To ask why cats roaming is acceptable?

[PengAly]

Just want to hear opinions on this. Firstly i should be honest, i am a dog person, 100% love dogs and i really dont understand how people like cats (seems like they are a tad selfish of a pet) but i am an animal lover so obviously wish no harm to any cat and will play with one given the opportunity. This is JUST my opinion. But back to my original question...

Why does it seem universally accepted that cats can roam on other peoples properties and poop in the garden- even digging up flowers?! Now Im certain mainy people would get up in arms if a dog on a lead stepped one paw on their front garden or god forbid came within 3 feet of them or their child(I've seen many dog hating threads on MN) yet cat owners get a free pass for their cats doing as they please?

Im honestly not trying to start an argument i just dont understand it

After watching this I’d never try and shoo one out of my garden

A cat will generally only attack if it’s being attacked itself, a cat wouldn’t run up to someone and bite them. They are more likely to run away. Cats are hunters and it’s instinctive to them to roam & hunt.

Seems like the biggest bug bear is cat shit.
Isn’t dog shit an even bigger issue?
You never see a cat turd just sitting in the street do you?

I totally agree and I own a cat . Neighbouring cats always crap in their neighbours gardens. I think given this behaviour cat owners should have indoor cats and if they don’t agree with that as they are free spirits then simply don’t have one. Baffles me why it’s not against the law cat poo can be toxic too

Cats aren't trainable as dogs are. You can't prevent a cat from roaming unless you shut it in and most cats don't thrive as house pets. They need fresh air. Most cats bury their waste though, unlike dogs who just dump and stroll off.

I've never known a cat cause damage in a garden.
Are you kidding? Cats trample on and dig in and shit in our flowerbeds all the time.

What about foxes, badgers, birds etc

The cats chase the birds from our bird feeders.

We did take the lion, he’s in the Zoo.

In a zoo isn’t the same as tame. A zoo lion would still eat you if you went into its enclosure.

OP it’s likely that once you have a dog the cats will stay away anyway because your dog will mark its territory.

But my point was cats CAN injure people. PPs said they dont but thats not true

You cant compare pet cats roaming to wild animals as they arent wild. Its a shame that cat owners seem to think its ok for other people to deal with their cats shit. If a cat is never outdoors then they wouldnt know they are supposed to roam. Plenty of pet animals have a natural instinct to roam but we dont allow it so why do we for cats?

Having nearly had my arm torn off by some solid psycho unit of a dog in Thailand, I can kinda see why dogs aren't allowed to roam the streets.

It would take one unfriendly, unneutured, pissed off dog to rip a kid to shreds and I don't think the question would need to be asked again.

Cats can be arsholes but that's about it.

I think that's the point @Lovingbenidorm, there are laws around leaving dog shit around and rightfully so because it's bloody annoying but if a dog came in and shat on your property it would be acceptable to complain.

Apparently it's fine for cat owners to do so though. Personally I'd rather find it in the middle of the pavement than have to search my garden everyday.

You really don't know the difference between a dangerous dog and a dangerous cat?

Of course cats can do damage. But they are generally the same size and generally have a similar chip on their shoulder.

You get many different types of dogs with different temperaments and different ways of dealing with threats issues they come up against.

You can't compare them.

For those complaining about dog shit...dog owners are EXPECTED to clean up after their dog and can get fined for not doing so. Cats owners put that responsibility on their neighbours unfortunately

And as for damage, next doors cat decided that it enjoyed climbing our trampoline and completely shredded the enclosure before using the (as a result) sagging top as a hammock 🤔

Cats don't belong to their owners, they do their own darn thing..I used to have cats but now I have dogs..the difference in the levels of devotion is unbelievable 😍🐾😍

I HATE cats shitting in my garden. It makes me hate my neighbours too. They might as well crap in my garden themselves!
It is an anti-social act to own a roaming cat. Should be illegal.

P.s.
I had a very loved house cat for 22 years.

It's not UNIVERSALLY accepted that cats should roam free. Where I'm originally from, it's not really the practice (I went to type that it's illegal there, but a quick google tells me this is debatable). It is certainly the norm in the UK, though.

Ours is an indoors cat, and has done just fine. A cat that's not used to going outside won't feel deprived of it. We'd let ours out now that we're no longer in a flat by a busy road, but as she's not used to it, she's scared of the outdoors. I can definitely see the pluses and minuses for both practices. An indoors cat won't get into fights, isn't in risk of getting run over, isn't murdering the local wildlife, and is less likely to get parasites or to go missing. I do think, though, that an outdoors cat would lead a more "natural" cat's life, and probably has more catty satisfaction from being able to follow its instincts.

Apparently MN goofed up my message. These are the boys with Daddy. Biggie is smiling. Gatsby is sleeping in Daddy's lap.

As a cat owner, I kind of agree with you OP

I think it’s because don’t really pose much of a threat to people whereas dogs do.

Because cats roaming is a natural behaviour.

It’s a natural behaviour for dogs too when left to their own devices. Same for horses etc. It’s just that we’ve domesticated them over thousands of years to be caged/stabled/housed. Cats are slowly becoming more and more controlled animals with the rise of indoor cats. One of mine doesn’t go outside. He’ll take a few steps out into the back garden and then turn and come back in. The other one goes out for a few hours each evening and then spend the rest of her days on my bed. Personally I’d rather they both stayed in. I don’t like the risk of them coming to harm outside and I do feel bad about girl cat pooing in people’s gardens (I don’t know If she does but she’s might) but I don’t want to curtail her natural tendency to go for a walk each evening.

This is NOT a discussion about dangerous dogs!
I am simply interested in opinions of cats doing as they please in gardens. If a dog took a shit in someones garden they owner would get a ballocking

I have two cats, we keep them strictly indoors. I have always had cats and they have always been strictly indoor cats (minus getting out once in awhile when the door is opened).

In fact, all rescues in the area require cats to be “indoor cats” if you are adopting.

“I think people going on about a dog "turning at any point" has been done to death and id rather not start that pointless debate...”

Well, then this whole thread is pointless.

You can’t have a debate about cats vs dogs free-roaming if you don’t wish to acknowledge that far and away the biggest concern is the threat of serious attacks against humans.

You might not think it's a discussion about dangerous dogs, but the serious injury and death that dogs can cause, relative to cats, is a very good reason for different rules. And I see a lot more dogshit than catshit.

I love cats. I have five. But I don’t let them out. Mostly it’s for their own safety but I also know they would decimate the local bird population and probably wreak havoc in neighbor’s gardens. Not all cat owners think cats have the right to roam. I actually wish that more people would consider keeping their cats as house cats. I know this can be difficult with certain individual cats but it’s much safer in general and it is possible to have perfectly content and healthy indoor cats.

Dog shit is the biggest problem around where I live, and there are a lot of cats.
I have two indoor cats. I hate the thought of cats chasing birds and pooing on neighbours gardens, but I agree with pp in that if I had cats that went outside , I’d ask my neighbours to make me aware of any issues.

Its nice to know my opinion is shared with a few 😂 personally i dont see the issue with cats being house cats. Ive known a few and they are happy