"She's an indoor kitty..."

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I always wondered what those wild kitty adventures were all about. Is it like a walkabout? Do they take peyote in the desert?

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

Your girlfriend will murder you once this cat gets hit by a car/scratched up by another cat/kidnapped/etc etc etc things that have happened to all my friends in major cities who let their cats out occasionally. I have NEVER heard this story end well in a major urbanized area. Ever!

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

The are the same folks that give their kids antibiotics for the sniffles and have hand-sanitizer in the car.

― andy --, Monday, 3 October 2005 16:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

I would have to use the "front door" to get out the back. Trust me, my cat hates the outdoors. Also, my exes' cats never liked the outdoors even though they always WANTED to get out there out of curiosity. Once they got out, they ran up a tree completely freaked out and terrified for days. They never left the yard.

― You're wrong, Monday, 3 October 2005 16:49 (7 years ago) Permalink

xpost No they're not. They're people who own cats but not a barn. I don't even have a backyard.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:49 (7 years ago) Permalink

whatever you do, don't pierce their ears when they are kittens.

― Mendoza Lineman (Carey), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:50 (7 years ago) Permalink

Agreed. Andy, please give me enough money to have a place with a back yard you care so much about my cat.

― Jimmy Mod wants you to tighten the strings on your corset (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:51 (7 years ago) Permalink

my cat has no claws and would surely get mauled by some mean street cats

p.s. i didnt declaw her, her previous owner did!

Same deal with my cat -- the previous owner declawed him, I think he'd be totally defenseless if he were left to his own devices outside.

― O'so Krispie (Ex Leon), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

whatever you do, don't pierce their ears when they are kittens.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

It's a quality of life issue, not quantity.

― andy --, Monday, 3 October 2005 16:57 (7 years ago) Permalink

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:57 (7 years ago) Permalink

Ha, Ally is incredible right, and Andy is incredibly screwed. You let the cat out, and something happens to it, eventually. Maybe nothing serious or terrible, but something that'll cause at least a couple hours of freaking out and feeling sorry for Poor Kitty and wondering where the nearest 24-hour animal clinic is. And from those hours to the moment of signing the check for the vet bill, there's every chance your girlfriend will be in super-mega You're an Idiot mode.

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:57 (7 years ago) Permalink

Dude, my cat has a way higher quality of life than I do.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:58 (7 years ago) Permalink

Haha, no shit.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:58 (7 years ago) Permalink

Try to prep her early. Talk a lot about how inevitable it is that the cat will get mauled by a sewer-badger.

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:58 (7 years ago) Permalink

Exactly how great is the quality of your life going to be when your girlfriend is stabbing you in the nuts shrieking "WHERE THE FUCK IS MY PRECIOUS KITTY, YOU GIGANTIC DUMBFUCK???????"

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:59 (7 years ago) Permalink

Sure, one day of abject terror without his normal hiding places before having his neck snapped by the roving pit bull would be so much better than ten years of comfort, ease, treats and sunbeams.

Is this some kind of fucking joke?

(several xposts)

― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:01 (7 years ago) Permalink

Hahaha! I don't think that pitbulls roam the cities of America looking for defenseless housecats to eat but I could be wrong.

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:03 (7 years ago) Permalink

My cat, too, became much less troublesome when I started letting him out. He used to be terrible for scratching walls and furniture; after I let him outside, that stopped completely. Plus, no more litter tray - well, it's still there, but as soon as he could get outside he stopped using the tray unless he was absolutely bursting.

However, he still has his claws. Declawing is a horribly cruel thing to do, far worse than castration.

And, I know, there *are* some cats who will refuse to go outside. I've known cats who live in two-bedroom flats who are quite happy to stay inside, and terrified of stepping out of the door. The common thread with all the cats I've known like this is that they were all from the cats' shelter, and were all mistreated by previous owners; I've also known mistreated cats that weren't like this, though.

― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:03 (7 years ago) Permalink

My cat is an indoor cat too, same problem as noted above, she flips out if taken over the threshold of the open door or if strangers walk by or visit. Preface this by saying she was a junk yard rescue - only about 4 weeks old and the rest of the litter died cuz the mom had too, and they were too young to hunt or eat solid food. We tried a number of times to get her used to being outdoors - took her just outside the front door in a closed patio, she dug her claws in a clung like a crazed octopus, shaking and trying to bury herself in the crook of my arm. Then we tried again to take her to a small park where no one was around she was on a leash but dove under the blanket on the grass and shook and meowed like someone was trying to kill her. This is so sad cuz they should have some outdoor fun and experience (even just to catch a bug and play with it as "live game". All my life I have had various cats that were "more stable" and perfectly ok with outside. This one is just too traumatized to be sujected to the outside. She is 5 now, I leave the front door open sometimes and she will sit near the door, but won't pass the threshold and if anyone comes near she runs like she's being chased by a banshee! She does sit in the window and look, but it seems to be quite enough for her.

― Wiggy (Wiggy), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:03 (7 years ago) Permalink

God god, I'm not signing the cat up for dogfighting. These are (usually) supervised visits to a big backyard. The cat usually goes in the neighbor's yard for awhile, wanders through the hedges, and then we go fetch it. This isn't "Escape from New York" or something.

― andy --, Monday, 3 October 2005 17:05 (7 years ago) Permalink

The pit bull part was a bit of hyperbole, but there are quite a few loose dogs in my neighborhood that like to make sport of cats.

― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:06 (7 years ago) Permalink

When a C.H.U.D. gets the cat don't come crying to me.

― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:06 (7 years ago) Permalink

I grew up in a national park with a cat that lived an idyllic young life. Even later in suburbia she had access to enough wandering room to enjoy herself thoroughly. Now that I live in a city, my present cats are indoor 'cause (a) it's much, much safer in an urban environment, in terms of cars, dogs, but also exposure to other animals and other cats and their diseases and (b), though I do let them into our little concrete 'back yard' when i'm down there, they wouldn't have any access to anything fun anyway. Pavement, street, victorians with no front yards, they'd end up rooting through people's garbage or stuck in a tree.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:07 (7 years ago) Permalink

God god, I'm not signing the cat up for dogfighting.

You say that now...

― The Ghost of The Backyard Is A Gateway To The Darkside (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:07 (7 years ago) Permalink

The hysterical tone of many of these posts means I've obviously struck a chord. You're all enemies of freedom.

― andy --, Monday, 3 October 2005 17:09 (7 years ago) Permalink

I used to let my cats out and then one got hit by a car. on my birthday. I found it in the street covered in blood. That was great fun! My cats don't go outside anymore.

really though I would let them out if I weren't worried about it. I live somewhere with less traffic now. Well, I'd let one of them out; the othe one is terrified of everything and prefers to live under our bed.

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:10 (7 years ago) Permalink

FIGHT THE REAL ENEMY

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:11 (7 years ago) Permalink

You big liar, Andy: if you're supervising the kitty, it's hardly an "outdoor" cat! That's just, like, making your apartment bigger for a second. I read "let the cat out" and I'm thinking of proper cat-comes-and-goes-as-it-pleases type shit.

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:16 (7 years ago) Permalink

until I started forcing the issue
I agree w/Ally, et al. It sounds as if you have bigger problems than cat freedom, judging from the above

― Morley Timmons (Donna Brown), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:17 (7 years ago) Permalink

Andy totally wants to have sex with the cat.

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:22 (7 years ago) Permalink

I just don't understand where I (or Kenan or Jimmy or...) am supposed to let my cat out. I mean I haven't got a backyard at all. Not only that, but he hates even wandering into a hallway. When Tom first moved him to this apartment he hid in the closet for days, terrified of the house! Trust me, his quality of life would dive if we forced the issue of him being outside regularly. He hates HALLWAYS. He's completely agoraphobic. And yes, he was a rescued kitty, found running around on the LIE. I guess after that experience and then being shuttled into a tiny apartment with constant food and attention when he wanted and water and places to climb on, he had no interest in the great outdoors anymore. And, really, he does have a higher QOL than I do.

