Should your cat be allowed outside?
Your cat is living a dangerous life
if you allow it to go outside. An 'indoor' cat can easily live to the age of
20, while a cat which lives outside or is allowed to go out even for short periods
will only a fraction of that time. If you care about your cat - KEEP IT INSIDE!
Why?
1. Some people hate cats and will intentionally hurt time. People with gardens
do not like your cat using it as their 'dirt box'. Cats get into peoples dustbins,
turn them over, and can make a mess of the formerly neatly bagged trash. Remember
that no one with any sense of responsibility will let a dog run loose off a
lead, neither should a cat be allowed out of the house to wreak havoc with the
neighbour's garden, compost heap, or trash waiting to be picked up.
2. Then there is theft. A pedigree animal can be sold (yes even without the
registration papers) and some unscrupulous individuals will not think twice
about stealing a car or dog to sell them. If your cat is stolen, pray it goes
to a good home and that it was not sold for biomedical research.
3. Cars hit cats and kill them, the number of cats found lying dead beside city
streets and country roads is sobering. Even a parked car is a danger, as many
cats, in cold weather, will crawl near a warm car engine and be killed or seriously
injured when the car is started.
4. We are dog lovers, but the truth is that dogs do kills cats, some have even
been trained by their owners to do so who will let a dog off a lead to chase
and kill a cat.
5. It isn't necessary to be living in the country to worry about foxes. As the
cities have encroached on their territory foxes now roam city streets after
dark and will easily kill or injure a cat.
6. Beware of poisons; be it garden fertilizer or pesticide, poison put out to
kill vermin, or antifreeze leaking from a car radiator.
7. Cats that go outside easily contract diseases and a vaccination is not infallible.
Feline leukaemia, feline immunodeficiency virus, and feline infectious peritonitis
are lethal diseases that can be picked up by your cat coming into contact with
an infected cat.
8. Fleas. Cats contract fleas when they go outside. Yes you can put a flea collar
on and your cat can get an irritated and sore neck from it. Have you considered
the collar getting hung up on a fence post or tree limb and strangling your
cat. Flea drops can help but do you really want fleas in your furniture and
carpets. Keep your home and your children flea free, keep your cat inside.
9. Veterinarian bills can be costly to keep your cat healthy. They are even
more costly to heal a sick or injured cat. After cars, what causes the most
damage to cats? Other cats they fight with over their territory. You cat can
contact diseases and fleas from contact with other cats and it can be seriously
injured from fighting. You will spend a lot of money having bite wounds and
abscesses treated if your cat goes outside.
10. Happiness. Many people will say 'put the cat out at night', 'a cat cannot
be happy inside'. Both of these statements and many similar ones are untrue.
Kittens raised indoors become cats that don't miss the outside world. They will
love to sit in a sunny window and watch people walk by, the traffic and be content.
Give your cat and kittens toys, a scratching post, and indoor garden of catmint,
and spend a lifetime with a happy, healthy feline friend. If your cats have
your house as their territory, they are more bonded to you and make better,
more loving pets.
You probably don't let your children play in the street or on the motorway.
Why should you send your cats outside to face these perils? If you take your
cat out on a harness and lead, you are not protecting it or doing it a favour.
Someone may come to your door and inadvertently let the cat out, not realizing
that it's not allowed out unescorted. Our cats have never gone out and they
don't even try. We have sold many kittens over the years to be strictly kept
indoors and this is only one of many cat-related issues that we are fanatical
about. Please keep your beloved cat safe and inside and on your lap.