Cat Chat (please go to cat chat 2)

[Lunarsnow]

It's purely up to what the owner wants and whether they want to risk it.

I suppose that is true but I personally believe that if the decision you're making puts someone else at risk then you should probably think hard about why it is you're taking said risk over the safer alternative. And of course know what could happen as a result of you taking the risk. No matter what side of the indoor/outdoor debate you're on or where you live: you can't deny that an outdoor cat is at a much higher risk of death, injury, and disease than an indoor cat is.

I keep my fur children inside (or outside on a harness + lead/in a catio) and have had many personal experiences (and many upsetting ones at that) with outdoor cats that cement my opinion firmly in place. And I know the fate of those poor cats are not the fate of every outdoor cat, but I just can't let my cats out in good conscience knowing the risks and seeing cat's I've petted and played with meeting a sad preventable fate. But like Anaphea said ultimately it's the owner's decision.

[claypigeon]

No offence to anyone, but everybody seems a little touchy. I mean I get you all care, which is great, but it's getting pretty negative on this thread.
Who cares whether the cat is mixed Bengal or not. Sure it's not likely that they actually have Bengal blood. But it's not impossible. People buy cats all the time and take terrible care of them. Maybe they lost their cat because they ran away and bred with a stray or different breed? And honestly getting into a debate on indoor and outdoor cats is stupid because everyone believes in different things. That's like arguing about what is the best type of meat for your sandwich. Everyone has different opinions so no one is ever going to agree. And outdoor cats don't do as much damage to the environment as we people do. Most of the time they are useful to kill rats that get into your storage spaces or basements. So it all seems pretty pointless of an argument.

Please don't keep talking about this... Sure you can pm the person if you want to 1 X 1 cat fight but you don't have to bring negativity to the thread. And please don't say I'm being impolite it's just that I'm sick of everyone always fighting. There was just a fight on the dog thread, fish thread, and now this thread. I honestly just wants hear about people's cats because I don't have one myself.

( if you have a problem with this post PM ME, please don't post on the thread. )

[YourGayness]

My two cats keep fighting because the female is either in heat or already pregnant and neither are neutered/spayed; though, can't neuter her because she may be pregnant, and I've got an appointment for the male to be neutered soon. Before anyone asks why they haven't been neutered yet, it's because I had an appointment for Dora a wile back, but she got pregnant while waiting. And as for Merlin, I had an appointment for him too, but the vet I was going to was very very bad at his job, so I cancelled.
Anyways, what should I do to stop them fighting for now?

[plum]

You can spay a pregnant cat. IMO, it's something to consider. She's already had one accident litter, why have more?
For now, separate them. You can make a crate n rotate system if you want - one cat is crated or kept in another room while the other is out, then switch them throughout the day.

Move update: we've arrived at our new home! Apart from the trip being painfully dragged out, it wasn't too difficult. Frisk is settling into a big new house perfectly though I have some paranoia to get over about her getting out of the house or into somewhere she can't get out.
Gotta find a new place to buy her Orijen and Tiki Cat... and the nearest petsmart didn't have a litterbox I liked, so tomorrow's gonna be a pet store search.
Can't wait to do this again in a couple months for college.

[Nyxeva]

No offence to anyone, but everybody seems a little touchy. I mean I get you all care, which is great, but it's getting pretty negative on this thread.
Who cares whether the cat is mixed Bengal or not. Sure it's not likely that they actually have Bengal blood. But it's not impossible. People buy cats all the time and take terrible care of them. Maybe they lost their cat because they ran away and bred with a stray or different breed? And honestly getting into a debate on indoor and outdoor cats is stupid because everyone believes in different things. That's like arguing about what is the best type of meat for your sandwich. Everyone has different opinions so no one is ever going to agree. And outdoor cats don't do as much damage to the environment as we people do. Most of the time they are useful to kill rats that get into your storage spaces or basements. So it all seems pretty pointless of an argument.

Please don't keep talking about this... Sure you can pm the person if you want to 1 X 1 cat fight but you don't have to bring negativity to the thread. And please don't say I'm being impolite it's just that I'm sick of everyone always fighting. There was just a fight on the dog thread, fish thread, and now this thread. I honestly just wants hear about people's cats because I don't have one myself.

( if you have a problem with this post PM ME, please don't post on the thread. )

I'm gonna post on the thread anyway because what you're saying is wrong.
The indoor/outdoor cat debate is nothing like deciding sandwich fillings. It's not an opinion that cats are destructive, it's a fact. Outdoor cats are directly responsible for the extinction of over 30 species of birds and kill between 1.4 billion and 3.7 billion birds per year. The mammalian toll is even higher, ranging from 6.9 billion to 20.7 billion per year. Yes, humans do a lot of damage to the environment. Outdoor cats fall under the damage caused by humans since we are the ones who put these invasive predators out there. Cats are not a native predator anywhere anymore.

