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I'm going to be very upset...

by AprilCT
14 replies
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There are now a total of 3 neighbors who let their cats run loose outside most of the time.

I know cats love to run around and then come back for dinner--if the are still hungry. It's just that now there are 3 cats using the neighborhood as their playground and toilet. The good news is that they didn't pick my shrubs this time. The bad news is that the one older cat is always hiding underneath my car and most of the time I forget to look for him. It will make me positively sick if I run him over.

It's just not smart to let your cat run around here. The streets are not too busy, but we are in an area with a lot of woods and all the animals (and snakes) that come with that. A really big owl hunts around here often. Fortunately, no one has mentioned bears within a 10-15 mile radius within the last 5-7 years.

The other day my son ran outside to chase the cats that were fighting on our front lawn. They sit in my front yard and tease my dog. I'm going to talk to the owner of the old cat I know, but we don't know the other owners.

When we had a cat, he never got outside except on a leash. Don't these people like their pets?
#cat
  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    People seem to think cats roaming around are okay. I see dead ones on the side of the road frequently. No pets should not be left to run. Especially since cats can pick up diseases that transfer to people very easily. I remember just a year or two ago the problem of ferrel cats got so bad in one town in Idaho that they had to start shooting them. They were all over the place, getting killed, the bodies were causing health hazards and so were the live cats when kids would try to play with a diseased cat. It makes no sense to me why cats are allowed to run loose.
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    • Profile picture of the author calhoun
      Cats are allowed to run loose cuz the owners regret adopting / buying them.

      For example, if they got kidz and them kids saw 101 Dalmatians they would be begging their parents to get one. Some parents bend like a bamboo tree under a typhoon so they all get a pet.

      Anyway, it turns out the kids are in school 1000% of the time and the parents are slaves at work.

      The dog tears up the couch. Parents come back and want to take the dog back to PetCo or abandon it and the Animal Shelter. The kids beg Mom and Pops not to have it put down so they let them loose.

      In their minds letting them loose is more humane than the alternative. Letting them loose in an urban jungle to get run over, poisoned, or torn apart by other urban strays.

      And that's why the cats are loose. Because of irresponsible people who expect a pet to greet them when they get home and lay in their lap.

      When need replicated snakes to chase away the cats.
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  • Profile picture of the author hardraysnight
    cat nappies?
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    • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
      I would have thought cats roaming neighbourhoods is as common as seeing clouds in the sky.

      People have them as outside or indoor pets. Outside cats involved lesss commitment and allows the animal to do what they would otherwise do by nature.

      It could be argued in the same respect that keeping cats indoors is cruel.
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      • Profile picture of the author AprilCT
        I don't believe keeping them inside is cruel, it keeps a cherished pet safe. We lost our cat quite a few years ago, he was 23 years old and rarely ill. There's nothing wrong with putting them on a leash and taking them outside. He never responded well to that, so he was always carried while on a leash.

        One of our neighbors has 3 cats that she occasionally brings outside. The strange thing about them is that they stay right with her in the yard and don't roam.

        I never had the heart to get my cat's claws removed. If we ever get another one, it would be a rescue with that already done and, hopefully, one already accustomed to staying just inside. My cat never escaped once in all those years and there were plenty of times he could have run out. Maybe he just liked us?
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        • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
          Odd this!

          I just glanced out the window and there's a stray ginger cat staring me in the face.
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          • Profile picture of the author AprilCT
            Originally Posted by webcore View Post

            Odd this!

            I just glanced out the window and there's a stray ginger cat staring me in the face.

            How high up is your window? That happened to me late one night at a window that is around 12 feet or so straight up. Just about scared me to death. Just can't imagine how he did that.
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            • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
              About 10 foot, but it was on a high wall in the yard.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave Patterson
    I have a cat that stayed indoors for the first year we had her. She's been going out for a while every day since spring. So far everything still looks a bit scary to her outside our chain link fence...AND, believe it or not, she doesn't know she even can relieve herself outside. When she scratches at the door it's usually because she really, REALLY needs to use the litterbox....inside. Lol!
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  • Profile picture of the author LeeLee
    Domestic cats are not well equipped for living in concrete jungles. Their life spans are often a third of an indoor cat's. And they often suffer from disease, hunger, predators and bad weather. If you want a cat, keep it indoors. If you decide you don't want the cat, give it to a shelter it is more humane.

    If you must let the cat out (for what reason I can't imagine) at the very least keep up on its shots and keep it fed. Provide shelter from the elements. And it goes without saying to get them neutered. Feral cats have a miserable life.
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    • Profile picture of the author hardraysnight
      invest in a cat door and let the cat decide

      my moogie comes home to eat, like i used to
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      • Profile picture of the author Kay King
        Getting very upset about three cats roaming a neighborhood seems a bit much to me. A lot of animals use the outdoors as their outhouse so that's not unusual. I understand if they are leaving pawprints on your car or males are spraying on your porch.

        Otherwise, if three cats free in the neighborhood is your biggest concern - I want your life.
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        • Profile picture of the author ThomM
          I'm with Kay on this
          My two cats are indoor cats and always have been.
          But up till this year there was always at least three cats I'd see out in my yard on most days.
          This year no outside cats around and my yard has been invaded by woodchucks, squirrels, and chipmunks
          The woodchucks watched me plant my garden and got to enjoy it more then I did.
          Then they told the deer about it and they came in for their salads
          So next year I'll have to fence in my garden for the first time ever, thanks to no outside cats being around
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        • Profile picture of the author AprilCT
          Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

          Getting very upset about three cats roaming a neighborhood seems a bit much to me. A lot of animals use the outdoors as their outhouse so that's not unusual. I understand if they are leaving pawprints on your car or males are spraying on your porch.

          Otherwise, if three cats free in the neighborhood is your biggest concern - I want your life.
          Hahaha Kay, I just wish that was my biggest problem, either of us should be so lucky. Here's hoping, and including you, too, that we can measure our lives' problems only as big and tough as the roaming kitties. That sure would work for me.
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