Cats as pets in the 21st Century

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#2030457 6-Jun-2018 07:54

Our cat sleeps outside in a two level doghouse, carpeted on the mezzanine. Fed outside, sleeps outside, the rest of the time whereever she wants.

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tripp

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#2030459 6-Jun-2018 08:00

Mine has a cat door that gets locked when it gets dark (or an hour before if he comes in early).

He goes out about 5am then can come in and out during the day and gets locked in at night. He tends to stay around home and comes when he is called 98% of the time :)

tdgeek

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#2030472 6-Jun-2018 08:06

tripp:

Mine has a cat door that gets locked when it gets dark (or an hour before if he comes in early).

He goes out about 5am then can come in and out during the day and gets locked in at night. He tends to stay around home and comes when he is called 98% of the time :)

Before we moved, our one would follow me to KFC, like a dog. Wait at the coffee shop on the corner, then walk back with me!

alasta

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#2030476 6-Jun-2018 08:38

Allowing cats to roam freely seems to be the cultural norm in NZ, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea.

I am personally a fan of the concept of indoor cats, mainly for the safety of the animal. A cat getting hit by a car is a horrific thing to happen, yet a lot of people shrug it off because it's so common.

If you want to keep your cats indoors then make sure they have plenty of toys for stimulation, and consider getting two cats so that they can provide each other with social interaction when you're not around.

Wiggum

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#2030477 6-Jun-2018 08:39

If you live on a lifestyle block or something similar then nothing wrong with having a cat. IMO its just cruel to keep cats in suburbia, let alone locked up behind closed doors all day/night. The ones that do go out are certainly going to be a menace to your neighbors.

What about a bunny or two? Our kids have 2 bunnies. I built a nice large hutch for them so they stay outside. They are actually very good pets for kids. Many people in the UK even keep them inside and apparently have them house trained.

kryptonjohn

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#2030482 6-Jun-2018 08:49

Aredwood:
Rikkitic:

Many city cats spend their entire lives inside apartments and never smell the outdoors. I have known some. They seem perfectly happy. I think it is essential that only very young kittens who have never been outdoors are made to live this way. Any older cat will definitely miss its freedom. I once looked after an indoor cat that suffered from major agoraphobia. That cat would have a complete panic attack if it was placed outside or anywhere without four walls and a roof.

My current cats live on a farm. Some go in and out, others never come in. Cats do target anything that moves and mine catch the occasional bird, but what they mainly bring inside are rats and mice. I know cats attack native wildlife, but I wonder if any kind of study has ever been done on the balance between the bad they do and the good that comes from the rodents they remove. It isn't all one-sided.

Those rats were probably infected with Toxoplasma Gondii

T. gondii has been shown to alter the behavior of infected rodents in ways that increase the rodents' chances of being preyed upon by felids. - Wikipedia.

And it also infects humans.

According to Wikipedia, 84% of humans in France carry it!

"In humans, T. gondii is one of the most common parasites in developed countries;[6][7] serological studies estimate that 30–50% of the global population has been exposed to and may be chronically infected with T. gondii, although infection rates differ significantly from country to country.[8][9] For example, previous estimates have shown the highest prevalence of persons infected to be in France, at 84%.[10] "

1eStar

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#2030493 6-Jun-2018 09:04

Consider Allergies. We had a cat when I was a child, since Adulthood I have developed a pet allergy, along with a few other allergies. Cats aren't that clean, they drop a lot of fur and dander around.

Also see what Forest and Bird have to say...here .

Paul1977

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#2030511 6-Jun-2018 09:37

I'd personally never go for an indoor-only cat because of the litter tray requirement. They smell, make a mess, and you are constantly cleaning them out. I can deal with this while they are a kitten, but not for the entire life of the cat.

Ours has a microchip activated cat door (highly recommended) and he comes and goes as he pleases, but this prevents other cats from entering. We live in suburbia, but not on a busy road - I wouldn't get a cat if I lived on a busy road.

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#2030518 6-Jun-2018 09:42

Interestingly, we've never had another cat come in our cat door. But we do need to keep our cat indoors at night otherwise we end up with 3am cat screeching and a $200 visit to the vet for repairs and antibiotics.

The ideal setup for us would be a chip activated cat door that prevents exit during the hours of darkness.

reven

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#2030521 6-Jun-2018 09:44

Our cat was allowed inside whenever she wanted, until she puked/sh*t for about the 5th time inside. Now I'm keeping her outside (Shes allowed in for periods when we're home, but outside at night). Kids are meant to be looking after it, but everyone knows it always comes down to dad to feed it and clean up afterwards....

Kids want another cat, I'm against it because of the hassle.

I wouldnt want to keep a cat inside 24/7, kitty litter smells.

My son wants me to build him a playhouse (fairly large, basically a shed) and I may shove a cat door on that for somewhere warm the cat can sleep. In auckland so doesnt get that cold.

