AIBU to think cats should not roam unsupervised like dogs?

I saw the post and whilst I don’t think the PP worded it the best I do think they have a point.

Cat owners have a habit of not taking responsibility when something happens to their cat. Facebook is often flooded with posts and trying to find drivers who hit their cat, calling them heartless and murderers. If you have an outdoor cat and something sadly happens to it because they are outdoors and die or cannot get home, responsibility ultimately does fall with the owner who let them outside.

So you wouldn't advise the poster to stop the cause of the UTI? Why on earth not?
I wonder if your cat needs to go outside too...

One of the biggest causes of a cat UTI is stress. Take away the stress and hopefully a healthy and happy cat.

YABU Cats gonna cat.

All pets are different. Shall we put cats and dogs in cages because that's what we do with hamsters?
A cat is related to tigers and other big cats so it's in a cats nature to roam and it's more cruel to restrict that. When we had cats sometimes they went out at night sometimes they didn't but it was nothing to do with keeping us up at night
They do kill wildlife but so do other animals and it's part of nature.

Your title doesn't make sense. Cats don't "roam unsupervised like dogs". Suggests dogs are roaming, unsupervised. Which they aren't.

There's different laws for cats vs dogs. If you don't like it, email your MP.

The simple response is culture and habit.

In some countries dogs get off lead in the cities, somewhere only in fenced dogs parks.
In some countries cats roam and in some they don't.
Some people keep guinea pigs in small cages and some let them roam in a room or garden.

Cats happen to be in a happy spot where they are relatively able to survive outside without endangering people too much.
Guinea pigs wouldn't survive and dogs are more dangerous.
As for a wildlife, the law hasn't catch up. In past cats were working animals - rodent control around crops, stables... if they had eaten enough mice, a few extra birds were overlooked. Now there are too many pet cats around who hunt everything. It's not right, but changing people's habits is hard.

Humans are behind even cats in this country. Brought over by the Romans I believe, that's a very long time ago to think it's in an environment it doesn't belong.

We valued cats because of their hunting skills so we kept them and the Victorians started to value them as pets.
Too many people don't neuter cats, creating colonies, so many of them over the UK. So many intact cats wandering the streets without owners.
That's a lot of cats having to hunt for dinner.

As I said, humans are behind pretty much all the destruction of wildlife. Control humans perhaps?

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/oct/28/uk-has-almost-250000-urban-stray-cats-claims-first-detailed-study
Neuter your cats people!

Thank you to whoever reported that vile post by a PP directed at me :)

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a ridiculous Aibu. And that’s really saying something.

If you care about wildlife, or cat welfare, there are far better ways to improve these than posting pointless threads about it. This issue is not a priority in the UK today.

For a throwback to roaming dog culture, and dogs meeting up with friends, I recommend people read the Hairy Maclary series of books by Lynley Dodd. Set in New Zealand, first published in the 80s but possibly harking back to earlier times.

And black is not white. Shocking 😉

I believe science has recently uncovered the startling fact that cats and dogs are actually not the same animals...

You're right - they are life-threatening and that's precisely why he goes out to roam - because he has never, ever had one in the three years he's been going outside. When he was inside, he had them at least 4-5 times a year and was catheterised multiple times as a result.

The risk of him being trapped in a shed and potentially getting stressed is tiny inn comparison to what I know happens to him when he is shut indoors. So no, I don't need to look at "better ways to enrich him" - he does that himself when he goes out, roams and behaves in the way he should.

Yes. I also think people shouldn’t keep pet fish in tanks and should let them sleep on the sofa like dogs. Pet gerbils should be taken for walks twice a day. Rabbits should be fed an exclusively meat diet. Why would we treat any pet differently to a dog - one rule for dogs should be one rule for all pets.

