- Joined
- Apr 14, 2014
- Messages
- 11
- Purraise
- 1
Hello everybody!
I'm not sure if this is the appropriate topic to post this thread in, but it made the most sense.
My cat turned 1 year old in February 2014 (as in my introduction) and is male. This is my second cat, the first being outdoor, where I was not old enough to understand care for cats.
He would visit less and less often, and sometimes I would hear him fight outside with another cat, hitting bins and fences. One time, he didn't come back for a week. Then a month, then several months, then a year. At that point, we realised he never going to come back again, and I was the only one who mourned. That was several years ago.
This created my strong opposition to outdoor cats, and is the reason why I try to keep my cat indoor.
Unfortunately, being a teenager, it means my parents have a say in the care of my cat as well. They are very traditional, having no qualms with leaving the cat outside like with the last one, using the excuse "he will come back". My rebutt is, of course, "why hasn't the other cat come back yet?" and they say nothing more.
The cat's boundaries have been pushed more and more, starting with the porch, then around the porch, then around the yard, and he has very recently started jumping the fence and going to the front of the house and next door. I only agreed to him going outside if he would stay within the fences, and that rule has been breached.
I would have no problem about this if our neighbourhood was a bit safer, but unfortunately I have seen cats on the street and cars not stopping, missing cat posters, and the local high school students chasing cats around.
They have been letting the cat out every night now, because he is scared of birds in the daylight (both a blessing and a curse). They also let him out very early in the morning when I am asleep.
He has also taken to using the litter box indoors to urinate and pooping outside. This is another fallback, as one night when I managed to keep him indoors, he had a little accident in the laundry room.
I don't want to turn this post into an angst ridden teenager's rant, but there's it is, I guess.
My question is, how do I convince my parents to keep my cat indoors? They are the only people in the household who oppose indoor cat care.
Sorry for the long post
(p.s. It is 7:43pm and my cat is in my room, sleeping. Which is unusual, as he is most active at this time, and outside. I would rather clean up his poop than feel unsecure about him running around in the dark.)
I'm not sure if this is the appropriate topic to post this thread in, but it made the most sense.
My cat turned 1 year old in February 2014 (as in my introduction) and is male. This is my second cat, the first being outdoor, where I was not old enough to understand care for cats.
He would visit less and less often, and sometimes I would hear him fight outside with another cat, hitting bins and fences. One time, he didn't come back for a week. Then a month, then several months, then a year. At that point, we realised he never going to come back again, and I was the only one who mourned. That was several years ago.
This created my strong opposition to outdoor cats, and is the reason why I try to keep my cat indoor.
Unfortunately, being a teenager, it means my parents have a say in the care of my cat as well. They are very traditional, having no qualms with leaving the cat outside like with the last one, using the excuse "he will come back". My rebutt is, of course, "why hasn't the other cat come back yet?" and they say nothing more.
The cat's boundaries have been pushed more and more, starting with the porch, then around the porch, then around the yard, and he has very recently started jumping the fence and going to the front of the house and next door. I only agreed to him going outside if he would stay within the fences, and that rule has been breached.
I would have no problem about this if our neighbourhood was a bit safer, but unfortunately I have seen cats on the street and cars not stopping, missing cat posters, and the local high school students chasing cats around.
They have been letting the cat out every night now, because he is scared of birds in the daylight (both a blessing and a curse). They also let him out very early in the morning when I am asleep.
He has also taken to using the litter box indoors to urinate and pooping outside. This is another fallback, as one night when I managed to keep him indoors, he had a little accident in the laundry room.
I don't want to turn this post into an angst ridden teenager's rant, but there's it is, I guess.
My question is, how do I convince my parents to keep my cat indoors? They are the only people in the household who oppose indoor cat care.
Sorry for the long post
(p.s. It is 7:43pm and my cat is in my room, sleeping. Which is unusual, as he is most active at this time, and outside. I would rather clean up his poop than feel unsecure about him running around in the dark.)