I mean, seriously, even if you have a backyard in the urban environment you shouldn't be letting the cat out, because one day he will jump fence to the neighbor's yard and then keep going. This is not such a big issue in a suburban environment, but in urban...next thing you know, you're hosting cat drug orgies.

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:23 (7 years ago) Permalink

The outdoors are overrated. It's just bugs, litter and hobos. It's not like they have to meet someone at a bar.

― Mendoza Lineman (Carey), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:25 (7 years ago) Permalink

*Pssst* Catnip? High grade, man!

xpost

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:25 (7 years ago) Permalink

Nabisco is right, it's an indoor kitty that's is gaining more and more freedom. But it was a Hunter's Point stray kitten and is pretty tough, so I don't worry about it too much. But no, it doesn't roll down to the fish monger's like Heathcliff.

― andy --, Monday, 3 October 2005 17:25 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Hey kitty, wanna see my backyard?"

― The Ghost of Andy --: Felinophile (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:26 (7 years ago) Permalink

This thread would make more sense if we were talking about indoor strippers.

― Mendoza Lineman (Carey), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:30 (7 years ago) Permalink

out in the backyard

then we go fetch it

This is not at all applicable for sooo many people and cats. If you have a nice neighborhood with no wandering wild animals and trust your cat to return, it might work. If you live in an apartment, hell no. I've only seen a couple cats that can work well with a leash, some just freeze up and refuse to move or go insane and try to rip it off.

Other cats absolutely refuse to be "fetched" and will run like hell if any human approaches them while outside. If you don't have a porch where the cat can return hours later, you're screwed.

Domesticated housecats aren't necessarily outdoor animals. They also enjoy live food a lot more than dead stuff, but I don't see very many people releasing mice in their house when it's mealtime for the cat. If you forced a cat to live off of what it can catch, you'd be considered inhumane.

― mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:31 (7 years ago) Permalink

They also enjoy live food a lot more than dead stuff, but I don't see very many people releasing mice in their house when it's mealtime for the cat.

THAT. WOULD. BE. AWESOME.

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:32 (7 years ago) Permalink

Maybe in your house.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:33 (7 years ago) Permalink

I bought him a Burberry leash and harness to take him outside. Mr. Kitty likes to wear the harness but doesn't care for the leash or the outside part of the deal. So he just wears a jaunty vest now, it's cool.

xpost there's where mike is wrong, I do that all the time.

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:33 (7 years ago) Permalink

http://www.sfspca.org/WhereWeStand/wherewestand_jan_02.shtml

― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:33 (7 years ago) Permalink

I think Greg Ginn's really into that trap & spay scene. That's his bag, man.

― andy --, Monday, 3 October 2005 17:37 (7 years ago) Permalink

Cat colonies!!!!!!!!!

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:37 (7 years ago) Permalink

My ex-wife and I let the cats 'go outside' in San Francsico but that was only cause we lived on the first floor of an apartment building which had a huge courtyard that had no access to the street so they were safe. Most indoor cats have no idea how to fight a 'real' street cat, don't know how to kill their prey, and often don't even have a good sense of direction. One of my cats got out during a party once and I genuinely thought I'd lost her unitl she answered my calls the next day: she was at the back door of the equivalent floor of the mostly identical looking building next to ours.

Also, andy, when I got my newest cat from animal care and control, I had to promise not to let the cat out. I'm not saying I follow their strictures religiously or anything, but I imagine they have good reasons for not wanting domesticated cats outside, most of which have to do with the cat's safety.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:39 (7 years ago) Permalink

my cat changy, a 15 year old neutered longhair tom, is very happy to explore the gardens near me. he is an old bruiser, blind in one eye, and he seems to get a kick out of surveying the surrounding area, lording over it like some old general.

i could never keep him in, and i'm not sure its safer either. the other night, a crane fly zipped in the house and started bothering him. it irritated him enough to clump it down in one slow, graceful, bloodthirsty movement, and then he stuffed the still-jittering bug into his fluffy white chops. the look on his face as he tasted it will live on in laughter for years.

ihttp://www.flickr.com/photos/steviechickfoxyboxer/48742114/

― foxy boxer (stevie), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:39 (7 years ago) Permalink

Cats should only be allowed outside once a year, during winter, in order to laugh at them trying to walk daintily in the snow.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:40 (7 years ago) Permalink

When ALF eats the cat don't come crying to me.

― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:49 (7 years ago) Permalink

Jordan OTM

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:54 (7 years ago) Permalink

nuh

― foxy boxer (stevie), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:56 (7 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 329 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I give my cat supervised backyard plays when its a nice day and I've free time to keep an eye on her (so she doesnt try and get under the house where she may get stuck). She loves rolling in the dirt and lying in the garden in the sun. But this is why I *dont* like doing this too often - outside + possums around = cat gets fleas. Ugh.

― hulk would smash (Trayce), Thursday, 26 November 2009 00:15 (3 years ago) Permalink

Would totally hang out with Edwyn Collins cat.

― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 26 November 2009 02:34 (3 years ago) Permalink

Adopted an FIV-positive cat a few months ago for this reason - they're not supposed to be either outside or with other cats, which is perfect since our apartment is on the 2nd floor, no balcony/patio, and no other cats. He builds up a lot of energy and gets crazy if we don't play with him everyday, though, but I don't mind.

― throwbookatface (skygreenleopard), Thursday, 26 November 2009 02:58 (3 years ago) Permalink

How infectious is FIV? do they have to shag each other to get it, or do they get it from just looking at each other?

― The Real Dirty Vicar, Thursday, 26 November 2009 11:30 (3 years ago) Permalink

It's primarily transmitted by cat fights, IIRC.

― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Thursday, 26 November 2009 13:08 (3 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, it's pretty infectious.

― exploding angel vagina (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 26 November 2009 13:19 (3 years ago) Permalink

It's less infectious that FELV, but you can't vaccinate against it. FELV can be transmitted by grooming, sharing litter trays, water dishes, food bowls, etc. FIV is transmitted primarily by shagging or fighting (although if you have cats with open oral wounds such as tooth problems, it can be transmitted through grooming, sharing bowls, etc.)

― trishyb, Thursday, 26 November 2009 14:07 (3 years ago) Permalink

^ she's got it. They can live 5-10 years with it, and seeing as he's 5 yrs old and probably got infected pretty recently (he's a huge, loving, and social cat, I feel terrible he was ever on the street and needed facial reconstruction after being kind of mauled by another stray), I figure he can live a pretty normal life with us. We named him Magic Johnson in honor of a hopefully long and healthy life. Is that messed up or just optimistic?

― throwbookatface (skygreenleopard), Friday, 27 November 2009 04:31 (3 years ago) Permalink

― throwbookatface (skygreenleopard), Friday, 27 November 2009 04:37 (3 years ago) Permalink

Our cat (and my girlfriend) are awesome enough to pull one of these harnesses off, but there's a really meek guy in my apartment complex who uses one with his cat who DEFINITELY doesn't enjoy it. I've tried saying hi after saying "That thing is COOL!" to him in a friendly way, but he just kind of ducked and passed me without saying anything. He seemed embarassed to be seen with it, but he still goes out most afternoons and walks his cat. I think someone's making him do it. Either way, it's discouraging me from even trying it.

― throwbookatface (skygreenleopard), Friday, 27 November 2009 04:42 (3 years ago) Permalink

My sister bought her FIV cat one of those harnesses but whenever she put it on, the cat would sit down and not move. She tried dragging it around the garden (literally) a couple of times before giving up.

― Madchen, Friday, 27 November 2009 07:26 (3 years ago) Permalink

We had a kitten once that we decided to harness train. She did a pretty good job until she died 6 months later. Guess she didn't like it after all.

― kate78, Friday, 27 November 2009 07:41 (3 years ago) Permalink

Fuck. Just woke up and was snuggling on the couch with my cat, drinking tea and being cozy in general when I heard a cat howling outside the window who obviously wanted in. Weather.com says that it feels like 34℉ right now, so that poor cat must be suffering. I wanted to bring it in, but can't because who knows about its health and how it will interact with our other animals? Hope it finds a place to get warm. Fuck.

