It’s a dog! It *wants* to listen to you! Seriously, it really really does. In fact, dogs go kind of guano without human instruction!

@35.5 Are the birds killed by impact with windows and buildings ?
Or are these things generally benign until birds make their ways inside ?

We had a pair of Satan’s spawn that survived on an indoor/outdoor basis in a quasi-rural area outside San Diego for 12+ years. The smaller, female cat found butterflies and hummingbirds the most attractive, but would catch and toy with lizards in a pinch, at least until they ran out of energy or found a safe spot in which to out-wait her. The male was more into catching and playing with gophers, at least until he was bitten on the neck by one, after which gopher prey was brought home strictly very DOA.
He did once drag back a (DOA) rabbit that was quite a bit larger than him.

So, to size:
Standing atop our 4-foot fence, she once arched and hissed until a 60-80 pound boxer walking along the horse trail just beyond it quickly modified his route from being about 10 feet away from the fence to about 50 feet away, after which she seemed to relax, although the dog, based on his increased walking pace and frequent glances over his shoulder, did not.
She only weighed 7 pounds, but had claws like razors and (c)attitude.

Her Prince consort’s personal best concerned length, not mass. I found him one afternoon about 10 feet away from a rattlesnake that had found its way onto part of our patio. Short-circuiting his contemplation, which showed no sign of whether he was leaning toward the better part of valor or something more risky, I slowly and quietly scooped him up and, after securing him inside the house and my trusty pellet rifle outside with me and the rattler, put a half dozen shots into the head of what, uncoiled, turned out to have been a 5-foot poison factory.

And while they may not take on a full grown adult rat unless absolutely necessary, they will kill the young ones at a furious rate. I have, unfortunately, borne witness to this at my last residence. And my oldest, smartest cat did actually take on a rat the size of a squirrel that came into our house and took a run at me when I encountered it in the kitchen.

And Chesire cat, I am not remotely surprised that someone who can’t spell “Cheshire” correctly hates cats, though am somewhat surprised by the use of the word “cat” in said name. And no, I’m not being hypocritical here – I don’t actually hate rats, though I would prefer that they not live in my house.

Actually, cats are not really enthusiastic about killing, or even confronting rats…rats being nearly as large as cats (sometimes larger, your common city sewer rat isn’t the same as a white lab rat y’know). Cats are very fond of killing mice though.

No one in a society is an island…not even you. there are rules, and you’ll follow them or pay a fine for not doing so. Just like the Handicapped Parking fines you are so very in favor of.
Surely you wouldn’t say anyone with a car should park in any available parking space just because it’s available and disregard the law, so you wouldn’t possibly think you can have a rat-attracting jungle of a lawn just because you want to in flagrant disregard of city ordinances.

How is it perfectly reasonable to ask people not to feed your cat if it’s on a special diet, but perfectly fine to let the cat outside to eat whatever it may when it’s supposed to be on a special diet?

Now, I can see you saying that a cat NOT on a special diet should be let free to roam, I wouldn’t agree, but I could understand that position.

But if a cat is supposed to be on a special diet, shouldn’t the owner be in a position to monitor what the cat eats? can the owner do that while the cat roams freely outdoors?

You make a fine argument that a cat on a special diet should NOT be let outdoors to roam, not the other way ’round.

You see, this is how domestication works for both the human and the domesticated pet-type animal…we humans get the benefit of companionship, love, the heightened senses of the animal, and in return we give them food, shelter, security and love.
We fail in our part of that bargain if we fail to give shelter and security.

Be a good little symbiot and fulfill your half of the bargain.

Frankly, if you’re letting your cats out unsupervised to fend for themselves all day or night, really all you’re doing is HOPING they’ll be able to do so.

Sure, your cat may be happy, but will you be happy when the day comes that Tabby just never comes home again? Will you rationalize that away by convincing yourselves that someone stole your cat? That she was mistaken for a stray and “rescued”? Or will you be able to face the fact that your cat may have been flattened by a Mack truck and it’s all your fault?

That’s really what it comes down to if you live anywhere near a road upon which cars and trucks travel, so why not face facts?

Let’s say you are absolutely correct and that domesticated cats like to roam freely. Given that, what makes you think that cat will ever really consider your home his/her home? What makes you so sure that cat will not one day just decide it’s found a home it likes better than yours? In short, what makes you think your cat is indeed yours and not just a transient using you until a better situation presents itself?