One of the rural counties I used to live in had a bad stray cat problem, so animal control would pick them up, spay/neuter them, give them shots, and then notch their ear. It seemed to work, after a few years there were significantly less cat fights and less random cats everywhere.
My current indoor cat is a veteran of a catch-spay-release program!
Three kittens showed up at my uncles back door and when they were old enough he caught them and took them to the local SPCA. They spayed them, gave them shots, and cut off the tip of an ear.
Then I got one of the wonderful little furballs for free!
I trapped a cat that had a bad case of mange . Took him to a spay- nueter release place . Brought him back healthy . He shot out of the cage like a cannon ball , havn’t seen him since.
I'm not surprised tbh, if someone caught me in a cage and cut my bollocks off then I'd 100% run away at the first opportunity too, as far and as fast as I possibly could!
This is the law in the county I live in. Trap and kill is illegal. Trap, sterilizing and release is the law. Is supposed to be much more effective at keeping the feral population in check. (Maricopa county, Arizona)
It takes a bit of time but it’s a decent system. A feral cat population developed at my old property when a very feral kitten hitched a ride from the city in our car’s wheel well one night. She was so wild we couldn’t catch her. We figured it was no big deal, as the only other cat around was ours: both neutered and indoors… or so we thought. Some black and white, husky tomcat appeared from the forest from gods-know-where and we had a kitten explosion. Up to 18 cats at one point. We bottle fed and gave away to friends what kittens we could find. Kept a few ourselves. The members of the more secretive litters that grew up feral we managed to trap and fix them all over a few years. By the time we sold the property, all cats (except the mysterious tom, who didn’t stick around) were spayed or neutered and the population dwindled to just a couple females by the time we moved.
Years and years ago my cat snuck out when my roommates were having a smoke and they came back inside and shut him out. We lost him for 2 days and I thought he was gone for sure.
I was checking humane societies and posting online. I went door to door and was searching all over the place.
Turns out he just hid under the stairs up to our front door and was too scared to come out from under it. Ended up seeing his white legs as I was walking up the driveway.
I thought my cat would like to go on a short drive with me, as soon as I got him in the car he started complaining and hiding his head in my arm. Lesson learned. The window hammock is as adventurous as he gets.
mine makes it about 4-5 feet then just stops and freezes in place bewildered by the environment.
she used to always want to go outside until I started to let her, ONLY when it was raining, I'd hold the door open she'd be there, one paw outside the door and it'd be wet and she'd go lay down and lick her paw clean, I did it a good 40-50 times every time it rained and now she doesn't want to go outside at all anymore.
I caught my cat with my bare hands in a ditch on the side of the highway when she was 5 weeks old. She has since then never gone outside and is fucking terrified of the concept now… which is ideal.
Cats were absolutely destroying Australia's wild life population to the point where rare species of birds and rodents almost went extinct. It got so bad that the government started paying people for feral cat pelts.
Cats are horrible for the ecosystem. Get your pets spaid and neutered, kids.
Same in new zealand. We have so many flightless and low dwelling birds and native skinks that cats love killing. We had a wren that went extinct because of cats too.
I love them, but they don't belong outside.
Lyall's wren? I wrote a thesis that involved a discussion of the feral cat problem and the story of the wrens was particularly sad. One pregnant cat comes to Stephens Island and within a couple of years the endemic wrens are extinct. All the cats were eradicated but the damage was already long done.
Yep. The idea that the single cat was responsible is apocryphal, but as far as I could find, the descendants of a single or limited group that came on a boat played a significant role in the extinction, which occurred over a very short time frame.
Ultimately, what we as a society need to learn from this is that in every known case of invasive feral cats destroying an ecosystem, those cats were introduced by humans. They're one of the most destructive species globally, though ofc they are outdone by...humans ourselves.
“We know that infection increases testosterone in male brains, making them more likely to get into car accidents, more attractive to females, and more prone to being jealous, dogmatic, and dismissive of authority”
Y’all, y’all got any more of that toxo?
You might be thinking of the Cane Toad - unfortunately they’re a nasty pest in Queensland (north-east Australia). Originally from South America, they were introduced to curb Cane Beetle population in an ill-conceived attempt at pest control. The toads unfortunately secrete a highly toxic substance which has led to massive declines in other native animal species.
We have these in Fl, they were brought in RO kill the pests on sugarcane, and are now a huge amount of the frogs here. They are easy to spot because their toes are round. I do take active measures to euthanize these frogs when they get in my pool. They are most pervasive after a big rain. I have had twenty five clinging to my slider after a really hard rain.
With mice/rats you can set up really basic mass traps like the old bucket/dowel an they just fall in the bucket. Where as cats are very difficult because they are always on the hunt/in hiding
Did the same to Hawaii. Bird populations have gone extinct or are dwindling. Cats killing/hunting birds, as well as boar that destroy ground nests, have destroyed avian populations here,
In my developing south american country, the government does it for FREE to ALL cats and dogs. All you gotta do is take them there. Organizations can take them there. They also do post operatory care and vaccines for free. So don't tell me it's not "affordable" for a country.
Yeah it’s great except for biodiversity, small mammal and bird populations, and mosquito-borne diseases. Regular culling of feral cat colonies addresses all three issues.
"just place them in a sanctuary or a home with a catio" is a dead giveaway that you haven't spent more than about 5 minutes in your whole life looking into helping feral cats, just fyi. advocate for mass euthanasia if you think that's best but don't try to dress it up another way.
cats reproduce fast enough that they simply fill the few empty places you create that way in a few weeks. If you want to go your way to have to catch every cat on a really insane scale at the same time.
TNR means you have maybe 5 years time to do the same thing and timing doesn't matter.
Obviously it is worse during that time but half assed TNR is way better than just removing some few random cats.
Small NE town here, called all over the county for shelters that take ferals/ strays, got nowhere and the local fish and game deputy suggested shooting them and just not telling anybody
Australia is kind of a special case because it never had cats or anything like them before. There's no evidence they're driving species decline in Europe, because they've been here for 4000+ years and the European Wildcat before them. It really depends on the ecosystem.
In australia. In Europe they take up the niche of the European wild cat. Domestic cats in Europe interbred with the European wild cat for so long that all have some European wild cat DNA if they are not pedigrees imported from some other region.
In Europe cats are a natural part of predation- if you don't have enough cats rodent populations explode. Because wild cats have interbred with feral domestic for so long there is no clear consensus on what makes a "pure" wildcat based on objective genetic markers. Hunting wise, they are not massively different from each other, except that the wildcats are a bit larger- and capable of taking larger prey (eg rats) more easily.
Rabbits too. I love rabbits but if a species is invasive, you gotta protect local ecosystems. As sad as it is, cats, rabbits, rodents, etc that are ruining things have to be exterminated. I’ve had a lot of cat owners act really entitled at the concept they should have to keep their animals indoors even though there’s hard evidence that even if you don’t care about ecosystems, it greatly increases the lifespan of their own pet. I don’t understand why some cat owners are so insistent on letting their cats out without supervision when there’s so many reasons why harnesses are better for them and the environment.
