they are outside playing or lounging in the sun. they all have collars and tags and their current rabies tags and are only out of the yard to go for walks on leash.

[Randi]

I don’t think many here are taking your silly poll serious - you made it to provoke, right? In any case, you need lots more options, and no. 3 you can skip altogether, it’s irrelevant.

I can symphathise with you concerning lack of sleep because of the howling, but then, either find out if these cats are owned by someone, and ask them to be responsible, or call a cat rescue place to come and trap them.

People in Europe handle cats very different from many Americans, we don’t declaw them and many have catflaps, so they can come and go as they please. I believe most people are responsible enough not to let their cats out if there’s a busy road nearby.

[Miss Z]

Just to add my opinion on why letting dogs run around would be an entirely different matter to letting cats out. Probably will get flamed for this, but oh well.

A cat is an independent animal. It is not in its nature to want to be around humans and other animals all the time. A dog is a pack animal. It likes being around people and its own kind. It would be unusual for a dog to want to be alone in the same way a cat does.

Plus, if dogs ran around free, they would form packs, and that would be really, really dangerous. Cats do not form packs. They are of no danger to anybody unless you try to antagonise them in some way, in which case, you deserve to get scratched.

A cat is agile. They are very streetwise and the majority learn quickly about how to stay away from passing cars. Outside cats are more likely to sunbathe next to a bush away from humans or go hunting, again away from humans. A dog, meanwhile, is not streetwise, it would come up to people all the time, and that could be dangerous.

So letting a dog roam free IS different from letting a cat roam free.

I empathise with the fact cat poop and pee and yowling is unwelcome. As I said earlier, it is irresponsible to let a cat out if it hasn't been fixed or vaccinated. A neutered cat doesn't really yowl. As for cat mess in the garden, that is trickier to control, I'll admit. We never had a problem on that front as our cats would stay away from the neighbours' gardens and use the park instead. Our male cat, Brando, did go ever so slightly senile in his old age and on a few occasions tore neighbours' bin bags when they were out for the rubbish man to collect. We discouraged this behaviour by spraying the area around where we placed our own bin bags with room air freshener. It more or less worked. Plus, there are methods of keeping cats off your property, such as repellents and devices that emit sounds only audible to cats when they pass it. Some of our neighbours, who are very proud of their garden, have used one of these for years. It always worked with our cats and does the same with all of the other cats in the neighbourhood. It's worth the investment.

And I agree with everything Randi said.

ETA: I think the age cats live to has little, if nothing, to do with whether they are indoors or outdoors. I realise perhaps, purely on a broad, statistical basis, an outdoor cat has a shorter lifespan than that of an indoor cat because, inevitably, some are unlucky enough to be killed by a danger in the outside world. But I think a cat's lifespan depends on many other circumstances; breeding, diet and general health, for example. I've known outdoor cats to live beyond 25, and indoor cats to only reach 9, and vice versa. I suppose it's the luck of the draw. There are dangers for us when we step outside our front doors, too.

[Alysser]

Just to add my opinion on why letting dogs run around would be an entirely different matter to letting cats out. Probably will get flamed for this, but oh well.

A cat is an independent animal. It is not in its nature to want to be around humans and other animals all the time. A dog is a pack animal. It likes being around people and its own kind. It would be unusual for a dog to want to be alone in the same way a cat does.

Plus, if dogs ran around free, they would form packs, and that would be really, really dangerous. Cats do not form packs. They are of no danger to anybody unless you try to antagonise them in some way, in which case, you deserve to get scratched.

A cat is agile. They are very streetwise and the majority learn quickly about how to stay away from passing cars. Outside cats are more likely to sunbathe next to a bush away from humans or go hunting, again away from humans. A dog, meanwhile, is not streetwise, it would come up to people all the time, and that could be dangerous.

So letting a dog roam free IS different from letting a cat roam free.

I empathise with the fact cat poop and pee and yowling is unwelcome. As I said earlier, it is irresponsible to let a cat out if it hasn't been fixed or vaccinated. A neutered cat doesn't really yowl. As for cat mess in the garden, that is trickier to control, I'll admit. We never had a problem on that front as our cats would stay away from the neighbours' gardens and use the park instead. Our male cat, Brando, did go ever so slightly senile in his old age and on a few occasions tore neighbours' bin bags when they were out for the rubbish man to collect. We discouraged this behaviour by spraying the area around where we placed our own bin bags with room air freshener. It more or less worked. Plus, there are methods of keeping cats off your property, such as repellents and devices that emit sounds only audible to cats when they pass it. Some of our neighbours, who are very proud of their garden, have used one of these for years. It always worked with our cats and does the same with all of the other cats in the neighbourhood. It's worth the investment.

And I agree with everything Randi said.

ETA: I think the age cats live to has little, if nothing, to do with whether they are indoors or outdoors. I realise perhaps, purely on a broad, statistical basis, an outdoor cat has a shorter lifespan than that of an indoor cat because, inevitably, some are unlucky enough to be killed by a danger in the outside world. But I think a cat's lifespan depends on many other circumstances; breeding, diet and general health, for example. I've known outdoor cats to live beyond 25, and indoor cats to only reach 9, and vice versa. I suppose it's the luck of the draw. There are dangers for us when we step outside our front doors, too.

Actually, Zara, you made a very valid point. Although I really don't agree with it, letting cats roam around neighborhoods is not the same as letting dogs do this. I just don't like having to think that if I let my dog in my neighbors yard there would be huge problems but their cat has free roam of the entire neighborhood, though. It's a bit hypocritical. I see your point though. Cats and dogs are totally different animals. Although, I mostly agree with the not letting your cats run free thing, I don't think her post was very nice at all.

[CathyBogart]

Wow, aren't you a peach?

I have one indoor-only cat, one indoor-outdoor cat, and I'm involved in TNR when I can be, so I guess that makes me a stupid irresponsible person.

[jennielynn1970]

**I find his/her screen name to be a bit ironic if this is actually his/her view on the subject of rescue and TNR.**

________________________________________
I'm not a fan of dogs, cats, rats, goats, horses, or any animal roaming neighborhoods. I get upset when I see so many strays that scavenge in my neighborhood. I just realized that the one neighbor and her bratty little son, who totally irritated me, have moved and we now have a very pretty "stray" grey marbled tabby in the neighborhood. Hmmmm... coincidence? I think not.

There are many other options than the ones you listed, for more humane in any case, that would be much more appropriate to handle the outside cats that you hear yowling. I hope you will take the suggestions that have been listed here and utilize them.