There is a cat in our neighborhood whose humans allow to roam. She seems to know the area well and makes her daily rounds. She is very friendly and does not run off when I approach her.
I don't like the fact that Kitty is allowed to roam like this. While we live in a area surrounded by woods, it is still a suburban subdivision with lots of activity. There are cars that drive around on a regular basis. Husband has chased Kitty out of our garage.
And then there's the Boy. The Boy chases Kitty off his turf on a daily basis. It's a good thing that Kitty runs fast and the Boy is on the invisible fence. I don't think the Boy would hurt Kitty, but he does see Kitty as prey. The Boy does have a high prey drive; he is quite the critter chaser. Although, I do think Kitty has helped the Boy become more comfortable with the invisible fence. He does not hug the house as much when he is out.
When I was young, we had outdoor cats. We lived on the outskirts of town where there was woods and practically no traffic. We often took in the stay kitties and they just decided to stick around. There was no worry about any of our kitties getting hurt. Even with our dogs, they managed to get along just fine.
My mom has a cat that she trained to use a leash. Mom will tether her cat on the back porch. The cat has room to roam and observe the world. Mom's cat is always supervised so that she does not hang herself or do anything that may cause her harm. I've also heard of people training their cats on the invisible fence.
I have not checked Kitty's tags to see who her humans are. I really think they are not looking after Kitty's best interests. I am afraid that poor Kitty may get seriously hurt or go to Rainbow Bridge before her time. I've thought about getting the information from Kitty's tag and make an anonymous call to the SPCA.
I am also concerned about the attitudes about how pets are treated in Elsewhere. For those of you who know me IRL, you know where Elsewhere is located. In this particular area, it is not uncommon for people to leave their pets outdoors, tethered or not, but never going indoors or having much human contract.
OK, I know a lot of you are kitty parents, so I am curious as to what you think about allowing Kitty to roam the neighborhood.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
About Me
- Seeking Solace
- I am a college professor who is fumbling through the chaos of academia, rheumatoid arthritis, working on my PhD and just being a 40 something woman. I used to be a lawyer, which made me a snarky little person. I have a wonderful Husband and a German Shepherd named Junior. They help keep me sane.
Holler at me
Face in a Crowd
Blog Archive
Paws to Consider
My Sister's Keeper
Powered by Blogger.
7 comments:
Your instincts are absolutely right. An outdoor cat faces many dangers, not just from traffic and dogs. Cats, like dogs, can get heartworms, but almost none are vaccinated. Other diseases, too, are spread in the outdoors -- everything from rabies to feline HIV. We have four cats, and not one of them has ever been outside. They are all perfectly content with watching the outdoors from a windowsill, and routinely my cats live to be 15-19 years old. That's a double life-span granted in exchange for the indoor life.
Our cats are all former strays, and they are allowed to roam. They wouldn't be happy indoors all the time since they grew up as outdoor cats.
Of course, I live on a deadend road in a rural area.
We got The Brute when we lived on 3 secluded acres. Even then I wanted him to be an indoor cat but he was having none of it and he forced his way out. When we moved down here I tried to keep him indoors and he escaped for 3 days. After that we let him out as he pleased...until he fell of the roof and broke his pelvis. Now we force him indoors (as we do Smudge, but even when she did go outdoors she didn't leave the backyard). No one is really happy with the arrangement but we feel its best for his health.
Our next door neighbor has many cats that roam. I get attached to them as they are mostly sweet gentle cats but I have also witnessed one get hit by a car.
Our four cats are all former strays and are never ever ever allowed outside. For the most part, they seem perfectly happy with this arrangement, although one of them does try to get into the yard where he likes to eat grass and then throw it up on the rug.
Having said that, I once had a cat who absolutely refused to be an indoor-only cat. I fought her for months until I finally gave up and let her roam outside. She was much happier then. When that boyfriend and I broke up and I moved to NYC, he kept that cat, which was for the best.
Kitty should not be allowed to roam the neighborhood unattended. EVER. In the country (see jo(e) situation) it's an entirely different story--though you would then have to worry more about other animals finding Kitty as prey. But in a suburban/city area it's not good.
You know my two go out, but on leashes. There are a few others in our neighborhood that do the same for their cats.
In general though, most people I know are big on taking care of dogs but their cats are..just cats. No shots, not regular care, nothing. I hate that.
We live in a residential area with lots of woods around separating houses from the sides and backs. There are at least 9 cats running free in our neighborhood. Several of them have taken up residence under our storage building out back. Sometimes when I can't sleep I take a cup of coffee out on the deck in the wee hours of the morning (or night). I hear screeching cat fights all the time.
Some places have a "leash" law for cats. I wish our county did.
Like jo(e), I grew up in the country, so stray cats became my pets. And, they preferred to be outside. They would even sleep with my Siberian Husky, who really preferred to be outside. :)
Today, Kitty was hanging out the bushes in my front yard. I just want her to be safe.
Post a Comment