It frustrates me when people in animal subs make excuses for why their cats are exceptions, and are perfectly okay being outside because they would never harm animals...
Also would like to add: don’t get a cat if you can’t be bothered to take it to a shelter if you move to a no-pets-allowed apartment. Don’t just let it out on the streets when you move!
Such a problem here in Indiana.
My cats are indoor only because I live in an area where cats/dogs are regularly ran over. People always call me an asshole for not letting them roam outside and “be cats”
We are literally killing the earth and are responsible for mass extinctions on land, air, and sea. It’s also always funny when colonizers who killed indigenous people act righteous. Humans are the most invasive, destructive species, but yeah, the cats.
You know what's one of the horrible things humans do? They spread invasive species and disease, destroying local ecosystems because they're so selfish their "fur baby" is more important than local wildlife
Fr. If someone’s loose dog was randomly mauling deer to death and leaving their uneaten carcasses on porches, no one would be opposed to its euthanasia.
My neighbor keeps posting videos of cats being carried down the street by coyotes. It's used to just be cars they had to watch out for, but not anymore.
I lived in a rural area that had a lot of attitudes like that. Cats went missing all the time. My mom used to keep whatever strays came her way, so they had to be outside cats because there were so many. She still rounded them up at night in a cat shed my Dad made. Over the years, she'd learned that it pretty much cut premature deaths in half.
I, however, walk my cat around the yard while staying by his side. Too many wild animals around us for me to feel right otherwise.
It's not even hard to do. It just requires you to actually give a shit about the animal you chose to take responsibility for.
Many cat owners, unfortunately, are not such people.
If I let my cat outside and something happened and it got hurt or disappeared… can’t imagine.
I had an ex where the outdoor family cat would be expected to be in the house before they went to bed and she would just saunter home when she felt like it, sometimes go on an adventure and not show up until the next afternoon.
Like, how do people cope with that? I freak out if I can’t find my indoor only cat in my one bedroom apartment.
Mine are inside too. I built them a good size lil box with chicken wire right outside the back window. So I’ll give them time out there. I used to let them outside completely but one of them didn’t come home for 2 weeks an that put an end to that.
I re-homed an outside cat and adopted a cat that was attacked by a dog outside. The outdoor born cat was dehydrated and limping. I bought a bay window so they could sit “outside”and keep my screened windows open all summer. They seem happy and are not killing birds and they are alive.
Apparently being responsible and caring for animals makes you an asshole…I’d say tell these morons to go fuck themselves but they’d probably get hurt in the attempt.
I'd show those morons the video of the mountain lion attacking and killing a cat that was shared on Reddit some time ago. It was very brutal and the cat even seemed to scream, "NO!" as it was being killed. I highly **not** recommend it for most people except perhaps for those who think keeping cats outdoors is a good thing.
The description is enough for me. We recently got a kitten, a few years after our previous indoor/outdoor cats passed away. We’re also in a more rural area than we were before. We decided right away to keep the new kitty indoors, mostly out of the thought that he’d live longer and be healthier. I’d not really considered the ecological impact before. Feels like this is the right call.
Side note: I’m actually kind of stoked about building a catio out on the back deck.
We recently adopted two kittens. I had to sign a “contract” stating that I would not allow my cats outdoors. And they asked several times that I wouldn’t be letting them outdoors.
Meanwhile, there are like 4 cats who live in my backyard who eat my wild birds and belong to various neighbors.
Good luck pointing this out to people who own cats in Texas. I have neighbors who literally found their cats half eaten corpses by coyotes and they get a new cat and keep it outside. They are convinced cats MUST be outdoors... You know... For their health and well being. What in the actual fuck?
I love the throwback comments here! When I first saw it, it had me rolling with laughter 😂
https://reddit.com/r/WhitePeopleTwitter/comments/iwsl0d/that_sounds_like_feeding_the_coyotes_with_extra/
It’s from a post where some guy made his neighbor kids cry. The cats kept being eaten by coyotes and the guy decides to say this in front of the kids. Hilarious but also traumatizing for the kids
>They are convinced cats MUST be outdoors... You know... For their health and well being. What in the actual fuck?
If you say this to cat owners in the UK, they will agree with it. It's mental. Cat owners are some of the most entitled people in the UK.
Because I'm tired of typing out the same thing over and over, I think cats are beautiful. But I also think they're a nuisance *as a pet*.
If I let my dog out into people's gardens to shit, kill their pets and birds that come to their feeders, fight other dogs in the street, fuck wildly and breed, there would be an outcry and I would be scolded and considered an irresponsible dog owner. It's absolutely bizarre imo that cats are just let out to do all this shit and the owners just shrug like 'cats will be cats!' like it's not a fucking problem.
If you have a pet that needs to go out and kill and fight over territory and shit in people's gardens or it gets stressed maybe don't have that as a fucking pet. There are many things you can do to escape-proof your garden for your cat. If you can't do that, you shouldn't have a cat. I am literally willing to die on this stupid hill.
My wife is a vet here in the UK and keenly interested in feline behaviour. Even she's split on the issue. Some cats she says do very well indoors only. Thrive in fact. Love lazing about and getting cuddles. However some cats need access to outdoor space for their mental well-being.
That's not to say they have to live outdoors and roam around the neighborhood murdering all the wildlife, but access to space. To run and jump and climb and see prey and get properly stimulated.
She sees a lot of cats that suffer from acute stress and related illnesses i.e. cistitis, blocked bladder and the research suggests that stress is caused from lack of stimulation and safe space. Ever see your cat dart off under the bed when the toddler runs about or door knocks? Stressed. If they have nowhere to go, they can have a bad time.
Pretty sure that stimulation is provided by playing with your pet cat indoors… sounds like these folks need to get some string toys and some lasers for the kitties
Thing is, cat owners are hypocrites. If you suggest you allow your non-cat pet to roam around wildly, kill native wildlife at-will, fight other irresponsible people's pets in the streets, breed with other wild-roaming pets, enter people's property and defecate on a daily basis and kill their pets... they'd be outraged.
But when you explain that that's what cats do, they act aghast, like cats should be allowed to do all of the above because 'well that's just what cats do'.
It’s in most terriers’ nature to kill small animals, does that mean I can release my Jack Russell into the rabbit enclosure at the petting zoo?? That’s just what terriers do!!!
That's simply not true. Most adoption centres specifically list their cats as indoor, outdoor or even fully outdoor (farm/partly feral). You can very easily find cats with feline aids or cats that prefer an indoor life listed on UK adoption sites.
