Cats - should they be let outside?

Good luck catching him. Won't come to anybody else. And a cat that is well fed isn't getting caught in a trap.

 

Completely agree. And how often do you have a neighbors cat, who is in their own yard, meowing all night keeping the neighborhood awake.

 

Well, I see a hell of a lot more stray cats than I do dogs, or folks that let them roam freely. My ex had a cat fight outside of her window just about weekly, and that's insanely annoying.

 

Across110thstreet, If your answer is no to all those questions, then you just are being blind to reality. Cats are known for each of those things. Footprints on the car, the stinch spray, getting in cars, and so on. I killed a cat driving to work one day. He got in my motor and was hiding. Going down the road I guess he got hot and decided to move. Cat meet fan. It was a big mess to clean and a little work to fix what he had done. He is not the only cat to do this either. The others just weren't as unfortunate. They handled the ride and jumped out after arriving at work. This is what they do. They get in your neighbors yard/house/car and do their thing regargless of how sweet you think they are. They are wild anamals tamed to a degree.

 

I'll keep your kid's baseball, frisbee, football, and soccer ball whenever it lands in my yard.

Then call you and the neighborhood association to complain.

Might even consider trespassing charges.

Seriously, a cat is this much of a problem to anyone?

 

Those are most likely wild cats. Cats are much harder to catch and to domesticate which is why there are far more stray cats around.

 

Since I'm regularly in touch with my neighbors, and my cats don't go in their yard, as a rule, I would be pretty surprised. I would even be kind of pissed if they called animal control without trying to talk with me first. Maybe I can call animal control every time their 3-year-old makes a big racket and bothers me.

If you have complained to their neighbors, and one of their animals is damaging your property or threatening your way of life/safety, then yes, call animal control. Otherwise, don't.

If cats are what someone has to worry about in life, I... well, I won't go there.

 

For 10 years, my family and I have lived across the street from a family who has at least 2 outdoor cats. They stay mostly to their own yards, but they do routinely venture to the neighboring houses. From what we've all witnessed, the answers to your questions are:

no
no
no
maybe - but it's never happened to anyone I've ever known
no

 

If neighborhood cats are a hazard to your family you either live on the African plain or you need a tougher family.

 

The first one is a "yes." Both at my parents house and at my old condo. In fact, these two black cats were always on my car hood every morning when I left for work.

 

Ok this annoying me.

It's spelled 'stench' . If you are going to insist on using that word in every post, spell it right.

 

Yeah, but it's really not a big deal when it happens....

Honestly, we have several neighborhood cats that hang out in our yard and that's never happened to us. How big are these cats that do this regularly? Most cats aren't heavy enough to track mud anywhere.

Again, this is such a rare occurrence that it’s really not even worth mentioning. I’ve been around cats all my life but can only recall this happening once or twice.

Who leaves their windows down on their cars these days? Not me.

Occasionally. I quickly shew them off and move on with my life...

I can understand the issue with the poop, but like I said, we have several cats that hang around our yard and I've never seen a single piece of poop.

 

lol. you can relax now. if you asked me a question and I gave you my answer based on 30 years of experience, and you call me blind to reality, then you shouldn't have asked me the question.

I'd like to say I live in reality and haven't smelled the stench of cat spray since I had all my cats neutered or spayed over 10 years ago. I will give you the pawprints, my cat only rests on our family's vehicles, he knows better.

I leave my windows locked at night. never seen mudprints of a cat, only dogs.

living on a bayou, it sounds like your experience has been with wild animals

it's okay though, I'm not mad at you. I shouldn't have engaged a simple question of whether dog crap is more of a problem than cat doodoo.

which it always has been for me my entire life. the world is full of different things.

 

Sorry nero, sorry to by stinching up the thread with my misspelled word.
Urban dictionary says otherwise though
Stinch
A ***** with a foul odor. Would kind of fit this use of it perfectly.

 

urbandictionary is not a legitimate source. Try Merriam-Webster.

 

Across110th, That is all I was trying to say. Thanks for answering honestly this time. They do get on cars. They do spray before being neutered. When I say track mud I just mean muddy paw prints everywhere which they do. I can tell which kind of paws are which and I have seen them do it. I am sure I am not the only one to come home and forget to roll the window all the way up immediately or have it down listening to the radio while working.

 

Thanks meggoleggo!! I will make sure to pull out my Marriam-Webster dictionary in the future to spell check each word and its meaning before posting. I will only use this source as it is the only acceptable one for Nero and Meggoleggo.

 

My cat lives outside. He was given to me by a girl who said her boyfriend was going to kill the cat (for peeing on his clothes) if someone didn't take it. It just so happened that I had a problem with mice in my garage at that time. The cat promptly solved that problem and now spends his "retirement" outside doing whatever cats do. I have found a few holes in him (from a bb gun I assume) but other than that he is in good health.

I'm very proud of him because he gets along great with dogs but absolutely hates other cats including females. He also befriended a local raccoon who, according to nature, should have eaten him but since food is plentiful they just hang out and I have even seen them laying down together.

People can talk about keeping cats in and how that is healthier and adds to longevity but I think most cats would rather have a cat's life and die at 5 than be cooped up inside and live to be 15.

I feel the same way with dogs. I have seen 2-3 year old bulldogs die catching hogs but they died with their tails wagging. I wonder if you could ask a dog if he would rather have a great dog's life and live to only 3 or if he would rather live a "human" life and live to 10 what he would say. I'm betting he takes the shorter, dog's life.

 

my answers were the same as the first time. i conceded that the family cat walks on the family vehicles.

you should speak with your neighbors about their pets.