People like this make me furious!

http://www.petfinder.com/messageboar...=56150&start=0

"My nieghbor has a huge boa that got loose last week and I haven't been able to find two of my kitties. Would a snake eat them? I mean, my yard is fenced and my cats are well trained not to leave. I am especially worried about one of them as she is declawed but really liked to sun herself on the porch and I never saw any harm in it. Can I sue them even if i don't know if the snake actually ate my cats? I paid $400 for one and the other was just a shelter cat. I was planning on showing Batung but now this happened! She was so cute! Any advice?????????????????"


My responce:
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:03 pm
Post subject:

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"Is this a joke? Cats should not be outside, especially declawed ones. Even more especially hairless ones!

How could you be more upset about your $400 one, then your "shelter cat". Cats are cats no matter what they cost. You love them, you provide for them, not matter how expensive.

I'm not even going into details about the boa. Poor baby. Its parents like you who get them into things like this."

I don't even think what I said was close to harsh. That kind fo stuff makes my cringe in anger. I only hope its some kind of sick joke.

I let my cat outside but I watch her like a hawk as she had not been outside prior to meeting me.

I have kind of created a monster because now she tries to sneek outside so perhpas oppening this new world up to her was not the best idea.

The fist time she about near had a heart attack walking on grass!!! Totally freeked her out. Yet she wanted to give it another try.

But I think it is good for her health over all. She is losing weight. Also getting diet doggy food as we discovered she was going after the dog's food.

Your thread also got me to thinking about a noncat person. My oma that is German for grandma once almost got a cruletly to animmal charge. She was visiting my aunt on the farm and one of the cats had gotten into her car. While driving back home the cat aparently woke up and went crazy. My oma is not a cat person like many of the rest of the family. So the cat starts going crazy and when she oppened the window the cat jumped out and the police officer following here pulled her over thinking that she had just tossed the thing out.

Some here know that Jo Jo our Ragdoll cat is 7. She was about 6 the first time I let her outside.

Don't feed you cat dog food. Its toxic for cats. Yes, if you allow a cat to go outside it will want to mroe and more.

Originally Posted by Ilovecats

Don't feed you cat dog food. Its toxic for cats. Yes, if you allow a cat to go outside it will want to mroe and more.

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Actually, dog food is not toxic to cats. It is not a good food to feed all the time, because it is deficient in what the cat needs in order to stay healthy. You should not feed your cat dog food as a steady diet, you will be paying down the road with a very ill cat and high vet bills.

I understand the driving you crazy thing though. I try not to get on my soap box around people, but sometimes it is hard.

I saw my brother and sister-in-law yesterday, I love them, they are nice people. But they really screwed up with their cat, they let him outdoors, moved, he didn't want to move, kept going back, they didn't want to force him to be indoors because he cried, they had a baby, decided the baby was more important than the cat, don't want a new cat because obviously he would have trouble finding territory outside (my comments on indoor cats fell on deaf ears)... blah... They haven't seen him in a year, who knows where he is at.

I had to hold my tongue because they were saying they didn't want any more pets anyway, which is probably good. But all my Rescue Rhetoric was itching to come out...

I have a bad habit of watching Animal Police on Animal Planet... Yes, there really was a boa that got loose and went on a cat eating binge. I think it was in Miami. Somewhere along the lines of 5 or so pet cats were eaten, and who knows how many strays that went unoticed. The cops were really worried about the young kids in the neighborhood at that point, because the snake was so big it could have easily eaten a kid.

Originally Posted by hissy

Actually, dog food is not toxic to cats. It is not a good food to feed all the time, because it is deficient in what the cat needs in order to stay healthy. You should not feed your cat dog food as a steady diet, you will be paying down the road with a very ill cat and high vet bills.

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Thanks for the information, Mary Anne.

We've cat proofed our garden, so it's it's safe our 2 Brit shorthairs to go out. They dont stay out long just enough to get some air and sunshine (when there is any). All our neighbours have cats and they all go out. We have a small wood at the bottom of our road so they mostly go there. But yes, this is a 'safe' enough area for cats. However, I wouldn't like to be a person trying to pick Daisy up to catnap her, I should think she'd put them in hospital.

Originally Posted by Ilovecats

My responce:
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:03 pm
Post subject:

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"Is this a joke? Cats should not be outside, especially declawed ones. Even more especially hairless ones!

How could you be more upset about your $400 one, then your "shelter cat". Cats are cats no matter what they cost. You love them, you provide for them, not matter how expensive.

I'm not even going into details about the boa. Poor baby. Its parents like you who get them into things like this."

I don't even think what I said was close to harsh. That kind fo stuff makes my cringe in anger. I only hope its some kind of sick joke.