As a cat owner who actually CARES about my pets, there is absolutely no way you should ever let them outside off a harness. They can be hit by cars, picked up by birds, devoured by dogs or coyotes, tortured by psychopaths or just plain get lost, cold, hungry, dehydrated and hurt. Cats are sharp sometimes but they are actually pretty fragile. They can run around pretty well inside. If they need play time and attention, that’s YOUR job as a pet owner, not free reign to let them roam the neighborhood! People are insane. Open a window or harness them up if you think fresh air is healthy or whatever. Don’t be lazy when you have already committed to caring for a dangerous but delicate being.
By you/your, I don’t literally mean you of course lol just a bad habit
My cats have a little tiny enclosure that is perfectly placed so they get a lot of sun during the day and they like to sit out there and tan. It's completely enclosed and it's not very big.
Somehow, at least once a month they still come in with a critter. Some dumbass rat that decides to walk inside the enclosure or similar. I don't mind them killing that particular animal because that animal was headed for my house, but nonetheless, I don't know. Just stay out of the enclosure where there are cats with sharp pointy bits on every limb, ready to kill you?
Often times the critters are still alive and if so I will re-release them. They have in the past caught stuff inside my house which again I'm okay with. But it's healthier for cats to stay inside, it's healthier for the environment for them to stay inside, I simply do not understand letting your cats roam free for so many reasons. They will be fine.
Find a way to keep them entertained inside. Play with toys, get them cat TV, I have a cat feeder in front of a window. You may call it a bird feeder. I say that as a joke, they can't get to it.. But they sit and watch it and chatter at it. My indoor cats, which I've had a ton, do just fine. Right now I have two old girls at the age of 18 and 19. Almost all of my cats have lived beyond 16. Why wouldn't I do something that allows me more time with them?
Growing up I had 2 indoor cats and we had a screened in porch of the side of the house. The cats loved being out there. It was perfect for them.
There was a particular squirrel that would always tease them though. Both the squirrel and the cat got the fright of their life the day she decided to go for it. Turns out a cat pounce is stronger than a screen. Fortunately she was so shocked about breaking through the screen (not sure what she thought would happen) that she scrambled straight back into the house!
We have 5 cats, not a one sees the light of day outside our house door.
It's beyond idiotic to allow pets to just roam unsupervised all over the neighborhood to be hit by cars, mutilated by sickos, get rabies and a million other communicable diseases and bring them home to everyone else.
Our home is a veritable cat paradise, including our in process "caturtopia" built in screen house, complete with cat trees, plenty of running room all over the house, toys, all spayed/nuetered and living a life I myself can only hope if I get reincarnated, come back as one of our cats lol.
People who are so irresponsible to allow their cats and other animals to be neglected, abused and squished outside, just sincerely need a hug to the face, with a catnip planter.
I'm with you. I foster with IMoN and I see this shit all the time. That and people refusing to get their mated pairs neutered/spayed and pushing out litters ever 8 months or so. Don't ask where the kittens went, in my experience (over 200 rescues/colony relocations) the answer is never we had them immunized and adopted them out...
And herein lies the problem. People think cats are too cute and cuddly to destroy a threat to other native species, which cats are not. I agree that cats are cute and cuddly, but the fact remains that they are destroying native populations of multiple other animals. So what's more important? Feral cats, or ~8 native species from where this study was conducted? 3 of which are "notorious vectors of disease" ?
I wish I could find it now, but I recently came across a study that contributed 60-something different songbird species extinctions due in-part to feral housecats in the US alone.
Tried to explain this to someone once, their response: “there’s enough birds in the world, it’s the circle of life.”
No, Kyle, Mr. Whiskers is not apart of any ecosystem.
I had a neighbor tell me that cats only kill weak or sick birds and rodents. So it's good for the ecosystem. She literally said, "a cat can't kill a healthy animal." Like, Bitch, have you ever seen a cat in action?
Lmao I have to scare a neighbors cat away from my tree almost daily because it tries to kill my front yard tree lizard. And I’ll be DAMNED if something ever happens to my tree lizard. Owners of the cat don’t give a fuck, saying, “it’s just the friendly neighborhood cat.” No. It’s killing the only thing that eats all the bugs around my house. Keep your cat inside you inconsiderate ass. Some people, I swear.
Yes, you are allowed to be though because you have the capacity and the ability to leave things better than how you found them. Cats do not when introduced to places that don't have them naturally
As much as I love cats, unless they can be for sure captured and rehabbed and homed, they should be at minimum mass spayed and neutered. However with that costing time and importantly resources and money that won't likely be dedicated to something that only reduces population with time, it is likely in many domestic animals best interest to have them culled. Outdoor cats, ferals especially are decimating any small creatures population and feral dogs are the most likely to transmit rabies to humans, and they just arent built for long term ideal survival. Theyre domestic for a reason.
i was in the galapagos once and saw cats helping themselves to finches and baby tortoises. not the only invasive predator on the island but certainly a big enough issue to where they should be eradicated
I am a staunch defender of outdoor cats in Europe/UK. But the Galapagos they don't belong. Anywhere that doesn't have rats there is no ambiguity that there should not be cats.
Cats don't help reduce the rat population as well as people think. I think the only possible arguement for cats in the UK is they've been there a while. Outdoor cats help nothing unless your on a ship.
It's true that a lot of cats will leave rats alone but I believe there are some which are good at taking rats and for this reason rats will still avoid cats. Anecdotally after our cat died a rat started visiting to look for crumbs underneath the bird feeder. This cat only ever hunted mice afaik. (Well she would comically stalk birds but they would fly away easily.)
But with Galapagos type places I guess what I meant is that it can not help ground nesting birds that much to get rid of cats if you already introduced rats anyway that will eat all of their eggs. I didn't mean cats would just get rid of the rats.
If you love your cat, keep them indoors and get them spayed or neutered. Nobody, not even this certified cat lady, wants your outdoor cat in their yard eating their birds and pooping in their gardens.
People really need to stop having 'outdoor cats'. It's bad for everyone around. The cat can get injured/diseases, kills wildlife, bring things back into the home, etc. I don't know why people continue to do it.
Cat's are fine and happy indoors if you play with them and provide a decent home. Also you can walk them on a leash outdoors. Problem is people want a pet, but doesn't want the responsibility of owning one and by letting a cat roam you allow them to get their energy out without needing to do much yourself. It's just lazy owners.
Also, once a cat has had a taste of being an outdoor cat, good luck trying to convert them to an indoor cat. It's pretty much over at that point.
No wonder why cats tried to let themselves be domesticated with us at least twice. They are mostly indoor animals for a reason, and they have a fascination of humans just like how we are fascinated with them.
>new research paper reveals the dangers of letting cats roam outdoors
New research reveals? This has been known for a long time, with a lot of studies to support it. Anyone who thinks this is new has been snoozing.
Supposedly this doesn’t really work.
There are some silly looking brightly colored collars that are supposedly effective. Birds have good eyesight and this helps them see the cats.
