My indoor cats don’t want to go outside. My last cat lived to be a grand old 17 years old and was sweet and loving her whole life.

Our gardens, which we work very hard on, are constantly dug up by neighboorhood cats who use them as litter boxes. We see dead cats on the side of the road (busy route) all the time. We see new roaming cats also all the time, probably (though I have no proof) because they are replacements for the other outdoor cats who have died. Cats also kill birds and other small wildlife because they have hunting instincts, which can be satisfied inside with toys and humans that will play with them, developing a bond and giving them exercise.

Caring, responsible pet parents keep their cats indoors, for their health and happiness, not to mention their neighbor’s happiness. A domestic cat does not “need” or “want” to be outside. A tiger, yes, but not a kitty cat.

1) The use of the ‘giant garden’ analogy is downright awful in terms of explaining your point. We still have cities and suburbs and rural areas, and each have their own hazards concerning domesticated animals.

2) The last ‘big predators an outside cat would have to worry about’ were hunted extinct many centuries ago. Most of them disappeared after the Ice Age, when Britain became cut off from the rest of Europe. If you’re really in doubt, Wikipedia has a fairly trustable and comprehensive list of Great Britain’s extinct animals and the year of their extinction. Most of the modern-day (the last extinction was in 1950, I think) extinctions were due to urbanisation and industrialisation. I’m pretty sure you can’t blame modern-day domesticated animal owners for that – at least with relevance to the domesticated animal in question.

3) We are actually quite proud of our wildlife and its abundance. That’s why we have the Wildlife Trusts, which have government backing. On a slight side note of English pride, the percentage of forest in the UK has doubled since World War I, and we have also had several successful reintroductions of species that were once extinct in the UK.

4) All of this presumes that domesticated cats have a severe impact on the environment, when there are many other factors that do more damage and are usually caused by humans!

So I come to 5) Jessi, please get your head out of your ass, and stop making assumptions and accusations without backing them up.

And I think that goes to virtually everyone on these comments, who have judged one or more of the people on these notes without bothering to think it through.

TL;DR Where is the evidence for this statement?

I get loving your pets and looking at them like a member of the family. And no living creature- child, cat, dog, rat, snake- deserves to be abused or abandoned, ever. But as other commenters have said, pets do not equal human children.

When our one month old son was born, my husband converted our indoor/outdoor cat into an outdoor cat. It’s where the cat is happiest, and we didn’t want him bringing in anything from the outside to harm our son (fleas, etc). He doesn’t always like being outside- but he gets along well, he eats regularly, and he occasionally sleeps in our (indoor) laundry room on cold nights if it’s needed.

If I have to choose between any human being and an animal, I choose a human being. And if I had to choose between any other human being on earth and my son, I choose my son. It’s a no brainer as far as I’m concerned. My husband is the same way. So choosing between our son and our cat is a very simple choice for us.

To everyone saying that a cat is just like a human child- no. I don’t change my cat’s diapers, feed it with a bottle or am prepared to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars if needed to turn it into a productive member of society. Yes, I will protect and look after it. But not to the same extent that I would look after my son. I wouldn’t go through eight hours of pain to bring my cat into the world- pain that was so intense I wanted to die. I don’t feel the same rush of love when I look at my cat as I do when I look at my son. And yes, animals may love you unconditionally— but so do children if you parent them correctly. And, as PPs have said, if you view your pet and your child the same way, then you’re parenting all wrong.

My child comes before everyone else- even taking precendence, in some cases, over my husband. So I understand Connie’s motivations completely.

No kidding. Especially if your child had screamed and tried to run, quite possibly causing the pit bull to snap from “playful” to “prey mode”. Like you, I’m very glad things weren’t worse.

“What was the owner shouting as she pulled him away? “Oh, he’s just playing with you! He won’t hurt you!””

Sometimes it seems like every single one of them knows their wittle-bitty-puppy-who’s-just-a-big-pile-of-mush-oh-yes-he-is would never harm a fly. Right up until they snap into “prey mode” one day around a little child, and sometimes even after.

@Jessi “Oh, wait, nevermind, I can list your reasons for you and all are more than likely born of ignorance and mis-information…

I’m officially done with this conversation.”

Thank you for posting one of the most amusing comments I’ve seen in a while, albeit unintentionally. XD

Really? Care to “educate me” on that one? How are they “rightfully restricted”? Oh, wait, nevermind, I can list your reasons for you and all are more than likely born of ignorance and mis-information.

So, in the end, you’re okay with an animal killing ecosystems, but not okay with one which may jump up on you. Check.

Again, totally logical.

I’m officially done with this conversation.

Okie dokie. That sounds totally logical.

Lets change the breed. Pretend I don’t own a Pit Bull. Pretend I own a 3 pound Chihuahua. Why can’t I let my Chihuahua roam free?

That’s one of the most messed up statements I’ve ever read.

As for everything else you’ve written: you think it’s okay to release invasive species into the wild just because they’d be happier there than confined?

I’ve got a dog who *loves* being outside. I think I’m gonna let her roam free because she doesn’t like being cooped up indoors. She can look after herself and take on most predators who try to take her on. In fact, if she comes across your little house cat, she’ll probably eat it (cats inside our home are friends. Cats outside our home are small animals/game.), but that’s the circle of life, right?

So why can’t I let my Pit Bull run free like you can your cat?

Seriously, there is nothing irresponsible about making sure the cat is happy. Indoor/outdoor cats are not babies or children unless they are under 3 years of age. Above that age they are an ADULT cat. Which means that they have personalities, they know how they like to live, and are developed like adults. If you were an adult and had to choose between staying with the someone you liked or staying in a living situation you liked, what would you choose? That depends on you. A cat can make it very obvious if they prefer you or the outdoors. I’m sure this cat made it obvious that it loved the outdoors, therefore she is making the best decision for it.

Also, for god’s sake, indoor/outdoor cats know how to take care of themselves. They are not helpless. They make mistakes like every other animal but they’re not going to be pathetically lost without the same owner unless their personality is predisposed that way. Most indoor/outdoor cats are not, for obvious reasons. If they were predisposed that way they’d spend the majority of their time in the house, therefore being fine to be moved to ind0or-only status.

In summation, it’s very obvious that the cat likes being outdoors and the owner is acknowledging that, to the cat’s benefit. I believe it would be cruel to lock a cat like that indoors.

Some cats will move on because they didn’t care much for you in the first place, but when you see a stray cat you’ve picked up run to the front door every time you come home so you can hug him (he has a hug position he does when he wants cuddles), its hard to believe that they forget about you in a day or two as some people here suggest.

Alas, it always depends on the animal and the bond you have with them.