Am I a bad cat owner for leaving my cats out all night?

[swampwitch]

To the OP: you can change your kitties over to becoming indoor only, but they need to be neutered/spayed (as others have said it makes a huge difference in calming them down) and you have to play with them a lot so they can work off that energy You will get some great laughs playing with them, I promise!

Changing them to all indoors makes for a closer bond with you, too, and since you are concerned, having them indoors will give you peace of mind. (It's also cheaper vet-wise because they get injured much more often and easily outside.) There's lots of info available here and on the net on how to change them to indoor cats. Good luck!

 

[catbehaviors]

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

To the OP: you can change your kitties over to becoming indoor only, but they need to be neutered/spayed (as others have said it makes a huge difference in calming them down) and you have to play with them a lot so they can work off that energy You will get some great laughs playing with them, I promise!

Changing them to all indoors makes for a closer bond with you, too, and since you are concerned, having them indoors will give you peace of mind. (It's also cheaper vet-wise because they get injured much more often and easily outside.) There's lots of info available here and on the net on how to change them to indoor cats. Good luck!

I'm sorry but I must disagree with this... Wessie lived for about a year as an outdoor/indoor cat, and now he lives as indoor only. We've always had a wonderful bond, and I don't think it's changed much, whether he's mostly indoors or outdoors.

 

[catbehaviors]

Originally Posted by catsinmypajamaz

I don't have 4 other cats, I have 2 cats and 4 children.
I don't want to get my cats spayed or neutered because I believe it is their right to reproduce.

It's just most of us on here just presume that the "boys" which you never mentioned were human, were cats.

 

[catbehaviors]

Cat Person, you are finally someone who I can really relate to! I think that cats absolutely have the "right" to go out, as much as a person does. If we just trap cats inside, then we should be trapping people inside, just so they don't get harmed. Once again, it's that age old question, "Would you rather live an exciting and short life, or a long and boring life?"

But, I know this is a very important topic to most of the people on here, and a lot are going to bombard me with their disagreements. Personally, I do agree with catsinmypajamaz, in some ways, cats do have the "right" to have kittens. No, I don't want there to be suffering, homeless cats all over, having to be euthanized. I just like to think of the cat like a person, and I would never just do that to a person. So, though I know most of you can't see this and you're not trying to do this, in my eyes you are treating cats like they are nothing more than something you can completely control. I know you are all doing it because you love cats, but I just don't quite see it that way. Yes, I plan to have my cats neutered, but I wouldn't care if I had a female cat who had kittens. And I don't think that people are terrible if they don't spay/neuter their cats. I think they are still good cat owners, and just are thinking from a different perspective than most people.

Just something to think about... What if 1000 years in the future, everyone has started thinking that we should all spay and neuter our cats. Every single cat a person sees, is taken to the vet and neutered. One day, all of the cats of the world are neutered. How would we all feel? We were trying to help, but instead we've killed off a whole species of animal. So there always needs to be those rare people in the world who don't neuter their animals, or else cats could go extinct. Please don't just argue back with the statistics of how many homeless cats there are, I know already. It's sad how many poor kitties are suffering in the world. But that's how they would be before they were domesticated, and that's how it will probably continue being. I just don't think that people should be going and interfering with everything, and just let the circle of life continue in its natural pattern. Plus, looking at it now, it seems as though cats could never go extinct by people getting them neutered. But, people are neutering more and more cats everyday, the trend is leaning that way, and it could be different in 20,000 years. So just let these differently minded people be, why not just agree to disagree?

 

[Willowy]

Except, before they were domesticated, things were different. Wild animals only have one pregnancy a year (except for prey animals like mice and rabbits). Domesticated animals are more fertile---in some places cats can have 3 litters a year. Wild animals do not have vaccines or medical care, so mortality is very high. Wild animals don't have regular access to easy food, and lack of food causes a large percentage of their offspring to die. Wild animals have no protection from predators, so many of them are eaten. And no protection from the elements, so many of them die from getting too cold or too hot.

Nature has ways to control the population, it's only when humans mess up the natural order of things that overpopulation happens. And humans have already messed up the natural order of things simply by domesticating cats. If we aren't willing to control their reproduction, then we shouldn't feed them or vaccinate them or provide vet care when they're sick or provide protection from the elements and predators, either. Just like in the wild. Otherwise we're just artificially causing the population to grow to unhealthy numbers.

To maintain the current population of cats, 50% of females could have one litter before being spayed (assuming an average litter size of 4). So I don't mind too much if someone lets their cat have one litter before spaying her, provided they take good care of the kittens and find responsible homes for them. Although I think there are enough accidental pregnancies that it's not necessary for people to do this on purpose. But not ever spaying her at all is very hard on the poor mama cat (how would you like to raise 8-12 children every year?), and will probably kill her at some point, besides adding too many cats to the population.

