Here is my controversial take: if it is true that a cat needs to be let outdoors unsupervised in order to live a happy life full of enrichment, then we should not have pet cats at all.
TW: Discussions of animal death.
Letting a cat wander outside unsupervised is cruel both to local wildlife, but also cruel to the cat.
Letting cats outside is often introducing a non-native species to an ecosystem which has not evolved to deal with cats. How is it any different to us accidentally introducing invasive rats, weasels, and other small predatory mammals into ecosystems? We invest a lot of money into ridding sensitive ecosystems of these invasive species but we turn a blind eye to cats because we selfishly benefit from them being around us, whether it’s because we find them cute or because they provide a practical use for us as mousers.
I’m fed up of my neighbours cats who visit my garden. They poop in my planters where I grow vegetables that I eat, which presents a serious health risk to me. The cats predate the birds who visit my garden, which has exclusively been successful on fledglings and other young birds. So far, it has not been a species that is vulnerable and it’s only common garden birds, but cats will kill indiscriminately and I have heard many horror stories of endangered birds being predated by cats owned by friends-of-friends.
A pigeon couple has been building a nest in a tree in my garden, but this morning I saw it was predated. I found a chewed open egg, and when showing a photo to my ornithologist friend she theorizes it was most likely a cat as the puncture into the egg shell will have been cleaner if it had been a predatory bird. Predation is a natural part of life, but this predation was not by a natural predator which is part of our local ecosystem and thus I am very upset…
But not only that, I believe letting a cat go outdoors unsupervised is cruel to the cat. Cats so often go missing, more often than not killed by cars. In other countries there are dangerous animals who can kill cats. This is not an issue here but I have personally had to dispose of dead cats who turn up in my garden after being run over on the road in front of my house. I don’t think there is any other common pet animal where we so easily expose them to dangers we cannot protect them from.
Just to say, I do not hate cats. I do not blame the cats for pooping in my vegetable beds, or hunting on my property. They are animals only doing what their instincts dictate, and often are doing what we ourselves have taught them when we first domesticated them. Equally, to a degree I struggle to blame some cat owners as people will often argue that keeping a cat inside is cruel, and they do not desire to be cruel to their cats. The intentions are good, and education on this matter is poor.
There is an issue here which needs to be discussed, and the hypocracies we have normalized need to be challenged. For me, I feel that cats either need to be kept indoors if we can verify that this is not cruel to the cat, or we should be required to supervise our cats outdoors like we are supposed to do with dogs, or we should stop having pet cats. Having unsupervised outdoor cats is unacceptable.
Edit: Grammar and adding a TW just to be safe!
… Put a bell on your cat. Problem solved.
We have 1 indoor/outdoor cat. She LOVES to go outside, if she’s stuck inside she gets matted fur, gains weight, and is generally angry/sassy. If she gets to go out, she’s a happy kitty. And she can’t hunt outside animals because of her bell.
This post appears to be based on a general lack of knowledge or understand of feline behavior and needs. You appear to be thinking cats are dogs, which they are not…
“It’s cruel to the cats”. No, no isn’t, you’re projecting onto cats. Sure, some people leave their cats out to starve and fend for themselves in an urban environment, that can be cruel. But a cat being outside is not cruel, and it’s rather asinine to say so.
No, putting a bell on your cat does not solve the problem.
Bells reduce the success of cats when hunting but it does not completely prevent them from being successful when hunting. You can see my reply to another comment asking about bells and reflective collars on cats here where I have plenty of sources to back this up.
Personally, I would argue that reducing success when hunting is not good enough. If you do not agree with this, then there is no point in us debating this topic.
Your comment also does not address the other problems raised in this post. Putting a bell on your cat doesn’t stop it from being killed by cars and dangerous animals.
It’s pretty cruel to put your cat in a prime position to get hit by a car though
Or to come into contact with coyotes and raccoons.
It’s also just ultimately selfish to not put the work in to provide indoor enrichment. Of course it’s not an easy adjustment when the cat is used to being outdoors, but it’s doable. Just requires some effort on the part of the owner.
Coyotes and racoons aren’t a thing everywhere, but cars and transmissible diseases are!
By the same note, it’s cruel to let your kid play outside for the same logic no? Or for you to let your spouse drive anywhere? How could you let them use the sidewalk when you know there is a chance they could be hit by a car? You are putting them at risk, shame on you for being a bad parent, and a bad spouse to put them at risk. (See how circular that logic is now? It can be applied to everyone and everything)
Quality of life depends on a certain level of risk in every case.
I don’t want my cat ran over, that’s why the other 5 are indoor only. The 6th is indoor/outdoor because she is happier that way, and was a rescue who would otherwise be dead.
I put value in my animals quality of life, and I’m not so selfish as to detract from it because I’m scared for them. If that quality of life depends on them wandering about the back yard, then I do what I can to facilitate it so they are happy.
She has a bell breakaway collar so she can’t hunt, she has a chip so she can be identified, water and food is put out and removed daily, a stand is out on our porch so she hangs out there…etc implying that cat owners are negligent just because they don’t meet your one specific criteria is almost toxic.
The armchair argument you are presenting is black and white, AND circular, which means it’s ignoring the nuances and is peeping in through a slit just big enough to be critical of others but not big enough for there to be actual understanding. Almost a fallacy really 🤔
Edit: Maybe I should leave this thread. After I got my first cat I was fascinated by their behavior, and started learning about their characteristics and the science behind them, and eventually started rescuing cats (Which is how I ended up with 6…).
So I’m emotionally attached to the topic, and find the quality of the stances in this thread to be both dissipointing and frustrating. Especially when those stances are both cherry-picked and accusatory, and expect the cat owners to defend themselves instead of discussing the nuanced topic. And when replies only pick one small piece to argue against, instead of the topic as a whole.
You can explain to a kid not to play in the street, and punish them if they disobey. You can ask your spouse not to engage in risky behavior with the car. You really can’t explain shit to a cat.
Humans are sapient. Your cat is not. Treating your cat by human standards is not fair to the cat.
Cats are perfectly capable of visually identifying threats. The problem is not that cats lack intelligent minds. The problem is that they don’t understand our speech, which likely requires specific brain circuitry that cats don’t have.
…You are agreeing with me. Sapience is what you are describing. Cats are sentient, not sapient.