Outdoor cats

[Mosey]

How many of you folks here have outdoor cats? We’ve decided to get some kittens for our soon to be 6 year old twins. We’re going to get some free ones. These will be outdoor cats and I’ll build them a house to sleep in. I don’t want to put much money into them, so I don’t want to get them neutered. We’re planning to get both of them from the same litter, so we’ll make sure they’re the same sex. I’m trying to decide if we should get males or females. I’m guessing that if I get females I’ll have better luck with them sticking around, but then I have to deal will the possibility of kittens. If I get males, then I don’t have to worry about kittens (but somebody else will!), but I’m afraid they won’t stick around. If they wander off too far they’ll get attacked by coyotes or get in the road. Can cats be trained to stay close to home?

 

[Chuck52]

We have an outdoor cat that is a neutered male, Lir (old Keltic name, according to my son). In town, he was an indoor pet for about a year....turns out I hate to deal with litter boxes....so when we moved to the country we introduced him to the outdoors. We were originally concerned that he wouldn't be able to adapt, but he's done great. He spends most of his time wandering around the fields, probably hunting, but if we're outside he follows us around and trys for attention. Absolutely fantastic animal. I sometimes wish we hadn't had him fixed; I'd like to have more like him. However, I'd bet a tomcat would be likely, as you say, to go off forever. This cat was part of a litter by a feral cat that my daughter found under a brush/trash pile on her property. The mother cat could not be approached, and then was killed by some animal. My daughter raised the six kittens, only losing one along the way. We took this one, and of the remaining four that she kept, only one female is still with her. The others wandered off. Lir and our 13 year old collie are interesting to watch. Lir will sometimes slip up on Scottie and swat his tail, leading to a chase. If Lir manages to get on my lap for some petting, Scottie about has a fit unless he gets attention too. They have both wandered over to the neighbor's field, and when I call Scottie, Lir is always the first to come back, though he doesn't come if I call him. It's almost as if he's watching out for the old dog. He came to me once squalling about something. Turned out Scottie was on the wrong side of a fence and couldn't find his way back. Coincidence? Maybe.

Chuck


Chuck

 

[TerryinMD]

Well, good luck with keeping them as outside cats with 6 yr olds. The kids have a way in convincing us of something we know we should not do. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif/w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

I you are going to have the cats stay outside, definitely get them neutered. Males are much cheaper to neuter than females. Call some of you local animal or rescue shelters as they sometimes have programs to get the animals neutered for a reasonable cost. Do yourself and your neighbors a favour to prevent unwanted animals in the neighboorhood. Once neutered, you may have a better chance at keeping them close to home. We have a neutered male and he kinda roams the neighborhood. Just their nature. Be prepared to find various and asunder dead animals and parts. Cats have a nice way of showing that they're earning their keep.

As far as having them safe from varmints, it's the luck of the draw. We just had to put down our older female cat a few weeks ago. We think we know what got to her but can't prove it. A local dog occassionally (as far as we know) gets out and he has killed at least one neighbors cat. And, I have seen him take out a rabbit or two. Very skilled, I must say. So, you need to be prepared to explain these kind of things to the children.

Terry

 

[rmorgan]

Mosey--

Cats will stay where there is food; if you put out cat chow and water for them they will stay. Non-spayed/neutered cats is not a great idea, IMHO. I hope you'll reconsider not "fixing" them, as you will probably end up with a bunch of feral animals which you or somebody else will end up killing, unless the coyotes do it first. There are often vets working with shelters who will do the operation for free or a nominal charge--you might want to check around.

 

[MossRoad]

Unless you enjoy the smell of cat urine sprayed on your doors, get them neutered. Male cats mark their territory by spraying on everything; your doors, your car, your lawn furniture, the wife's prized flowers. Plus, there are millions of cats at the local shelters that get killed every year because there aren't enough homes for them, why let yours make more?

If you adopt a cat from the local shelter here, it is about $40.00 and includes the first shots and neutering. Not a bad price at all.

Male cats make great pets. I like them better than the female ones. They just seem more fun. Good luck. Your kids will love them.

 

[8NTX]

Over the last 20 years or so, our family has had a number of outdoor cats, and in my experience it has been literally hit or miss. Living in the city, we have lost three to cars, even though two of them were hit when we didn't live close to a busy street. The in-laws lost 2 of their 4 to animals (dogs?) at their rural location. A couple have either run away or been adopted by neighbors and they decided they liked their new home better. About one-third to one-half seem to survive to maturity and die of old age. I think all of them were either neutered or spayed.

 

[Mosey]

MossRoad - "adopt a cat from the local shelter".

I already tried that approach. I went over the local Humane Society and looked at some at lunch yesterday. They have a June special going and kittens are $35 each, which includes shots and neutering. They said I had to fill out and application and wait until the next day to see if I was "approved". So, I went back to work and called home and told the kids what color they were and they said they wanted them and got all excited. I stopped by after work and started to fill out the application (which cost $5 each). The application asked if the cats would be indoors or outdoors and I marked outdoors. They saw that and said I can't have them because they don't allow cats to go to people who will not keep them indoors! I told them I didn't appreciate them waiting until after I had already told the kids they were getting kittens to tell me that. At least I hadn't already paid the $5 each (although I WOULD have gotten it back if I had to take it from them forcibly!). I was pretty irritated because then I had to go home and tell the kids they weren't getting kittens the next day as expected. Obviously, they were quite disappointed. We called another Humane Society and they said they have the same policy and that all Humane Societies do. I should have known better than to deal with them when I saw the pet cemetery in back of their building. So, I've decided not to deal with those places anymore.

We're going to keep looking at free ones. I may still get them neutered. My wife is calling around for prices today.

 

[DocHeb]

Some other opinions about outdoor cats (and arguments for neutering outdoor cats):

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.wnrmag.com/stories/1996/dec96/cats.htm>On the Prowl</A>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.proaxis.com/~cwrc/Writings/Article1.htm>Loose Pet Cats Detrimental to Wildlife</A>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://messybeast.com/usferal.htm>The American Feral Cat Problem</A>

 

[cstocks]

Let me add this about a neutered male. I believe that while neutering might help keep a male at home there is no guarantee that he will not still spray. I have owned two neutered "outside" males that sprayed. I still have the second male and he follows me around like a dog, marking everything in his path. Might want to get females fer sure.

 

[MikePA]

I will chime in with the others and encourage you to get the cat, regardless of gender, neutered. We have male and female cats, all neutered, and the neutered males have been much better pets. The neutered males are much more friendly and we have not had a problem with spraying. The neutered females we've had would rather swat you in the face as be petted. There's nothing like walking by our sofa and have a cat (female) swat at your bare foot with claws extended. Two cats we have would just as soon be outside, while the other two would just as soon be inside. We've never built anything for them to sleep in while they are outside. On really cold days we will keep them in (they usually come in to eat), but other than that, they are outside, by their choice.

As Terry has mentioned, get ready for various small animal parts to appear on your doorsteps. We have had portions of mice, voles, frogs, fish and birds appear on our welcome mat. "Come on in. Please step over the mice guts.".

If you end up keeping them inside, and have dogs (as we do), you'll have to make sure the dogs don't go surfing for Tootsie Rolls in the litter box. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif We have a cover on our litter box and just place the opening towards the wall. There's enough room for the cats to enter the throne room, but the dogs can't get in and snack.