Keep your damned cats at home!

The BBQ Pit
1

I just got back from, once again, going downstairs to see what the ruckus was, and soothing my ruffled kitties who were all upset by the neighbour cats coming and parking themselves outside my windows. Dammit, the law in Calgary is that cats ARE NOT ALLOWED OUTSIDE EXCEPT ON LEASHES! I know we live in a quiet suburb, but that doesn’t mean the laws don’t apply - it actually should be even more enforced out here, because every house seems to have a cat or two.

We haven’t been here for summer yet, but I’m sure I’ll be back to rant about the neighbourhood cats rampaging through my garden and flower beds, eating, digging and pooping at will.

My two kitties stay inside because that’s the law, and it’s healthier for them anyway. I know cats love to go out, but it’s not fair for my cats to be upset by the neighbourhood cats when they’re the ones that are doing the right thing, and my neighbours aren’t. Maybe it’s time to endear myself to the neighbourhood by calling bylaw enforcement and having all the roamers picked up.

2

Cats on leashes?

What kind of bizzaro world is Calgary?

What’s next? Muzzles on hamsters?

3

I’ll say one thing: training a cat to walk on a leash without freaking out when it sees a dog or nearby car is really, really hard. I speak as one who has tried.

4

My cat, Feather, has been leash-trained. It wasn’t particularly difficult, since I did it when she was a youngster. That being said, cats on leashes are a completely different ballgame than dogs on leashes - cats need to have shelter to scamper under at all times, they will rarely just walk along with you, and they will climb trees while on the leash and strangle themselves (thus necessitating constant supervision of a cat on a leash). The law is clear, though - no leash, no cat outside. If your cats won’t take to a leash, sorry, but they’re not allowed outside in Calgary anymore.

Oh, that reminds me of another point that I forgot in my original rant; when my cat is outside romping around on her leash, having a great time, it really bugs me (and is dangerous for my little girl) when other, untethered cats come around. She gets all mad, she tries to chase the other cats, she gets choked by her leash, I try to pick her up, she’s in a fightin’ mood; it’s just ugly. I’m trying to do the right thing, here. I guess it’s just another example of how much easier life is for people who don’t know or don’t care how their actions affect others.

5

I don’t like to see loose cats either. Jack, I’ll tell you why cats should be kept indoor or on leashes. They get stolen, beaten, run over, stoned, tortured, mutilated, killed. They also mate with every unneutered female they can find (with an average litter of 5 kittens, that’s a lot of kittens, which in turn get their heads crushed, are drowned, flushed down the toilet, left in the cold, thrown in fields, fed to dogs…). Males spray, brawl (ever hear cats fighting in spring? Most god-awful sound I ever heard), injure each other, attack and maim dogs (which should also be on leashes), females cry and keep everyone up at night, attract males on the lam. Cats attack people, spread disease, shit on your roses, spray your vegetables, dig up your lawn, leave toxic wastes in your backyard so your children get sick and your unborn child gets diseased (pregnant women should not clean litter boxes!). They will eat garbage and die slowly of poisoning or punctured stomach or intestine.

Don’t get me wrong, I love cats and have had several for the past 20 years - none of them outside cats, all of them fixed early, never a single problem! Same with dogs - “My dog is well-behaved, why should I have him on a leash?” Because, ah, you can’t predict its behaviour, and if your dog is so well-behaved, it shouldn’t mind being on leash. Because if it comes close to another leashed dog that’s aggressive, your dog is in danger. Because your dog will eat anything it finds, especially garbage. Because a lot of people are afraid of dogs - why should they feel trapped and obligated to cross the street because you can’t follow the rules?

Oops, I’m getting really pissed here. I’ll come back to this some other time.

And it’s a goddam sideWALK, not a f*g sideSTAND!

And PULL UP YOUR PANTS! (Sorry, Dennis)

All done. Tks.

6

<shrug> My cat goes outside on a harness/leash just fine. Of course she gets scared when a big dog comes along, and either crouches down and becomes difficult to budge or she tears off running towards the house. But it’s my responsibility to run with her away from the possible danger, or hold on tight enough to the harness to control her.

featherlou, you have no idea how much I wish we had leash laws for cats here (it’s dogs only). I abhor the practice of letting pet animals run around uncontrolled outside.

