[Elliriyanna]

As you all know I have an indoor kitten named Emma... I know all the potential illnesses of an outdoor cat and all the risks ... However my boyfriend has always had indoor/outdoor cats ... They recently had his 17 year old cat PTS and next year he wants to adopt another. The problem is I do not want an indoor/outdoor cat too many potential illnesses its not really best for them. Emma is harness trained and gets supervised out time on her harness. The thing is we live together and I dont want his choices affecting my cat but at the same time the new one will be HIS not MINE so I really cant tell him what to do with it ... Maybe it will be ours? Idk but anyway how do I convince him indoor only is best for their health when this is all he knows and I dont want to put down how they cared for their last cat.

 

[Dragonrain]

There are a lot of websites that I'm sure you could have your boyfriend read over but here are some general ideas of things for you guys to look into.

Other than being exposed to more illnesses and ways to get injured themselves, outdoor cats are actually very very destructive to local wildlife. I'm pretty sure they are like the #2 killer of wild native birds. Of course they'll also do damage to animals like squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, and really any other type of small animal they can catch. Cats are a non native introduced species, so even though it's natural for cats to want to hunt, they are not natural predators of our natural wildlife. You can look up more about this but outdoor and feral cats are actually very very damaging to wild bird populations.

I've also had an outdoor cat attack me and my dog. Yup...a cat attacked us (my dog was on a leash btw). I know it sounds kind of funny but both my dog and I had to be treated - me because the cat bit my leg and it got infected, and my dog because the cat scratched his eye. His vet said that if the cat had got him a few millimeters over he very well may have lost his eye.

I never understood why it's okay for cats to wonder free doing whatever they please but if it was a dog or another animal instead of a cat then it's a big deal.

My sister just had to spend over $2,000 (so far) to have her indoor/outdoor cat treated for a broken leg. She could have saved herself a lot of money and the cat a lot of pain if she had just kept him inside. Her other outdoor cat just plain out disappeared. No one knows where he is or what happened to him. Needless to say she's decided that she'll be keeping her cats indoors only from now on.

Sorry for such a long post! This is really a pet peeve of mine, if you can't tell. Cats can live perfectly happy lives staying indoors, or if people do what you do and take them out on harnesses. If you live with your boyfriend, than getting a new pet should be both of your decision and not just up to him. Even if it's not your cat, you'll still have to deal with it. If it where me, I'd tell my boyfriend that either he agrees to keep the new cat indoors or else I wouldn't agree to getting another cat.

 

[Elliriyanna]

Emma was born and raised outside and had SO many illnesses when i adopted her because of it ... But I am not the controlling type. we just need to agree on something before the adoption ....

BTW read little Emma is getting Big ... You will like the latest post

 

[Kendalle]

Most shelters won't adopt for an indoor out door cat, they will explain their reasons why when asked.

They can get hit by cars, run off, get FIV which can spread to your cat and others as well. They can get attacked by other cats, dogs, birds. They can hurt other cats, they can get lost, someone can take them off the street and you will never know what happened to it

 

[Elliriyanna]

His cat we just had PTS had FIV from being in fights I dont know why he is so frickin' set on indoor outdoor ... He did come with Emma and I on our out time today though and seemed to like that so we will see


And Dragonrain as for cats wandering and doing what they want thats not really true the pound will pick them up as eagerly as they will dogs and more than likely they will be euthanized

 

[Dragonrain]

Maybe in your area, but it's not like that everywhere.

The town my parents live in, and where I grew up, doesn't even have a town animal control or a pound. So there is no one to pick up stray or wondering animals. For as long as my parents have lived there, over 20 years now, they've always had to deal with other peoples cats coming into their yard and causing problems. They go to the bathroom in all my mom's flower gardens & annoying stuff like that. When my parents had their dog (she passed away though) one of the reasons they decided to get her was so she could keep random cats out of their yard.

I've known quite a few people who owned outdoor cats and none of their cats where ever picked up by animal control, despite the fact that they where allowed to wonder around outside.

But if you get an indoor/outdoor cat and allow it to interact with Emma when it's inside, then you also have to worry about Emma catching things that the outdoor cat has. FIV, fleas, parasites etc. could all easily transmit onto Emma from the outdoor cat. Then you have two cats to treat for issues instead of just the one.

 

[Sasami]

And Dragonrain as for cats wandering and doing what they want thats not really true the pound will pick them up as eagerly as they will dogs and more than likely they will be euthanized

Not in most areas, including where I live. Which is why some people in this area (not my immediate neighbors but this general area) put out poison.... The cats are seriously a pain, they use yards and gardens as litterboxes, kill native animals, and spread fleas. Ugh. I found cat vomit in the back yard earlier in the summer which wasn't pleasant...and they make our dogs go nuts.

Yeah, not an outside cat fan myself...:lol:.

 

[Dragonrain]

And they attack 20 lbs dogs! :lol:

Seriously can't get over the fact that my dog and I where attacked by a cat! We where just taking our normal walk, minding our own business when it happened.

The saddest part of the whole thing is that my dog absolutely hates cats now. He's afraid of them after that experience, not that I blame him. Before that though he was really good with them.

I just keep thinking that if it where my dog that was running loose, and if he had attacked another dog and bit a human instead of it being a cat, I would have been in big trouble. Not to mention that I'm sure people would be upset if my dog was running around their yards using their property as a toilet and killing animals at their bird feeders. But so many people act like that stuff is more acceptable when cats do it.

People in my city have been putting out poison for cats too. There's just so many of them causing problems, and since no one does anything about it people take matters into their own hands. It's sad. I oveously don't think poisoning them is right but at the same time I do understand why they are upset about all the cats.

 

[Elliriyanna]

I love my cat very much but I am a dog person personally so Emma has been raised like a dog and its going great

We have lots of feral cats here but poison is a horrible option in my opinion

 

[Nibbler]

And they attack 20 lbs dogs! :lol:

Seriously can't get over the fact that my dog and I where attacked by a cat! .

my mom lives in what i call the cat gettos as there is a bunch of outdoor cats, that are all over the place, there is 3 of them that hide in the bush in the front yard or under her back yard stairs and wait for the dog to come out then try and start a fight with the dog . its pretty bad when u have to go outside first and make sure that the big mean cats arent waiting for her.

 

[Blacksheep]

Let me add something. I am totally ok with people keeping outdoor or indoor/outdoor cats as long as the cat stays on their property. Cat fencing is available for this sort of stuff and cat runs are becoming popular. Cat fencing allows your cat to hunt around the area but 90% of cats can't get over it (of course you have that 1% that can defy gravity.)

But in general I can't stand it when cats roam the streets, waking me up fighting in my yard. And yeah they destroy the native wildlife (hence why if the shelter or parks & rec "catches" them, they're dead.)

 

[Elliriyanna]

Well we will be moving to an apartment so its not fair to raise it outdoor then say it cant go outside ... Plus on indoor cat and one indoor outdoor would be hard

 

[wishbone]

On my aunties place, the community is just so clean and safe so it is just fine there to have outdoor cats. But it is truly ideal to keep and train cats to be more on indoor away from harm and transmission of diseases..

 

[Elliriyanna]

I think he is willing to go for it for Emma's safety and he see's how much she loves her out time on her least