Indoor cats

It's interesting, do you think it's a cultural thing? How long have
people in the US been doing these things? Perhaps it's not the general
population, just people in cat groups As I say, I wasn't saying
that either way is right, it's just interesting how people do things
differently.

Marcia
Lord Otis's slave and minder

[Replying to RCPA only]

In most of the parts of the US where I've lived, letting cats outdoors
would have gretly reduced their lifespans. Even in heavily urbanized areas
like Silicon Valley, it was not all that unusual to see coyotes coming
down out of the hills and prowling residential neighborhoods at night.

The part of town we live in now is one of the nicest. There are dogs
running loose once in a while, cars driving by way too fast, and coyotes
and mountain lions coming out of the river bottom. However, our kitties do
love their outside time!

We have a little back yard, completely fenced. I've securely blocked all
of the gaps between fence posts and walks, raised the top of the fence
with plastic netting, and in general made the yard cat-proof. None of the
kitties has ever left the yard since we finished the kitty proofing. And
since they have a safe place, they love to spend time outdoors. They love
to be able to lie in the sun, to chase bugs and lizards, to hunt gophers,
and to have room to run and play with each other.

If I didn't have a kitty-proof yard I wouldn't even dream of letting them
outdoors. It would be a very fast death sentence. The only exceptions are
that Harri Roadcat loves to go for leash walks, Ranger seems to like it a
lot, and Amelia doesn't mind a short leash walk once in a while.

Dan

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
kilikini wrote:
"Janet B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:13:55 GMT, "kilikini"
, clicked their heels and said:

You can't have an indoor/outdoor cat without
infesting your house with fleas, mites and ticks or whatever. I
just don't see the point.

kili


While my cats stay in, for their safety and wellbeing, the above
comment is absurd. Dogs go out every day and don't infest houses
with fleas, mites and ticks, and cats are no different.

My cats can go on the deck or patio with us, but never unattended
outside, and I don't trust the dog behind me not to come over the
fence at them, so close to the house or not at all. Skipjack say not
at all - he will stay in an open doorway.

As far as cultural differences, the US is a very different place from
many other countries. The population (human, feline,, canine, wild
animals) just can't be compared, nor that vicious beast, the
automobile.



Ha! I've had dogs before that were indoor/outdoor dogs. I'm sorry,
Frontline doesn't cut it. I gave my dog frontline 2 times a month
and I'd still pick about 200 ticks off of him and he was infested
with fleas. I gave him baths weekly. The products don't work. Try
to live on Maui and see if you don't have the same results.

kili

kili, dear... do yourself (and rpca) a favour and cut out the cross
posting
when you reply. There are some real fanatics on h+b who like to lord it
over everyone, them being "experts" (ha!)

Needless to say, you are correct. I don't know about other folks, but my
dog - Sampson (RB) - was an indoor dog; he only went out to use the potty.

Jill


But you do mean you took him out for a walk regularly where he could have a
run off the lead now and again?

Tweed

Christina Websell wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
kilikini wrote:
"Janet B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:13:55 GMT, "kilikini"
, clicked their heels and said:

You can't have an indoor/outdoor cat without
infesting your house with fleas, mites and ticks or whatever. I
just don't see the point.

kili


While my cats stay in, for their safety and wellbeing, the above
comment is absurd. Dogs go out every day and don't infest houses
with fleas, mites and ticks, and cats are no different.

My cats can go on the deck or patio with us, but never unattended
outside, and I don't trust the dog behind me not to come over the
fence at them, so close to the house or not at all. Skipjack say
not at all - he will stay in an open doorway.

As far as cultural differences, the US is a very different place
from many other countries. The population (human, feline,,
canine, wild animals) just can't be compared, nor that vicious
beast, the automobile.



Ha! I've had dogs before that were indoor/outdoor dogs. I'm sorry,
Frontline doesn't cut it. I gave my dog frontline 2 times a month
and I'd still pick about 200 ticks off of him and he was infested
with fleas. I gave him baths weekly. The products don't work. Try
to live on Maui and see if you don't have the same results.

kili

kili, dear... do yourself (and rpca) a favour and cut out the cross
posting
when you reply. There are some real fanatics on h+b who like to
lord it over everyone, them being "experts" (ha!)

Needless to say, you are correct. I don't know about other folks,
but my dog - Sampson (RB) - was an indoor dog; he only went out to
use the potty.

Jill


But you do mean you took him out for a walk regularly where he could
have a run off the lead now and again?