I don't think cats will ever become extinct

. If the population ever dips to low numbers, there will be plenty of people willing to let their cat breed. The only way they could become extinct is if every single cat in the world was spayed/neutered at the same time, and that's not possible. A more likely scenario of extinction would be the population growing to the point that incurable diseases start popping up and can't be stopped due to the overpopulation.

 

[mystik spiral]

We aren't living 1000 or 10,000 years in the future. We are living in 2011 where there are millions of animals who suffer and die each year because of irresponsible pet owners.

If you believe in the whole "circle of life" you shouldn't have pets to begin with, as there is nothing inherently natural about domesticating dogs & cats. Not to mention you should be out hunting and growing your own food instead of stopping by the grocery store on your way home from work.

Sorry, but your argument doesn't hold any water with me.

 

[swampwitch]

Originally Posted by catbehaviors

I'm sorry but I must disagree with this... Wessie lived for about a year as an outdoor/indoor cat, and now he lives as indoor only. We've always had a wonderful bond, and I don't think it's changed much, whether he's mostly indoors or outdoors.

You are talking about one point I made, your one cat, one year, and you "don't think" it's true? That doesn't invalidate my any of my statements, and I stand by them.

 

[ducman69]

Just something to think about... What if 1000 years in the future, everyone has started thinking that we should all spay and neuter our cats. Every single cat a person sees, is taken to the vet and neutered. One day, all of the cats of the world are neutered. How would we all feel? We were trying to help, but instead we've killed off a whole species of animal. So there always needs to be those rare people in the world who don't neuter their animals, or else cats could go extinct.

I'm sorry, but this is nonsense. A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420000 kittens in just 7 years. The logistics of capturing every single cat in the world is also beyond any reasonable possibility, and there are still a plethora of breeders available by any account. But you have my blessing to promote not having cats spayed/neutered when we reach the point that cats are anywhere close to approaching the 'threatened' list, and this is not something that is going to occur overnight and surprise you tomorrow morning, I assure you. But to promote random breeding when there are massive population control problems, and so many have to be put to death because of it, to tell people its OK not to spay and neuter their pets is absolutely part of the problem and they are indirectly responsible for killing cats and damaging other species affected by population issues.

Please don't just argue back with the statistics of how many homeless cats there are, I know already. It's sad how many poor kitties are suffering in the world. But that's how they would be before they were domesticated, and that's how it will probably continue being.

No, before they were domesticated and became a human satellite, fossil records demonstrate that feline populations were not out of control and were restricted primarily to the middle-east, where the population was in balance with the local ecosystem and controlled by the amount of food available.

I just don't think that people should be going and interfering with everything, and just let the circle of life continue in its natural pattern.

Then there would be no cats in North America or most of the rest of the world. Cats are not a native species to this ecosystem, and it is human interference that has disrupted the natural circle of life. If you don't understand this basic concept, take a look at Australia's history, paying particular attention to the damage that the introduction of rabbits have caused.

Like other human satellites, cats are here and with out of control populations because of humanity, so as our children species we are responsible for their welfare and that includes not contributing to their suffering and the destruction of habitats around the globe by doing the right thing and controlling their population. Spaying and neutering is not required, but some form of birth control is and that is the most effective means.

 

[Draco]

Originally Posted by catbehaviors

Cat Person, you are finally someone who I can really relate to! I think that cats absolutely have the "right" to go out, as much as a person does. If we just trap cats inside, then we should be trapping people inside, just so they don't get harmed. Once again, it's that age old question, "Would you rather live an exciting and short life, or a long and boring life?"

At least us, humans, look both ways before crossing the street. We know what's safe to eat or not. and where it's safe to go.. and we, generally, have good sense to stay away from bad people, and not attack people to cause them harm. These domesticated cats don't know that much, and I feel its up to us to protect them! Same as to why there are leash laws for dogs.. Sure, the cats and dogs can go out, supervised and on a harness/leash, for both safety of the animals and humans.

 

[AbbysMom]

This thread is getting very off track and will now be closed. If you would like to debate the rights of cats and the unfairness or fairness of it all, please do so in the IMO forum, not Behavior.

As far as should you let your cats out - That is a very personal decision. Only you know your cats and the safety where you live. When I lived elsewhere, we would let our cat out with supervision. Where I live now, it is not safe at all and my cat will never be allowed outside.

However, you letting your cats that have not been spayed or neutered out is extremely irresponsible, in my opinion. It is the position of this site that all cats should be spayed and neutered:

2. Please make sure to spay and neuter your cats. Unless you are a professional breeder and your cat is part of a professional breeding program, please educate yourself to the importance of spaying and neutering by the time your cat is 4-6 months old. If you take care of a feral colony, please make sure to do so responsibly by practicing TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) protocols within the colony. By spaying and neutering, you enhance a cat's quality of life and improve their longterm health. You are also proving your love for cats because in acting as a responsible pet owner/caregiver you are minimizing the problem of cat overpopulation.