The etchics of keeping cats

[Weak Kitten]

You know, it's funny, now that I think of it I can't remember the farm cats having names. Or at least names that were anything other than descriptive like Whitey and Ginger and Scar. There was no need to really refer to them individually since they were autonomous entities just going about their own business.

 

[DuvalHMFIC]

I have a cat that comes and goes as she pleases. We live in a condo complex next to a very busy road, A1A. This cat is the smartest animal I have ever seen in regards to cars. No joke, she looks both ways before crossing the street.

She brings dead birds and lizards home at least a couple of times a week. Because she can freely come and go, she has days where she doesn't go outside at all and just lounges on our bed.

About 5 years ago we moved about 10 miles across town. When visiting friends at our old complex, she ran off. This was a week after we moved so we assumed she just thought we were home. Our friends said they'd call us when she came back. Lo
And behold she showed up at our new house about an hour after we got home.

 

[IXP]

I am encouraged by all the people who have cats that don't mind being confined to a house. Licorice, our injured cat, is going to have to be in a cage for 2 months while healing after surgery. Perhaps after that, the run of the house will seem like a good compromise.

I like that idea of the cat runs, too. I had thought about building something myself. But it occurs to me that the reason they want to go out mostly about hunting birds and chipmunks.

IXP

 

[GlennB]

But it occurs to me that the reason they want to go out mostly about hunting birds and chipmunks.

IXP

Ours also has huge fun chasing rattly balls and toy mice. if you have space and time to play, and no hindrance to keeping a cat in*, I can see no good reason for not having an indoor cat.

*if it acquires you as its servants when totally used to an outdoor life then there might be problems getting it used to remaining indoors

 

[Giz]

it occurs to me that the reason they want to go out mostly about hunting birds and chipmunks.

IXP

I think it varies. One of ours just likes to go out and snooze in the grass (I have a hunch that they like the smell of the outside more than the smell of the house). The amount of time they spend prowling/hunting when outside is minimal.

But again, all cats will be different.

 

[TragicMonkey]

Another time I had some pet sheep. I let them out to wander, but only in a fenced field. The neighbors complained and tried to report me to the authorities, but every time they called the city they'd ask "how many sheep?" and when they went to count them they'd fall asleep. Really, unauthorized sheep herdery is the perfect crime. And the sheep would eat the heads of the sleepers. Adorable.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Interesting, all of the cats I have had would either run out the door given the chance or begged at the door. So perhaps there is hope to find a cat that is perfectly okay inside.

IXP

I've had cats since 1957. None go outside if I like them.

As for the door, if you don't let them go through a door they will eventually get the idea that they can't go through that door. They will stop trying at that point.

 

[Sabretooth]

Another time I had some pet sheep. I let them out to wander, but only in a fenced field. The neighbors complained and tried to report me to the authorities, but every time they called the city they'd ask "how many sheep?" and when they went to count them they'd fall asleep. Really, unauthorized sheep herdery is the perfect crime. And the sheep would eat the heads of the sleepers. Adorable.

You see folks! This is why I'm here today! To bring attention to the dangers of unauthorized sheep herding! Nary is there another more dangerous activity in our great nation, and thus, our glorious planet! Unauthorized sheep herding shall be whispered upon our children's lips as the 8th great sin!

Today, I reveal to you my life's work! I unveil to you:

H.U.S.H.
Halt Unauthorized Sheep Herdery
​

I, through HUSH, will dedicate my time on Earth to dissolve and destroy all those who mean harm against men, women, children, and sheep alike!

HUSH shall quiet the qualms!
HUSH shall silence the screams!
HUSH shall mute the mutton!

Only through HUSH can you find peace!

Join NOW!

Please, please send donations...like...now. They are about to evict me...

 

[learner]

Another time I had some pet sheep. I let them out to wander, but only in a fenced field. The neighbors complained and tried to report me to the authorities, but every time they called the city they'd ask "how many sheep?" and when they went to count them they'd fall asleep. Really, unauthorized sheep herdery is the perfect crime. And the sheep would eat the heads of the sleepers. Adorable.

My Dad used to give a tip in these matters. Don't count the Sheep, count the legs, then divide by four. Almost always gives a true figure

Wisdom comes with age.

 

[Xulld]

You know, it's funny, now that I think of it I can't remember the farm cats having names. Or at least names that were anything other than descriptive like Whitey and Ginger and Scar. There was no need to really refer to them individually since they were autonomous entities just going about their own business.

Yea, I have no idea how Willow got her name, the other farm cats are just, hey cat, or that cat, or the big cat, or the shaggy cat. Or where did the old cat go? I suspect Willow was probably not always a "farm cat", but Id have to ask if anyone knows her story. She is very old for an outside cat, I know she is at least 8 now. She still hunts with the best of them.

Anyways.

 

[Piggy]

First, a little history that has prompted me to post this thread.

My wife and I live on a busy road in the city, but with a bit of forest behind us. A stray cat had been hanging out in our back yard, most likely because we feed birds. Eventually, on a very cold day, it literally begged us to let it in the house. So we now had a pet cat. Naturally, this cat was an outdoor cat, choosing to spend much of his time roaming. And, as is the fate of outdoor cats, he was killed by a car after we had kept him for about 6 years.

With my wife in mourning, we decided to take in another cat from a shelter. This one, we originally kept inside, but she begged to go out every time we went near a door. Eventually, Mrs. IXP took her out on a leash, which did not work very well, then eventually let the cat out while she was working in the garden, and it stuck around. Then one day it disappeared. We found it the next day in our backyard shed, injured, presumably by being hit by a car. (We are saving the cat at great expense.)

