AIBU to think cats should not roam unsupervised like dogs?

Stop anthropomorphising.

That is not what this study says at all! Did you read it?

I always find it interesting how against indoor cats people in the UK are - where I am from it’s very common to have indoor only cats or with the only outdoor access being a cat proof garden or catio. Most rescues and breeders will only rehome or adopt as indoors only.
One of my girls is white with pink nose and ears so high risk of skin cancer. It’s better for her health to be indoors.

Because you are curtailing their natural instincts to run, chase, hunt, climb. And most of us don’t want to curtail the natural instincts of our animals to that extent. If I couldn’t allow them free rein then I wouldn’t choose to keep them.

The problem is that your cat isn’t part of ‘nature’ in the same way the foxes are.
The foxes are part of our native wildlife. We’ve stripped back most of the land that they would inhabit by building on it but they have become very successful at living alongside us. Which is good for them, because things they can’t manage to live alongside us are struggling for survival.

Cats have instincts, yes, but they aren’t natural. They aren’t part of our ecosystem. Unless you are talking about Scottish Wildcats which are highly threatened in the UK (and one of this threats is cross breeding with domestic cats…).

Taking sheep etc is a disaster for the farmer but not an issue for native wildlife. It’s just not a straight comparison. I’m not saying it’s not horrendous but it’s comparing cucumbers and bananas.

Leave nature alone, by all means but recognise your cat isn’t part of nature. Being part of nature means if it doesn’t quite catch enough food it will die of starvation- that’s never going to happen to your cat is it?

The word catio should be banned. It’s a cage.

Because risk isn't inherently a bad thing, but you seem to deliberately not understanding that.

I used to keep my cat inside but it made him unwell. I would rather risk his life on the roads than keep him locked up and medicated.

No, cats are meant to roam. Though this is the reason I don’t have any as I’d be worried sick about them getting injured unless I could afford to cat-proof my garden. Hence I have dogs. And children, though I wish the DC would roam a but more just to have some peace LOL

Wildlife kills other wildlife too. How are you going to prevent that?

Yes, several of our cats have been hit by cars over the years. As luck would have it, every single time a driver has scooped them up and taken them to the vet who has then contacted us. We’ve had cats live to 23/24 so they are pretty resilient.

our dog is super happy going out for long walks, off lead mostly, and is trained to return. I have had cats all my life and even the most well trained would not come to call across two fields if there was a bird to be chased.

normal life presents normal circle of life risk to all animals including humans. Read the stats on car travel - does that mean I won’t get in a car? Of course not, it’s become part of our normal risk that we take in order to live life fully.

our cats are fulfilling their natural way of life - and I say natural because they are allowed to come and go as they choose and every single one of our cats has chosen to wander widely, as evidenced by every accident being miles away from home! I don’t worry about them any more than I do my teenagers taking their normal developmental steps - going to parties, starting relationships, travelling alone - because it’s more important to embrace natural development than hyper focus on risk.

@MyOtherProfile

i remember dogs roaming in the late 70’s and the pavements were caked in excrement consequently. In the early 80’s things quickly changed

If I’d let my rabbits or guinea pigs roam I’d have never seen them again! Any dog I’ve ever owned preferred to sleep all night on a nice bed. My cats however much prefer to be able to come and go as they please, trying to keep them in would be cruel. And almost impossible, they see an open door or window as a challenge. I appreciate cats have different preferences, but their natural instincts generally are to hunt at dawn and dusk. I am lucky in that I live in rural Scotland- where there are wild cats incidentally- and my cats have acres of fields and woodlands to explore. They are well taken care of, flea’d, wormed etc etc , but it would be cruel to keep them in the house.

So @Seriestwo pronounces average life expectancy of a cat is 2. Is challenged and says 'no - here's a study'. Posters read study and note Series' statistics are not borne out. Indeed said study says

"Overall life expectancy could not be assessed in the present study owing to the use of data from an ongoing cohort study with cats not yet in their senior years"

Series' then tells us that as MN isn't an academic conference she won't detail her analysis but she is happy with it.

Series then pivots and says it was actually her vet who advised of the average life expectancy but now specifies it related to young cats - not what she first declared but again the paper doens't reach this conclusion. The Bristol paper suggests that more focus is needed on probabilty of death in younger cats as "This study identified important differences in causes of mortality for the first two life stages in a population of cats that may not be fully accounted for in medical record" and it also agreed with Teng et al (cited in Series' study)

"the overall life table for cats under primary veterinary care in the UK in 2019. The life expectancy at age 0 for UK companion cats was 11.74 years (95% CI 11.61–11.87), and the life expectancy decreased with age (Figure 1). The probability of death within each year interval increased with age from year interval 3–4, and the value did not exceed 0.05 before year 9. The probability of cats dying in year 1–2 (0.047) was higher than in years 0–1 (0.039) and 2–3 (0.041)"

Honestly did you read it before you posted?

What on earth. I've had a cat, Rabbits and dog. Of course you don't let a rabbit or guinea pig wonder because it will run off and you will never see it again! Stupid comparison. Cats are intelligent and come back for food and warmth. My cat was a rescue, she was too scared to leave the boundary of our home, she enjoyed the garden and would go outside most of the day and come in at night but had a choice with the cat flap. She choose not to leave the house boundary but I wouldn't have an issue if she did. I don't think it's fair for cats to be stuck indoors, although owners need to be responsible and consider the dangers if they live near busy roads ect. I wouldn't let my whippet roam as he would run across traffic, chase foxes, cats and other dogs. It would be dangerous and irresponsible. My cat lived until 16, she was far more intelligent than my whippet. Cats and dogs are like apples and pears.

Lots of wildlife kill each other. Should we monitor foxes and badgers? Or magpies? Stop them from roaming too?

Currently in the UK there is no law against cats being out, and if cat owners take that risk with their own pet then that’s their decision. Until or if laws change, not much that can be done about it.

Cats and Dogs are exceptionally different animals. My dog wouldn’t ever find her way back home, she would also bite anyone who tried to stroke her if let out. My cat knows her way back home and would run away if anyone goes near her.

I bath my dog weekly, my cat would scratch my eyes out if I put her in water.

And this post explains perfectly that you don't understand cats or their needs. Congratulations you.

Cats should be kept in their owners property/garden, for the sake of wildlife and because some of us are allergic to them. Thankfully the only cat near me is a house cat

I'm amazed. I am still wondering when in the past this was normal because it must be before my awareness and I was a child through the 70s.

Anyway it's kind of irrelevant because people don't do it now if they have any sense.

I have 30 years of cat ownership under my belt, not once has my cat been hit by a car, mauled by a fox, or met a sticky end. They all died after a long, happy life which included free access to outdoors and the ability to wander and hunt.

Cats are pretty smart, they can climb, jump and hide very effectively. My dog on the other hand would run towards danger if it came with a lump of cheese.

They are completely different species with different needs.

I haven't read the whole thread, so I don't know if anyone has made this point, but part of the reason cats have a legal right to roam in the UK is because they are a native species, particularly the Scottish wildcat, that aren't necessarily owned or dependent on humans for their survival, unlike dogs. So just as we don't ban other native species, like foxes, from roaming we also don't ban cats. In other countries, like the US and Australia, pet cats are banned from roaming to protect them from predators as they aren't a native species in those countries and are therefore vulnerable if let out.

Dogs can't be let out on their own, of course, because of the danger they might attack someone. Anyone who has a problem with the different treatment of cats and dogs should reflect on the fact that you never see a headline that reads "Person mauled to death by domestic cat".