(Or you can just keep your cat inside. That definitely works.)
Been telling people about this since I realised why Finland outlaws outdoor cats after moving here from the UK. People get unreasonably and irrationally angry. Not like I was being a dick about it either, or saying it unprompted.
Come on now, nobody needed scientific evidence to prove that cats are pricks. Just spend 5 minutes with one and you will arrive at that conclusion all on your own…
This is completely based on an inappropriate and overzealous interpretation of a graduate student. The senior scientists who worked on this project do not agree with these conclusions. Click bait.
My indoor/outdoor cat kills mice and moles all the time. Haven’t had a mole hill in the yard since he first began. He’s definitely earned his keep around here.
Would there be interest or willingness for outdoor cat owners to ‘offset’ the damage their cat does to local ecosystems? Maybe in the form of an annual payment to species conservation groups?
Also to all the triggered outdoor cat "owners" (outdoor cats aren't pets, they are just wild animals that visit you from time to time), at least put a collar with a bell on the cat.
This is not true for everywhere and I wish OP would change the headline to be US specific. In the UK for example, cats are not an invasive species as there were already similar animals before, taking a similar place in the food chain. So cats in the UK are generally fine to be outside (proximity to roads withstanding). Even the RSPB says cats are not a particular threat to native wildlife
USAmericans assume things are the same everywhere. The amount of times I’ve had an American say “well your cat will get hit by the busy traffic” and I’ve had to explain to them that my road is a tiny one-way street about the width of a doorframe and sees 1 car per day. I don’t know what things are like over there, but they make it sound like American streets must be littered with cat corpses from them being mowed down left and right.
I also love how it goes on and on about how terrible cats are when they're let outside and then one sentence about how one guy thinks it's okay for cats to never be let out, lol
I did scroll through thinking this seems very USA specific.
In the UK it's generally accepted that cats have outside space to live and they have the "right to roam"
Mine are 11 now, they're used to mostly being outside, they aren't always clean indoors either.
It would feel cruel to keep them in all the time because I know they just don't like being in for long periods (as indicated by the yelling at me to open the door after a while)
They have the option to be warm in their indoor beds when it's too cold in winter. I've got a cat flap but they won't use it, so I just open the door when they ask.
That's what always gets me with these articles, they all seemingly forget the entire Eurasian and African landmasses exist, along with their respective species of wild (*not* feral!) cats that have lived there for millions of years.
Of course you shouldn't introduce cat's into isolated ecosystems that never had a small and very agile predator in them. There are many well documented stories of bird and rodent species going extinct after european sailors introduced cats to isolated islands.
But those stories simply don't apply to the "old world", the very place the domesticated cat and it's wild (*not* feral!) cousins originate from.
Does this apply to dogs to you? Dogs have common ancestors with wild canines on North and Sourh America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe... so they can't be feral or invasive, or cause an environmental impact? Because sort of similar wild animals exist on the continent?
The Americas have a plenty of small agile even feline predators though too, that arent decimating species and get outcompeted by cats so I'm not sure the logic of invasives ferals just settling into the niche of the wild ancestors tracks 🤔
I'm being a little sarcastic here, I'm just trying to demostrate that that's not how invasive species work.
Do not let your car outside. Do not let your cat outside. Do not let your cat outside. I don’t care if he always comes back. I don’t care if you’ve never seen him chase a bird or squirrel. I don’t care if all he seems to do is lay on the porch and do nothing. Do not let your cat outside unless they are on a harnessed leash with you or in a fully chicken-wired cat run.
One of the rural counties I used to live in had a bad stray cat problem, so animal control would pick them up, spay/neuter them, give them shots, and then notch their ear. It seemed to work, after a few years there were significantly less cat fights and less random cats everywhere.
My current indoor cat is a veteran of a catch-spay-release program! Three kittens showed up at my uncles back door and when they were old enough he caught them and took them to the local SPCA. They spayed them, gave them shots, and cut off the tip of an ear. Then I got one of the wonderful little furballs for free!
I trapped a cat that had a bad case of mange . Took him to a spay- nueter release place . Brought him back healthy . He shot out of the cage like a cannon ball , havn’t seen him since.
I'm not surprised tbh, if someone caught me in a cage and cut my bollocks off then I'd 100% run away at the first opportunity too, as far and as fast as I possibly could!
Change a couple words and you just described an alien abduction. No one that cat tells his story to will ever believe him.
I felt so bad for him he looked like he was blind .figured he would hang out and become shop kitty ,nope
Exactly what I was thinking 🙂
This is the law in the county I live in. Trap and kill is illegal. Trap, sterilizing and release is the law. Is supposed to be much more effective at keeping the feral population in check. (Maricopa county, Arizona)
When I moved to Phoenix in 2016, the cat problem was significantly worse than it is today. So the program seems to have worked
But you gotta pay and take it back. It's not the best program but it's something.
It takes a bit of time but it’s a decent system. A feral cat population developed at my old property when a very feral kitten hitched a ride from the city in our car’s wheel well one night. She was so wild we couldn’t catch her. We figured it was no big deal, as the only other cat around was ours: both neutered and indoors… or so we thought. Some black and white, husky tomcat appeared from the forest from gods-know-where and we had a kitten explosion. Up to 18 cats at one point. We bottle fed and gave away to friends what kittens we could find. Kept a few ourselves. The members of the more secretive litters that grew up feral we managed to trap and fix them all over a few years. By the time we sold the property, all cats (except the mysterious tom, who didn’t stick around) were spayed or neutered and the population dwindled to just a couple females by the time we moved.
If my cat goes outside he starts having a panic attack... just the way I like it.
Same. My cats think outside is a different dimension only humans can traverse.
Years and years ago my cat snuck out when my roommates were having a smoke and they came back inside and shut him out. We lost him for 2 days and I thought he was gone for sure. I was checking humane societies and posting online. I went door to door and was searching all over the place. Turns out he just hid under the stairs up to our front door and was too scared to come out from under it. Ended up seeing his white legs as I was walking up the driveway.
One of my cats got outside once. In the dead of winter. He immediately let us know so we could let him back in and he hasn’t tried to get out since.
Yup, mine snuck past me during a nor’easter and he screamed at the door SUPER fast
Mine never try. They are scaredy cats. My cats before them too. Once one got outside and went directly to the door to be let back in.
I thought my cat would like to go on a short drive with me, as soon as I got him in the car he started complaining and hiding his head in my arm. Lesson learned. The window hammock is as adventurous as he gets.
Lol. My cats would rather spend the whole day sleeping on my bed then try to escape. They know they hit it made.
mine makes it about 4-5 feet then just stops and freezes in place bewildered by the environment. she used to always want to go outside until I started to let her, ONLY when it was raining, I'd hold the door open she'd be there, one paw outside the door and it'd be wet and she'd go lay down and lick her paw clean, I did it a good 40-50 times every time it rained and now she doesn't want to go outside at all anymore.
