#indoor cats

[absentlyabbie]

i'll tell you what converted me to being all-in on keeping cats indoors only:

living for a year and a half in a rural area with a sudden feral cat colony explosion on the property.

i moved in with my folks for a bit and at that time, one (1) stray cat mama had taken up residence on the property, but was too feral to let my mother anywhere near her. but especially after she brought three kittens around, mom fed her and the kittens in hopes they'd grow trusting enough she could catch for spay and neuter at the minimum. momcat stayed mean and hella wary, but the kittens would hang around a little nearer and play with my mom via long stick, but still wouldn't come close enough to touch or catch.

unfortunately, two of the three kittens were girls and started having kittens of their own before further progress was made, shortly after i moved in. and that was pretty much instant doom.

there were so many kittens. SO MANY. multiple litters. every time we turned around, more kittens.

we fed them. we hunted for and located the kittens every time anywhere on the property and would move them to a repurposed doghouse anytime a mama cat had them somewhere else, so that they could grow up human-socialized and we could spay/neuter them when they were old enough. (also it was a handy tactic to push the issue of the mamas getting more used to/trusting of us themselves. only really worked with one of them, though.)

and we watched them die.

we watched litter after litter of kittens never make it to the age they could be spayed or neutered. the moms stayed, for the longest time, too skittish to more than briefly touch, much less catch and crate for a vet visit.

it sounds like a silly joke to say i have kitten-related ptsd, but i absolutely do.

too many goddamn times i'd walk out of the garage and find the carport and gravel drive strewn with tiny bodies. others simply went missing, never to be found.

one in particular, i wish i hadn't found, and the visual literally haunts me still, almost a decade later.

i saw so many kittens die of snake bite, spider bite, wild dogs, birds of prey, hit by cars, respiratory illness, covered in fleas and eyes crusted with infection.

and we loved them all. scrimped for antibiotics if the vet could be convinced to give it to us despite our being unable to bring them in. bought flea collars and ointments. we cared for them and fed them and petted them and played with them, brushed their fur and cleaned up their little faces, put ice in their water in hot summer, rigged a heating lamp in their house in the winter.

and they died. horribly. that property is pocked with unmarked graves of kittens and cats.

all the best intentions, not enough resources, and it didn't matter anyways because the population went from three to almost twenty (at times, over thirty) in the blink of an eye.

they died and died and died. our hearts broke over and over again. the stress and anxiety wore us down like sandpaper. i think, by the end of it all, we managed to find less than 10 of them all homes, including batman the disabled kitten i found a home across the country through tumblr.

it was carnage and tragedy, frankly. and we were helpless.

it only ended because they started dying faster than they could be born, and because we finally caught the two remaining mom cats in traps and got them spayed.

the points about outdoor cats being invasive predators devastating to local wildlife populations is true and valid and important.

but i know cat people, and cat people who don't know better than to let cats outdoors. what matters to you is the cat itself, generally. the cat being happy and taken care of.

keeping cats outdoors, letting them outdoors, is not taking care of the cats. it's not protecting them. it's not giving them any happiness or invigoration that couldn't be provided to them as indoor-only pets with just a little research and effort.

they die. they get ill. they get hurt. they're at risk of predators, and cars, and disease, and carelessly cruel children and deliberately cruel adults. they're at risk of disappearing on you because someone else saw a cat outdoors and intervened to give it a better, safer life not in conflict with the local environment.

and if that offends and angers you that someone would just take a cat they saw roaming outdoors, even collared, and that it sounds like i'm endorsing that, i am, but not if you intervene and be that person yourself for your own cat.

if what matters to you is doing right by your cat because it's family and a living creature whose happiness and health and safety is important to you,

keep them indoors. not part time. always. exclusively.

edit: since apparently i need to clarify this, i'm saying cats should live inside, that they should not live outdoors, even part time. visiting the outdoors supervised on a leash or in an enclosed catio is not the same as even part-time living outside, and i am certainly not advocating against it.

#long post #cats #indoor cats #outdoor cats #keep your cats inside

[notthatbernie]

Baking you a cake

#calico cat #cat #cats #indoor cats #cats of tumblr #making biscuits

[hoot-alex]

#indoor cats #cat #graphic design #artists on tumblr

[great-and-small]

#dune 2022 #memes #cats #outdoor cats #indoor cats #real animal lovers keep their cats and wildlife safe

[the-adventures-of-dave]

So I got this book from the library titled “Indoor Cat: How to Enrich their Lives and Expand their World”. Wholly expecting it to be about, y’know, indoor cat enrichment.

