While we're on the subject of rants...

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Can I contribute? This has been something that's been annoying me for a while.

So I'm a casual reader of a Bengal cat forum. EVERY TIME I go onto the site, there's always a new thread about how the member's cat has been hit by a car. The forum is UK-based, so maybe it's different there, but what I want to know is - WHY the heck are the cats outside to begin with?! It seems much more customary to let the cats be indoor/outdoor, but considering there are so many instances of cats being hit by cars, it just seems like asking for trouble. Not to mention - if you're paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for a cat...really? You let it outside?

Bah.

 

[oranges]

Yeah...I hear ya. I don't own a cat, but I would never let my dog outside without a fence for the same reasons.

 

[JewelFreak]

B.E.G., right on. Many people have said they think it's "cruel" to keep a cat inside -- but when you pick what's left of it off the street, is that kinder? I don't get it. I've adopted sad-sack cats since I was 5 years old -- too many years to tell you. Surprisingly, the ones that were on the street for a long time have no further interest in going outdoors, like "been there, done that, no thanks!" They are absolutely grateful for security. Others, maybe given to the pound by owners, rant & rave for a few months & then get used to being inside. Cats are very much creatures of habit; you just need patience to change the habit from outside to inside. Mine have all lived happy, healthy & loving lives into their teens or twenties.

--- Laurie

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

OH it is such a pet hate of mine too!!! I am sick and tired of seeing on the news/ current affairs shows how one family has been through 10 cats in the last 5 months because they all just go 'missing'. Hello!? You let the cat out, it goes missing, you wait a few weeks and get another one and the same thing happens again..... some people are just so.... uh i don't even know what the word i am looking for is coz it makes me so angry.

I'm not a Bengal owner, but we have 2 Burmese boys and 2 years ago when we brought Jet home as a kitty I posted some photos on FB, a friend private messaged me to ask where i had got him from because she was looking for a Burmese too. I quizzed her about how she would keep him etc and she promised me that he would be an indoors cat only, so i put her in contact with the breeder.
About 2 months later there was an FB rant about how some A hole had run over the cat whilst she was at work and didn't bother to come forward... i was sooooo furious with her. She private messaged me a few times about it and i just ignored them and ended up deleting her from FB. I can't believe she had the nerve to angry at the person who hit the cat when she was the one who was responsible for him in the first place. Poor Kitty

 

[that_someone_special]

I have 4 cats.. 1 of which WOULD LOVE to live outside, 2 would like to visit it every so often, and the other is scared of being outside.

Well, I don't care how they feel about being outside. Over my dead body are they EVER going outside... unless it's on a leash (yes, 2 of them walk on leashes, so cute) and only in the backyard, and only for 10 mins or less. I do that with them like 5-10 times during the summer months but that's it. GRRR

 

[Maisie]

I feel the same way. I didn't get a cat just to let her roam outside and risk being killed. I live in the country so I wouldn't just risk roads. I would also risk foxes too. There is no way Gracie is going out there.

 

[Steel]

If you are interested I have the other side of that coin...

I have 4 wonderful puddy-tats. They go outside when they want and come in when they want. By their own choice 2 of them spend about 30-40% of their time outside, 1 only really wails to go out to use the potty and the odd look around and one cat spends 60+% of his time outside. I live in (very) rural Ireland and own about 6 acres. We are surrounded by farmland and there is a single car laneway. I am proud that my kitties lead an active cat lifestyle hunting, playing, stalking and running and happy that I have provided a relatively safe environment for them. I am pained to think that one of my pussycats will be hurt or killed and I cannot help them and this is almost but not enough for me to keep them in. For me, I believe their quality of life is greatly increased being where they are and having the freedoms they enjoy. I am very aware that those freedoms may cost them their lives. But I am not their owner, not really. They have their own lives to live and I am just so grateful to be able to share their lives with them. If I keep my cats in, I will keep them safe but having experienced outside life I believe they would go mad without a bird to stare at or leaf to chase.