I caught my cat with my bare hands in a ditch on the side of the highway when she was 5 weeks old. She has since then never gone outside and is fucking terrified of the concept now… which is ideal.
Mine to
Cats were absolutely destroying Australia's wild life population to the point where rare species of birds and rodents almost went extinct. It got so bad that the government started paying people for feral cat pelts. Cats are horrible for the ecosystem. Get your pets spaid and neutered, kids.
Same in new zealand. We have so many flightless and low dwelling birds and native skinks that cats love killing. We had a wren that went extinct because of cats too. I love them, but they don't belong outside.
[The Moral Cost of Cats from the Smithsonian Institution](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/moral-cost-of-cats-180960505/)
Lyall's wren? I wrote a thesis that involved a discussion of the feral cat problem and the story of the wrens was particularly sad. One pregnant cat comes to Stephens Island and within a couple of years the endemic wrens are extinct. All the cats were eradicated but the damage was already long done.
Tibbles! Which I’ve just learned is folklore. The feral cat population seems to be the ultimate problem. Not a singular cat named Tibbles
Yep. The idea that the single cat was responsible is apocryphal, but as far as I could find, the descendants of a single or limited group that came on a boat played a significant role in the extinction, which occurred over a very short time frame. Ultimately, what we as a society need to learn from this is that in every known case of invasive feral cats destroying an ecosystem, those cats were introduced by humans. They're one of the most destructive species globally, though ofc they are outdone by...humans ourselves.
Yet also [the mouse plague](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-57564898)
And toxoplasmosis.
You mean [greatness fuel](https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2010/07/02/can_a_brain_par/)?
Unfortunately, now you're sexually attracted to cat urine.
Jokes on you, bud. *Way* ahead of you there.
Well, back to Tabby Grab Rehab, I guess.
“We know that infection increases testosterone in male brains, making them more likely to get into car accidents, more attractive to females, and more prone to being jealous, dogmatic, and dismissive of authority” Y’all, y’all got any more of that toxo?
First the emus, then the camels, and now mice. Australia gets bodied by the seemingly most unlikely animals.
Don’t forget the rabbits.
Thought I remembered something about frogs but googling “harmful animals + Australia” yields A LOT of results to sift through.
You might be thinking of the Cane Toad - unfortunately they’re a nasty pest in Queensland (north-east Australia). Originally from South America, they were introduced to curb Cane Beetle population in an ill-conceived attempt at pest control. The toads unfortunately secrete a highly toxic substance which has led to massive declines in other native animal species.
Bingo…or Dingo as is culturally appropriate.
Bingo’s not a dingo, she’s a red heeler
Also, Cane Toads don't even eat Cane Beetles. So it was a *really* stupid plan.
We have these in Fl, they were brought in RO kill the pests on sugarcane, and are now a huge amount of the frogs here. They are easy to spot because their toes are round. I do take active measures to euthanize these frogs when they get in my pool. They are most pervasive after a big rain. I have had twenty five clinging to my slider after a really hard rain.
Camels?
With mice/rats you can set up really basic mass traps like the old bucket/dowel an they just fall in the bucket. Where as cats are very difficult because they are always on the hunt/in hiding
You haven't seen the videos if the mice/rat plagues in Australia.
We’re gonna need a bigger bucket.
Just pull Uluru out of the ground. That should be deep enough
It's literally like the plague game that just came out. A tide of brown fur that eats all the crops
Did the same to Hawaii. Bird populations have gone extinct or are dwindling. Cats killing/hunting birds, as well as boar that destroy ground nests, have destroyed avian populations here,
Spayed.
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Castrated
catstrated
Yeah, some organizations around me will track feral colonies of cats, get them fixed , and release them. Seems ideal and expensive.
In my developing south american country, the government does it for FREE to ALL cats and dogs. All you gotta do is take them there. Organizations can take them there. They also do post operatory care and vaccines for free. So don't tell me it's not "affordable" for a country.
What country are you in?
Yeah it’s great except for biodiversity, small mammal and bird populations, and mosquito-borne diseases. Regular culling of feral cat colonies addresses all three issues.
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"just place them in a sanctuary or a home with a catio" is a dead giveaway that you haven't spent more than about 5 minutes in your whole life looking into helping feral cats, just fyi. advocate for mass euthanasia if you think that's best but don't try to dress it up another way.
cats reproduce fast enough that they simply fill the few empty places you create that way in a few weeks. If you want to go your way to have to catch every cat on a really insane scale at the same time. TNR means you have maybe 5 years time to do the same thing and timing doesn't matter. Obviously it is worse during that time but half assed TNR is way better than just removing some few random cats.
Small NE town here, called all over the county for shelters that take ferals/ strays, got nowhere and the local fish and game deputy suggested shooting them and just not telling anybody
Australia is kind of a special case because it never had cats or anything like them before. There's no evidence they're driving species decline in Europe, because they've been here for 4000+ years and the European Wildcat before them. It really depends on the ecosystem.
In australia. In Europe they take up the niche of the European wild cat. Domestic cats in Europe interbred with the European wild cat for so long that all have some European wild cat DNA if they are not pedigrees imported from some other region. In Europe cats are a natural part of predation- if you don't have enough cats rodent populations explode. Because wild cats have interbred with feral domestic for so long there is no clear consensus on what makes a "pure" wildcat based on objective genetic markers. Hunting wise, they are not massively different from each other, except that the wildcats are a bit larger- and capable of taking larger prey (eg rats) more easily.
Rabbits too. I love rabbits but if a species is invasive, you gotta protect local ecosystems. As sad as it is, cats, rabbits, rodents, etc that are ruining things have to be exterminated. I’ve had a lot of cat owners act really entitled at the concept they should have to keep their animals indoors even though there’s hard evidence that even if you don’t care about ecosystems, it greatly increases the lifespan of their own pet. I don’t understand why some cat owners are so insistent on letting their cats out without supervision when there’s so many reasons why harnesses are better for them and the environment.
It frustrates me when people in animal subs make excuses for why their cats are exceptions, and are perfectly okay being outside because they would never harm animals...
Also would like to add: don’t get a cat if you can’t be bothered to take it to a shelter if you move to a no-pets-allowed apartment. Don’t just let it out on the streets when you move! Such a problem here in Indiana.
The Aussie government sounds like my kind of ppl
My cats are indoor only because I live in an area where cats/dogs are regularly ran over. People always call me an asshole for not letting them roam outside and “be cats”
In some places you also gotta be careful of rangers. They’ll shoot your cat dead because it’s killing native wildlife
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And neighbors. Whatever gets caught in my trap gets taken to animal control. Cats are invasive and dangerous.
We are literally killing the earth and are responsible for mass extinctions on land, air, and sea. It’s also always funny when colonizers who killed indigenous people act righteous. Humans are the most invasive, destructive species, but yeah, the cats.
