The mystery of the shaved cat.........

[GNTLGNT]

I am just waiting for Scott's remarks lol.

....me like a bit of hair on my cat...so I would not be the henchman behind the "Klipped Kitty Kaper".....

 

[kingricefan]

In all seriousness - these people need to keep their cat indoors.

(both day AND night).

I agree. Keep the cat inside at all times. If they continue to let it out and it doen't come back one day, they have no room to p*ss and moan about it. Folks- don't take chances with your pets. They look to YOU to take care of them and keep them from harm's way.

 

[Lepplady]

I met an old man once who told me that every wandering cat he could catch, he would take it to the vet and have it spayed or neutered. He would pay for it, make sure it was taken care of and then let it go.

I have mixed feelings on this. Part good, part not so good.

That's pretty standard in a lot of places. In our area, there are allowances for strays that are "fixed" and identified with a notched ear. I don't like the notion of notching the ear, but it identifies the animal as a "community" stray that should be left alone. They control the critter population. And I do like that the community allows for them.

Let it go where? My understanding is that a fixed cat is in a compromised state vs feral cats and other predators.

On my street, probably. LOL! We have a lot of strays. There are a few of us in the neighborhood that feed strays now and then in return for controlling the critter population.

 

[Dana Jean]

Let it go where? My understanding is that a fixed cat is in a compromised state vs feral cats and other predators.

Let it go where he found them. They could be strays, they could be neighbor's cats. He didn't care. If he caught them and they weren't fixed, he got them fixed and then let them go again. Once they were healed up and all.

 

[Lepplady]

That is something else - I was mainly thinking of the welfare of the cat.

If there are people who allow their cats out without first spaying or neutering them, then that is rather irresponsible.

On top of this, they (the cats, that is!) kill birds too, as well as just mice and other rodents.

A cat could pick up fleas or worms and bring them back into your home. Or they could get killed by a car or just get beat up by other cats or a run-in with a racoon, dog, whatever.

There are also sickos out there who dislike cats and will go out of their way to hurt them, if they catch them.

Overall, quite a risky scenario for your pet. It does help if you train them to be afraid of going near a door, right from the time they are kittens.

Over the many years that I've lived here, we've had cats that simply never came home. Like my beloved Stumpy, who was poisoned by the 90-year-old lady across the street because she didn't like cats in her yard. We couldn't prove it was HER poison that did the job, though, so she was never charged. To the city's credit, I still see them over at her house regularly, reminding her that it's not okay to do that. I haven't seen any dishes left out by her steps.
Some might have been trapped when the city was rounding up strays (even though ours are up to date on all their shots and generally wear collars that say so). Some probably met with a snake bite. There's a big ditch/little bayou that runs along the back of our property that's a superhighway of wildlife. Snakes, frogs, Nutrias, possums, even armadillos, even the odd ill-fated turtle. Who knows what's back there. We know that one of our kitties tangled with a copperhead once but lived. Probably did so again without as much luck.
Knowing that bad things happen to kitties out there at night, all of our cats go out during the day and come in at night. When I drum my fingernails on the back door window, they come running and file in. I've got my cats trained better than some people train their dogs. It's pretty simple. Come in and get fed. Stay out and go hungry. They know the drill.
Fleas are part of the job. We pay for the good stuff that keeps 'em at bay on the animals, and run a hepa-filter sweeper often. Only rarely has one of our cats come home scraped up. I can only think of a few times in a decade that we've had to take a cat to the vet for an injury, and one of those was the snake bite I mentioned earlier.
The one incident I've ever seen occur between one of my cats and a dog was when a neighborhood boxer wandered up onto my back porch. I know the pooch, and he intended no harm. Just wanted to play and investigate. But Amber (who would be wearing leather and riding a Harley if ever a cat should) was having none of it. In a blink, she was wrapped around the boxer's head like that finger-thing from Alien, with all 20 sharp. The dog didn't stand a chance. He wasn't hurt, but I don't think he ever came over for another play date.
I call it the Stumpy syndrome. I could have kept Stumpy inside and she would have lived longer (and I certainly would have done so if I'd known that a neighbor put out poison), but she would have been miserable. She LOVED going out, and every neighbor knew her. All but one liked her very much. She was an adventurous spirit and just a wonderful animal. She died far too young, but she loved her days roaming the neighborhood. If I'd kept her in, she would not have been a happy cat. She hated being locked in.
Same thing with the cats we own now. We could keep them in, but they'd be miserable. Most of them are rescues, so they knew the outside before the knew the inside. Amber is the only cat that was born in this house. The rest found us one way or another.
And it's not like they get up to hi-jinks. Mostly, they just flop on the porch, or under it, and chill out all day. Every so often, I'll see one move to go find another shadow to lounge in because the sun shifted and took away the one they were using. Sometimes I see them chase each other around. I've never lost one to traffic (that I know of... never found a carcass) and mostly, the neighbors tolerate the neighborhood cats much better than the critters they run off. Mostly, they just have lazy days close to home. Especially in this heat.
I mean, I don't FORCE them to go out. I open the door and whoever goes, goes. We have one tortie that's got no interest whatsoever in the great outdoors. Sprawling in the bathroom window is the closest she's ever elected to get. One of our black cats, Amber, is getting older, so she spends most of her days curled up on the foot of my bed, just within my reach as I sit here and type.
I do make sure they're in, though. I don't care who goes out, but I do make sure everybody comes in. I don't want to lose anymore fur babies to the night. And I do force them all to stay in during the weeks before and after Halloween. I have black cats and there are idiots out there.
I don't know if letting them go out makes me irresponsible or kind. I only hope I'm giving them a life they enjoy, well cared-for and well loved.

