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Dakota

Question about indoor/outdoor cats

I’ve been on another site for five years and this situation has come up time and time again, with no reasonable explanation as to why some people do this. So I’m reaching out here in the hopes someone can enlighten me. 

There are countless posts from owners of indoor/outdoor cats coming up missing and even dead. One man said they love their cat to pieces but told people not to feed them.  

Can someone please tell me why some are more concerned about their cat being fed by strangers than they are it getting injured or possibly dying? Personally, I would opt to being loved a little less and kept safe from harm. 

I realize some cats aren’t happy being kept indoors. But I’d prefer an unhappy and safe pet to a happy dead one. Any thoughts?

Posted - December 2, 2020
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Responses


  • 4624
    I think pet owners project their personal issues onto their animals.

    If someone loves and craves freedom even if it involves risk, then their idea of love is to give their animal freedom.

    If someone values health, shelter and security, the way they love will be to provide healthy food, a large outdoor cage and free access to the inside of the house.

    People will also overfeed their animals, not vaccinate them, not train or desex them, and a host of other treatments that all reflect their ideas of (or, in some cases inability to) love.
      December 2, 2020 7:26 PM MST
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  • 24
    Inky,

    I never thought about it in those terms. You probably hit the nail on the head. 

    I, however, will continue to default to protecting and that means also keeping them happy, healthy and loved. I think no matter what/who a person loves, they deserve all three. 

    Thank you for your insight. 
      December 2, 2020 7:40 PM MST
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  • 10052
    While I can appreciate Inky's perspective, I agree that domestic cats should not be allowed to roam free outdoors, just as domestic dogs shouldn't be. Not only does it, on average, shorten their lives significantly, they are essentially an invasive species and their presence has been shown to have an affect on native species of birds and other small animals.

    In my opinion, having pets is like having children. Do we allow children too young to understand the dangers of roads and other hazards to roam freely because they want to? No, hopefully we don't. 
      December 2, 2020 8:17 PM MST
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  • 24
    Hi Savvy,

    I have the same view when it comes to animals as far as protecting them. It’s not  enough to just say you love them. As owners, more is expected of us and these creatures deserve it. 

    Years ago I had around 20 feral cats and I made sure they were all spayed, neutered and fed. These were all other people’s cats that were allowed to roam. 

    You’re absolutely right. It does shorten their lives, they’re unhealthier, many aren’t vaccinated and they suffer needlessly from dog attacks, wild critters, hurt or killed by vehicles and left to die on their own. It breaks my heart.   

    In my world, that’s not the definition of love. All they ask for is to be loved and fed and it’s up to us to do the rest and some people are failing them miserably. And, yes, they are as helpless as children. 

    If some people are unwilling or unable to give all that’s needed to a pet, I would hope that they‘d resist the temptation to bring an animal home in order to give them a chance at a better life - one that they deserve. 


    This post was edited by Dakota at December 5, 2020 7:49 PM MST
      December 2, 2020 9:37 PM MST
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  • 4624
    It's wonderful that there are people with your kind of kindness.
    It seems the feral cat problem is all over the world.
    Just the other day on The Yorkshire Vet, I was watching the vet talking about the same issue in England - and that's a country where people are reputed to be potty about their pets, and where the European cat is an endemic species.
    Hear in Australia, feral felines have a devastating effect on small native animals - seriously damaging to the health of the whole ecosystem.
    I believe our CSIRO could use gonorrhea to solve the problem. It would make wild cats infertile so that within twenty years there would be scores of thousands fewer. They'd still have to keep releasing "hot" queens and toms to keep pace with people's irresponsible behaviours - but it would help to save the wildlife.
    Unfortunately, that idea doesn't solve the problem of wild cats spreading diseases among each other (Feline flu and AIDS), fighting and injuring each other, and suffering road injuries, fleas, malnutrition and sometimes starvation.
    Another solution would be to ban unlicensed breeding, sales in pet shops and online, and make registration, desexing and vaccinations mandatory - with suitable fines and confiscations of miskept animals and possibly criminal prosecutions in the worst cases. We do have these measures in place in Australia, but they are still not enough. Part of the problem is that the country is so vast, and the police force so small that getting caught is rare.
    Similar problems apply with all other kinds of domestic animals running feral in the outback.
    The RSPCA, a charity for prevention of cruelty to animals, does the best job it can, usually acting on reports from neighbours.
    I'm guessing you probably have similar systems in the U.S. This post was edited by inky at December 7, 2020 9:07 PM MST
      December 2, 2020 9:58 PM MST
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  • 10052
    I appreciate your efforts with the feral cats! The needs of the homeless and neglected are overwhelming, but if we all do what we can, it makes a difference! 


      December 5, 2020 8:03 PM MST
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  • 24
    Thank you. I wish everyone thought that. 
      December 7, 2020 9:06 PM MST
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  • 17614
    My thought is that you look at A and Z and forget there is a lot of stuff in between.
      December 2, 2020 8:32 PM MST
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  • 24
    And it’s that in between stuff that allows animals to suffer and die needlessly. 
      December 2, 2020 9:44 PM MST
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  • 3719
    I worked for some years in an area that had a  colony of feral cats protected as  vermin-predators, but they were looked after too in so far as someone from an animal charity came in each day to feed them in a particular spot, also giving the opportunity to see if any were showing signs of injury or illness. When it became announced that the site was to close, the charity had them all neutered. I don't know what happened eventually. 

    .

    I think a lot of pet, especially dog, owners are unwittingly very unkind to the creatures they do genuinely love.

    For example, it is not at all natural for a dog, especially a small breed, to run long distances on hard ground continuously; yet you do see them being "taken for a walk" on a lead tethered to a jogging enthusiast. I have also seen dogs tethered to mobility-scooters, but usually larger breeds, and at the animal's walking speed.

    Or to spend much of the day barking? Animals do not call gratuitously - they spend much of their time in silence except for quite specific purposes such as defence, social and mating-calls. This one though emits a horrible, hoarse, irritating yapping somewhere not far from my home. I think it is cooped up all day alone in the back garden while its owner(s) are out at work or wherever; and barks trying to communicate with them, possibly bored but more likely lonely, baffled and frightened.

    Silliest I have ever seen was a dog being walked around a field with its lead held through the open window, by the passenger in a Range-Rover... I wonder if they had the farmer's permission to drive all over his meadow? 
      January 29, 2021 4:34 PM MST
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