Y’all this book is WEIRD.

It feels like this author was asked “how do I help my cat be happy inside?” And their response was “I think indoor cats live a miserable existence and would rather die than live with you but I GUESS I can tell you how to keep your cat from going insane in the prison you call a home.”

Like look at this. This is just the first chapter alone.

#I try not to swear on here but what the FUCK #it’s written by a VET #I assumed it would be at least SOMEWHAT normal #HELP #indoor cats

[heebeegee-pets]

The smile of a man who stepped all over my internal organs for /minutes/ to get this comfy

#lark spark #my pets #indoor cats #catblr #petblr #cats

[the-orthrus]

Please keep your cats indoors ❤️

#my art #cat #indoor cats #cute

[kedreeva]

Someone on fb (I know, I know I should stop going there, bear with me) posted about their policy on culling* aggressive rabbits from their breeding lineages (which is good, and should be done but is another conversation) and someone in the comments asked if this was something dog breeders did, which started a conversation about that, whereupon someone came in to basically say well thank goodness if a cat is too aggressive you can just make it a barn cat. At which point I stepped in to say like hey, that's not a good solution, outdoor cats cause a whole brand new set of problems and definitely we should not be supporting tossing aggressive cats outside to be feral... at which point this woman lost her mind at me, and then blocked me.

So anyway, outdoor cats are Bad and cause problems for native wildlife, on top of it being WILDLY dangerous for the cat itself, and I haven't said it in a while so here's your reminder. Cats belong safely indoors or on leads or within proper containment like a catio, the same as any other domestic or captive kept species and it is a keeper's responsibility to contain and properly enrich their animal regardless of species.

*please remember that 'cull' does not automatically equal kill; cull in breeding means to remove, and the method of removal varies depending on a lot of factors.

#indoor cats #cats

[meowmeowmeowimacat]

Cat photos of Sláine (last one was where she jumped at the camera)

(2 more cats below cut because it might be long)

Cat photos of Promi (F)

Photos of Snowball (M) (+loaf)

@kittybroker how much for a set of three?

#cat #catposting #my cats #indoor cats #cats are cute #i like cats #meowmeowimacat #meow meow meow #meow #cats #sláine #snowball #promise #cat photos #cat loaf #cat love #cat lovers

[endaandfiona]

Happy caturday! Niko took over the corgis leaf rug and took a nap on it last night. Please enjoy!

#nikolai meowsonovich #niko #hypoallergenic cat #siberian forest cat #indoor cats #fluffy cat #cute cats #caturday #orange cat #loaf #scrungle #stolen dog beds

[erzvolnes]

Assume that "exclusively indoors" also includes cats who live indoors full-time, but get time outside on a leash, in a catio, or in another secure area with adequate supervision.

For bonus points add in the tags what you voted, and what country you're from.

#i'm CURIOUS what the actual percentage is #cats #indoor cats #outdoor cats

[notthatbernie]

I have never done anything wrong ever in my life

#calico cat #cat #cats #kitty #indoor cats #cat who has never been fed ever

[hoot-alex]

#indoor cats #catbird #graphic design #artists on tumblr

[insectomoe]

Stout is going to be such a pleasure to work with! First time outside with an harness since we got him!

I want to show him car rides, hiking and overall being able to be brought with me to all kind of places.. I think that's possible!

#that's the outdoors so he it belongs to that blog alright? #Stout is my wild caught bug now #cat #indoor cats #cat leash #cat harness #Stout the cat

[reptimoe]

Pretty sure Stout had a great time

#cat #catblr #cat on a leash #indoor cats #Stout the cat #cat harness

[agro-carnist]

I recently became aware of the Indoor Pet Initiative that I think is very helpful for people to check out!

It has lots of resources regarding dog and cat behavior and how to give cats enriching and healthy lives indoors. Lots of other resources on training and management of behavioral problems to try and minimize behavioral euthanasia.

They also link to other websites like the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior's blog! May be worth looking through some of those articles! And Sniffspots! I have never used a Sniffspot so I cannot attest to how I think of them, but I do see value in having private spaces for dogs, particularly reactive dogs, to be able to have fun and focus on training instead of the chaos of a dog park. Their website also has articles on dog behavior and training.

Take a look if you or someone you know is needing help with their canine or feline companion, or if you're just interested in animal behavior!

#animal welfare #indoor cats #animal behavior