AIBU to think cats should not roam unsupervised like dogs?

It is to the squirrels, hedgehogs and birds.

As a cat and dog owner, you cant really compare the 2. Cats are more intelligent than dogs. Put a cat out they come home in their own accord. A dog wouldnt. My cats do not go out at night, but I do leave the window open for them during the day. Its cruel to keep cats in doors, its in their nature to roam, thats what they do. I feel sorry for the cats whose owners dont let them out.

Our cat who broke through the 'cat proofing' in our garden the first time we let him out there was with us from being a kitten (though he was a rescue and hand-reared - he was one of a group of dumped kittens). He was desperate to get out from before we could let him out, and once escaped out of a window as quite a small kitten. He definitely was not content to be indoors just because he didn't know different. I honestly don't think he could have been kept as an indoor cat without turning our house into Fort Knox. He is, for what it's worth, a ginger male (neutered as early as possible) and the vet said they have a reputation as reckless/wanderers - though I don't know how much truth there is in that!

Take time to respectfully read comments that explain in detail why some cats do need to go outside, why things like trap neuter release programs exist! If we've taken the time to give you a detailed explanation the you should take the time read instead of parroting the same ridiculous comments as others when we've clarified the issue for you. As others have said, why do you think there are laws protecting a cats right to roam. It's annoying when people ask the same question on repeat because they don't read answers that clarify things!

Oh gosh! I hope she was ok.

We live by the sea and both times it's been people in campervans who take their cats away with them.

Dogs are pack animals that were selectively bred for thousands of years to work with and depend on humans. Most breeds will wander, get hit by cars, pick fights, or eat something lethal if left unsupervised. That’s why we don’t let them “roam the streets.” Cats are solitary hunters with a completely different behavioural profile, higher spatial awareness, and a long history of free roaming without constant human oversight.
The sleep argument is just people admitting they got a cat without understanding the species. A dog that howls all night gets training, exercise, or management indoors. A cat that wants to be out at 3 a.m. is doing what cats do. Kicking it outside because they value their sleep more than its instincts is the actual inconsistency.
Same reasons don’t apply when the animals aren’t the same.

It's because they realised cats are a pita, cats do NOT need to go out, if you think that build a cattery. There are plenty of indoor cats.

Cats aren’t dogs, they’re a different species w different needs. Dogs can be taken for walks, cats can’t (or you need to train cats from kittens and we’ve always had rescues or rehomed. Most cats wouldn’t tolerate it.

We keep our cat in st night as a) we don’t have a cat flap so she’d be stuck out b) she’s tiny and would get beaten up by other cats c) I don’t want wildlife to be killed and/or brought in.

She hasn’t killed anything for a long time now thankfully!

If we get another cat in the future I’d do the same. They also need to eat grass for their digestive health - you could buy a plant but their nature is to be outside.

Again please take the time to read the detailed explanations that not all cats are with their owners from kitten hood and only know indoor life, you do need to understand the importance of how ex ferals and strays differ

Funny how most people here are getting annoyed by your comments and agreeing with me! You want things that aren't real life! You are a cruel fantasist who sounds a real wrong un wanting cats mass murdered.

How do they need to roam if some cats are purely house cats?

Dogs crap all over the streets and bite people. Cats don’t.

Tell me you know nothing about cats without telling me you know nothing about cats! Do you think these street cats go near people? Talk to your local rescue to learn just how hard it is! You also never get rescues and vets to adopt your evil cull em all policy! You need to get over what you cannot change! There is no way to catch every stray and feral. Traps have to go down and that that's not that practical because a) they have to be constantly monitored b) they can't tell just by sight that the cat thrashing around in a trap is a stray or feral, it could be a pet cat that lives in a house there ,c) if you catch a mother cat and kill her as per your evil demands, there would kittens starving and suffering somewhere! You might be cold and dead inside but vets and rescues aren't! Get over your stupid thoughts that have no place in reality.

No, you’d just have to deal with a massive explosion of rats and mice everywhere instead.

My cat came home once with a bag of Malteasers in her mouth 🤣

That’s the kind of hunting for food she does!

My black cat always went out because he wanted to go out, it never entered my mind to stop him, he didn't wander the streets more like sat on walls and surveyed the area, my next cat, a ginger cat didn't want to stay out, so surely cats do there own thing? What's the problem? I'm used to seeing cats out and about, I can't see your issue?

There are about 40 million shrews, and 85million breeding pairs of birds in the UK

So no. That stat is absolute bunkem or there would be no birds or small animals within a couple of years.

I looked this up once before, and the 55M birds killed by domestic cats was some very creative maths from a very small study.

My cats are allowed out in the day. Girl cat has never caught anything (she's white and fluffy, not made for hunting) and boy cat catches the occasional thing that must be even more stupid than he is. He doesn't know what to do with them, just brings them in and I shoo them outside again (apart from the occasional one that dies of fright)

OK so we get rid of all the cats. Now what are you going to do about the explosion in the mice and rat populations?

My cat was always going to go out - as a kitten, she'd try to sneak out of the doors and windows if I didn't watch her like a hawk and would yell her head off to be let out. She doesn't go far, mostly our garden (and that's where she goes to the toilet). No way was she going to tolerate a harness and I don't think a catio would have curbed her curiosity. She's 9, our other two cats also enjoyed being outside and died of old age (20 years old and 17 years old).

Cats are apex predators. But the wildlife includes cats and humans, historically. Cats are beasts and generally considered to be free, while dogs are more domesticated. Magpies, other birds, weasels, stoats, foxes are all out there trying to kill hedgehogs and birds and rabbits, mice, voles etc It’s part of nature that we , great apes, ignore when it suits us.

Why are people allowed to drive at night? Aren’t you afraid you will run over a badger, hit a deer, crush a fox? Or even in day time, birds flying into car windscreens, rabbits under wheels? People kill a lot more wildlife than cats do

I live in Australia and my cat is an indoor cat and always has been. We have venomous snakes where we live, on our street, people often drive like idiots and speed.

And we have some beautiful parrots in our garden and small marsupials so I dont want my cat to hurt them.

Im just imagining putting my cat on a lead!

following him into bushes whilst he poos

up trees, over fences, through small holes, under cars

😂

Dogs and cats are on the whole as smart and intelligent as each other. The difference is in how that intelligence is displayed.

Dogs have a desire to please humans, do what is asked and receive praise.

Cats have no such drive or desire.

But make no mistake both species are intelligent and both understand.

I hadn't read all your posts nor the replies.

Cats are different because they still have their natural instinct to hunt. Many domesticated cats would be able to survive by themselves (not all but that would fall under natural selection).

Dogs do somewhat but this is somewhat "surpressed" by training, and the fact the usually hunt in packs. Dogs can do far more harm to humans than cats, so wouldnt be allowed to roam.

You wouldnt let any other animal out (rabbits, guinea pigs) because they would not return and would not survive for long at all. They would likely be eaten by another animal.

Not everyone who has a cat would have access to a garden. So, your arguement that every owner should have a patio is based on that they have the space and can afford it.

Many rescue shelters state that it is better for the cat's wellbeing to be able to go outside. Whilst it doesnt specifically state to roam, I personally believe that is what it refers to as I dont think a ratio could be classed as a place where cats can "express natural behaviour".