Cat Chat 2

[Blueberry]

I have a baby Russian blue mix who was taken away from his mom too early and during his time at the pet store he was raised with puppies. Because he was raised with puppies he has a lot of dog habits. He immediately attached himself onto our german shepherd mix Buddy and views him as his mother. He sleeps with the dog, tries to eat the dog food, lays in the middle of the freaking floor and drinks out of the toilet. What's really weird is that he LOVES stuffed animals. He wrestles with them and fight them. His favorite is a black gorilla a little smaller than he his. He carries it around everywhere he goes and when he's about to attack it he let's out this little war cry xD. Although this is the first cat I've ever met who plays with stuffed animals. Does anyone else's cats do this? He also has huge strong back legs that he uses to throw himself across rooms or from furniture to furniture.

Scroll down on the picture to see his face.

[Lunarsnow]

She'll spend 5 minutes looking around inside and then just sit at the door and meow all day to go back out.

Just wondering do you have any toys and/or cat trees? And if so do you actually have play sessions? Because if she has no sources of stimulus inside then that's why she's desperate to go out.

[Thalassic]

She'll spend 5 minutes looking around inside and then just sit at the door and meow all day to go back out.

Just wondering do you have any toys and/or cat trees? And if so do you actually have play sessions? Because if she has no sources of stimulus inside then that's why she's desperate to go out.

^
cats can live a perfectly normal and full life indoors as long as their owners take care of their needs in terms of being entertained while at home. If they had their stimulation needs met, tgey wouldnt demand to ho outside. And even then, it dhould be your as an owners call to pick what is best for the cat, not just go with whatever they ask for.

[Anaphea]

I just want to drop my two cents and then back out because I know the indoor versus outdoor debate can get heated and I've already had people attack me for my opinion, so this is all I'm gonna say on the matter.

It is up to the owner whether the cat is an outdoor or indoor cat. But it's up to the cat whether or not it hates being outdoors or indoors. Personally, I prefer to let my cats outdoors, because they like it better. Arty spends all day outdoors and only comes in when he wants food or attention. Lenney sleeps in our garden and Pickles spends time indoors - because they're old and can't be bothered to run around like mad, like Arty.

I get why people say it might be dangerous or whatever. If you live near a busy road, then yes, accidents could occur. But where I live, the road is pretty quiet. All the cats in our village are outdoor cats, and there have literally been zero accidents. I also get why you might say it's damaging to nature. But cats will be cats, and you can't take away that natural instinct. It is saddening and I hate seeing dead animals, but there are ways you can prevent it whilst still allowing your cat to go outdoors.

And anyway, where I live, the local wildlife seems capable of looking after itself. A shrew attacked my dad the other day when he tried to rescue it... Hm XD

If cats damage nature by hunting, then what does that make us? Humans make just as much, if not more, damage than felines. That's my two cents, I'll back out now before someone thinks I'm some sort of heatless being for letting my cats go outdoors.

Anyway, Pickles and Arty still don't get on. Don't blame her really - he chases her around and tries to jump out at her whenever possible XD

[Thalassic]

I'm just stating the facts here.
Even living on a quiet road, by allowing your cats outside, you are putting them in danger. Natural predators, cruel people, cars, other cats, even bad things they could consume, such as poison, all puts your beloved cat at risk. And you as an owner are responsible to take care of them, not let them do whatever they want because they wanted to do it. You wouldn't let your cat eat rat poison just because they wanted to.

You can look up the statistics of the damage outdoor cats cause to the environment. I'm on a phone so I can't get you that information right now. But the fact is that cats bring home only a small amout of their kills. And they don't even eat everything they kill either. House cats aren't a natural predator in any ecosystem anymore. They are domesticated. And by allowing them to kill whatever they want, you put the whole ecosystem at risk of becoming unbalanced.

So by all means, make your own choice regarding what you want for your cat. But you have to be aware of the facts regarding the cost of your decision. I for one prefer to keep my own cats safe, as well as keep the ecosystem safe from them.