 

[Lepplady]

Over the many years that I've lived here, we've had cats that simply never came home. Like my beloved Stumpy, who was poisoned by the 90-year-old lady across the street because she didn't like cats in her yard. We couldn't prove it was HER poison that did the job, though, so she was never charged. To the city's credit, I still see them over at her house regularly, reminding her that it's not okay to do that. I haven't seen any dishes left out by her steps.
Some might have been trapped when the city was rounding up strays (even though ours are up to date on all their shots and generally wear collars that say so). Some probably met with a snake bite. There's a big ditch/little bayou that runs along the back of our property that's a superhighway of wildlife. Snakes, frogs, Nutrias, possums, even armadillos, even the odd ill-fated turtle. Who knows what's back there. We know that one of our kitties tangled with a copperhead once but lived. Probably did so again without as much luck.
Knowing that bad things happen to kitties out there at night, all of our cats go out during the day and come in at night. When I drum my fingernails on the back door window, they come running and file in. I've got my cats trained better than some people train their dogs. It's pretty simple. Come in and get fed. Stay out and go hungry. They know the drill.
Fleas are part of the job. We pay for the good stuff that keeps 'em at bay on the animals, and run a hepa-filter sweeper often. Only rarely has one of our cats come home scraped up. I can only think of a few times in a decade that we've had to take a cat to the vet for an injury, and one of those was the snake bite I mentioned earlier.
The one incident I've ever seen occur between one of my cats and a dog was when a neighborhood boxer wandered up onto my back porch. I know the pooch, and he intended no harm. Just wanted to play and investigate. But Amber (who would be wearing leather and riding a Harley if ever a cat should) was having none of it. In a blink, she was wrapped around the boxer's head like that finger-thing from Alien, with all 20 sharp. The dog didn't stand a chance. He wasn't hurt, but I don't think he ever came over for another play date.
I call it the Stumpy syndrome. I could have kept Stumpy inside and she would have lived longer (and I certainly would have done so if I'd known that a neighbor put out poison), but she would have been miserable. She LOVED going out, and every neighbor knew her. All but one liked her very much. She was an adventurous spirit and just a wonderful animal. She died far too young, but she loved her days roaming the neighborhood. If I'd kept her in, she would not have been a happy cat. She hated being locked in.
Same thing with the cats we own now. We could keep them in, but they'd be miserable. Most of them are rescues, so they knew the outside before the knew the inside. Amber is the only cat that was born in this house. The rest found us one way or another.
And it's not like they get up to hi-jinks. Mostly, they just flop on the porch, or under it, and chill out all day. Every so often, I'll see one move to go find another shadow to lounge in because the sun shifted and took away the one they were using. Sometimes I see them chase each other around. I've never lost one to traffic (that I know of... never found a carcass) and mostly, the neighbors tolerate the neighborhood cats much better than the critters they run off. Mostly, they just have lazy days close to home. Especially in this heat.
I mean, I don't FORCE them to go out. I open the door and whoever goes, goes. We have one tortie that's got no interest whatsoever in the great outdoors. Sprawling in the bathroom window is the closest she's ever elected to get. One of our black cats, Amber, is getting older, so she spends most of her days curled up on the foot of my bed, just within my reach as I sit here and type.
I do make sure they're in, though. I don't care who goes out, but I do make sure everybody comes in. I don't want to lose anymore fur babies to the night. And I do force them all to stay in during the weeks before and after Halloween. I have black cats and there are idiots out there.
I don't know if letting them go out makes me irresponsible or kind. I only hope I'm giving them a life they enjoy, well cared-for and well loved.

Wow. That was really long. Sorry.