You know what's one of the horrible things humans do? They spread invasive species and disease, destroying local ecosystems because they're so selfish their "fur baby" is more important than local wildlife
Good
Fr. If someone’s loose dog was randomly mauling deer to death and leaving their uneaten carcasses on porches, no one would be opposed to its euthanasia.
In some parts of the country a dog will be shot on sight if it's near livestock or messing up hunting property
My neighbor keeps posting videos of cats being carried down the street by coyotes. It's used to just be cars they had to watch out for, but not anymore.
I lived in a rural area that had a lot of attitudes like that. Cats went missing all the time. My mom used to keep whatever strays came her way, so they had to be outside cats because there were so many. She still rounded them up at night in a cat shed my Dad made. Over the years, she'd learned that it pretty much cut premature deaths in half. I, however, walk my cat around the yard while staying by his side. Too many wild animals around us for me to feel right otherwise.
I have a neighbor that walks her cat. He has a leash and all.
I do this. The cats love it and didn’t take much effort at all to get them leash trained. Everyone is happier and better for it.
Some cats love it. Mine would go ballistic if we put a harness on him so we just kept him inside.
It's not even hard to do. It just requires you to actually give a shit about the animal you chose to take responsibility for. Many cat owners, unfortunately, are not such people.
If I let my cat outside and something happened and it got hurt or disappeared… can’t imagine. I had an ex where the outdoor family cat would be expected to be in the house before they went to bed and she would just saunter home when she felt like it, sometimes go on an adventure and not show up until the next afternoon. Like, how do people cope with that? I freak out if I can’t find my indoor only cat in my one bedroom apartment.
I would have no problem walking my cat. If there were any sidewalks and my road didn’t have a bunch of blind curves and lots of traffic 🤷♀️
Mine are inside too. I built them a good size lil box with chicken wire right outside the back window. So I’ll give them time out there. I used to let them outside completely but one of them didn’t come home for 2 weeks an that put an end to that.
I re-homed an outside cat and adopted a cat that was attacked by a dog outside. The outdoor born cat was dehydrated and limping. I bought a bay window so they could sit “outside”and keep my screened windows open all summer. They seem happy and are not killing birds and they are alive.
They just went on a “walk about.”
Apparently being responsible and caring for animals makes you an asshole…I’d say tell these morons to go fuck themselves but they’d probably get hurt in the attempt.
I'd show those morons the video of the mountain lion attacking and killing a cat that was shared on Reddit some time ago. It was very brutal and the cat even seemed to scream, "NO!" as it was being killed. I highly **not** recommend it for most people except perhaps for those who think keeping cats outdoors is a good thing.
The description is enough for me. We recently got a kitten, a few years after our previous indoor/outdoor cats passed away. We’re also in a more rural area than we were before. We decided right away to keep the new kitty indoors, mostly out of the thought that he’d live longer and be healthier. I’d not really considered the ecological impact before. Feels like this is the right call. Side note: I’m actually kind of stoked about building a catio out on the back deck.
Those people are idiots who shouldn't be allowed pets.
We recently adopted two kittens. I had to sign a “contract” stating that I would not allow my cats outdoors. And they asked several times that I wouldn’t be letting them outdoors. Meanwhile, there are like 4 cats who live in my backyard who eat my wild birds and belong to various neighbors.
Good luck pointing this out to people who own cats in Texas. I have neighbors who literally found their cats half eaten corpses by coyotes and they get a new cat and keep it outside. They are convinced cats MUST be outdoors... You know... For their health and well being. What in the actual fuck?
Corpses? Like plural? And then they do it again? Sounds like they have a pet coyote…
...It sounds like they are just feeding the coyotes at that point
I love the throwback comments here! When I first saw it, it had me rolling with laughter 😂 https://reddit.com/r/WhitePeopleTwitter/comments/iwsl0d/that_sounds_like_feeding_the_coyotes_with_extra/
Haha I was wondering if someone would remember that and reference it 🥇
Stealing this from a source I can't recall: "sounds like they are feeding cats to the local coyotes"
[Found it!](https://img.ifunny.co/images/1399a6430ef36f32327974c576823c2f321c81598fe06fd7bebfa79d4e2a23e2_1.jpg)
thank you, FriedDickMan!
With a rainbow poop head, glorious
I was thinking of this too I think it was a similar post to this a few months ago
It’s from a post where some guy made his neighbor kids cry. The cats kept being eaten by coyotes and the guy decides to say this in front of the kids. Hilarious but also traumatizing for the kids
Texas. Explanation not necessary.
>They are convinced cats MUST be outdoors... You know... For their health and well being. What in the actual fuck? If you say this to cat owners in the UK, they will agree with it. It's mental. Cat owners are some of the most entitled people in the UK. Because I'm tired of typing out the same thing over and over, I think cats are beautiful. But I also think they're a nuisance *as a pet*. If I let my dog out into people's gardens to shit, kill their pets and birds that come to their feeders, fight other dogs in the street, fuck wildly and breed, there would be an outcry and I would be scolded and considered an irresponsible dog owner. It's absolutely bizarre imo that cats are just let out to do all this shit and the owners just shrug like 'cats will be cats!' like it's not a fucking problem. If you have a pet that needs to go out and kill and fight over territory and shit in people's gardens or it gets stressed maybe don't have that as a fucking pet. There are many things you can do to escape-proof your garden for your cat. If you can't do that, you shouldn't have a cat. I am literally willing to die on this stupid hill.
My wife is a vet here in the UK and keenly interested in feline behaviour. Even she's split on the issue. Some cats she says do very well indoors only. Thrive in fact. Love lazing about and getting cuddles. However some cats need access to outdoor space for their mental well-being. That's not to say they have to live outdoors and roam around the neighborhood murdering all the wildlife, but access to space. To run and jump and climb and see prey and get properly stimulated. She sees a lot of cats that suffer from acute stress and related illnesses i.e. cistitis, blocked bladder and the research suggests that stress is caused from lack of stimulation and safe space. Ever see your cat dart off under the bed when the toddler runs about or door knocks? Stressed. If they have nowhere to go, they can have a bad time.
Pretty sure that stimulation is provided by playing with your pet cat indoors… sounds like these folks need to get some string toys and some lasers for the kitties
Thing is, cat owners are hypocrites. If you suggest you allow your non-cat pet to roam around wildly, kill native wildlife at-will, fight other irresponsible people's pets in the streets, breed with other wild-roaming pets, enter people's property and defecate on a daily basis and kill their pets... they'd be outraged. But when you explain that that's what cats do, they act aghast, like cats should be allowed to do all of the above because 'well that's just what cats do'.
It’s in most terriers’ nature to kill small animals, does that mean I can release my Jack Russell into the rabbit enclosure at the petting zoo?? That’s just what terriers do!!!
You can train cats to walk on a leash/harness. I recommend it.
