House Cats

[LisaLQ]

Sorry to hear about your cat Coloradogirl - similar story to my 5 year old neutered tom Smokey. We adopted him from the CPL, within 5 months he'd died of feline leukaemia. Why? Because someone didn't think to vaccinate him before they let him out (in his previous home - and the CPL didn't bother to test him - who's worse I dont know, but they never replied to my letter to their head office asking for an explanation). He was always a much loved house cat with us.

Obviously we didn't have him as long as you had yours, so your pain must have been even worse (((hugs))) - it was really hard for me to get over. He went from fat cuddly happy lad, to skinny, yellow furred/eyed (from liver damage caused), blind, incontinent and with no energy to even lift his body. He had to stay in at the vets for a week, and on the day the tests came back they called me back in - and despite being blind, he rolled on his back for a tickle knowing it was me. And minutes later he was put to sleep. Broke my heart.

Like Bex said - there's arguments for both sides - it depends on the cat. But sometimes there are reasons other than convenience for folks to keep their cats indoors, so not all folks who keep theirs in are doing it out of laziness.

 

[lljdma06]

Hi, if any of you guys keep house cats, why do you?

Thanks

I won't even address the resulting extended debate. Both sides have argued their points well.

I keep and will always keep cats indoors. My current cat, a Turkish Angora named Lily in an indoor cat.

1. There are too many feral cats in my neighborhood that spread disease.
2. There are too many vicious dogs in my neighborhood.
3. I live near a busy road and not a day goes by that I don't encounter somebody else's pet in pieces on the road.
4. She doesn't like the outdoors. She won't go outside.

I cannot read her mind, but looking at her body language, her affection towards me and my family, I can garner that she is happy.

That's all I have to say.

 

[Synirr]

Sorry to hear about your cat Coloradogirl - similar story to my 5 year old neutered tom Smokey. We adopted him from the CPL, within 5 months he'd died of feline leukaemia. Why? Because someone didn't think to vaccinate him before they let him out

Unfortunately there is no good vaccine for FeLV, and the one that was produced in 2002 apparently isn't available in the UK at all anyway... at this time, the only good way to make sure you cat is safe, particularly if you live in an area where there are other outdoor cats about that might be carrying disease, is to keep them indoors.

I visited the cat I'm adopting at the cat hospital today (being treated for a scratched eye, nothing major,) and there was a cat there with FeLV who was waiting for a foster. The rescue organization is trying their best to find someone without cats to foster or adopt him, but they can't afford to keep him forever in hopes of finding him a home if someone doesn't act quickly... That sort of thing is what drives people to keep their cats indoor-only. More and more that is seeming like the most attractive option to me unless you live in an area where your cats will have no contact with other cats, the risk of deadly disease is just too high. Many years ago my grandmother's cat, who was originally a stray that made itself at home with her, died of FeLV, and it was a very sad thing to see indeed. I'd never forgive myself if my unwillingness to provide a safe home for my cat led to such an end.

 

[RandomWiktor]

I've noticed FIP doesn't get enough attention, either, and I'm pretty sure it has no reliable vaccine as well. My cat was infected with it, probably during the 6 months he lived feral before I found him and brought him home. For people who aren't familiar with the disease - feline infectious peritonitis - it is extremely nasty, and extremely contageous, and can be difficult to test for to boot. It has two forms - the "wet" form which is most common, and the "dry" form. Both forms kill the cat in a brutal, horrific way, but one does it when the cat is young and one when the cat is old.
Cats with the "wet" form of FIP will almost always die before the age of two. Their body cavity - the peritoneum - fills with fluid at an increasing rate. You can have it drained off by having a large guage needle jammed into the cat's belly, but by the end of the disease, you'd have to do this practically every day. For those of you who know how cats feel about vets, restraints, and needles, you know that is no quality of life for a cat. So, without the draining or euthanasia, the cat's entire body cavity swells with fluid until the lungs, heart, and vital organs are compressed. Typically, they suffocate to death as their lungs colapse from the pressure.
The "dry" form of FIP - which my cat has - generally occurs in animals who didn't have a high enough virus load when young to kill them then, and developed enough of an immune response to keep it basically at bay (or at least this is how my vet described it). As they age, however, and become weaker, the disease regains control. This time, however, the swelling occurs mostly in the digestive system, causing pressure that eventually leads to massive intestinal irritation and bleeding. The end result is often that the cat hemmorages to death very painfully; I know two owners of cats with FIP who awoke to their cat screeching and bleeding in the night.

It is, as Synirr said, things like this - and the massive amount of FeLV, FIV, and FIP cats being PTS in shelters even though they could live healthily for years - that make people want to keep their cats indoors. If you live in an area with ferals, or a high concentration of roaming cats, I guarentee that these diseases are present, and if your cat is not vaccinated - or even if he/she is - it will eventually become diseased as well. See, unlike most wild predators, who spread out their territories and die very prematurely if they become ill since they have no humans to feed them when they are too weak to hunt, domesticated cats are all crammed into one area, and can keep kicking even when near death because humans (or dumpsters) feed them.
Anyone who has experience with the disaster that bird feeders have become knows how easily disease is spread when animals have an easy food source and a high concentration. We had serious problems in my state a few years back with massive amounts of birds dying off from a communicable disease that encrusts the eyes and nasal passages. Birds afflicted have trouble finding food, obviously, so they tended to hang around bird feeders. However, when healthy birds ate out of the same feeders, they too became sick, and because such an unusually high amount of sick birds were mingling with healthy birds at one food source, we ended up with really an entire generation of birds that became deathly ill. I don't even have a songbird liscence, and the DEC was letting me take them out of desperation because every rehabber was FULL.
So, if you live in one of those places in the US where cats outnumber people (yes, they do exist), or where ferals and roaming cats are abundant... you might want to think about the disease angle.

