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  #61  
Old August 19th 05, 11:45 AM
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wrote:
First let me say I'm not being antagonistic, I'm just interested in the
(apparent) culture difference between the US & the UK as regards our
feline friends.


That's okay. I'm not trying to be antagonistic either but why do you
have royalty? just asking If it were me, I'd let Charles out and
never back in, that naughty, naughty bugger.


With regard to letting cats out: All the cats I know go outside, they
(usually) learn their way back home from their local neighbourhood,
they don't go too far but suss out gardens, wildlife, other cats and
people, and hopefully realise that traffic isn't for playing with.
There's not too many birds in London and no-one seems to care about the
pigeon population anyway. Some get lost, some get hit by traffic (mine
for example isn't allowed out the front to the road, only the back
garden where he doesn't seem to want to climb the fence to escape from
but if he did I'd let him).


This is a toughie. I let my cat out. And I usually take her back after
an hour or so. I keep her from wandering off if I see it. The reason I
let her out half-way, semi-supervised, is that there are feral cats
nearby as well as roads and vehicles if she wanders. Now I live in a
rural area that's getting built up so my situation is different.


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


We have much higher crime rates so it's dangerous for cats and for
people to be wandering around sometimes. It's not unusual for gangs to
trap and kill and torture cats in the big cities in the USA.

  #62  
Old August 19th 05, 01:22 PM
Lesley
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Wow, sounds like a nightmare, and I thought East London was dangerous
LOL!


You're in East London as well? Where?

I live on a very busy main road so I keep the Furballs indoors. Also
although most cats can avoid dogs or foxes which are the main predatos
likely to go for a cat, they can't avoid the biggest danger of
all...People...

A friend of mine had the sheer Hell of watching her 8 month old brother
and sister kitties die in front of her because a neighbour poisoned
them to "keep them off his lawn". Alas when she called the police the
guy denied he had done it and the police weren't particularly
interested. She has of course since moved away and her new kitties do
not go out

Incidentally a few years ago when we had nicer neighbours than we do
now, they would let us use the downstairs gardens and Fugazi (RB) would
come out and potter round for a bit but always keeping one eye on us in
case we went in. Meanwhile her sister Isis (also RB) would sit on our
bathroom windowsill and scream at us to come back up.

One day I made the very silly mistake of thinking that if she was taken
outside she would come to enjoy it so I picked her up. This cat was a
completely soppy lap fungus and when I carried her out of the flat and
she realised what I was thinking that was the first, the last and the
only time that she bit me...she was NOT going out!!!!!

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

  #63  
Old August 19th 05, 01:22 PM
Lesley
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Wow, sounds like a nightmare, and I thought East London was dangerous
LOL!


You're in East London as well? Where?

I live on a very busy main road so I keep the Furballs indoors. Also
although most cats can avoid dogs or foxes which are the main predatos
likely to go for a cat, they can't avoid the biggest danger of
all...People...

A friend of mine had the sheer Hell of watching her 8 month old brother
and sister kitties die in front of her because a neighbour poisoned
them to "keep them off his lawn". Alas when she called the police the
guy denied he had done it and the police weren't particularly
interested. She has of course since moved away and her new kitties do
not go out

Incidentally a few years ago when we had nicer neighbours than we do
now, they would let us use the downstairs gardens and Fugazi (RB) would
come out and potter round for a bit but always keeping one eye on us in
case we went in. Meanwhile her sister Isis (also RB) would sit on our
bathroom windowsill and scream at us to come back up.

One day I made the very silly mistake of thinking that if she was taken
outside she would come to enjoy it so I picked her up. This cat was a
completely soppy lap fungus and when I carried her out of the flat and
she realised what I was thinking that was the first, the last and the
only time that she bit me...she was NOT going out!!!!!

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

  #64  
Old August 19th 05, 01:26 PM
Lesley
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Whoops! Sorry I don't know why the message came through twice!

  #65  
Old August 19th 05, 05:00 PM
cardkitty
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Britta,

Vino is very cute! I love his pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Kathryn

Who are Kathryn & Siega?
http://www.CardsYourWay.US/about_me.html

  #66  
Old August 19th 05, 11:45 PM
Ivor Jones
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"Phil P." wrote in message

"Ivor Jones" wrote in message
...

For my part, if I were unable to allow a cat outdoors
through risk of predators or any other reason, I simply
wouldn't have a cat.


That's not practical or even realistic in the USA because
that mentality would result in millions upon millions of
homeless cats and a 10 times increase in shelter
killings.


Something else we don't do here.

Ivor


  #67  
Old August 19th 05, 11:51 PM
Janet B
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On Fri, 19 Aug 2005 23:45:49 +0100, "Ivor Jones"
, clicked their heels and said:



Something else we don't do here.

Ivor



do WHERE? Wherever it is, the population doesn't compare to the US.
Human or feline or canine.


--
Janet B
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfr...bedience/album
  #68  
Old August 20th 05, 02:36 AM
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Dr.Carla,DVM wrote:
Oh and before I get off my soap box, I forgot, indoor only cats don't need
vaccinations unless they spend time at kennels, etc.
Vaccinations in cats have been shown to cause VASTS (vaccine associated soft
tissue sarcomas) or tumors. Its not clear yet which part of the vaccines
are causing this terrible outcome.
There is a new safer rabies shot for cats, ask your vet about it next time
you go for vaccinations.


What about indoor-only cats and obesity? That can't be very healthy.

Mark

  #69  
Old August 20th 05, 03:02 AM
MaryL
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wrote in message
oups.com...

Dr.Carla,DVM wrote:
Oh and before I get off my soap box, I forgot, indoor only cats don't
need
vaccinations unless they spend time at kennels, etc.
Vaccinations in cats have been shown to cause VASTS (vaccine associated
soft
tissue sarcomas) or tumors. Its not clear yet which part of the vaccines
are causing this terrible outcome.
There is a new safer rabies shot for cats, ask your vet about it next
time
you go for vaccinations.


What about indoor-only cats and obesity? That can't be very healthy.

Mark


Being an indoor-only cat should not lead to obesity. Some cats (and dogs)
are overfed and underexercised, but that has nothing to do with being
indoors. It has *everything* to do with their caregivers.

MaryL


  #70  
Old August 20th 05, 03:10 AM
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Phil P. wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

It seems natural for a cat to want to venture outside, and to me it's
cruel to keep them inside (unless they're not interested).


Its a cultural thing. Most (60%) cat owners in the U.S. feel that its
cruel to expose cats to the stress and dangers outside of a safe home. An
outdoor cat lives a more stressful life than an indoor cat.

If you know a little about cats, and if you're sensitive to your cat's
needs, you can provide your cat with a rich, happy, healthy, and safe life
indoors.

Phil


My wife and I adopted a neighborhood stray about 2 years ago. He loves
the outdoors. For him, stress would be being locked up inside.

I suppose we're lucky that whatever dangers and risks a cat faces
outside, ours had learned to avoid them before we took him in. It is
just amazing to watch him climb 40 feet up a tree, or chase a squirrel
across the yard (he's only ever caught one once, that we have seen).

But the best part is, he will only "go to the bathroom" outside, so we
never have to worry about maintaining a litter box! :-)

Mark

p.s. We live in the northeastern U.S.

 




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