Now, not for one second do I disagree with the choice of others to keep their cats inside. I realise that for many of you city-dwellers, cats going outside is certain death. And when I lived for 3 weeks in rented home (while building and waiting for better accom) it sat on a busy 2 lane road and the entire time we were there not one paw was set outside. I lived in fear that they would get outside and be killed on that road. But let me tell you it was hell living with 2 wailing monsters wanting to get out - I had to use the back door as an entrance and exit because it was double doored and the furry monsters would be waiting for their opportunity to escape. I couldn't live like that and know they couldn't either - but they had the taste for outside, it must be easier with lifetime-indoor cats.

There are so many kitties and so many homes, both rural and urban. If keeping a cat alive but curtailing its freedom in a happy playful, cosy home is the trade-off I think any cat would choose life. Ideally I think every cat should have the chance to live in this kind of environment (rural home)- it gives the best of both worlds with minimal (though very real) risk.

ETA: I also worry about a house fire. A fellow I worked with was at work but left the hob on by accident- his house burned down with his 2 cats inside. I would struggle to live with that guilt and that is also a real risk.

 

[Arcadian]

I don't have cats (allergic) however, I have seen cats in my neck of the woods pretty much kill off tons of birds and other wildlife. Cats belong indoors. If cats were indigenous to the area it would be different, but when people irresponsibly let them outside to "just be cats" it because a very big problem beyond just getting hit by a car.

I won't go into the coyote issue (around here, cats and small dogs can be a prime source of food) because its a whole other issue onto itself.

And yes i do tend to think badly of owners who call themselves pet mommies and daddies that let their pets just wander like that, hell you wouldn't do that with a human kid, don't do it with a pet.

If you want your cat to be an outdoor cat, leash train it then.


-A

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

All of our cats can go in and out as they please since we have a cat door. We live in a very quiet neighborhood with very little traffic and we have never had a cat killed by a car. My cat mostly just likes to lay in our driveway in the sun and roll in the dirt. She also likes to hunt birds and play. She also prefers to go to the bathroom outside which is nice for me because I only need an emergency litter box which she hardly ever uses. If we move to a more congested area she will have to get used to living indoors though. She would be mad at me but hopefully she'll get over it.

 

[MonkeyPie]

All of our cats can go in and out as they please since we have a cat door. We live in a very quiet neighborhood with very little traffic and we have never had a cat killed by a car. My cat mostly just likes to lay in our driveway in the sun and roll in the dirt. She also likes to hunt birds and play. She also prefers to go to the bathroom outside which is nice for me because I only need an emergency litter box which she hardly ever uses. If we move to a more congested area she will have to get used to living indoors though. She would be mad at me but hopefully she'll get over it.

This. My mom was devastated when I moved out and wanted to take my kitty Cleo with me, so I let her remain there - she did not take my original move to live with my 'rents very well at all, so I am pretty sure she would have had a very hard time moving anyway. But she is an indoor/outdoor kitty, too. She spends the majority of her time inside, but prefers to go out for potty time and lounging on our porch in the sun. She also digs up the grass and rolls in it. My parents have lived there for over 15 years and have always had multiple cats, and we haven't lost a single one to a car or coyote. It's a good area if they must go out, and trust me, trying to deny them means losing some skin if you know what I mean

 

[Trekkie]

I have had kitties for most of my life and they have mostly been indoor kitties.

When I lived with my biological mother and grandmother we had two Siamese kitties named Suna and Ming (my mother's Chinese BFF's idea. Sigh). Suna was an indoor cat who loved sitting in the window and watching the world go by. Occasionally Ming would join her. People usually thought they were ornaments and would frequently ask my mother where she had bought those pretty ornaments - they looked so life-like! Ming would only go outside to do his business and at 17h00 he would go outside and wait at the gate for my mother to get home.