― kingkongvsgodzilla, Saturday, 28 November 2009 11:46 (3 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

My little guy ran away yesterday. Apparently pushed the screen out of a window that we had opened to get a cross-breeze going. I didn't notice he was missing for 4 hours and when I did, I couldn't go canvas the neighborhood for him because it was dark out and I was home by myself watching the kids. Then about half an hour after I noticed he was missing, the biggest thunderstorm I've heard in years rolled through, so even if he was somewhere in the neighborhood, there's a good chance that he panicked an bolted somewhere even further away. Stupid, stupid cat.

He was just starting to bond with my baby girl too; she pets him and they nap together sometimes. I hope like hell that he's alright.

― kkvgz, Monday, 4 April 2011 12:03 (2 years ago) Permalink

:'(

hope he turns up — does he have a tag/collar/chip? anything?

― bernard snowy, Monday, 4 April 2011 12:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

I feel like andy has been right about everything he has ever posted.

― 40% chill and 100% negative (Tracer Hand), Monday, 4 April 2011 12:23 (2 years ago) Permalink

fuck now I just got overwhelmed by a rush of memories from the time my ex's cat (outdoor) went missing for several days

and how worried sick we were about her
thinking maybe she got in a fight, or was hit by a car
sitting up all night and calling her name out into the darkness

and the moment when she finally found her way back home and mewed outside the window
and kristen ran outside and picked her up and wept tears of joy while petting and kissing her all over
and I miss them both :(

― bernard snowy, Monday, 4 April 2011 12:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

Two of my friends went away over Christmas and left the cat with a friend to mind. But after only a couple of days, the cat did a runner. When my friends came back from holidays, they put up posters, but to no avail. They thought they would never see the cat again. Then one day, six weeks, after the disappearence, they heard a mewing at the window and it was the cat. He had travelled about two miles and crossed a river to get back to them, and was right as rain apart from having lost weight and being a bit afraid of the outside.

I hope your cat comes back kkvgz.

― The New Dirty Vicar, Monday, 4 April 2011 12:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

kkvgz, I bet when the storm started, the cat burrowed down somewhere warm and dry ASAP rather than running away. Their instincts are to run under something and stay there.

― phantoms from a world gone by speak again the immortal tale: (Jenny), Monday, 4 April 2011 12:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, my experiences with cats running away have all had happy endings so far. But he is declawed (the condition we got him from the shelter in) and there are a lot of neighborhood cats of indeterminate ownership who aren't. I'm optimistic, but still upset.

― kkvgz, Monday, 4 April 2011 12:44 (2 years ago) Permalink

Thanks for the kind wishes, all.

― kkvgz, Monday, 4 April 2011 12:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

Really hope he returns very soon kkvgz, fingers crossed.

― MaresNest, Monday, 4 April 2011 13:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

i bet your cat will show up, every time mine ran off they wound up being under the building, or in a shed adjacent.

― akm, Monday, 4 April 2011 14:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

andy was really not right about this issue, like at all.

hope your cat comes back quickly. :(

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 23:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

wait, why did i think this was a new thread? sorry, long day.

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 23:22 (1 year ago) Permalink

my fuckking cats are the worst jesus

― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 23:29 (1 year ago) Permalink

they both decided to sleep on my head from about 3am to whenever I had to finally wake up for some reason

― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 23:29 (1 year ago) Permalink

I live in the middle of a city with tonnnns of stray cats around there is no way in hell I'm letting these idiotic cats go outside

― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 23:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

Let a cat go outside and they just get up to honky-tonkin' and we all know no good comes of that.

― Dale, dale, dale (Abbbottt), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 23:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

Our three indoor cats are fascinated by/want to destroy the neighborhood outdoor cats who chill on the deck while our dudes try to claw their way through the sliding glass doors. This is now a well-established part of everyone's daily routine.

― Brad C., Wednesday, 9 May 2012 23:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

I had a lot of "outdoor only" cats as a kid and they all met horrible outdoor ends.

― Dale, dale, dale (Abbbottt), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 23:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

Aw this thread makes me miss mah kitty, RIP Yampy you stinkbag.

― Pureed Moods (Trayce), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 23:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

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