Keep your cats INSIDE, people!

[nwhiker]

I'm on my local Nextdoor list, and it's heartbreaking. At least once a day, sometimes more often, there is a post about a lost cat.

Most of these cats don't make it home.

We have bears in the area. And coyotes. And cougars. And, um, cars. Outside is not a safe place for cats, even leaving out that cats make outside not a safe place for songbirds. :P

I know there are Some Cats who refuse to be contained. I get that. But... I am firmly on the "keep cats inside" side of things, and the parade of lost kitty photos on my Nextdoor news feed is doing nothing to change my opinion.

Comments

[siamese1]

We've got the same dynamic on our Nextdoor list. Coyotes have been coming down from the hills and people who refuse to keep their cats indoors pay the price. That said, we do have our little outdoor kitty who adopted us for food, but has no interest in interaction with humans. You'd be happy to know that I saved a crow from her the other day. It had been stunned, but eventually flew away. I hung out nearby just in case Sia (the cat) came back to try again.

[nwhiker]

Yowza. Crows are BIG. But yeah, I know, we used to have Keelee, who was living outside our place when we moved in, and who was never happy inside... at least until end of life. So I get that at times, it's not truly a choice. It's more the "she usually only goes out for a few hours!" and the "he NEVER strays from the backyard" that break my heart. People thinking they can have the best of both worlds, I guess, and then the cat doesn't wander home. :(