AIBU to think cats should not roam unsupervised like dogs?

[estrogone]

AIBU to think that if you dont leave your dog to roam streets unsupervised, then you shouldn't let other pets (cats), for the same reasons.

It blows my mind that people let their cats out because their sleep is disrupted and I wonder why they think its OK, when its highly unlikely they would put Fido outside if he kept the family up.

I am probably less worried about the wildlife and more worried about the risk to the cat.

Imagine it getting knocked down four or five blocks from your home. Left to die in miserable pain, all alone.

We wouldn't let our dogs do that for obvious reasons. Why are cats second class citizens?

We can’t leave our back door or kitchen window open as next door cat wanders in and makes himself at home. I don’t want a shedding cat in my home. I also don’t want to “check cat is out” when I leave. I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t dislike the cat, it’s just a strange situation.

I’d change vets to one who passed their stats papers.

And I repeat what the paper says about cats kept indoors:

“an indoor-only lifestyle may challenge reliably meeting all of a cat’s behavioural needs (eg, engagement in play, exploring, hunting, climbing and scratching), potentially inducing stress.13,14 While indoor-only living could effectively increase longevity, ensuring access to adequate environmental resources is essential to support normal feline behaviours.13,15”

Rabbits and guinea pigs live in cages and runs.
I've never had a dog.
I'd by upset if I lost a cat yes, but not enough to be precious about depriving them of their liberty and freedom to roam.

Cats usually have cat flaps and come and go as they please. Ours are sleeping on our beds all day and out all night. They can scale fences, walls, buildings, trees to escape danger which dogs cannot do. As a rule they tend to avoid humans rather than seek them out again unlike dogs. As a pp said they can’t seriously injure a human either.

we have cats and dogs. They are as different as it’s possible to be, in terms of instinct and behaviour, and so it’s appropriate to treat them very differently.

You are very ignorant of animal behaviour and instinct ! And don’t understand cats or dogs at all
hth

We manage with big cats in zoos. You can mange with your moggy, if you wanted to. You just don’t mind the thought of it dying a horrible death. I think that’s negligent, you don’t.

Our cat doesn't roam. She goes out in the back garden only, occasionally a little further when she was younger but not any more. We have always made sure she was in if we were going out and she is in overnight.

Cats "needing to roam" to a myth, what makes them "needing to roam" more than other pets?. I'm sick of people whining about their cats getting hurt or killed but it's their fault for not being responsible. I have three house cats who go out on a harness, they're happy and very healthy.

Cats don’t maul people

Wildlife in the UK is under huge pressure, it’s one of the most wildlife depleted countries in Europe. This is particularly true of birdlife where many once common birds (such as house sparrows) are now considered endangered. Swifts and swallows are under huge pressure. Allowing them to be killed indiscriminately by a non-native predator adds substantially to the pressure especially at a local level.

Hahahahah!

Cats aged up to 2 years had an annual probability of dying in the range of 2.8–3.1%,

Um, that is not a life expectancy of 2.

But dont you worry about the risk to them?

The point of this thread is to get to the bottom of why its OK to put cats at higher risk than other pets. Its seems weird to me, that people just don't care about the cat meeting a terrible end, or end up in fights and the risk of HIV.

They are the only breed where benign neglect is ok, and I can't work out why?

I don’t agree with keeping big cats in zoos.
I don’t own a cat; I am allergic to them so hair in my house would be a problem. I like them though, and enjoy meeting them in my garden or the street.

I am also an urban driver and have never hit a cat in 35 years of driving. Maybe only had one run out in front of me 3 or 4 times.

There are countries where dogs are free to roam. I bet you are not going there on holiday!

I don’t think the paper shows that at all - but I agree that young cats are more likely to die on the roads as they are less “street-wise”. I think as owners we need to risk assess and act accordingly. We live on a one-way street which is very quiet, and our back garden backs onto other back gardens. If we lived next to a dual carriageway then the risk level would be very different and I don’t think I would have cats as I wouldn’t want to let them out in those circumstances.