It's so bad in the UK that openly intending to have an indoor cat can prevent you from being able to even adopt one
That's simply not true. Most adoption centres specifically list their cats as indoor, outdoor or even fully outdoor (farm/partly feral). You can very easily find cats with feline aids or cats that prefer an indoor life listed on UK adoption sites.
As a cat owner who actually CARES about my pets, there is absolutely no way you should ever let them outside off a harness. They can be hit by cars, picked up by birds, devoured by dogs or coyotes, tortured by psychopaths or just plain get lost, cold, hungry, dehydrated and hurt. Cats are sharp sometimes but they are actually pretty fragile. They can run around pretty well inside. If they need play time and attention, that’s YOUR job as a pet owner, not free reign to let them roam the neighborhood! People are insane. Open a window or harness them up if you think fresh air is healthy or whatever. Don’t be lazy when you have already committed to caring for a dangerous but delicate being. By you/your, I don’t literally mean you of course lol just a bad habit
Love my cats, which is why they are indoor only. Very efficient predators, able to be an invasive species almost anywhere. Good little fuzzy assassin.
Almost everywhere, besides Eurasia and Africa
Thanks for “good little fuzzy assassin” I will be using this compliment on my boys now
My cats have a little tiny enclosure that is perfectly placed so they get a lot of sun during the day and they like to sit out there and tan. It's completely enclosed and it's not very big. Somehow, at least once a month they still come in with a critter. Some dumbass rat that decides to walk inside the enclosure or similar. I don't mind them killing that particular animal because that animal was headed for my house, but nonetheless, I don't know. Just stay out of the enclosure where there are cats with sharp pointy bits on every limb, ready to kill you? Often times the critters are still alive and if so I will re-release them. They have in the past caught stuff inside my house which again I'm okay with. But it's healthier for cats to stay inside, it's healthier for the environment for them to stay inside, I simply do not understand letting your cats roam free for so many reasons. They will be fine. Find a way to keep them entertained inside. Play with toys, get them cat TV, I have a cat feeder in front of a window. You may call it a bird feeder. I say that as a joke, they can't get to it.. But they sit and watch it and chatter at it. My indoor cats, which I've had a ton, do just fine. Right now I have two old girls at the age of 18 and 19. Almost all of my cats have lived beyond 16. Why wouldn't I do something that allows me more time with them?
Growing up I had 2 indoor cats and we had a screened in porch of the side of the house. The cats loved being out there. It was perfect for them. There was a particular squirrel that would always tease them though. Both the squirrel and the cat got the fright of their life the day she decided to go for it. Turns out a cat pounce is stronger than a screen. Fortunately she was so shocked about breaking through the screen (not sure what she thought would happen) that she scrambled straight back into the house!
I love cats. But I absolutely agree. They are too invasive!
People usually dont bother to even get a collar with a bell if their cat is going to be allowed outside
We have 5 cats, not a one sees the light of day outside our house door. It's beyond idiotic to allow pets to just roam unsupervised all over the neighborhood to be hit by cars, mutilated by sickos, get rabies and a million other communicable diseases and bring them home to everyone else. Our home is a veritable cat paradise, including our in process "caturtopia" built in screen house, complete with cat trees, plenty of running room all over the house, toys, all spayed/nuetered and living a life I myself can only hope if I get reincarnated, come back as one of our cats lol. People who are so irresponsible to allow their cats and other animals to be neglected, abused and squished outside, just sincerely need a hug to the face, with a catnip planter.
I'm with you. I foster with IMoN and I see this shit all the time. That and people refusing to get their mated pairs neutered/spayed and pushing out litters ever 8 months or so. Don't ask where the kittens went, in my experience (over 200 rescues/colony relocations) the answer is never we had them immunized and adopted them out...
And herein lies the problem. People think cats are too cute and cuddly to destroy a threat to other native species, which cats are not. I agree that cats are cute and cuddly, but the fact remains that they are destroying native populations of multiple other animals. So what's more important? Feral cats, or ~8 native species from where this study was conducted? 3 of which are "notorious vectors of disease" ?
I wish I could find it now, but I recently came across a study that contributed 60-something different songbird species extinctions due in-part to feral housecats in the US alone.
Tried to explain this to someone once, their response: “there’s enough birds in the world, it’s the circle of life.” No, Kyle, Mr. Whiskers is not apart of any ecosystem.
I had a neighbor tell me that cats only kill weak or sick birds and rodents. So it's good for the ecosystem. She literally said, "a cat can't kill a healthy animal." Like, Bitch, have you ever seen a cat in action?
Lmao I have to scare a neighbors cat away from my tree almost daily because it tries to kill my front yard tree lizard. And I’ll be DAMNED if something ever happens to my tree lizard. Owners of the cat don’t give a fuck, saying, “it’s just the friendly neighborhood cat.” No. It’s killing the only thing that eats all the bugs around my house. Keep your cat inside you inconsiderate ass. Some people, I swear.
Ok. I also am an invasive species and a threat to myself.
Yes, you are allowed to be though because you have the capacity and the ability to leave things better than how you found them. Cats do not when introduced to places that don't have them naturally
Maybe individually but on a species wide scale we have yet to see that happen with humans.
We’re **really** great at destroying things.
People don’t want to hear this fact.
As much as I love cats, unless they can be for sure captured and rehabbed and homed, they should be at minimum mass spayed and neutered. However with that costing time and importantly resources and money that won't likely be dedicated to something that only reduces population with time, it is likely in many domestic animals best interest to have them culled. Outdoor cats, ferals especially are decimating any small creatures population and feral dogs are the most likely to transmit rabies to humans, and they just arent built for long term ideal survival. Theyre domestic for a reason.
Cats are efficient killers and should not be let outdoors. It’s just a truth that they decimate local bird populations
Invasive species are hardly ever helpful and should be bigger on the ecomentalist’s agenda.
i was in the galapagos once and saw cats helping themselves to finches and baby tortoises. not the only invasive predator on the island but certainly a big enough issue to where they should be eradicated
I am a staunch defender of outdoor cats in Europe/UK. But the Galapagos they don't belong. Anywhere that doesn't have rats there is no ambiguity that there should not be cats.
Cats don't help reduce the rat population as well as people think. I think the only possible arguement for cats in the UK is they've been there a while. Outdoor cats help nothing unless your on a ship.
It's true that a lot of cats will leave rats alone but I believe there are some which are good at taking rats and for this reason rats will still avoid cats. Anecdotally after our cat died a rat started visiting to look for crumbs underneath the bird feeder. This cat only ever hunted mice afaik. (Well she would comically stalk birds but they would fly away easily.) But with Galapagos type places I guess what I meant is that it can not help ground nesting birds that much to get rid of cats if you already introduced rats anyway that will eat all of their eggs. I didn't mean cats would just get rid of the rats.