Tweed

I once had a house where I could let him run in the fenced yard for a bit.
When it snowed, I went out and dug a trench in the snow for him to be able
to poop and pee. Otherwise he never ran off the leash. I walked with
him... his lead extended to about 20 feet. I have always lived too close to
a busy street to let him run off the lead. He lived 18 years so apparently
I did something the right way

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
news
Christina Websell wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
kilikini wrote:
"Janet B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:13:55 GMT, "kilikini"
, clicked their heels and said:

You can't have an indoor/outdoor cat without
infesting your house with fleas, mites and ticks or whatever. I
just don't see the point.

kili


While my cats stay in, for their safety and wellbeing, the above
comment is absurd. Dogs go out every day and don't infest houses
with fleas, mites and ticks, and cats are no different.

My cats can go on the deck or patio with us, but never unattended
outside, and I don't trust the dog behind me not to come over the
fence at them, so close to the house or not at all. Skipjack say
not at all - he will stay in an open doorway.

As far as cultural differences, the US is a very different place
from many other countries. The population (human, feline,,
canine, wild animals) just can't be compared, nor that vicious
beast, the automobile.



Ha! I've had dogs before that were indoor/outdoor dogs. I'm sorry,
Frontline doesn't cut it. I gave my dog frontline 2 times a month
and I'd still pick about 200 ticks off of him and he was infested
with fleas. I gave him baths weekly. The products don't work. Try
to live on Maui and see if you don't have the same results.

kili

kili, dear... do yourself (and rpca) a favour and cut out the cross
posting
when you reply. There are some real fanatics on h+b who like to
lord it over everyone, them being "experts" (ha!)

Needless to say, you are correct. I don't know about other folks,
but my dog - Sampson (RB) - was an indoor dog; he only went out to
use the potty.

Jill


But you do mean you took him out for a walk regularly where he could
have a run off the lead now and again?

Tweed

I once had a house where I could let him run in the fenced yard for a bit.
When it snowed, I went out and dug a trench in the snow for him to be able
to poop and pee. Otherwise he never ran off the leash. I walked with
him... his lead extended to about 20 feet. I have always lived too close
to
a busy street to let him run off the lead. He lived 18 years so
apparently
I did something the right way

Jill


There is definitely a cultural difference between the USA and the UK then.
It would not be seen as acceptable in the UK for a dog never to run off lead
even if only at the weekend on a visit outside town.
A shelter here would not allow a dog adoption if it had to stay on a lead
all its life. They would rightly say you do not have the facilities.

Tweed

"kilikini" wrote in message
. ..


I don't want my cats outside because cars don't stop for them, we have
raccoons (rabid), possums (rabid), rats (rabid) not to mention the fleas,
ear mites, feline leukemia, feline aids.........why WOULD you let your cat
out? Seriously? Do you like paying for vet visits? My female cat, Chloe
is very happy to be where she is; she's SUCH the sweetheart, my male cat
is
a devil in cat's clothing. I'd love to let him out just to get the
dickens
out of him, but at what cost? You can't have an indoor/outdoor cat
without
infesting your house with fleas, mites and ticks or whatever. I just
don't
see the point.

kili


I think you might be overstating this just a wee bit. I live in the US (and
have lived in England as well) and I let my cat out. Of course, we live on a
very large tract of land in the suburbs and he has never strayed off the
lawn, which gives him a couple of acres to roam around. He doesn't have
flea, ticks, or earmites. In fact, he is completely and totally healthy and
happy. My cat is innoculated and always has been. Yes, there are animals
that carry rabies in our town, but he has a yearly rabies shot (recommended
by our vet who thinks it's safer for outdoor cats than the 3 year shot) and
he's such a scardy cat that he would run under the house if he ever came
across anything wild anyhow. He doesn't go out at night ever, he's only out
a couple of hours a day in the warmer months and then asks to come in.

I've kept him indoors when we lived in a less safe place and he rewarded me
by peeing all over the house. You want to know why I let him out? Because I
am sick to death of roaming the house with a blacklight trying to find out
where the damn cat peed. When he goes out, the peeing stops. Period.

Marjorie

"kilikini" wrote in message
...

"Janet B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:13:55 GMT, "kilikini"
, clicked their heels and said:

You can't have an indoor/outdoor cat without
infesting your house with fleas, mites and ticks or whatever. I just
don't
see the point.

kili


While my cats stay in, for their safety and wellbeing, the above
comment is absurd. Dogs go out every day and don't infest houses with
fleas, mites and ticks, and cats are no different.

My cats can go on the deck or patio with us, but never unattended
outside, and I don't trust the dog behind me not to come over the
fence at them, so close to the house or not at all. Skipjack say not
at all - he will stay in an open doorway.

