#I got woken up by the fire alarm at 5am and then immediately saw some bad takes on tumblr once that was sorted

[the-adventures-of-dave]

Around tumblr lately I’ve seen people with the opinion that not only are free roaming cats bad (correct) but also supervised cats in catios or on leashes (????). I assume it must stem from that “ecology of fear” post from a few months ago, but to me the sudden appearance of these kinds of posts just strikes me as odd. I’ve seen multiple posts like the below one in just this week.

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If your cat is contained to your yard/catio/the sidewalk, then it still allows for predator-free safe places in your neighbourhood for wildlife, and creates predictability for them too. That’s one of the reasons why hiking trails ask people to stay on the trail— so you (and your dog, horse, cat, etc) can safely enjoy nature while still giving it space. It is possible to exist outdoors in natural spaces like that while maintaining wildlife comfort. If it wasn’t possible to do that, dog-friendly or (even just hiking trails in general, since humans are predators too) simply wouldn’t exist.

The problem with free roaming cats is that they break boundaries between human area (ie. trail, back porch) and wildlife area (foliage, etc) and there is nowhere the wildlife can go to exist that is safe from predators.

Idk, this is just my opinion but I just think there can be more nuance to the outdoor/free roaming cat issue than “never let your cat step outside under any circumstance”.

#also it’s just dog double standards again #no one’s calling for people to stop walking their dogs 🙄 #arguably a dog barking at and chasing a rabbit is way more stressful than Kepler sitting in his backpack on the porch with me #it’s possible to coexist with wildlife you just have to be smart and respectful about it #anyways ignore my 8am rambling #I got woken up by the fire alarm at 5am and then immediately saw some bad takes on tumblr once that was sorted #so now I’m like :/ #outdoor cats