Indoor/Outdoor Cats

[alt text: an illustration of a person with a head-empty expression on their face, who is saying, "Not letting your cat outside is CRUEL!" Around the person are various gruesome scenes of different cats in distress. From the top and going clockwise, the scenes include: a cat being carried away by a hawk; a cat that is on fire; a dead cat in the road that has been run over by a car; several dead kittens; a cat that is missing an eye and various patches of fur; a cat that is feasting on a songbird; and a cat that is being carried away by a coyote. The person appears to be completely oblivious to these scenes of distress.]

65 comments

This neither funny nor informative. You're just antagonizing for the sake of it.
- i care a lot about the health and happiness of cats AND about the health of my local wildlife. Clearly some folks don't understand that letting their cats roam outside is bad for the cat and for the local native wildlife, so I would argue that this post is plenty informative.
  
  Edit: generally, I would say this follows the format of other political cartoons - using an illustration to make an argument succinctly.
  
  succinctly
  
  It's not a very clever cartoon, you're just painting the one you don't agree with as a literal shithead.
This is a good overview for folks that think cats should be outside. This particular quote stands out:

Although originally bred from their wild counterparts, domestic cats (which include feral felines and pets) are not native to any ecosystem, making them an invasive species everywhere they exist

https://www.popsci.com/environment/outdoor-cats-spread-diseases/
I've never understood how this is so controversial
- People's parents taught them that cats need to be allowed to roam outside to be healthy and happy. Many people don't have the critical thinking skills to change the views that their parents gave them.
Quick! Give us the stupidist fucking take on this that you possibly can!

Today we learned that outdoor birds and cats are extinct because cats killed all the birds and wolves/birds killed all the cats.
- Several years ago, we (ie the human scientific community) learned that cats are the leading cause of death of ALL BIRDS AND MAMMALS IN NORTH AMERICA.
  
  Perhaps all cats collectively, but not well-fed, cared-for house cats in particular. I've always had cats and they only very rarely catch a bird. It does the cause a disservice to be intellectually dishonest.
- cats are an invasive species. this is a proven fact, supported by ecologists. and if you love your cat, you won't let them outside to get run over by a car. there are million other ways to provide a cat with similar enrichment.
  
  Humans are an invasive species... maybe we shouldn't be allowed outside?
My first cat was eaten by a mountain lion. That was not on my Bingo card of all the things that I thought he could die from.
- you'd be surprised how many predators are living within walking distance of your home, even in metro areas! Even in places where they are less, cats still have to watch out for the apex predator: Honda Civics
- There's always a bigger cat... I guess?
Not letting your cat outside is cruel. Not considering the environment it'll be in is also cruel.

Perhaps people should just be more mindful when it comes to their choice of pets and if they should even have one.
- how is it cruel? There are many, many, many ways to provide enrichment for a cat without letting them outside to get run over by a car. I'm all for catios and taking cats for a walk on a leash or in some sort of covered carrier, as a form of enrichment. But I don't think the absence of those activities is inherently cruel.
  
  There are many, many, many ways to provide enrichment for a cat without letting them outside
  
  Sure, I could buy some live mice for her to ‘play’ with, but I don’t want that mess inside my house.
  
  It is. They need to be outside as much as you do.
  
  Nobody thrives in an exclusively indoor environment. They go crazy. Sterilization can help a bit, but they still need to go out sniffing stuff and at least play at hunting daily.
  
  There's a reason even prisons have courtyards and outside activities. It's downright dangerous for everyone if they didn't.
  
  Walk harness. Cats should be taken on walks outside, on a harness, like dogs are.
  
  You simply don't understand cats and their needs. You are also obviously very highly prejudiced and unlikely to hear anything someone like me might say to answer your question.
This has gone like other "cats are not native to everywhere and are massively impactful to the areas in which they are introduced" threads has gone, and while it has been more civil than the last, is going a bit sideways.

Depriving cats of enjoyment and engagement is not nice, that's why we as owners can play with them using toys designed to satisfy their predatorial urges. Leaving cats unsupervised outside is also not nice to local bird populations, or those unsupervised cats who suffer unspeakable outcomes.
Guess where all them cats would be if humans didn't exist.
- In their native habitat, not in North America. Probably, at least. Who knows, there wouldn't be anyone around to know
  
  In their native habitat, not in North America
  
  So you think that mountain lions, cougars, pumas, etc... never existed in the Americas? You think that there are NO native cat populations here at all? Shit man... The bob cat I found under my trailer in my back yard must have been a figment of my imagination.
  
  While "domestic" cats are invasive... Cats exist literally in EVERY STATE I'VE EVER LIVED IN. (New York, AZ, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia.) And I've SEEN native cats in literally EVERY one of those states.
  
  The actual problem here isn't the "native-ness" of "domestic" cats... but that their population is inflated because we cater to them and create what amount to an unlimited food supply for them. "domestic" cats are barely domesticated.
  
  Edit: And because I know it's going to happen. No... I don't have "indoor" cats. I do feed the "shed cats" (feral-ish). Which should actually stop them from eating wildlife... or at least stop it significantly. They are friendly with us... Not with much of anyone else. I actually don't really agree with having animals in the house at all... I just find the premise that cats wouldn't exist here as quite a silly concept.
  
  Edit2: and the ones we take "care" of are fixed.

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