As far as cultural differences, the US is a very different place from
many other countries. The population (human, feline,, canine, wild
animals) just can't be compared, nor that vicious beast, the
automobile.



Ha! I've had dogs before that were indoor/outdoor dogs. I'm sorry,
Frontline doesn't cut it. I gave my dog frontline 2 times a month and I'd
still pick about 200 ticks off of him and he was infested with fleas. I
gave him baths weekly. The products don't work. Try to live on Maui and
see if you don't have the same results.

kili

We don't all live on Maui, nor do we want to. I live in New England, and
although we do have ticks (Lyme Diesease was discovered in Connecticut) and
we do have fleas, I find that Frontline works magnificently well and neither
my dogs or my cat has ever had a flea problem.

"Janet B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 20:09:11 GMT, "kilikini"
, clicked their heels and said:


Ha! I've had dogs before that were indoor/outdoor dogs. I'm sorry,
Frontline doesn't cut it. I gave my dog frontline 2 times a month and
I'd
still pick about 200 ticks off of him and he was infested with fleas. I
gave him baths weekly. The products don't work. Try to live on Maui and
see if you don't have the same results.


well, ALL dogs are indoor/outdoor unles you litter train them! And of
course, dogs are social beings, and keeping them enclosed in a house
24/7 would not be healthy for their behavior.

My dogs don't live outdoors, they live in the house. They spend
varying periods of time outside with me though, and I do not use any
flea/tick preventative products. I'm a big believer that healthy pets
don't tend to attract pests much.

I live in a climate where the summers are hot and sticky and humid.
Mosquitos never actually die here, nor do fleas. I do not have fleas
on my dogs, my cats, or in my house. A rare tick every year or so,
and I do field training with my one dog, so he's in a populated
environment.

200 ticks on your dog? Something is very, very wrong there.


Nope, common thing on Maui. You just can't get rid of the ticks. I've
sprayed my yard, I've sprayed indoors, one the frontline and you still just
get infested. Everyone's dogs are like that if you have a sandy based soil.
It's just disgusting. And it's everyone's problem. Nothing you can do.

kili

"animzmirot" wrote in message
...

"kilikini" wrote in message
...

"Janet B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:13:55 GMT, "kilikini"
, clicked their heels and said:

You can't have an indoor/outdoor cat without
infesting your house with fleas, mites and ticks or whatever. I just
don't
see the point.

kili


While my cats stay in, for their safety and wellbeing, the above
comment is absurd. Dogs go out every day and don't infest houses with
fleas, mites and ticks, and cats are no different.

My cats can go on the deck or patio with us, but never unattended
outside, and I don't trust the dog behind me not to come over the
fence at them, so close to the house or not at all. Skipjack say not
at all - he will stay in an open doorway.

As far as cultural differences, the US is a very different place from
many other countries. The population (human, feline,, canine, wild
animals) just can't be compared, nor that vicious beast, the
automobile.



Ha! I've had dogs before that were indoor/outdoor dogs. I'm sorry,
Frontline doesn't cut it. I gave my dog frontline 2 times a month and
I'd
still pick about 200 ticks off of him and he was infested with fleas. I
gave him baths weekly. The products don't work. Try to live on Maui
and
see if you don't have the same results.

kili

We don't all live on Maui, nor do we want to. I live in New England, and
although we do have ticks (Lyme Diesease was discovered in Connecticut)
and
we do have fleas, I find that Frontline works magnificently well and
neither
my dogs or my cat has ever had a flea problem.





I'd go back to Maui in a heartbeat. I even asked my veterinarian in Florida
about the Frontline/Advantage products and he admitted that they don't work
on Brown Dog Ticks which afflict the Hawaiian islands so prevalently. It's
just the way it is.

kili

America is obsessed with safety. For example, everything
has to be 'safe for the children'. Political correctness
is another national obsession. Of course, the fact
is that we are a violent, inhumane society.

My 3 cats are indoor only cats and here's why;
My 1st cat (when I was 4), run over by car
2nd cat (I was 16) died of Feline Leukemia
3rd & 4th cats run over by car (I was in college).
And the 4th cat was only allowed outside while someone was watching it....
So my mother got to watch the cat get run over by a car.
Its deplorable how long it took for me to learn this lesson.

About cats wanting to go outside; a heroin addict wants to shoot up too.
I don't think either is good for their health.
And all indoor cats aren't declawed.
And all vets don't agree with declawing cats and some of us out right refuse
to do it completely.

These are just some of my many un-humble opinions.

Oh yea, indoor only cats can live 20+ years (mine are now 14, 14 & 16).
Average life expectance for an outdoor cat (at least in these parts) is 8
years.

(I'll try not to fall off this very tall soap box).