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

Cats should be kept inside and not allowed to roam free.
They crap in other people’s gardens.
Leave a window or a door open and theybthink it’s fine to wander in your house - they don’t give a shit if somebody in the house is allergic to them.
They kill wildlife and birds ( whose numbers have decreased massively because of the rise in the number of cats. My uncle is a very knowledgeable chap on the subject of birds, he has written loads of books and has done a 7year study on why bird numbers were dropping. Cats was the number one reason) . I wouldn’t mind quite so much if they killed them because they were hungry but they have a bowl of whiskers in at least 2 houses usually and they kill our lovely wild birds and animals for ‘fun’. Don’t suppose cat owners would like it if dogs roamed free too and killed their cats for ‘fun’ because it’s in their nature!
They can kill - my husband, as a baby was saved by the little girl next door who came round to ‘ see the baby’. My MILs cat was having a nice kip stretched out on DH , covering his face and chest while he was outside in his pram. He was really really lucky. The little girl got a nice scratch for pulling Bilbo off DH. the old wives tale that ‘ cats steal babies breath’ has to come from somewhere doesn’t it.
Cats are routinely killed by cars. It’s awful for the cat, the owner and the driver. I would be utterly gutted if I ran a cat over. But if they were not roaming about they wouldn’t get knocked down would they?

There. I think you can probably see which side of the fence I am!

Can you imagine the cat population if people didn’t own cats?

I don't think anyone is proposing the existing pet cat population should be chucked out to run wild and breed.

So they cannot be put on a lead like a dog,

I've seen cats being walked - with a harness, not a collar. I don't know if the human was leading the cat or vice versa ...

Good point Boebe !
If people stopped owning cats as pets and left them to it.......
They would take over the world!
(Probably do a bloody good job too!)

Leave a window or a door open and theybthink it’s fine to wander in your house - they don’t give a shit if somebody in the house is allergic to them

That will be because they are a cat. They possess neither the awareness, nor the ability to politely enquire if any of the household have allergies before entering.

Sorry, I can see how you find it annoying if you are allergic. I get that. I just found that statement amusing

It is utterly ridiculous to suggest all cats should be kept inside!!!

I don’t know why this thread is derailing on to dogs it’s a thread about cats . Also not all cats bury their poo.

Yes, yes we know Benidorm!

Sorry 🥴

Because cats can't be trained?

Cat roaming free isn't without its risks. They're not protected by law so if some idiot walks their dog without a lead and it kills the cat, nothing can be done about it. But there are ways to protect flowerbeds from being used as cat toilets, mind you, you hardly see a decent flowerbed anyway so no wonder cats use them.

Cat-proof your garden so they can't get out?

Don't make me laugh. I've seen my own cat climb out of an upstairs front window that was open about 3 inches, shin down the wall, jump onto the porch roof, shimmy along that, pop onto the neighbour's roof, up into a tree, through the tree, onto the next garage roof, down onto the top of a fence, walk right along that, and then jump down into the field beyond. And return the same way.

Keeping cats indoors is not cruel. Around here is is actual local ordinance. Catscthat are out doors are at risk of being captured by animal control and put in shelters. I don’t think I need to say what happens when shelters are over run....

They can kill - my husband, as a baby was saved by the little girl next door who came round to ‘ see the baby’. My MILs cat was having a nice kip stretched out on DH , covering his face and chest while he was outside in his pram

So a cat accidentally suffocating a baby by snuggling up to keep warm is the same as an aggressive breed of dog savaging a baby with its teeth?! Seriously, not even comparable.

Wild fox shit doesn't bother me because no person is responsible for that fox

That's totally illogical. The shit is the shit, whether a fox has an owner or not doesn't make it smell like perfume.

Totally missing the point there. It's not that something unpleasant has happened, it's the fact that a person ultimately had a choice in it and has unilaterally deemed your inconvenience acceptable.

It's like saying there's no difference between loose chippings being kicked up by the wheels of a vehicle in front of you and a group of thugs with a bag of stones targeting your car and hurling them at your windscreen. Your windscreen is smashed regardless, so why would the former make most people annoyed and exasperated whereas the latter would make them absolutely furious?

I don't think anyone is proposing the existing pet cat population should be chucked out to run wild and breed.

Ok I’m not sure why I’m getting the arseface for that. I wasn’t assuming anyone was suggesting that. I was just imaging what it would be like if we didn’t own cats, like we don’t own foxes or badgers. Chill maybe?

FenellasRedVelvetDress Does your uncle know more than the RSPB? Because their studies show that the number one cause of decline in bird numbers is loss of habitat.
From their website:
There is evidence that cats tend to take weak or sickly birds ... .It is likely that most of the birds killed by cats would have died anyway from other causes before the next breeding season, so cats are unlikely to have a major impact on populations.
Those bird species that have undergone the most serious population declines in the UK (such as skylarks, tree sparrows and corn buntings) rarely encounter cats, so cats cannot be causing their declines. Research shows that these declines are usually caused by habitat change or loss, particularly on farmland.”

ww2.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/gardening-for-wildlife/animal-deterrents/cats-and-garden-birds/are-cats-causing-bird-declines#l5WTGzZ2d7iXPHZA.99

Aside from the fact that cats CAN cause people physical harm (toxoplasmosis, anybody?), why are people saying that, because a dog can be vicious and a cat is very unlikely to be, it's therefore OK for cats to poo on your property? That makes no sense.

Babies and toddlers aren't able to inflict serious physical violence on you, but you'd be utterly horrified if the person in charge of one let them crawl on to your garden and leave a big smelly poo there.

If cats can't be trained, then the argument would surely not be that you therefore just have to leave them to do as they will but rather that they aren't then actually suitable as pets? That's the logical extreme of that argument.

Bloody hell! So now cats are unsuitable as pets? 🙄

Not unsuitable just a bit pointless really.

According to most they are untrainable, wild animals who hate being indoors.

So why attempt to force them into an unsuitable environment for the pleasure of humans who end up letting them roam about anyway?

Cats are not welcome in my garden. I find it really disgusting that people let their cats out and they crap in my garden, even worse when they crap in my vegie garden.

I now sprinkle chilli flakes in my front vegie garden and they keep out.

I not own a cat and do not want o pick up after someone else's or get toxoplasmosis from someone else's cat either. When you are happy for me to let my dog freely wander your yard and poop in your garden I will return the favour, until then keep your cat on your own property.

As you can see this is clearly a pet hate (no pun intended) of mine.

The route of cat/dog domestication was very different. Cats basically domesticated themselves, knowing it was in their interests to do this. Any civilised population forgives a bit of cat waste on their land because of all the benefits cats bring.

Although as PP said that's the logical argument to an illogical point.

I'd swap next doors dog barking day and night for a bit of cat shit in my garden any day. Just saying.

Itsear beautifully put

Cats basically domesticated themselves

As did dogs most likely. I think most modern views on the domestication of dogs view it as self-domestication (vs human domestication).