Pinestar

The reason that this comparison is inaccurate is because humans have the ability to use reason and make logical choices, but cats don’t. Humans see a car coming and wait until the street is clear to cross. Cats don’t. Humans know not to eat strange food on the ground. Cats don’t. Humans can look up which plants are toxic and avoid them. Cats can’t. Humans don’t eat raw rabbits and rodents that may carry disease. Cats do. Humans who hunt follow laws that prevent them from killing endangered species (besides shitty poachers). Cats don’t.

A far more accurate comparison would be a cat and a toddler. They lack the ability to recognize danger and don’t have the ability to reason that an adult does. I’m sure a toddler would have a great time roaming around the neighborhood, but no one is going to argue in favor of that. People can understand that doing that is irresponsible and dangerous. But no sane person is going to lock their toddler inside and provide them with nothing to do; no one is saying we should do that for cats either. Play with them. Provide cat trees. Rotate their toys. Give them puzzle feeders. And if you want them to go outside you can leash train them. Or build a catio. The options aren’t let them roam vs. never provide them with entertainment. If it is unbearable to entertain and care for a cat that is kept indoors, you probably shouldn’t own a cat.

Would you let your dog roam? Or your bird? How about your rabbit? I’m sure all of these animals would have a great time running (or flying) around the neighborhood, but we generally recognize that this is a bad idea. It’s no different for cats. We are caretakers for our animals, so it is up to us to use our big brains to make logical choices about what they should or shouldn’t do. We have the ability to understand the risks associated with free roaming. Cats don’t. We can weigh risks and benefits before making a decision. Cats can’t.

I’ve seen two cats who were roadkill, multiple poisoned rats that make easy prey, gardens full of poisonous (to cats) plants, and a cat at the vet who survived his arm being mauled by a fox through a catio. Yet people still do it. I’m in a small village, no idea how much worse in a bigger place it would be.

It is entirely cultural. Sadly, it also means people don’t tend to play with their pets and let them free roam as their only enrichment. So they baulk at how “bored” a cat would be indoors. Forgetting it’s not just kittens who need playtime. You are seen as a “weirdo” for harness/lead training a cat here, which I don’t agree with obviously.

Most rescues will not let you adopt a cat if you do not let it be indoor-outdoor. They will even check up on your garden to see it’s safety (like a cat can’t jump a fence lol). Charities do this, too.

I still keep my cat indoors only. My step mum thought I was being cruel until I explained to her the dangers of a cat outside.

Across the pond in New Zealand ONE SINGLE CAT drove an entire species to extinction. There are still arseholes over there but they’re generally even stricter than we are here in Oz.

KEEP. THEM. INSIDE.

This is pretty different from my usual posts but this was on my mind recently and since we talk about animals a lot here I figured it wouldn’t be too unusual to talk about this.

If you let your cat outside and it gets attacked by another cat, gets kidnapped by another person, gets lost, gets eaten by a predator, gets a disease, gets hit by a car, whatever, that is entirely your fault as the owner. Your pet is practically your child, you shouldn’t be letting them roam around who-knows-where without supervision. Back when I had a cat, I would put him in this enclosed pet-stroller and walk him around the neighborhood and he loved it. I’ve also seen one person who trained their cat to be on a harness and was walking them outside like a dog. I’ve seen outdoor cat condos that attach to a window and form a little mesh house for your cat to hang out in outside while still being contained. There are ways to let your cat enjoy the outdoors without just abandoning them to their own devices. And I hate the argument that indoor cats are unhappy or destructive. WELL MAYBE THEY WOULDN’T BE UNHAPPY IF YOU GAVE THEM MORE STIMULATION KAREN. People think that because cats are aloof and self-sufficient that all you have to do is feed them and they should be fine. Wrong. Cats need attention and stimulation too. Give them new things to explore. New toys to play with. New spaces to hide in. Cats get bored just like me and you if all they can do is sit around all day. This is also why so many house cats are overweight too.

THIS IS THE WORK THAT COMES WITH HAVING A CAT AS A PET. IF YOU DON’T WANT TO DO THE WORK THAT COMES WITH THIS PARTICULAR KIND OF PET, THEN YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE THIS PET.

And that's another thing. Owned outdoor cats make it way more difficult and dangerous for stray cats. Stray cats are very often weaker because they don't usually eat well. Owned cats will take food from strays, attack strays, and chase them away from safe territory. And because of free roam laws where I used to live, shelters and rescue centres would do nothing for a stray cat because the laws were placed to make ut so your cat could roam without any risk of being put in a shelter. But this meant that stray cats were left out in the cold because "what if they belong to someone?"

While my cat was a stray, we'd find a lot of dead animals like birds, rodents, lizards, and snakes in our backyard. There was a population of rainbow lorikeets in the area. By the time I left, you'd basically never see them. And there were a lot of free roam cats.

An indoor cat will live far longer than outdoors. I have never heard of an outdoor cat living a full lifespan. Even taking aside the dangers, keeping your cat inside makes it so you can catch the signs of sickness before it's too late. And with an animal that likes to hide when its unwell, that can be very hard when they're outside.

My cats are happy inside. They get played with. They get hiding spots. They get affection. Up until I moved, my stray was actually afraid of outside! She got very upset when she saw someone out there. This new yard is much smaller, and it's been a few years now, so I don't think she realises that what she wants is to go outside. My other 2 cats aren't interested in going outside. They're all happy, healthy, and well cared for cats. They would cause havoc on the local wildlife.

Keep cats inside.

A small sample of some I’ve drawn in the past couple years:

Plus this last one I drew like 20 minutes ago

anyway a while back I just ended up parodying this with an OLD old video. I may as well lean into it in some way lmaooooo