Outdoor cats

[wroughtn_harv]

We lost four cats last year to whatever. We suspect it was coyotes but it might have been a dog or two.

One of them was Boots. He was eight years old and a one man cat. I was fortunate enough to have been that man. We had some real adventures.

One of them was a spell where about every six weeks I'd end up taking him to the vet cause he'd have almost terminal buttkickeditis.

About the third time I was complaining about the new tradition to the vet when she asked me if I had a female who wasn't fixed in the neighborhood. I said a maybe. She explained to me that even if Boots was neutered he would still fight to protect his territory. So when the female came in season the toms would show up and Boots would stand his ground for his ground and pay the price.

For him the battle was about his space. For them the stakes were a much baser kind of higher you understand.

So I went to the neighbor with the pretty little kitten they couldn't afford to get fixed. Sorta funny about that, Domino's Pizza twice a week but the cat couldn't be fixed, that cost money.

When they refused to fork up for the fixin' I faced the music and offered to foot the bill if they would just get the animal fixed. I figured their hundred and twenty five dollar bill was a bitter pill to swallow but I was facing a couple of hundred dollars a hit every time she came in season.

Their bill turned up to be over two hundred. It seems her fixin' wasn't the only thing they hadn't had done that normal folks do as part of being a pet owner.

But I ended up being money ahead in the long run.

I'm a firm believe that we should never name cats until they're at least a year old. If we do it sooner then we're facing the real possiblity of being completely wrong in the naming.

The grandkids were moving into an apartment so their three kittens came to us. My daughter claimed one and her friend claimed another. The third was a long haired yellow female tabby. My daughter brought her in and plopped her down in my lap and informed me that she was mine and wanted to know what I'd call her.

For me it was simple. She was Sunshine..

I should have called her something along the line of Her Majesty the Queen or something close. She was royalty. She knew it. And you knew it real quick like too.

Later on when the grandkids moved again we got another litter. In this was a manx. She had a great personality, just sweet, sorta like a strawberry, not like sugar or honey, tastey sweet, but not so sweet as to be too sweet.

A friend fell in love with her. He'd wanted a manx and they instantly hit off.

Boots was the last of my cats to disappear. I swore off cats. They dig into too deep and are too fragile. I guess that's what makes them so special.

My friend who'd taken the manx and me were talking one day and I told him about Boots. He said the manx had disappeared too. He hadn't got her fixed cause he wanted to have some manx kittens. When she'd disappeared they'd found she'd left a litter in a neighbor's barn. He had three kittens. He wanted to know if I wanted one.

I told him only if it was a male and a manx. The next day he brought me Bear. Bear is a yellow long haired tabby. I called him Bear because he has no more tailbone than you or I. So when he moves it's like a bear cub.

He's an outdoor cat. His choice. He's absolutely great with the neighbor kids. He humors our dog. And treats me like I'm an equal. There is nothing better you can ask for and ever expect to get from a cat.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Bear as a kitten

 

[cstocks]

Harv,

Spoken like a true cat lover! Very nice post.

It is so true what you say about cats protecting their territory. Poor ol' Pops no doubt sprays to mark his territory and has paid the price more than once when more agressive, more virile neighborhood studs have challenged his right to his corner of the world. There was a period of time of over a year when he stayed beat up all the time. The last time cost me $108 to have his ear lanced and stitched. His ear had been chewed on and got infected and swole up like a thin sliced home made potatoe chip. Now that ear is premanently bent over like a Scottish Fold. Poor scraggly old man! I never considered that a local female may have been the source of the constant beatings he took. I guess maybe the female is no longer around because even though the neighborhood bullies still hang around, Pops rarely has to defend his territory anymore.

As I write this two of my cats are helping my wife fold clothes on the bed behind me. The only thing they seem to love more is helping change the covers on the bed. They can be soo much help when they want to be.

 

[MossRoad]

I think they don't adopt cats as outside cats because of several reasons. One being that they kill just for the sake of killing and are a tremendous burden to the natural balance. Second, they reproduce too rapidly if not sterilized. Finally, they say that the average life of an indoor cat is 16 years while the average life of a cat that is let outside of the house is 3 years.

I agree that they should have told you that they don't adopt out cats that are to be outside cats. It would save people the hassle right off the bat.

Some places need outdoor cats to control rodents, etc... working farms come to mind. However, having had 10 or so cats in my life, I cannot see any reason to ever let a cat outside unless it is a working cat as mentioned above. All of our cats, when I was growing up, were let outside. All they did was kill and kill and kill, or be killed by dogs and cars. Most of them were only around for about 3-4 years before they either disappeard or were found dead, except for one very ornery old female that lived to the ripe old age of 21. I now have my own cat. He is neutered and never goes outside. He is now 16 and perfectly healthy. I expect him to be around quite a bit longer. The kids love him and have grown up with him. I don't have to worry about breaking their hearts by having him torn apart by dogs or hit by a car. We also had several dogs(that had to go outside) and he got along with them just fine. They thought he was a person, because when he came into the room, they would get out of his way.

If you do decide to get a cat, from whatever source, and decide to let it outside, please have it fixed. That way the pet cemetery behind the shelter won't have any additions because of you.