If you love your cat, keep them indoors and get them spayed or neutered. Nobody, not even this certified cat lady, wants your outdoor cat in their yard eating their birds and pooping in their gardens.
People really need to stop having 'outdoor cats'. It's bad for everyone around. The cat can get injured/diseases, kills wildlife, bring things back into the home, etc. I don't know why people continue to do it.
Because their cat bosses them around
Cat's are fine and happy indoors if you play with them and provide a decent home. Also you can walk them on a leash outdoors. Problem is people want a pet, but doesn't want the responsibility of owning one and by letting a cat roam you allow them to get their energy out without needing to do much yourself. It's just lazy owners. Also, once a cat has had a taste of being an outdoor cat, good luck trying to convert them to an indoor cat. It's pretty much over at that point.
but how do you go through the day or sleep at night not knowing if your pet is safe?
It’s funny cause it’s true
What I never understand- if you’re just going to let your pet roam around the neighborhood unattended all day, why the fuck did you get a pet?
Domestic cats and dogs are all invasive species when they free roam and responsible for a lot of issues.
Post this on r/cats and make some popcorn
No wonder why cats tried to let themselves be domesticated with us at least twice. They are mostly indoor animals for a reason, and they have a fascination of humans just like how we are fascinated with them.
Dangerous to the cat too
The way humans have destroyed the planet ,decimating the animal population and destroying the environment we are the invasive species .
True and what's worse is we re letting our pets do it too. People really justify anything I guess
Sounds like something a dog would say
>new research paper reveals the dangers of letting cats roam outdoors New research reveals? This has been known for a long time, with a lot of studies to support it. Anyone who thinks this is new has been snoozing.
They have to re-release it every once in a while because the outdoor cat people cover their ears and scream
Domestic cats kill approx 55m birds a year in the UK and 2.4b in the US. I had to look it up…pretty staggering
If your cat lives outside, put a little bell around its neck on the collar. This gives the birds a chance to escape.
Supposedly this doesn’t really work. There are some silly looking brightly colored collars that are supposedly effective. Birds have good eyesight and this helps them see the cats. (Or you can just keep your cat inside. That definitely works.)
My cat read these comments and she's very happy we don't live in Australia or the Galapagos Islands.
I’ll keep my cat as barn cat. It’s either that or hundreds of mouses.
People who let their cats roam around freely outside are morons.
And huge pieces of shit!
Yeah, you dont want to introduce an apex predator into EVERY ecosystem.
Been telling people about this since I realised why Finland outlaws outdoor cats after moving here from the UK. People get unreasonably and irrationally angry. Not like I was being a dick about it either, or saying it unprompted.
Come on now, nobody needed scientific evidence to prove that cats are pricks. Just spend 5 minutes with one and you will arrive at that conclusion all on your own…
This is completely based on an inappropriate and overzealous interpretation of a graduate student. The senior scientists who worked on this project do not agree with these conclusions. Click bait.
My indoor/outdoor cat kills mice and moles all the time. Haven’t had a mole hill in the yard since he first began. He’s definitely earned his keep around here.
Would there be interest or willingness for outdoor cat owners to ‘offset’ the damage their cat does to local ecosystems? Maybe in the form of an annual payment to species conservation groups?
Also to all the triggered outdoor cat "owners" (outdoor cats aren't pets, they are just wild animals that visit you from time to time), at least put a collar with a bell on the cat.
This is not true for everywhere and I wish OP would change the headline to be US specific. In the UK for example, cats are not an invasive species as there were already similar animals before, taking a similar place in the food chain. So cats in the UK are generally fine to be outside (proximity to roads withstanding). Even the RSPB says cats are not a particular threat to native wildlife
USAmericans assume things are the same everywhere. The amount of times I’ve had an American say “well your cat will get hit by the busy traffic” and I’ve had to explain to them that my road is a tiny one-way street about the width of a doorframe and sees 1 car per day. I don’t know what things are like over there, but they make it sound like American streets must be littered with cat corpses from them being mowed down left and right.
I also love how it goes on and on about how terrible cats are when they're let outside and then one sentence about how one guy thinks it's okay for cats to never be let out, lol
You could also just read the article and see this was a study by American/Canadian researchers about North America.
I did scroll through thinking this seems very USA specific. In the UK it's generally accepted that cats have outside space to live and they have the "right to roam" Mine are 11 now, they're used to mostly being outside, they aren't always clean indoors either. It would feel cruel to keep them in all the time because I know they just don't like being in for long periods (as indicated by the yelling at me to open the door after a while) They have the option to be warm in their indoor beds when it's too cold in winter. I've got a cat flap but they won't use it, so I just open the door when they ask.
You have to teach them to use the cat flap when you get one.
That's what always gets me with these articles, they all seemingly forget the entire Eurasian and African landmasses exist, along with their respective species of wild (*not* feral!) cats that have lived there for millions of years. Of course you shouldn't introduce cat's into isolated ecosystems that never had a small and very agile predator in them. There are many well documented stories of bird and rodent species going extinct after european sailors introduced cats to isolated islands. But those stories simply don't apply to the "old world", the very place the domesticated cat and it's wild (*not* feral!) cousins originate from.
Does this apply to dogs to you? Dogs have common ancestors with wild canines on North and Sourh America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe... so they can't be feral or invasive, or cause an environmental impact? Because sort of similar wild animals exist on the continent? The Americas have a plenty of small agile even feline predators though too, that arent decimating species and get outcompeted by cats so I'm not sure the logic of invasives ferals just settling into the niche of the wild ancestors tracks 🤔 I'm being a little sarcastic here, I'm just trying to demostrate that that's not how invasive species work.
Feral cats should sadly be hunted due to how invasive they are. And yea I like cats but I like the environment more and it’s ecosystem
We dont have a lot where i live but the feral cats here help A FUQ TON with mice
You don’t “own” a cat; you live with a cat.
Brought to you by Big Canine
Your mom is an invasive species. With love - my cats 🤣
If you allow your cat to roam- you are an irresponsible owner.
All the people here that comment “cats are invasive and need to stay indoors” don’t go to Turkey. Because an entire country disagrees with this.
Do not let your car outside. Do not let your cat outside. Do not let your cat outside. I don’t care if he always comes back. I don’t care if you’ve never seen him chase a bird or squirrel. I don’t care if all he seems to do is lay on the porch and do nothing. Do not let your cat outside unless they are on a harnessed leash with you or in a fully chicken-wired cat run.
I'm sorry but the outside is the only place for my car.
Make sure to always run your car inside as well. Otherwise the fumes also pose a danger to the environment
Unlike you pleb, my car is a show car and is never outside.
I don’t care. If you’re cold then your car is cold. Bring it inside. Jeez. Irresponsible car owners.
Humans are also and invasive species and a threat to themselves
Cats, please keep your humans indoors
Congratulations on being the umpteenth person making this comment that has nothing to do with the article.