I live in Australia, were pretty much 98% of cat owners seem to have outdoor cats, and then we all equally complain about our fading endangered wildlife and overpopulated strays. Granted, I grew up in a family that pretty much got a cat for funsies and then just let it roam and come inside for food and a cuddle. As I’ve gotten older I’ve definitely given an ear to people who talk about the wildlife and how dangerous it is for cats but have never been able to fully comprehend what they mean.
I think after you work in a general/emergency vet clinic it quickly changes your once-unsure opinion on outdoor cats, and I confidently say I will never, NEVER have a roaming cat again.
My first night working I had some poor owners walking in balling while holding their dying cat after being hit by a car. I’d never seen a HBC (hit by car), and it is one of the most terrible things I tell you.
The amount of times I have “stray HBC cats” rushed in by a founder only for me scan them and rush them down to the hospital only to get their owner on the phone saying “but I only just saw her 20 minutes ago”.
Horrific motor vehicle accidents
Lost ‘strays’ being bought in after an accident and there’s only so much you can do as you can’t reach their owners
Countless phone calls asking if their lost cat has come through
Unchipped wandering cats that now have no home (happens to dogs too, please microchip)
Cat fight infections and wounds
FIP (arguably indoor cats get these too, but it feels more common in outdoor animals)
Very sick cats that their owners didn’t notice before because they toilet and vomit outside (out of view)
Generally the 16-22 year old cats I see are all pretty much indoor kitties
(injured wildlife) Regardless of how you feed them, they will hunt the wildlife
Not only it is an epidemic to our slowly-wiltering wildlife population but your cat is not better off anyway. I will never have an outdoor cat again, and I don’t really know why I hadn’t realized this sooner (I lost one of my cats HBC and my other two just never came home one day, I’ve never had a cat past the age of 7, I loved them so much, but was too young and it never crossed my mind that it was dangerous for them).
For some reason no-one ever complains about apartment cats and that we have to keep our dogs contained, but as soon as we do it for cats it’s “cruel”.
“Cats are easier than dogs”, damn well they can be, but that doesn’t mean you feed, cuddle and forget about them. Clean the litter tray, play with them, build a cat run, get them cat trees and shelves they can climb on, get slow feeders they have to hunt for, give them a window ledge to hang out on, teach them walks are fun, love them, cuddle them, they’ll be around longer if you do.
People will scoff and call you silly and that it’s too hard, because we’re stuck in this backwards lazy notion that that is “owning a cat” and have never given it another thought, we need to change it.
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