Our last cat was pts because of intestinal lymphoma (aggressive stomach cancer) aged ten which was awful - she didn’t roam, but she loved lying in the garden in the sunshine. We now have a little boy cat who had been found as a stray kitten, and I was nervous letting him out in case he was more of a wanderer. In fact he’s exactly the same and always either in our garden or next door when he’s out. He’s kept in at night, as was our girl.

When our girl was diagnosed with intestinal lymphoma our vet said the top three causes of cat death are kidneys, roads, and lymphoma. I wish with my whole heart we could have stopped her getting lymphoma - but I am so glad she had ten lovely years of lying snoozing under the lilac tree and sitting on the shed roof watching the birds.

Our cat only goes out during the day, we get her in night time and she’s compliant 95% of the time. I’m not sure how much of the wildlife is saved though tbh, she hunts quite successfully during the day.

No, I really am not. I am asking a thoughtful question, which I think should be considered.

Cats deserve as much protection and care as other pets, but we routinely neglect them and put them at great risk - when would not do that with any other pet. It makes NO sense.

Shall I quote the vets in the paper AGAIN? Letting them roam is the opposite of neglect:

an indoor-only lifestyle may challenge reliably meeting all of a cat’s behavioural needs (eg, engagement in play, exploring, hunting, climbing and scratching), potentially inducing stress.13,14 While indoor-only living could effectively increase longevity, ensuring access to adequate environmental resources is essential to support normal feline behaviours.13,15

I was born early 70s, south wales (not rural) and dogs were let out on their own. There were a few that used to visit us in our street from around. Maybe not all but it seemed normal back then.

No. It’s because they have a massive effect on wildlife, killing native animals that are already highly threatened.

Cats hunt. But they don’t need to in order to survive. They get fed by humans. Which means natural laws of population balance don’t apply.

In wild populations, if a predator kills
too much of a prey species, food becomes scarce and the predator numbers die off, giving the prey species a chance to recover. If you artificially feed the predator (which is what happens with cats) the prey species never gets that chance to recover.

Introduced species are a huge threat the world over and cats are a big part in that. Native animals haven’t evolved a response and cats can have a huge impact on their numbers.

Australia recognises this and deals with it. If your cat is killed or hurt, then so be it - the bigger cause is trying to prevent the extinction of a range of native wildlife species, not protect one domestic individual. I’ve been to events and talks and things where cat owners all agree that if you are irresponsible and allow your cat to kill wildlife, shame on you. If your cat is harmed, that’s on you. You choose to own an animal that is capable of killing, then it’s on you to mitigate that.
Very different attitude to here.

Wildlife is killed here though. We just don’t seem to value our native wildlife as much as some other countries
do. We see it as common or boring I think. But we’re on a downward trend - there are around 73 million fewer birds flying around us in the UK than there were 50 years ago.
Cats aren’t responsible for all of that by any stretch. Habitat loss for example is massive. But cats play their part and it might be nice to acknowledge that.

Cats hunt. It is their instinct. But it isn’t natural in the sense that they aren’t part of our native ecosystem.

I think it is a conversation that needs to be had. Even if it doesn’t result in laws or similar, it needs to be something people are talking about, aware of and take seriously.

Both our cats and dog go off and roam in the evening. The dog comes back before midnight and the cats come in whenever they want to as they have a cat flap. 🤷🏻‍♀️

And are you just…ok with that? If my dog killed a bird I would be mortified, especially with the pressure that bird populations are under. Not to mention that I would be committing a criminal offence under the Wildlife and Country Act in knowingly allowing a protected species to be killed.

Cats are huge predators of songbirds, particularly at night or when the birds are advertising their whereabouts during the dawn chorus. For that reason, cats should be kept in at night.

people are fighting hard to stop "managing" and treating big cats better. They might survive in cages, or their ridiculous enclosures, but it's very cruel.

Keeping guinea pigs, hamsters etc in small enclosures is very cruel too. You can't let them roam free, obviously, but enclosures too small should be banned.

Treating animals horribly is not an argument for locking cats inside.

Having cats and foxes who kill rats and prevent them from going to our houses is much better than poison.