 

[drpepper]

I can't possibly stay out of this one. I hate cats. I always hated cats. I never owned one. When we made the move outside of town, the girls (wife and daughter) wanted a cat. I said no. They had dogs and horses. Some neighbors went on a trip and asked us to feed their critters for them. The girls were doing it. They would come back and tell me about all the cats. They swore there were 30 or more barn cats. To make a long story shorter, I went over there one evening to feed with them. You had better believe there were 30 or more cats in the barn! They were everywhere. There were six little kittens who had been abandoned by their mother. They looked terrible. The girls had been trying to feed them milk. They would literally crawl into the bowl to eat. Well, the old softy that I am we brought back those six kittens that evening. They were in such bad shape, that we lost one that first night. We bought formula and fed them with bottles for the first couple of weeks. How can five kittens go thru $100. of formula? We have a terrible coyote problem out here, so I built a cage in the barn to keep them in at night. We had every one of them "fixed". Also give rabies shots. Do you have any ideal what it is like to work around the place with five cats helping? Too much help, that what. I has been three years since we rescued them. I love cats! I love their personalities. Each one is differant. All they want is a little attention. They still sleep in that cage at night, that all they know. Open up the door, and all five troop right in! Never have a mice problem in the barn. Always have a companion or two whatever the job. Get the cats.

 

[cstocks]

MossRoad,

<font color=blue>I cannot see any reason to ever let a cat outside unless it is a working cat as mentioned above.</font color=blue>

I agree with the above statement in the context which it was written. In my case, I did not choose to make my cats outside cats. They were throw out by owners who for whatever reason did not want them anymore and chose not to take them to the pound or to an animal shelter. They were discarded and left on their own to either be taken in by someone such as myself or tough it out in the elements for the rest of their lives.

One of my outside cats sprays so it it pretty obvious why he was dumped and equally obvious why I do not let him in my house.

The second is unruly and ill mannered and likes to swat at people, even though it is only his way of saying "don't stop petting me." He was grown when he showed up on my doorstep so I did not even try to see how he would work out in the house.

The third is a super sweet little female that I did try to bring into the house but could not because she had personality conflicts with my other cats.

While what you say about cats is true about their instinct to kill, I would rather give up a few lizards and the occasional bird than haul them to the pound where they would most likely be put to sleep.

I believe that it is better to make a cat an outside pet if it is already on the outside and it is not compatible to bring into one's home. To me that is better than the alternative... to let it suffer a hungry life and possibly a slow death as a stray or a quick death at the pound.

As far as acquiring a cat just to make it an outside pet goes, I cannot argue with your reasoning and logic.

For what it's worth...

Chris

 

[billboe]

Could be he wasn't neuter soon enough... The vet told us if they don't get 'em snipped soon enough and they learn to spray, they may always spray...

On the general question of neutering or spaying... It is just plain irresponsible not to!

 

[centex]

My experience it that once you start feedind a cat it is yours forever and you don't have to worry about them not coming back unless of course someone else starts feeding them something they like better. I would have whatever you get neutered.

My wife and sons have had several cats and it was impossible to get rid of them. After the last one they got died I was relieved that we were finally rid of cats but sooner or later a stray cat started hanging around the yard. It was there for several months eating mice and birds. My wife assumed it was someone else's cat and did not try to feed it. Well one night last winter when we were supposed to have a hard freeze the cat was hanging around the door to the house and I felt sorry for it and let in for the night so it would not freeze. Big mastake! My wife started feeding it and it is now our cat. It rarely leaves the yard and it sleeps and naps on my Corvettes' rag top which makes me madder-n-h*##. It is a female that was neutered and house broken but apparently dumped. When it was in the house it just slept all the time. Of course anytime I was around it would insist on sleeping in my lap which I hate.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

It is nice to see that we can all admit that we all like cats and really appreciate their sultry and sometimes cocky personality .For some reason ,most men I meet will never admit that deep down they look foreward to coming home from work and seeing their cat asleep in their chair . Dogs have so much energy and will do whatever we train them to do but a good cat dose what he wants when he wants and that is cool . All of our lives have been made the better for knowing these furry little guys . Thanks Tritter

 

[brewerbob]

Just like you, Bob, I thought I hated cats. When my wife and I got married, she had 2 cats, Hemo and J.W. neutered males. Well, Hemo was taken by coyotes and J.W. pined for his buddy for a while. We got Gris (Gray), a silver tabby. She was the cutest kitten! Then one day, she went crazy, and was nuts all her life. Something in her personality just made her wild. She died about a year ago. I was out washing the car one day, and this miserable little black cat came up to get water. She was obviously alone, and I took her in. She was infested with fleas, and almost starved. We took her to the vet and he doubted that she would make it. She was so weak she couldn't walk from one end of the hall to the other. We bathed her (an interesting experience, thank goodness she was very weak) in flea shampoo, and the water came out reddish brown from the blood in the flea poop. She also had worms and we treated them. Eventually, she regained her health, but has remained stunted from the starvation. We had her neutered too. She's Ragamuffin. Weighing about 5 pounds, she's a terror and our 80 pound black lab is afraid of her. She's my cat though, and now at 12 years old is a very satisfactory pet. She's a good mouser too. Both of our cats are indoor cats because of coyotes and raptors around here. We have some large golden eagles and bald eagles here. Somebody dumped a big white cat around here earlier this year, and he was around for a few weeks but
I haven't seen him in some time now. I suspect he's prey.

Bob