AIBU to think cats should not roam unsupervised like dogs?

They are not.
Combine all human activity - humans are.

No-one forces cats to go out though. They could stay home if they wanted. They choose to wander off.

What would you do about stray cats? Cats that were born outsude?

Oh, people will be along in a minute to tell you you can...

Quite. I wouldn’t like to locked up all the time either. Dogs are walked ( or should be) you can’t do that with a cat.

Thats so lucky your cats are like that. My ragdoll was suposed to be indoor loving cat but is totally outdoorsy.

it seems cats are preprogramed to return to food source, dogs just keep walking

We adopted a young stray cat. He’d been outside for some time when turned up in our garden (now he enjoys food water treats and our sofa , he’s had his vaccins and has been neutered) there’s no way we can keep him in all the time. We try at night for his own safety but it would be cruel to imprison him 24 hours a day.

Do you just worry about cats killing hedgehog babies? I think they are more likely to be killed by cars.

You lost me at this point @estrogone . That is a ridiculous assertion.
The best estimate I can find (and there are no global stats for cat deaths) is between 10 times and 60 times as many humans die as cats per annum. And that's without considering the fact that a cat's natural life span is about a fifth of a human's.

Also you seem determined to ignore the very obvious point that many people think it is cruel to keep a cat caged up. Even in a 50m sq
cage ... and I can't imagine many people would be able to set up a 50 x 50 metre cage, let alone move it!!!

I agree!

during breeding season I would love cat owners to possibly adhere to the not letting them out during dusk and dawn. This is when the newly fledged birds generally fledge.

Just to give a bit of perspective, fledglings such as our beautiful robin and blackbird, can’t fly initially when they fledge. Instead they search for ground cover, while their parents still feed them on the ground. Over those critical first few days of fledging, they gain strength in their wings which enable them to eventually fly!

What boils my piss is your cat, full on their lunch, being let out and they piss about playing with a weeks old robin fledgling, which is newly fledged and trying to gain that strength to be able to fly, therefore never having a chance to do that! Same with blackbirds and many others!

I spend so much time in my garden watching birds courting, pairing up during spring, care for their young, see off magpies, Sparrowhawks, all kinds of natural predators, they work so hard raising their young! It’s heartbreaking when your domesticated cat comes along and takes a youngster, who is newly fledged, can’t fly but is trying to survive! It’s fucking shit tbh!

Nature is harsh but domesticated Tibbles is a fucking Twat!

Are you unable to take a joke?

Your theory is wrong.

tell me you haven’t read my other posts in the last hour without telling me

Tell me you don’t own a cat without telling me that you don’t own a cat…

Trust me, we have tried harnesses in the past when we’ve moved or had kittens and they’ve needed fresh air. Most cats really cannot be walked!

And cat wheels, which should apparently be 43-48 inches in diameter…where exactly are people in small houses (many houses in the UK) supposed to be putting these?!

There are cats who will die if they are locked indoors, though. My youngest is one of them.

He got so stressed that his bladder spasmed and he needed hospital treatment so that he could pee. We tried catios. We tried cat-proofing our garden. He still ended up at the vets. Ultimately our vet said to us we could keep on as we are until one day, the spasm blocked his bladder and killed him, or we could let him out to roam.

We let him outside the next day. He's never, ever been back at the vet for bladder issues since.

Cats are the biggest killers of wildlife. Everybody should keep their cats inside and under controle. If you can't or won't do that, don't take a cat 🤷🏼‍♀️

www.gardensillustrated.com/features/wildlife-gardeners-own-cats

You can buy them a wheel for cats. And you can walk them on a lead even if they aren’t huge breeds, there are harnesses for them.

I believe that cats should be allowed to roam if they want to, but I don’t believe that it is a need, I believe it is a want.

It’s like I don’t need to leave the house myself, but I want to. I won’t die if I stay indoors though.

We have two house cats and one cat who goes outside. He is not allowed out at night. Once it gets to mid afternoon when he comes home he is in and from October to March we keep him in as he is a black cat and we don’t think it’s safe for him. But he HATES to be in and cries and scratches at the door to be out. They love to hunt and exercise and can’t do that in the house. One of our other two was allowed out for a few weeks but then we kept her in. She tries to get out we hasn’t left our garden if she escapes. The baby has never been out and if she gets out she comes right back in.

Cats are not dogs and can’t be treated the same.

If it helps, my cats only kill grey squirrels and rats.

I remember in the 70s dogs would roam in England, can’t remember when it stopped.

🙄 at posters saying that because their cats don’t roam, cats don’t need to roam.

We try to keep our cat in at night. We used to lock the cat flap. He would break the cat flap - literally break the lock and destroy it. 4 cat flaps later we gave up and bought an expensive 3D printed cat flap cover that goes over the top and prevents access to the cat flap. That doesn't stop him either - he sticks his claws in the edge and pulls and pulls until it’s off, even if it takes 2 hours. We’ve tried pushing heavy boxes in front. Again, he can somehow move those. He has a desperate need to get outside.

Catios are all very well in countries where they have larger houses - I’ve seen the ones in Australia - but here in the UK with small houses? How exactly are people going to have catios which aren’t extremely small and cruel to cats who need to exercise?

You can’t buy them a hamster wheel. You can’t walk them on a lead (unless they’re a breed like a rag doll). They’re nothing like dogs. Many dogs would be dangerous to humans left to roam. My neighbour has a dog which barks at the sight of humans - I’d hate to see him free to roam. Cats aren’t dangerous to humans. Yes, they are to other creatures like birds and mice, but then so are humans.

Except it absolutely is a need for some cats. They will throw themselves out of windows, force themselves through barbed wire and get themselves so stressed that they need veterinary intervention if they're cooped up inside.

If they're given the choice and don't want to, fine, but at least give them the choice. Don't lock them up indoors and say "they're fine".

I don't let my cats out so that my sleep isn't disrupted. They come and go as they please thanks to a wonderful invention, the catflap.

Oh good another divvy post where I get to use my fav word! Ok, cats are not dogs are they?! You know this and their difference. Are you really this bored to post or question this? 😆They need to roam and legally can do this day and night. You , are a cockwomble. I bid you goodnight you silly person 🤪