Outdoor cats

[Trev]

We have seven (yes 7!) cats now.. they are all inside cats, I guess.. they expect us to be doormen, though. Cats hate closed doors. If a door is closed, they want to be on the other side of it. If you open the door, they go halfway through, and then stand there and think about for it a while. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

All of ours have been starving and abandoned, and shown up at the door in the middle of winter, and we feed them. Generally they then decide to come inside, although one of them had been so abused it took him a year to get up the courage.

We had them all fixed. We figure there are so many cats out there starving to death, because their original agreement with humankind was reneged upon by us, that we owe them something. Originally, they were honored.. they kept the rats away from the flour, and there were great penalties for anyone harming a cat. We had a deal worked out. Then we didn't need them anymore, and we developed trash cans with locking lids so they can't even forgage for garbage to eat, and they end up starving in the cold.

We love our little guys. They know it, and they love us back. They climb under the blankets and sleep with us, and it's nice feeling that warm little creature who trusts you lying next to you.

I could never keep a cat as an outside cat, just because I have such a soft spot in my heart (many would say my head) for them. On a cold winter night, our cats all come in.

We're afraid the neighbors will start calling us "The Cat People", but if we worry about what others think we're in trouble anyway. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bob

 

[TerryinMD]

Oh yes!!! Good point Mike!

Dogs love cat tootsie rolls!! A favorite snack before, after, and during dinner. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

And to think, immediately after that... your loving dog gives you lots of doggie kisses for being his buddy!!! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Terry

 

[Mosey]

rmorgan - "vets working with shelters who will do the operation for free or a nominal charge"

Not around here I guess. We were quoted $120 for a female and $50 for a male!

 

[MikePA]

Just last night one of the dogs, the huskie, brought in the remains of what I think was a frog that the cat had left on the door step. Although, given its state of decay I wasn't 100% sure. Quite the symbiotic relationship between our dogs and cats. The cats bring corpses to the house and the dogs bring them in the house to eat.

 

[EdKing]

We have 7 cats, 3 males and 2 females inside, and a male and a female outside. I would keep them all inside except for personality disputes between them. They are all fixed. Apart from the reproducing aspect, spayed/neutered cats tend to be healthier and live longer. The males are definitly cheaper to fix, around $30 to $60, while females generally run twice that or more. The females should also be kept indoors for a week or so after they are fixed, to give the incisions time to heal. Males you can just let stay inside overnight to let the anasthetic wear off, then they can go right out the next day. It is also a good idea to take them in for yearly exams and shots, especially rabies and leukiema. All in all they make interesting pets, can't really say wether male or females make better pets. They all seem to have thier own personalities, some bold and friendly, some shy and timid. You need to accept them on thier own terms, as the end up being more of a friend and equal than a pet.

 

[Trev]

<font color=blue>You need to accept them on thier own terms, as the end up being more of a friend and equal than a pet.</font color=blue>

Ain't that the truth! They're all unique. I'm a computer geek, and my boss will leave my office muttering that "supervising programmers is like herding cats!"

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[rocky2]

We have 2 cats taken in as orphans, both were "fixed" even though they didn't look broken. The younger one will still back up to a tree on the property line and wiggle his tail as he marks his domain. In fact the day the 2910 came off the trailer brandgy-new I saw him doing his dance on the rear tire not more than 5 minutes after it was parked. Still, I'd highly recommend getting them fixed and the rabies shots. Face it, they're free but still going to be pets so treat 'em right. Ours spend time inside and most every night outside, coming and going. They will walk around the property with us along with our 2 dogs and the neighbors one dog. Looks like a Dr. Doolittle movie. You never really own a cat, the cat just decides to spend some time with you.

 

[rancar]

<font color=blue>Can cats be trained to stay close to home?</font color=blue>

Yep....just train them with that food bowl. When they know where their next meal is coming from, they won't wander too far. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[RobertN]

Years ago, a friend of the family had problems with cats taking a leak on his chrome rims on his fancy Chevy truck. He didn't have a garage, so it was kind of free game.

Well, he got tired of it. Cat urine is pretty acidic, and can do a real job on chrome. He went and got a electric fence box. He set a ground right where he parked the truck. He ran a lead with a clip out there, and would connect when he was at home.

After that, he had some pretty knarly yowls for a couple days. Then, the tended to leave his pretty truck alone!

 

[cstocks]

Trev,
I know what you mean about taking in strays. We have eight little darlings, five of which live in the house with us. Of the eight, only one was planned and he is a sixteen year old Persian. The rest are strays that we have taken in over the past few years.

At one point we were down to two cats and swore we were not going to get any more. Next thing you know, we had eight! Three of them are litter mates that their feral mom decided to wean in our boat. We brought them into the house with the intention of keeping one and giving away the other two. Humph! So much for that idea!

After five we drew the line on bringing any more in the house. Since then we accumulated three more. They are all fixed, well fed and well vet-ted and seem to love the outside life just fine.

Pops, one of our outside cats, is an old cat and he is the one that sprays. We figured his spraying was the reason he was dumped by his previous owners. He is not much to look at, kinda rangy and scraggly but he has a lot of love to give and we love him just as much as the others dispite his need to mark his territory.

At this point we just hope no more strays appear... eight truely is enough when it comes to cats.