Jesus! The expression on that cat’s face will haunt my dreams. I’d watch my back if I were you.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of restraining laws on cats back home, not sure how they even designate a stray proper here in Northern Ireland.
As a cat owner, I think it fairer for a cat to take its chances with cars on the road and roam a bit.
Them’s fightin’ words 'round here. Fair warning: be prepared to have your ass handed to you by some of our resident cat lovers if they should happen to see this. 
I say this after my favourite cat (and username) was killed by a car outside the house. But when our cats were left indoors they often went apesh*t trying to get back out (one silly cat trying to do so through a plate glass window.)
So no, I don’t think I could lock my cat up all day inside, just doesn’t seem to be the done thing.
well, she did once ty to kill me with a hand grenade. :eek:
I’m not surprised, but this sounds like a tale that needs telling. Please share.
You have to start training them as kittens.
Billy Bob was part of a litter that was dumped at the veterinarian’s office. He was the last one to get adopted, and was allowed access to the whole office. So, he was on very friendly terms with other animals, and adored dogs. This scared me about letting him out. But he was fine with staying inside and showering our dog with love. He didn’t go into the yard until he was 3 yrs. old, and only with me and the dog. He still won’t go out without the dog, and stays in our huge fenced yard for the most part. Even when he would climb the fence to visit nextdoor, he would stay within 20’ of our house.
None of mine go out, and none of them show any desire to do so. A few years ago, when we were moving into this house, 'Tino got out the window we had opened for the hose to drain the waterbed. He immediately ran under the car on the carport and started to howl for someone to get him.
If I lived out in the country it might be different, but I live less than a block from a heavily traveled road and I would no sooner let my cats out unattended than a rational parent would let a 3 year old out unattended.
The cat suite has a large viewing window and sometimes one of the cats will see us outside doing yard work or taking out the trash. They give us the funniest “what are you doing out there” looks!
My dogs apparently think that the front door and the back door lead to two seperate worlds. If I go out the front door, my return is greeted with effusive joy, even if I’ve only been gone for a few minutes. If I go out the back door, I can be gone for hours and when I return they’re completely nonchalant.
I imagine they think that when I go out the front door, I encounter all sorts of dangers, like the vet. Sometimes I bring home a “kill”, whole chunks of cow and other assorted foods, wrapped in plastic. I’ve often thought they must think I’m an incredibly good hunter to bring down such a varied selection of prey.
When I go out the back door, they assume I must have been in the yard all day, possibly digging holes as they’re wont to do. They don’t even bother to greet me when I come back inside.
Pushkin - you seem to be doing ok but beware of emotions on this seemingly innocent question …
“As for the person (me ) who wondered why you won’t be letting your cats outside. Urban or not, it is not safe or condusive to a long life to let cats outside. Even in the country there’s wild animals that can kill them, streets to get hit on, fights they’ll get into with other cats, not to mention the whole slew of diseases and maladies they’ll be exposed to. It’s just safer for all kitties to stay inside.” from this thread
Like it Lissa !
A few years ago, I bought a surplus practice grenade shell. It won’t go boom, but it weighs 2-3lbs., and it makes a neat paperweight. I used to keep it on the headboard of my bed. One morning, I woke up, rolled over, and my nosed touched the grenade. Evil Cat had pushed it 1 foot down the headboard, and tried to drop it on me, missing me by this much: [----------] . I no longer keep anything on the headboard.
Fred might me. Funny, I got the cat in 1996.
Here in the UK, there isn’t really much to touch a cat out and about. Dogs are (usually) tied up or foiled by a quick jump over a fence. If you and your feline live far enough out in the countryside, you might worry about foxes, but us urbanites live a quiet existance.
And some of us who do have pets, even cats, find it annoying. Cats have several far-too-common fatal diseases… FIP, FIV, Feline Leukemia, plus some other non-fatal ones like feline herpes. In fact, my own cat got feline herpes from a very brief contact with a neighbor’s cat who must’ve been a carrier… thank heavens that kitty wasn’t a carrier of anything worse.
It’s not just about protecting our own cats. What if a cat goes potty in a pregnant neighbor’s garden? What about koi ponds or birds? Letting cats roam unchecked is no less selfish then letting dogs roam unchecked. I don’t have a yard, but if I did, I’d be trapping roaming cats, calling the animal shelter, and letting my neighbor know that he has to go pick up his cat there & pay a fine in the process. Flame away.
Why does everybody keep wanting to turn this thread into a flame war?
It was just a, lighthearted post about my silly cat. MPSIMS is full of them.