discussion Is it cruel to have house cats?

[mistertsa]

The answer is no

[TaggedGalaxy]

18 minutes ago, cockatoo said:

Idk until very recently (like the last 5 years or so) I'd literally never heard of it as a concept and I live in London. All cat owners I knew growing up had a cat flap and I rarely even saw friends' cats as they'd normally be out.

It's more common in the US as cats are an invasive species to the US brought over with European colonists and they wreak havoc on the environment

 

https://wildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FactSheet-FeralCats_FINAL-1.pdf

[CaptainMusic]

Every cat me and my family has ever had has been a cat that comes and goes outside as they please which is how I think it should be.

 

Most cats prefer to stay home most of the time but still like to be able to go outside and roam a bit, while there are some cats that like being outside so if you live somewhere with a garden then you shouldn’t be keeping the cat inside IMO

 

But it depends on the wildlife where you live, and obviously if you live in a flat on a busy street in NY then it makes sense to keep the cat indoors for safety.

[illia]

What 

[fountain]

Contrary to what you said about cats being meant to roam around outside, some cats really show no interest in going outside. There’s a reason the phrase “scaredy cat” exists, a lot of cats are extremely skittish and have very anxious behaviour. I have a cat and if I take her outside she will immediately run back inside out of fear. No matter how many times you try to take her outside she will always ultimately run and the longest she has lasted is only a few minutes. Thus she is a house cat as she simply prefers it this way.

[CaptainMusic]

21 minutes ago, cockatoo said:

Idk until very recently (like the last 5 years or so) I'd literally never heard of it as a concept and I live in London. All cat owners I knew growing up had a cat flap and I rarely even saw friends' cats as they'd normally be out.

Yes most cats here in London are outside cats, I always see my neighbour’s cats roaming the streets 

 

It’s not common to keep them inside here 

[Bad News]

no

[fememeist]

Not OP trying to gaslight a whole population of gays

[stochastic]

There's a definitely a cultural discrepancy, as it's very common to keep cats indoors in the US but the opposite in the UK. As stated already, cats can wreak havoc on the ecosystem by killing populations of birds. Also, I'm on this community online board for my neighborhood and it's like the #1 type of posts for people to report their cats missing or haven't returned home, so keeping cats indoor is to ensure their safety. You don't know if they've engaged in battles with other animals or picked up diseases. A great solution is a "catio", an outdoor confined space. 

[Archetype]

My cat was chased by a bear, attacked by a family of raccoons, and bitten by both a snake and several mice over the years.  We literally had to stop letting her go outside so much because we were certain she was going to get herself killed. 
 

I honestly think the best thing to do for cats who like the outdoors is to keep them on a very long leash while supervised/take them on walks.

[CBC]

It's only cruel if you're vegan

[DoubleRainbow!]

I live in the country and my cat can’t spend an entire day inside, it needs to go out for some hours but it always comes back, the good thing is that there aren’t real dangers here 

I would be so scared if I lived in a big city and I had to let it out to roam, but at the same time is kinda sad having an animal spending their whole life within four walls 

[Fishtail]

33 minutes ago, enchanted0 said:

What a bizarre thing to say.  So many cats don’t even want to go outside. Their human family’s house is their territory and they’re more than happy with it

This. 
They’re simple creatures. They eat, sleep and like to be loved.  

[shinri]

You must be Joe King? 

[Boysdontcry]

I want to get a cat in a few years & if I do, I will definitely keep it in doors.

 

I live in quite a rural area & my neighbours cat was killed by a car. I feel like it’s kind of absurd that people just let their cats roam the streets as if they know how to cross a road.

[Aristede]

Every cat we've ever let go outside has disappeared and not come back. We don't know if they were eaten by a wild animal, hit by a car, got kidnapped, or run away. but we never see them again. So we keep them indoors now. 

[BGKC]

Some cats are genuinely afraid to go outside. I know my mom has 2 Siamese cats that have 0 interest of going outside and it’s always been that way. 

[AvadaKedavra]

There are leashes for cats 

[popmusicisdead]

cats are an invasive species. it might seem cruel to keep them inside but they have wiped out countless species esp. birds. keeping them inside is literally the least you can do for eco-diversity 

[zach]

What

 

My cat is just fine inside with his millions of toys and unlimited supply of food and treats.

[Headlock]

You do realize you can use the same logic for literally all pets 

[carpetbeetle]

4 hours ago, #Beautiful said:

? dumbest question ive seen all day. of  course not? lol

Literally 

[Katamari]

The backlash 

 

the question seems innocent enough I don’t get the all of the vitriol  

[Alldeezy]

Yes I had to get rid of my cat because she was miserable and was always trying to get out, ripping carpet apart to get out and If I wanted to make a cat run she will meow so loud for 24/7

 

she used to love just sitting outside with nature, but then next door reported me in for having my cat sitting on there front lawn "ONCE" so I had to give her away and I still miss her this very day.  and fact I didn't have to worry about litterbox because she did it in the garden. 

 

[ICLDXU4HS]

20 hours ago, Allday said:

Yes I had to get rid of my cat because she was miserable and was always trying to get out, ripping carpet apart to get out and If I wanted to make a cat run she will meow so loud for 24/7

 

she used to love just sitting outside with nature, but then next door reported me in for having my cat sitting on there front lawn "ONCE" so I had to give her away and I still miss her this very day.  and fact I didn't have to worry about litterbox because she did it in the garden. 

Yeah, you can’t transition an outdoor cat into an indoor cat, they will get depressed. 
 

I also don’t think that many/most cats don’t like to go outside as some in here claim. They simply weren’t raised that way so they’re afraid, but they wouldn’t be if you’d let them play in the garden and that sort of stuff when they were kittens.