 

[vancouver]

We used to let our cats out wherever they wanted... but most of our cats have been run over.. the last one about 3 months ago.. Person must have been going 120 KM/ hour.. judging by the screeching tires. That's a residential 50 km zone.

Anyways, we now only let them out into the backyard, and encourage them to stay there... if we ever see them in the front yard we catch em and bring em in.. then yell at them so they know they shouldn't be out there.

It's been working out quite well.. they still get to go outside, they just have to stay in the backyard!

 

[LisaLQ]

Sorry to hear about your cat Coloradogirl - similar story to my 5 year old neutered tom Smokey. We adopted him from the CPL, within 5 months he'd died of feline leukaemia. Why? Because someone didn't think to vaccinate him before they let him out

Unfortunately there is no good vaccine for FeLV, and the one that was produced in 2002 apparently isn't available in the UK at all anyway... at this time, the only good way to make sure you cat is safe, particularly if you live in an area where there are other outdoor cats about that might be carrying disease, is to keep them indoors.

We did keep him indoors, it was his previous owners who didn't.

 

[MtbGirl]

I keep and will always keep cats indoors......

3. I live near a busy road....
4. She doesn't like the outdoors. She won't go outside.

I cannot read her mind, but looking at her body language, her affection towards me and my family, I can garner that she is happy.

That's all I have to say.

I feel the same way. Too many diseases and people out there (not to mention other animals) who could hurt my cats. One of them is shy, she wouldn't last too long outdoors anyway. The other is braver, he would definitely make it out there on his own.

They both show affection for me and we have quite a bond. I don't think they regret not being let out. They don't even go for the door when it's open!!!

 

[Synirr]

Sorry to hear about your cat Coloradogirl - similar story to my 5 year old neutered tom Smokey. We adopted him from the CPL, within 5 months he'd died of feline leukaemia. Why? Because someone didn't think to vaccinate him before they let him out

Unfortunately there is no good vaccine for FeLV, and the one that was produced in 2002 apparently isn't available in the UK at all anyway... at this time, the only good way to make sure you cat is safe, particularly if you live in an area where there are other outdoor cats about that might be carrying disease, is to keep them indoors.

We did keep him indoors, it was his previous owners who didn't.

Yeah, that wasn't directed at you, just a general comment

 

[LisaLQ]

Oops sorry

 

[Nook29]

I have now two indoor cats, but before I used to let my cats out.

First got urolith and disappeared to woods to die and I could not help him because I didn't find him.

Second lived quite long life but then a fox took her just under my window. I heard her screaming and saw the hair left.

Third was hit by a car when she was only under a year old.

Fourth was mutilated by mower that was cutting roadberm. He came home with his tail hanging behind him with thin piece of skin. His bladder and most of guts left by the road. He had to be put down obviously.

Fifth outdoor cat is still living but I have to take him to a vet about 10 times a year because of many injuries he gets from fighting with other outdoor cats.

So cats 6 and 7 are stayin inside. I don't want to see any more brutal ways for cat to die painfully.

Sure I would like to own a big house and travel a lot. But I'm quite happy in my boring life in my small apartment too...

The further I got through your post, the more I wanted to cry. I just hate it when things like that happen to cats, or any animal for that matter. That's terrible what happened to some of your cats, especially the mower and fox ones.

 

[Medionsaturn]

To be honest my Cats are self-confessed house cats and couldn't be happier(though Midnight will spend upto half the day outside if there's nice weather and someone to pet them).


If I left the door open all day, Calypso, wouldn't even glance at the outside. He goes straight in and lies infront of the slide-open door in the dining room infront of the blinds most of the time. And they have choice picks of which bed to sleep on. To be honest, their treated like royalty and sleep most of the time(fat and boring like the Cat stereotype). The only problem with their lives is when family members disturb them by cuddling them.


There was a terrible evil cat that used to be in the field and was an outdoor cat, it had nearly killed our cats twice(once it got Calypso under a car, the other time it trapped Midnight in the field) and had killed a cat called Snoopy before.


I feel much safer if their inside, I don't like it when they stay out 'till Midnight in the field. Plus with the unpredictability of humans(some people may see them and think of evil intentions), the fact that horses roam the fields and that people sometimes walk their Dogs in the field it makes me feel rather helpless.


If the Cat has a nice spot(or 50) to snooze, humans to pamper and play with them, and some toys to play with I don't see why they can't live inside(though if they can go outside safely and like going outside I don't see why not).


I think that it all depends on personality. As someone said, they have the intelligence of a 2 year old human and I treat them like one. I always acknowledge their presence and speak to them and spend time with them, like a human in the form of a Cat.