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#2030545 6-Jun-2018 09:48

kryptonjohn:

Interestingly, we've never had another cat come in our cat door. But we do need to keep our cat indoors at night otherwise we end up with 3am cat screeching and a $200 visit to the vet for repairs and antibiotics.

The ideal setup for us would be a chip activated cat door that prevents exit during the hours of darkness.

I have a microchip catdoor by sureflap - it can restrict the ability to go outside on a schedule.

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#2030547 6-Jun-2018 09:49

mdf:

Short query: do you have an indoor-only cat, a cat that is allowed to free range, or something of a hybrid? Is it unfair to the cat to keep it almost entirely indoors?

Our cat is locked in at night, around 9pm and not let out again until we go to work in the mornings, around 7:30am. He's fine outside at night - he doesn't really hunt or anything, but we have some bully cats in the area that cause trouble at night. So a few times when he has been outside late at night he's been in fights. We've also had those other cats come into the house and eat his food and have fights in the past, so that's another reason the cat flap gets locked at night. Some pet owners are just useless.

We got into the habit at our last house which was on a busy street. We lost two cats to cars that drove too fast around the corner our house was on. It's a known stretch of road where people drive WAY too fast for the conditions. Very sad.

Paul1977

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#2030556 6-Jun-2018 10:00

rphenix:

kryptonjohn:

Interestingly, we've never had another cat come in our cat door. But we do need to keep our cat indoors at night otherwise we end up with 3am cat screeching and a $200 visit to the vet for repairs and antibiotics.

The ideal setup for us would be a chip activated cat door that prevents exit during the hours of darkness.

I have a microchip catdoor by sureflap - it can restrict the ability to go outside on a schedule.

Yep, this one has a curfew mode.

kryptonjohn

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#2030575 6-Jun-2018 10:30

reven:

Our cat was allowed inside whenever she wanted, until she puked/sh*t for about the 5th time inside. Now I'm keeping her outside (Shes allowed in for periods when we're home, but outside at night). Kids are meant to be looking after it, but everyone knows it always comes down to dad to feed it and clean up afterwards....

Kids want another cat, I'm against it because of the hassle.

I wouldnt want to keep a cat inside 24/7, kitty litter smells.

My son wants me to build him a playhouse (fairly large, basically a shed) and I may shove a cat door on that for somewhere warm the cat can sleep. In auckland so doesnt get that cold.

Not sure what the point of having a cat is, if kept outside though? Certainly if the cat's crapping indoors then it's got issues - they normally have an aversion to leaving such evidence behind. Myabe you need to get Jackson Galaxy in!

Before we shifted house, our cat was allowed in and out as it pleased 24/7 and we had no problems. After moving, it was regularly getting in night time fights with other cats, and we started getting resulting expensive vet bills. So we got in a litter tray and kept him in at night. As mentioned, litter trays are gross. Within a short time, the cat seemed to work out that he can get his business done outside before dark, then hold off until the morning and not have to use the litter tray so he completely stopped using it and we don't have it anymore.

reven

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#2030611 6-Jun-2018 10:38

kryptonjohn:

reven:

Our cat was allowed inside whenever she wanted, until she puked/sh*t for about the 5th time inside. Now I'm keeping her outside (Shes allowed in for periods when we're home, but outside at night). Kids are meant to be looking after it, but everyone knows it always comes down to dad to feed it and clean up afterwards....

Kids want another cat, I'm against it because of the hassle.

I wouldnt want to keep a cat inside 24/7, kitty litter smells.

My son wants me to build him a playhouse (fairly large, basically a shed) and I may shove a cat door on that for somewhere warm the cat can sleep. In auckland so doesnt get that cold.

Not sure what the point of having a cat is, if kept outside though? Certainly if the cat's crapping indoors then it's got issues - they normally have an aversion to leaving such evidence behind. Myabe you need to get Jackson Galaxy in!

Before we shifted house, our cat was allowed in and out as it pleased 24/7 and we had no problems. After moving, it was regularly getting in night time fights with other cats, and we started getting resulting expensive vet bills. So we got in a litter tray and kept him in at night. As mentioned, litter trays are gross. Within a short time, the cat seemed to work out that he can get his business done outside before dark, then hold off until the morning and not have to use the litter tray so he completely stopped using it and we don't have it anymore.

Its for the kids, they seem to be more interest in computers these days than cats. It still has the good live, heaps of shelter outside (massive covered area outside), feed twice a day. I loved having a cat when I was younger, but as a father with humans always needing something from me (kids + wife) any quiet time I have to myself I dont want a bloody cat meowing at me or bothering me.

If the kids feed it, and if it didnt crap inside, I wouldnt care if it was inside most of the day/night. And if it crapped inside occasionally... it wouldnt be a big deal (my old cats maybe once every 2-3 years), this one did it 4-5 in a couple of months. So I'm not having kitty litter inside, and I dont want cat crap inside, so the cat goes out.

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