When I lived with my dad our two Siamese kitties were named Ping and Pong (I have two older brothers. They thought this was amusing). They were free to roam the property but rarely did. They would go outside to do their business and scare a few pigeons and then return to the house and cuddle each other in front of the fireplace. Occasionally they'd go outside to destroy my stepmom's strawberries but that was just because they could.

I am lucky that my kitties were happy to be indoor kitties because I know that I would never have allowed them to go out into the street. Apart from the fact that they were hellishly expensive, they were my kitties! My babies!

I have not had a cat in years. As much as I would love to, I just don't think it would be fair to them. I want to be able to provide them with a proper garden they can explore (if they want to) and yet know that they won't be in any danger of traffic or the uncaring drunk driving students who live in our complex.

So yes, B.E.G. I think those people are eejits and don't deserve their kitties. As soon as I have a bigger, more cat friendly property, I will go to the UK, hunt them down, expropriate those kitties and bring them home to live with me. If you're nice to me, I might even let you visit.

 

[Trekkie]

OH it is such a pet hate of mine too!!! I am sick and tired of seeing on the news/ current affairs shows how one family has been through 10 cats in the last 5 months because they all just go 'missing'. Hello!? You let the cat out, it goes missing, you wait a few weeks and get another one and the same thing happens again..... some people are just so.... uh i don't even know what the word i am looking for is coz it makes me so angry.

I'm not a Bengal owner, but we have 2 Burmese boys and 2 years ago when we brought Jet home as a kitty I posted some photos on FB, a friend private messaged me to ask where i had got him from because she was looking for a Burmese too. I quizzed her about how she would keep him etc and she promised me that he would be an indoors cat only, so i put her in contact with the breeder.
About 2 months later there was an FB rant about how some A hole had run over the cat whilst she was at work and didn't bother to come forward... i was sooooo furious with her. She private messaged me a few times about it and i just ignored them and ended up deleting her from FB. I can't believe she had the nerve to angry at the person who hit the cat when she was the one who was responsible for him in the first place. Poor Kitty

What a horrible person! I would also not be able to remain friends with someone like her!

If you are interested I have the other side of that coin...

I have 4 wonderful puddy-tats. They go outside when they want and come in when they want. By their own choice 2 of them spend about 30-40% of their time outside, 1 only really wails to go out to use the potty and the odd look around and one cat spends 60+% of his time outside. I live in (very) rural Ireland and own about 6 acres. We are surrounded by farmland and there is a single car laneway. I am proud that my kitties lead an active cat lifestyle hunting, playing, stalking and running and happy that I have provided a relatively safe environment for them. I am pained to think that one of my pussycats will be hurt or killed and I cannot help them and this is almost but not enough for me to keep them in. For me, I believe their quality of life is greatly increased being where they are and having the freedoms they enjoy. I am very aware that those freedoms may cost them their lives. But I am not their owner, not really. They have their own lives to live and I am just so grateful to be able to share their lives with them. If I keep my cats in, I will keep them safe but having experienced outside life I believe they would go mad without a bird to stare at or leaf to chase.

One day, when I have kitties, this is how I would like them to grow up - on a huge property where they can play and be kitties and I don't have to worry about their safety. When living in the city, or even a large town it is more complicated, but still simple: If one lives around traffic, one's cats should be indoors!

 

[Imdanny]

My cat never goes outside period. I know people have differing opinions on this but my cat will never go outside.

 

[Trekkie]

My cat never goes outside period. I know people have differing opinions on this but my cat will never go outside.

I applaud your strong stance on this.

What pi$$es me off the most is when people declaw their kitties and then allow them outside.

 

[Jennifer W]

I have a cat and he goes outdoors through a catflap, to suit himself. I got him from the rescue, but he was a feral kitten. We have a large property with a high boundary fence all round and no traffic nearby - our house is in a village, but at the edge of it, down a dirt track, so no roads to worry about. He doesn't ever go off the property. I guess he could climb the fence if he really wanted to, but he never has. Even if he did, there aren't too many dangers immediately available.