And you can't compare humans to cats. We are capable of understanding the consequences of our actions on a larger scale than cats will ever. We are not domesticated like cats are. We are part of the ecosystem while house cats have been largely removed from it.

[Tabbster]

She has plenty of toys, trees, etc and she doesn't care for any of them. The only toy she'll play with is a mouse which she'll fetch and bring back, but only if she's outside. When inside she gets desperate to get back out no matter how much time I spend with her, even with regular play sessions and attention. I never said that indoor cats don't live long and normal lives. She used to be a feral which may explain why she isn't used to being inside. There's hardly ever any cars passing by, and she doesn't even go near the road. I'm aware that outdoor cats can cause damage, she has a bell on her collar which prevents most of her hunting. She has hardly any interest for birds and takes interest in playing with crickets. I'm not saying that she won't hunt a bird given the chance, she just doesn't care for them unless it lands right in front of her which is highly unlikely. There are almost no predators to attack her, if anything a stray dog might but considering she rarely leaves and has plenty of places to jump up and hide the odds are almost none.

As I've already said I know the risk of her being out there but the amount of stress it puts her through from being inside is worse than the low chances of her something happening to her outside. I've made my own choice and that is for her to be outside except in bad weather. I probably won't be posting in this thread again due to the less than enjoyable community.

[Griffin Torrens]

~snip~

I just wanted to say, I am exactly like you! My two cat ae both out door cats like all the other ones in our small quite village. The old one sleeps in the garden or on my mum's bed, and the young one will be gone for hours before coming back for treats, stroking, food or just attention. She will sometimes bring back dead things, but only if she got locked outside instead of in at night and got hungry... she even managed to bring back a stote ×-×
Anyway, the longest they have ever been kept inside is 24 hours, and it ended in them pooping inside...

So... I compleatly agree with everything you said! The only accidents that happened with my cats are the odd fights when they get shut outside (about once every 2-3 weeks when she doesn't come back inside)

The truth is though, I have never met an indoor cat XD

[non]

Hey. I know this is sorta interrupting your meaningful conversation, but I want to post some pictures of Honey-Baby, kitten-face, etc.

Napping all day..

She wasn't stretching, she was in fact like that for several minutes.
I'll add more. :p

[Anaphea]

@non
Cute cat pictures are what I need right now, to be honest XD
She's such a sweetie! She looks like a long-haired version of Marty, haha.

@WarriorCats66
Sounds like my cats, haha. Lenney just sleeps in the garden all day. Even in the rain (only wash he gets, bless him.) We tried giving him a bath before, but he hates it. Pickles, our other old cat, goes outside sometimes but spends most of her time sleeping indoors. Arty just wanders around outside.

I've never known indoor cats either. My mum used to have an indoor cat, but that was because she lived near a busy road. Our road is pretty much quiet and all of the cats are outdoor cats. Most of them have road-sense (minus Pickles - she's old and senile). My Grandad had to keep Mindi indoors for a while, but she took every chance to get outside. Managed to escape once..

@Squidge N' Such
Uh, I'm sorry about the whole thing. The indoors versus outdoors debate always gets heated and I've had people constantly hate on me for having a different opinion. I'm sorry you feel like the cat community can be like this. I don't think anyone can tell you differently. It's your choice and no one should tell you otherwise. If it's stressing out your cat as much as you're telling us, then I think it will be a good idea to let her out, even if it's just for a few hours.

Our cats don't like being shut in for a long period of time, hence why we let them come and go as they want. We do bring the older cats in at night, since Pickles can be senile sometimes, so we like to make sure they're comfortable at night (and they all get fed at about eleven as well, so they tend to come in anyway, but Lenney and Pickles sometimes get sidetracked). Do what you think is best for your cat.

[blazesong]

sorry for not being on much

my older boy now has to have daily meds and hes not happy about it ,iv been trying to give him extra cuddles