Should cats be allowed to roam at large?

[melscarandtruckrental]

Let's see how many pet owners here believe their cats have a right to roam at large.

[GordonH]

Nope, mine are both indoor cats. Would not risk them getting hit by a vehicle or late night meal for local coyote's.

[Walking Wounded]

Keep all pets properly confined on your own property where they belong. If I wanted cats in my yard I would own one.

[Captain Awesome]

Hey, I don't even agree with women roaming freely outside...

[high.output]

I think as long as the pets are not roaming the streets and they are in their own back yard it should be fine....i just don't like when they are in parking lots under cars or something and someone will run them over.

[amomof2dogs]

I have 2 cats that are indoor only cats.

[kgcayenne]

Thank you to all those who keep their pets indoors.





To the nimrod that lets a cat roam where I live:
Your cat tore holes in my patio screen, it's not an easy fix, dillhole. The neighbour across from me is tired of the smell your cat leaves behind when it has claimed the space under her breakfast nook as its litter box. If I find out who you are, maybe we’ll relocate all her contaminated soil to your balcony.[/end rant]

[twofingers]

Depends on whom the cats vote for in the West Kelowna byelection.

[Nicolette_Fuller]

I live in the middle of the city and wouldn't dream of letting my cat outside, there are too many cars and people not watching. I've seen too many dead kitties on the road to consider it :(

[hobbyguy]

The situation does not have a "one size" fits all.

Our cats started their lives on 5 acres where it didn't matter. We got them because we were having rodent problems. No more rodent problems. Then through various moves we wound up in surburban lot situations.

The biggest problem is with neighbors who aren't cat people and tend to put open flower beds under the cover of eaves. I always use landscape cloth and crushed rock in those situations, but that's a personal choice. Open dry soil flower beds are a roaming cat magnet.

One solution that worked with a very understanding neighbor was a borrowed live trap and a squirt gun. Our tom got caught heading for their flower bed, and after a good soaking he never even went that direction again. (We paid for repellent for them to try, but it didn't work). That situation was in Prince George - where folks are a bit more laid back about these things.

We had the same problem when we moved here. I offered to "cat proof" the beds for the neighbor, but he deferred and did that himself - but not with 100% success. The place we moved into had zero landscaping - just grass. When I landscaped, I put in an open bed with lilacs in one corner, and that solved the problem - no point going across the road when what they wanted was right at hand.

That neighbor continued to have issues, and in wtaching we discovered that feral cats in the area (we live near a park) were the culprits. So he finally gave up and put landscape cloth and crushed stone in the beds.

Our cats were pretty old, and within about a year of doing our landscaping, their world shrank to out the back door, and around to the front - to come inside and use the litter box. One is gone now. The other is retired from anything more serious than going from the back door to the front. So retired in fact, that when mice moved in under my shed, I had to buy mouse traps.

We don't plan to have any more cats after the old girl goes.

It would be pretty hard to get a cat that grew up on acreage to change to a strictly indoor cat after 19 yrs.

That said - go back to why folks originally got cats. Rodents. A neighbor up the street likes to feed the birds. But bird feeders attract mice. They don't like cats, and send their dog out to chase them off every time they see one. Of course the reason the cats are in their yard is - mice. So the cats they don't like are doing them a favor, keeping the mouse problem under control. I've observed the cat from two doors down happily leaving their yard with fat mice in his mouth.

I know folks will cite toxoplasmosis with reference to cats, but that is really minor compared to the dangers of rodent droppings http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html

So put on your gardening gloves, andbe aware of the favor cats are doing for you.

[melscarandtruckrental]

The situation does not have a "one size" fits all.

Our cats started their lives on 5 acres where it didn't matter. We got them because we were having rodent problems. No more rodent problems. Then through various moves we wound up in surburban lot situations.

The biggest problem is with neighbors who aren't cat people and tend to put open flower beds under the cover of eaves. I always use landscape cloth and crushed rock in those situations, but that's a personal choice. Open dry soil flower beds are a roaming cat magnet.

One solution that worked with a very understanding neighbor was a borrowed live trap and a squirt gun. Our tom got caught heading for their flower bed, and after a good soaking he never even went that direction again. (We paid for repellent for them to try, but it didn't work). That situation was in Prince George - where folks are a bit more laid back about these things.

We had the same problem when we moved here. I offered to "cat proof" the beds for the neighbor, but he deferred and did that himself - but not with 100% success. The place we moved into had zero landscaping - just grass. When I landscaped, I put in an open bed with lilacs in one corner, and that solved the problem - no point going across the road when what they wanted was right at hand.

That neighbor continued to have issues, and in wtaching we discovered that feral cats in the area (we live near a park) were the culprits. So he finally gave up and put landscape cloth and crushed stone in the beds.

Our cats were pretty old, and within about a year of doing our landscaping, their world shrank to out the back door, and around to the front - to come inside and use the litter box. One is gone now. The other is retired from anything more serious than going from the back door to the front. So retired in fact, that when mice moved in under my shed, I had to buy mouse traps.

We don't plan to have any more cats after the old girl goes.

It would be pretty hard to get a cat that grew up on acreage to change to a strictly indoor cat after 19 yrs.

That said - go back to why folks originally got cats. Rodents. A neighbor up the street likes to feed the birds. But bird feeders attract mice. They don't like cats, and send their dog out to chase them off every time they see one. Of course the reason the cats are in their yard is - mice. So the cats they don't like are doing them a favor, keeping the mouse problem under control. I've observed the cat from two doors down happily leaving their yard with fat mice in his mouth.

I know folks will cite toxoplasmosis with reference to cats, but that is really minor compared to the dangers of rodent droppings http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html

So put on your gardening gloves, andbe aware of the favor cats are doing for you.

[Fancy]

I'm not sure what the point is of reposting hobbyguy's post.

[baconbits]

We have two cats, both indoor. If they're lucky we let them out but have a 5ft leash on them.

btw cats are soooo much cooler than dogs!

[Always Sunny]

My cat was born a barn kitten and raised a house cat. Not knowing any differently she's perfectly content being indoors.

As for mice, Buckerfield's has very effective live traps to take of that issue.

[Fancy]

I prefer cats stay out of my garden and have used mouse traps to clear up the rodent problem. Mailboxes and telephone poles seem to have missing cat posters on them quite frequently. Owners not caring about disposable pets?