There are still some important issues beyond just letting him out - vaccinations, flea and worm protection, microchip and so on. They are all essential for outdoor cats. What I don't approve of (and don't care who I offend by saying this) is cats being put outside instead of being looked after. If they're going out, they probably need more care, not less. They need to be checked daily for any nicks and scratches and general condition, and properly groomed. If they're long- coated, probably best to keep them inside, I suspect. Also, I don't live in a country where there are wild animals that could harm my cat. It is illegal to de-claw cats in the UK. Our vet is very much against keeping cats exclusively indoors, although the other vet in his practice doesn't have an issue with it.

I personally wouldn't have a cat if I couldn't safely let him outside. I know many people see it differently and that's their decision, just as this is mine.

 

[yssie]

We've had our ex-feral for just over a year now I believe. We picked her up off the streets, and now she won't set foot outside the front door - if we take her outside the carpeted area, even with the door wide open she goes nutty trying to get back inside. Our other cat - that we've had since 6wks old and that has been outside except in a cage or on a leashed walk - does his best to dash out the front door the moment it's open. It's interesting.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Just curious - are bengals safe around kids, etc? They sure are cute from the photos I've seen, but how big are they and are they more aggressive?

The last condo we lived in had HOA rules re: pets being outside. Same with our current. No pets allowed outside. None of my neighbors let their animals roam so letting our cat isn't a choice.

I guess it depends upon the cat/where you live, as well, as HOA and/or city rules.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

I'm definitely one who favours keeping my cats indoors. If my cat would just stay in our own yard when I let him out, I would be fine with it, but the times he's gotten out, he's leapt straight over the fence to not be seen again for a day or two.

And I worry about him when he's outside for such long stretches of time. He's cross-eyed and has trouble focusing, so I don't think his depth perception is the best. He also was a stray who had been injured so badly in a cat fight that he had an abscess on his right rear paw that eventually burst, and now he has a strange limp. I just worry about his ability to outrun a car.

If we're outside in the yard, I'll sometimes bring him out and watch him closely, but for the most part, both of my kitties are indoor cats, and despite the spring fever attempts at escape once a year, I think they're happy.

 

[partgypsy]

I agree that cats are safer inside, but some cats just don't agree!
The first cat I had refused to be an indoor cat. Even though we were in the city living in a second floor apartment, and the only time it went outside was to go to vet visits, it knew there was an outside and would literally cry and scratch at our apartment door when we left to be let outside, and climb up and down the fire escape (they didn't reach the ground). When we moved to another city apartment we didn't let it out but our cat would jump out my bedroom window to a shed roof, walk from the shed roor to an ajoining fence, and walk along the fence to a point it could get down, and repeat that to come inside. Our cat survived tough and busy city streets and another 7 years in another city. He did die at age 9 by being hit by a speeding car after we moved away from our rental across a busy street, and he started crossing a street he always avoided before to visit his old territory. I felt really terrible when this happened and expressed maybe I should have kept him inside, but my sister who also knew him disagreed and said knowing his personality he would have never accepted that, and would have a poor quality of life if we figured out a way to keep him inside.

Our current cat we rescued from a nearby corner (starving mommy trying to feed her too old kittens, was able to grab one, that was her). She ended up going into heat maybe 3 months after we got her (so she was older than we thought). For the longest time she was not too affectionate and spent 90% of her time outside. When we got our (obnoxious) dog she reverted to 100% of her time outside and we couldn't coax her inside for about 2 years. Now she is used to the dog and comes back inside, but honestly I don't think she will ever be an "indoor" cat. But I feel her quality of life is good. She gets fed (now 100% canned food because of a condition she has), has our home as a base and gets medical care, and is more affectionate than ever.

So we can argue what is more or less cruel. I personally think it's more cruel to have an indoor cat, but declaw it so it won't scratch furniture.