If the impact on the environment isn't enough to convince you to keep your cat inside, consider the danger to the cat themselves. 5.4 million cats are killed per year on US roads. There aren't any statistics for how many more die from poisoning, diseases, animal attacks and other dangers that outdoor cats have to face.

For anyone who is reading over this thread, please consider keeping your cats indoors. If you need help bringing them in and keeping them happy, let me know! I'd be happy to offer some advice and tips and share what worked for me!

Edit: I found this to be an interesting read as well.

[Saracirce]

If your yard is infested with rodents, the solution is fairly easy. Declutter your yard, keep the grass mowed short and stop scaring off/killing/relocating the native predators (outdoor cats scare off or directly compete for food from smaller predator like the American Kestrel) so that the native predators can take care of the problem. That's what they're there for.

[Nyxeva]

Unrelated, but I took a picture of our litter box before scooping it today. So here's a heads up that this is a poop picture haha. This is after three cats using it all day:

[Angelus Gaston]

No offence to anyone, but everybody seems a little touchy. I mean I get you all care, which is great, but it's getting pretty negative on this thread.
Who cares whether the cat is mixed Bengal or not. Sure it's not likely that they actually have Bengal blood. But it's not impossible. People buy cats all the time and take terrible care of them. Maybe they lost their cat because they ran away and bred with a stray or different breed? And honestly getting into a debate on indoor and outdoor cats is stupid because everyone believes in different things. That's like arguing about what is the best type of meat for your sandwich. Everyone has different opinions so no one is ever going to agree. And outdoor cats don't do as much damage to the environment as we people do. Most of the time they are useful to kill rats that get into your storage spaces or basements. So it all seems pretty pointless of an argument.

Please don't keep talking about this... Sure you can pm the person if you want to 1 X 1 cat fight but you don't have to bring negativity to the thread. And please don't say I'm being impolite it's just that I'm sick of everyone always fighting. There was just a fight on the dog thread, fish thread, and now this thread. I honestly just wants hear about people's cats because I don't have one myself.

( if you have a problem with this post PM ME, please don't post on the thread. )

I'm gonna post on the thread anyway because what you're saying is wrong.
The indoor/outdoor cat debate is nothing like deciding sandwich fillings. It's not an opinion that cats are destructive, it's a fact. Outdoor cats are directly responsible for the extinction of over 30 species of birds and kill between 1.4 billion and 3.7 billion birds per year. The mammalian toll is even higher, ranging from 6.9 billion to 20.7 billion per year. Yes, humans do a lot of damage to the environment. Outdoor cats fall under the damage caused by humans since we are the ones who put these invasive predators out there. Cats are not a native predator anywhere anymore.

If the impact on the environment isn't enough to convince you to keep your cat inside, consider the danger to the cat themselves. 5.4 million cats are killed per year on US roads. There aren't any statistics for how many more die from poisoning, diseases, animal attacks and other dangers that outdoor cats have to face.

For anyone who is reading over this thread, please consider keeping your cats indoors. If you need help bringing them in and keeping them happy, let me know! I'd be happy to offer some advice and tips and share what worked for me!

Edit: I found this to be an interesting read as well.

This I will agree with I'm a little sick and tired of having to pick up dead birds from my back garden because of other peoples out door cats ( there not feral cats )
Some of the birds we have frequenting our garden are at risk native species such as Blue and Grey tits which if killed by a cat or human can result in a hefty fine if you know who's cat did it. There is also the fact of your garden smelling like a cat litter tray which is not very pleasant when you have cats spraying up every available surface.

Our cats are all indoors and only every go outside when we are with them which is often leashed on the front. I cant allow them out on the back garden supervised because of the potential of them being injured by an outdoor tom ( they arnt scared of starting fights in front of people ).

[asteraceae]

Ahh time to change the subject. . .
June 6th I believe, is my cat, Tabasco's 21st birthday! He's happy and healthy. We took him to the vet and she said he might have a kidney problem since he was drinking a lot of water. She said that was one of the symptoms of the issue. Along further research, the vet concluded it was nothing.

Tabasco is a pesky one. . . whenever I try and go to the bathroom he barges in before I have time to close the door and meows for me to turn on the bathtub so he can stand in the tub and drink the water. And when I'm eating meals on some trays in the living room he tries to sniff it and attempt to eat it. Also, if you leave a glass of water unattended Tabasco sticks his paw into the water and knocks it over. Them, laps at the carpet. No one can explain his thing with water x3.

Oh and, Lotus is a peculiar cat too. She has a "witching hour" where around 10:30 Lotus runs into my room and meows. Whenever I try to invite her onto my bed to pet her she cringes and gallops away. No I'm not exaggerating, she gallops. Everyone can hear her paws thumping on the ground.

Wow that was long. . .

Edit/Apricot is fine, he's adjusting easily to his new home, I've had him for 4 months now. Tabasco

[Ford Fusion]

I have 5 cats, all mixed breeds. 3 I had raised since they were first born, one was a rescue and our ' newest' was going to be a spay and release but me and my mom took her