But alas, this debate’s gone on here at SD too many times and gotten far too ugly for me to waste any more breath trying to convince the people who think cats belong outside that they’re dead wrong.

Good luck to you and your kitties.

7

Angel: we’re home now. No need to censor yourself. :slight_smile:

8

Making a law that cats should be kept indoors is stupid. I salute the civil disobedience of your neighbors.

9

I don’t call it civil when cats are shitting all over my lawn.

My cats are inside, period. No leashes. They don’t destroy the neighborhood and wreck havoc everywhere.

Well, they wreck havoc INSIDE the house, but that’s another story altogether.

10

You have different cats in your area than I do if cats are shitting on lawns. In flowerbeds yet, but I’ve never seen a cat shit out in the open on grass.

I also live in an area rife with feral cats and can’t say that environmental havoc has ensued; though they obviously aren’t doing their jobs and eating pigeons.

11

Glad I don’t live in Calgary. If the law 'round here forced me to keep my cat locked in doors for it’s entire life, I don’t think I could in good conscience own a cat. Sounds too much like animal cruelty to me. And I’d really miss my little Phoebe.

12

Great. My 70 lb. Airdaile/Lab mix doesn’t much like having to go outside inside the fence. Given his digging and his constant pining for the fjords at the front window, I imagine he’d love to have his run of the neighborhood.

What, you don’t think I should let him run free? What’s the difference between him and your cat other than a few pounds? He’s friendly, and if he digs up your garden, I’ll bet there won’t be shit buried there. Oh, yeah, he’s a dog, and your’s is a cat. That’s different. We own and are responsible for dogs. Cats just tolerate us because we buy Whiskas for them. Dogs are stupid and cats are smart. Some other bullshit.

And FTR, my wife & I have had cats for more time than dogs, but have had both most of the time. Currently, we have as pets the aforementioned dog, a cat we’ve had about 3 years longer than the dog, a hamster, and a 7-year old child. At this moment, listening to the child whine, she’s the biggest problem.

13

The big difference, to me, between letting cats roam free and letting dogs roam free is the difference in aggressive behavior. Cats will remain mostly solitary and will not attack people. Dogs will form packs and greatly increase the risk of attacks on people. Otherwise, I have no problem with letting your dog run around the neighborhood.

14

Like hell cat’s won’t attack people, Ob. I have scars up and down one leg from cats. Not to mention a fear of them, now.

15

Ok, let me rephrase:

Cats may attack people, but it is pretty uncommon. Statistically, dogs are much more likely to attack a person (unprovoked) than cats; and pack behavior only makes it worse.

(Let me further say I’m talking about cats outside, I’ve had indoor cats go at me when at a friend’s house or something.)

16

So keeping my cats indoors is animal cruelty now? :rolleyes:

17

I must say, I rather resent the implication that keeping my cats indoors is animal abuse. Caliban was a stray, and we took her and her kittens in after some assmonkey decided the dumpster was a good place for tiny kittens with eyes not open yet.

All three stay indoors all the time. They wear collars with tags in case they escape, they don’t get fleas, they are completely healthy, not even the 24-pound neutered Tybalt is in danger of getting ripped to shreds by something smarter than him – say a dog, or a coyote, another cat or maybe a particularly bright dandelion.

I love my cats to death, and I consider them safer indoors. They are quite happy. If other people make other choices with their cats, that’s their deal, but I resent being told my choice borders on abuse.

18

Opalcat, it’s not animal abuse unless there are like 50 of them in there. :slight_smile: I guess it depends on how the cat was brought up. My 8 month old, Patches, went outside on a leash and the poor dear was terrified! She will only go out if she’s held and then it has to be right to the car. But she will spend hours looking out the window like she wished she could go out.

19

Yep, that’s what I said. Oh, sorry this isn’t the thread where we make judgmental assertions about how other people raise their pets? My bad.

20

Oh, is that why my vet exhorted me to keep my cat indoors to protect him from disease, cars, other animals, and criminals? Out of cruelty? Eat me.