Would you say anything?

parsleysage

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I don't want to share too many details but a friend has a tame, non-feral cat who lives outdoors. (This is NOT an indoor/outdoor debate!) A few years ago the cat lost his eye in a fight. He continues to get in frequent fights which are documented by my friend. She seems to think he enjoys this kind of rough and tumble lifestyle based on her photos and comments about him. Today she shared that he got into a fight and his other eye has been damaged and he is "behaving as if he is blind." The vet is not sure if it is permanent and she has to give him drops and wait to see if it heals. She says she loves this cat more than any other she's ever owned and that if he died she would be beyond devastated.

In this situation, would you, personally, say something about bringing the cat inside? I feel like she is trying to live in two minds. Most people who have outside cats accept (right or wrong, again this is not a debate thread) the risk of fights and have determined based on any number of factors that despite the risks, the cat would be better outdoors. She doesn't seem to accept the risks, is shocked every time it happens, posts photos of his injuries and comments about how upset she gets when he is injured... I just can't understand why after the loss of his eye (a significant defensive disadvantage!!!!) she didn't bring him inside at that point. 

I don't really want to say anything because she's very upset and I'm sure it would not be heard in the right spirit. But I feel almost compelled on behalf of her poor one-eyed cat, who should be able to live a life free of predators. 

WWYD? 
 

Willowy

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Maybe make it a question. . .like "oh, poor guy, will he have to live inside now?", something like that. At least it'll put the idea into her head.
 
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parsleysage

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Maybe make it a question. . .like "oh, poor guy, will he have to live inside now?", something like that. At least it'll put the idea into her head.
That is a great idea Willowy, thank you so much!
 

di and bob

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I would definitely say something. That poor cat may be blind, there is good chance anyway. I don't know why he is fighting, is he neutered? That may help solve a lot of problems. The only cats I have fighting around here are the feral toms, and they call a truce while they are eating. My neutered boys hang around with the toms and they are completely ignored, I have never seen them fight. But the toms sure watch each other! What she is doing amounts to abuse where he only has one eye left and the other is now damaged. Thank God she is giving him drops. Please tell her that for the sake of the cat it would be best to bring him indoors, even with one eye he cannot judge distance and cannot see as well, he is a magnet for predators who sense a weakness. What will she do if he is blind? Tell her it is not worth it, to please let him live out his remaining years in safety. You will feel terrible if he gets killed, especially if you don't try. Good luck, and tell us how it turns out. Maybe you can have her come on this site, we can help her to bring him in. Bless you for your concern, I'll pray you find the courage to help this poor baby, he needs an advocate desperately!
 
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tiptopper

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If this was my cat and I really cared about him he would remain indoors.
 
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parsleysage

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As suspected she was less than receptive to the idea even in form of a question. "There is no keeping him inside" and reports of him getting cagey and attacking feet as well as developing a UTI from stress. I feel like I personally would at least give it a shot, stress can be reduced over time. The poor baby obviously cannot live outside if he's blind... so her options would be bringing him inside or putting him down. 

I think she is maybe feeling guilty and that's the cause of her intense grief over his possible blindness. I hope he recovers. 
 

ReallySleepy

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The only cats I have fighting around here are the feral toms
Slightly off topic, but this is a question that interests me: why do neutered cats fight? Some of them no doubt defend their territory, but my own cat does not - in fact he is downright miserable in that respect. Still he fights. Right now he has quite a few wounds on his belly. And I have never seen him attack anyone. Maybe other cats attack him and he is forced to fight. Still, couple of weeks ago he attacked a neighboring dog, so I am not sure how peaceful he really is. The things I read about cats and aggressiveness definitely do not cover all cases.
 

di and bob

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I think it depends on their personality too. If a neutered cat fights, he has more of a confidant, aggressive personality. The only neutered male I ever had that fought was  Siamese and had a 'bullying' personality. He would chase cats that came into the yard. He also had the other resident cats on their backs pretty often. When my other neutered males got wounds at all, they were 'defensive' wounds, not from picking a fight, but from getting attacked and defending themselves, which was pretty rare.The toms 99% of the times ignored them, but once in a while a scared newcomer would attack.  I've even had two neutered resident cats attack each other and inflict bad bites for no apparent reason, very rare and one was the Siamese. I put it down to misdirected aggression, something scared them.  I don't think we will ever completely understand why cats do what they do, that's what makes them so special!
 

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My childhood cat who was a fixed female got into occasional fights. Usually they were with her frienemy the next door neighbor's cat (one day you'd see them cuddling, the next day they'd be scream-fighting) who was also a fixed female, but those were usually not super serious, maybe just playing gone overboard. There was a big orange cat that would sometimes invade our garden and fight her, too, though we eventually managed to run him off. In retrospect I'd guess that was an unfixed male probably? But she'd occasionall come back with some serious scratches or a limp, and I'm not sure who she was fighting. Luckily never anything that needed stitches, worse thing I recall was her eye was a little swollen and we kept her in for a few weeks.

She would also chase our neighbor's giant dog around the neighborhood, though she was more gentle than a flower with humans. So since she also chased the dog I wouldn't think it was cat-on-cat territoriality. Maybe she just liked to rumble.
 
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