Cats are still basically wild animals. Barely domesticated really, it's cruel to keep them indoors. Their genetics say they need to roam. Plus the laws around cats and dogs differ 🤷
Sure some people institutionalise their cats keeping them in tiny flats their whole lives, doesn't mean those cats are happy. Animals need to be able to display their natural behaviour, that is one of the 5 rights enshrined in UK law for domestic pets.

Urinary blockages are life threatening and FWIW if your cat is prone to them I think it’s very irresponsible to let your cat out at all. What if he gets locked in a shed in someone’s garden? My cat is also prone to stress related urinary issues, requires medication and absolutely no way would I let our outside due to that reasoning.

Perhaps you should look at better ways to enrich your cat when he is safely experiencing the outdoors.

This has been answered repeatedly. Our native wildlife belongs here.
Thry are part of our native ecosystem. Cats aren’t.
It is not relevant to the conversation to say ‘wildlife kills wildlife.’
Where hedgehogs have been introduced there are plans to remove them because of the damage they do.

Same. Our dog had friends he met up with. He used to come and see me at school.

My cat is allowed out 7-7 and still uses the litter tray (unfortunately). He only goes across a few gardens, mostly in the one where the neighbour is in a care home and it’s overgrown. We tried making him an indoor cat and he was utterly miserable.

You are making wild assumptions about why and when people let their cats roam and the amount of care cat owners give them. Most cat owners call their cats in and keep them in at night. They are also not like dogs and although some breeds are more amenable to lead training or catios most are not.

We never had cats growing up as we were a dog family. When we decided to get two kittens I was adamant they would be indoor cats and we would lead train them.

My husband who came from a cat family humoured me. We lived in a town centre flat and picked them up the week that Covid became a thing so we had lots of free time to lead train them...we failed.

Once they got the taste of the outdoors that was it. They would howl to go out, try to escape via the windows. We couldn't just let them out as we couldn't get them neutered. But once we did they were perfectly happy outside. Have they got into situations an indoor cat wouldn't, of course. But, we make sure where ever we live limits the risks, no fast roads, industrial sites etc.

A few years ago one of them had a seizure and we decided he'd have to be an indoor cat. Despite us spending obscene amounts of money on enrichment he was so miserable he made himself unwell so we discussed with the vet and he goes out with a tracker that monitors where he is and his vitals.

We are now in a bungalow and for the first time have had to let them out at night as it was too hot to keep the windows closed. It was not the easy thing....after the 4th night in a row of multiple live mice being proudly "gifted" we decided to keep the window closed.

Do our cats sometimes kill small birds, yes. Hedgehogs, no. Squirrels, they get out smarted. My brothers dog will take out, birds, rabbits, squirrels, voles, hedgehogs and anything else when in the garden. He's persistent but not as efficient at killing as the cats which is arguably more traumatic for the animals.

Cats are also much better at pest control meaning no poison, traps or hawks to keep the numbers down.

My cat got ran over and survived. It was an awful time and we vowed when it happened that we were never letting him outside again and we’re dead set on this being the case. We were going to hold firm against any feline protests and he would eventually relent and accept his new reality (oh how I laugh about that now).

This was fine when he was recovering as we could clearly see he wasn’t fit to go out despite his protests. He then recovered and his behaviour deteriorated further, he was physically well but not a happy cat at all, very unsettled. In the end we decided to start letting him out again, the difference was night and day straight away. We bought loads of enrichment items to try and get him to forget about outside and spent extra time playing with him but it wasn’t enough.

It was a huge worry letting him out again, but it was a joy to see him back his normal self again. Keeping him in started to feel cruel in the end, the benefits of letting him out have definitely outweighed the risks and we are now painfully aware of one of the risks and just hope that he knows to stay away from roads from now on.

Keeping cats indoors might work fine for those who have never been out, but ones who are used to it are most likely going to struggle. They are different to dogs with different instincts. They are both 4 legged mammals but that’s where their similarities begin and end. It’s like comparing a bearded dragon with a goldfish because they both have scales.