So, I started thinking about the ethical dilemma about letting the cat out or keeping it inside. Both of our cats clearly preferred to go outside. So if we kept them inside, we were putting our desires (to keep the cat and birds alive) above those of the cat.

I am beginning to think it is unethical to keep cats, at least for someone who lives in a place where letting them outside is too dangerous.

Thoughts on the matter?

IXP

This was my solution... but it might not be feasible for everyone.

 

[Vortigern99]

Keep the cat(s) inside. In the dangerous outdoor environment you describe, you're doing the animal a favor by keeping it in, and you're doing favors for all the birds and other animals the cat(s) would hunt if allowed to roam free.

After six months, the cat is likely to forget s/he/they ever went outside. S/he/they will lead a nice, comfortable, well-cared for life, and you will have done a good thing for various other vertebrate species.

(My wife and I have had this exact dilemma in the last year. When we moved from a semi-rural house into an apartment -- after losing two cats to outdoor conditions -- we decided to keep our remaining two -- who used to be indoor/outdoor -- inside. They are now the happiest felines alive, with no evident urge to return outdoors.)

 

[Vortigern99]

(The only downside of moving from South London to South USA: you go from zero venomous creatures to black widows, brown recluses, copperheads and rattlesnakes).

Welcome, neighbor! Don't forget about the coral snakes!

 

[Vortigern99]

My 2 cats, and all of my previous cats, were strictly indoor cats. None of them ever had some crazy urge to go outside...or at least they didn't bug me about it.

I currently live in a country town with lots of woods and virtual no traffic...I still wouldn't let them outside. Their lifespan would be dramatically decreased. My neighbor across the street told me she hasn't had a cat live past 4 years (she believes due to the coyotes or birds of prey in the area). She now keeps her newest one inside.

Ethically? I think if you take on the responsibility of owning a pet, you have a duty to keep them as safe as possible. Unless you live in a one bedroom flat with no windows, the living space is big enough for them.

Quoted and bolded for truth value.

 

[TragicMonkey]

My Dad used to give a tip in these matters. Don't count the Sheep, count the legs, then divide by four. Almost always gives a true figure

Wisdom comes with age.

Sheep with four legs? That's bizarre! Were they in an accident, or deliberately bred that way, like those cats with no tails?

 

[Piggy]

Keep the cat(s) inside. In the dangerous outdoor environment you describe, you're doing the animal a favor by keeping it in, and you're doing favors for all the birds and other animals the cat(s) would hunt if allowed to roam free.

After six months, the cat is likely to forget s/he/they ever went outside. S/he/they will lead a nice, comfortable, well-cared for life, and you will have done a good thing for various other vertebrate species.

(My wife and I have had this exact dilemma in the last year. When we moved from a semi-rural house into an apartment -- after losing two cats to outdoor conditions -- we decided to keep our remaining two -- who used to be indoor/outdoor -- inside. They are now the happiest felines alive, with no evident urge to return outdoors.)

I don't know about that. It's difficult for an indoor environment to give cats what they love most -- the experience of stalking and pouncing, and the simple pleasure of enjoying the open air and grass and trees.

Even with my fence, I still have to limit my cats' ability to roam, and I have to keep incursion of critters to a minimum or else they'll bring them inside. (Standing in my yard in my boxer shorts at 3 A.M. beheading a badly wounded rabbit with a shovel was the breaking point.)

I do feel bad about it. I call my cats "my pretty prisoners".

When I lived way out in the country, it wasn't a problem, although one cat did get FIV in a fight with a stray who had taken up under the house. I still cry sometimes when I think about putting her down.

I'm still in the country, but now in a little four-road subdivision nestled between two farms. I see too many cats waffled on the roads out here, and I can't trust that my cats wouldn't get lost if I let them out now. Wish I had the cash to expand the fence.

But sometimes it just breaks my heart that they can't be free to stalk and pounce like my other cats were.

 

[Vortigern99]

My pet velociraptor, Snuggles, always begged to be let outside. I was a little worried he might slaughter his way through the neighborhood, ripping people and vehicles and animals apart like so much paper. So I let him out and he totally did, proving my suspicions correct. This left me satisfied with my predictive abilities and Snuggles satisfied with his murder spree, so everything worked out for the best.

Quoted because I giggled till I choked on a Diet Dr. Pepper.

I wouldn't imagine a 'raptor would be a danger to vehicles. Snuggles must be a great big super-powered specimen of dino. Did you pick steel out of his teeth for like a week?

 

[aggle-rithm]

After six months, the cat is likely to forget s/he/they ever went outside. S/he/they will lead a nice, comfortable, well-cared for life, and you will have done a good thing for various other vertebrate species.

One of our four cats was a feral mama cat who showed up in our back yard with two kittens. We initially caught her and had her spayed, then released her again. Later, when my wife got worried about the cat becoming a victim of Halloween shenanigans, we brought her inside permanently.

At first she was absolutely frantic to get outside, throwing herself at windows in an effort to escape. It was a difficult transition, but she eventually got used to it and settled into an indoor life. The thing to remember is, while humans would go crazy being cooped up in a small space for years on end without any change of scenery, cats...well, they aren't human. They don't get bored as easily.

 

[IXP]

This was my solution... but it might not be feasible for everyone.

That is an extreme solution! We are now thinking about putting up a fully screened area (a cat aviary) where we could sit outside with the cat.

IXP

 

[IXP]

After six months, the cat is likely to forget s/he/they ever went outside.

We actually did this. We kept here inside for at least 6 months before she wore us down. And the very first time she went out, she proudly brought home a bird.

IXP