 

[Neesy]

Over the many years that I've lived here, we've had cats that simply never came home. Like my beloved Stumpy, who was poisoned by the 90-year-old lady across the street because she didn't like cats in her yard. We couldn't prove it was HER poison that did the job, though, so she was never charged. To the city's credit, I still see them over at her house regularly, reminding her that it's not okay to do that. I haven't seen any dishes left out by her steps.
Some might have been trapped when the city was rounding up strays (even though ours are up to date on all their shots and generally wear collars that say so). Some probably met with a snake bite. There's a big ditch/little bayou that runs along the back of our property that's a superhighway of wildlife. Snakes, frogs, Nutrias, possums, even armadillos, even the odd ill-fated turtle. Who knows what's back there. We know that one of our kitties tangled with a copperhead once but lived. Probably did so again without as much luck.
Knowing that bad things happen to kitties out there at night, all of our cats go out during the day and come in at night. When I drum my fingernails on the back door window, they come running and file in. I've got my cats trained better than some people train their dogs. It's pretty simple. Come in and get fed. Stay out and go hungry. They know the drill.
Fleas are part of the job. We pay for the good stuff that keeps 'em at bay on the animals, and run a hepa-filter sweeper often. Only rarely has one of our cats come home scraped up. I can only think of a few times in a decade that we've had to take a cat to the vet for an injury, and one of those was the snake bite I mentioned earlier.
The one incident I've ever seen occur between one of my cats and a dog was when a neighborhood boxer wandered up onto my back porch. I know the pooch, and he intended no harm. Just wanted to play and investigate. But Amber (who would be wearing leather and riding a Harley if ever a cat should) was having none of it. In a blink, she was wrapped around the boxer's head like that finger-thing from Alien, with all 20 sharp. The dog didn't stand a chance. He wasn't hurt, but I don't think he ever came over for another play date.
I call it the Stumpy syndrome. I could have kept Stumpy inside and she would have lived longer (and I certainly would have done so if I'd known that a neighbor put out poison), but she would have been miserable. She LOVED going out, and every neighbor knew her. All but one liked her very much. She was an adventurous spirit and just a wonderful animal. She died far too young, but she loved her days roaming the neighborhood. If I'd kept her in, she would not have been a happy cat. She hated being locked in.
Same thing with the cats we own now. We could keep them in, but they'd be miserable. Most of them are rescues, so they knew the outside before the knew the inside. Amber is the only cat that was born in this house. The rest found us one way or another.
And it's not like they get up to hi-jinks. Mostly, they just flop on the porch, or under it, and chill out all day. Every so often, I'll see one move to go find another shadow to lounge in because the sun shifted and took away the one they were using. Sometimes I see them chase each other around. I've never lost one to traffic (that I know of... never found a carcass) and mostly, the neighbors tolerate the neighborhood cats much better than the critters they run off. Mostly, they just have lazy days close to home. Especially in this heat.
I mean, I don't FORCE them to go out. I open the door and whoever goes, goes. We have one tortie that's got no interest whatsoever in the great outdoors. Sprawling in the bathroom window is the closest she's ever elected to get. One of our black cats, Amber, is getting older, so she spends most of her days curled up on the foot of my bed, just within my reach as I sit here and type.
I do make sure they're in, though. I don't care who goes out, but I do make sure everybody comes in. I don't want to lose anymore fur babies to the night. And I do force them all to stay in during the weeks before and after Halloween. I have black cats and there are idiots out there.
I don't know if letting them go out makes me irresponsible or kind. I only hope I'm giving them a life they enjoy, well cared-for and well loved.

That DOES sound like a good life. A lot of work, but still they must be happy.

The only cats I have had have been kittens who came to my house at around 10 weeks of age or so. (They were not strays or rescues, but from a Siamese cat breeder - no papers, though!)

I trained them to be afraid of the outside door, so if they came near it I would clap my hands, or raise my voice.

They have never gone out and I don't think they miss it, as they don't know what they are missing.

Anyway, to each his own. We have bylaws in Winnipeg that tell us to keep our cats indoors, so I just go along with that so I don't rock any boats.

We do get the odd cat who comes up to the back door where I have raised up the wooden blinds to cat's eye level. They basically stand there and goad my cats, as if to say "nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah"

 

[Dana Jean]

I've had indoor cats and outdoor cats. I have found that if they get that taste of outside, it is hard to change them. I prefer indoor kittens. I keep their environment stimulating and for my own piece of mind, I know they are safe.

 

[kingricefan]

Wow. That was really long. Sorry.

I likes 'em long, luv. I have two cats and for the most part they are indoor. I let them go out on my front porch and down into the front yard so they can have their daily grass intake. But, I leave the screen door unlatched so if (and this has happened twice in the past with the ex-neighbors dog) they need to make a speedy entrance back into the house, they can get that door open to get in. I'll let them out then go about my business for a few minutes then go look out the window to make sure that they are still within sight. For the most part they just hang out in front of the porch or under it. If I can't see them, I go out and make sure they're still on my property. There's been a couple of times when I've caught them next door or on the other side of the neighbors house, and they get a good talking to for it. They're good cats and listen when I say it's time to come in (mostly).