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i think its up to an individual whether or not they let their pets outside. to berate somone who has just possibly lost two pets is just callous and cruel imo.

he/she obviously thought their pets were safe on the porch, yes this was probably a bad judgement but they obviously didnt expect a maurauding snake. personally i think that letting declawed animals outside is just an accident waiting to happen.

the owner made a mistake but you should still show some compassion. its a horrible, hearbreaking thing when one pet goes missing let alone two and berating them does little to help any one.

Originally Posted by maverick_kitten

i think its up to an individual whether or not they let their pets outside. to berate somone who has just possibly lost two pets is just callous and cruel imo.

he/she obviously thought their pets were safe on the porch, yes this was probably a bad judgement but they obviously didnt expect a maurauding snake. personally i think that letting declawed animals outside is just an accident waiting to happen.

the owner made a mistake but you should still show some compassion. its a horrible, hearbreaking thing when one pet goes missing let alone two and berating them does little to help any one.

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I'd have to agree with you, Nicky. Though it was not very smart to let the declawed cat out, she/he did lose a pet, and I know how tough that is, whether it was a $400 dollar animal or not. I don't think he/she meant to say he/she cared about the prize cat more, just that he wants compensation for his loss. He did keep the cats in a fenced area, and trained them not to go out, though this is not enough if the cat was declawed, he made a mistake, and he, unfortunately, had to pay for it with the loss of his furbabies. Just because he made a mistake doesn't mean you have to come down so hard... he's going through a hard time, too, ya know? I just think that next time, you should consider his feelings too, and advise him patiently, and calmly.

Don't take what I said the wrong way, please... I didn't mean it rudely.

Cassie

I think the decision whether or not to let your cats outside should be made on an individual basis based on a variety of criteria (cat's sterilization, declaw, and general health status, neighborhood traffic patterns, neighbor's pets, whether or not neighborhood ferals are sterilized and vaccinated, whether or not there are endangered/protected native small mammals or ground-nesting birds in the area, etc), but under any circumstances, no one should have grounds to sue someone else for their cat's misfortune unless the other person deliberately harmed the cats. Choosing to let cats outdoors is choosing to accept a level of risk for the cats. Obviously, a neighbor who deliberately caught the cats to feed to his boa constrictor would have a culpability (morally if not legally), but if the guy's snake accidentally gets out and eats the cats, that's a tragedy but part of the risk you take when you let your furkids roam free.

I am so sorry your kitty is missing.
I do hope it didn;'t get eaten by that snake.
I have heard that boas can and do eat cats.
I know that snakes have to eat too but i still don't have to like it.
I could never have a snake because of that. They eat live animals.
I don't think it is a good idea to let your kitty outside especially without claws. I am guilty of letting my kitties outside too though so who am I to talk. I have lost many a kitty by letting them outside and last October someone shot my Siamese cat and it cost over $1300.00 to get his broken leg repaired. Not to mention the pain and agony he had to suffer because of it. He is fine now and he is not one that goes outside unless he is on a leash. Also I lost a very much loved tortie last June. She is just gone and I don't know what happened to her. Though I fear she too was maybe shot but didn't survive. It is very risky to let your furbabies outside. I have lost many of my ferals to being run over by cars as well. It is just not safe out there for the kitties.

Are you talking to me? I was quoting someone else. I would never let my cats go out in that condition, in danger.

It is definitly up to the individual if they let their cats outside or not. Our Elmo is a happy indoor/outdoor cat.

I wasn't talking to anyone in particular.
I was just stating my opinion based on my experience.
As I said, I do let 2 of my cats outside and I care for several ferals outside too and it is sad but true...it is too dangerous out there for them.
All my other cats are indoors only because of it.

Originally Posted by CJandBilly

I'd have to agree with you, Nicky. Though it was not very smart to let the declawed cat out, she/he did lose a pet, and I know how tough that is, whether it was a $400 dollar animal or not. I don't think he/she meant to say he/she cared about the prize cat more, just that he wants compensation for his loss. He did keep the cats in a fenced area, and trained them not to go out, though this is not enough if the cat was declawed, he made a mistake, and he, unfortunately, had to pay for it with the loss of his furbabies. Just because he made a mistake doesn't mean you have to come down so hard... he's going through a hard time, too, ya know? I just think that next time, you should consider his feelings too, and advise him patiently, and calmly.

Don't take what I said the wrong way, please... I didn't mean it rudely.

Cassie

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Well, sorry, he can't get compensation for his loss. I don't think he can just accuse a neighbor of being at fault, he has no prove of it.
He didn't witness anything. He doesn't know what had actually happened to his cats.

Something I noticed that I thought I should point out, last time I checked you can't show a declawed cat.

Also an enclosed cat run is a good solution to letting cats go outside, I have one that attached to one of my basement windows that I can open when the weather is nice. There is grass in it and we are working on a couple of shelves.

No, you cannot show a declawed cat.

Thanks for you comments, everyone.

I had just noticed that she said the cat was declawed, but that she planned to start showing it soon.