"She's an indoor kitty..."

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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

humane society of the u.s. article

― it was a different shark (wetmink2), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:58 (7 years ago) Permalink

What, exactly, is this woman doing????

― The Ghost of It's A Cat, Not A Theremin (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:00 (7 years ago) Permalink

"You're a nosy kitty. You know what happens to nosy kitties, don't you?"

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:05 (7 years ago) Permalink

What the hell does the Humane Society know about animal welfare?

― andy --, Monday, 3 October 2005 18:11 (7 years ago) Permalink

That is a big fucking cat.

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:11 (7 years ago) Permalink

― Mendoza Lineman (Carey), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:11 (7 years ago) Permalink

You've got the job. Let me just check one thing.

(xpost)

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

It's just bugs, litter and hobos.

Gear! takes care of the latter for us. He just needs to train the cats.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:15 (7 years ago) Permalink

The thing is, the cat will be timid and well-behaved when you first let them out, but eventually the cat will wander further and further, and be pushy and aggressive about getting outside.

My cat is declawed (previous owner), and has never been let loose outside. The cat never had a desire to escape the previous owner's house (even though all her other cats did). This is why I chose her to live in my 5th floor apartment building in downtown SF. It's a perfect match. Each situation is different. Some cats go ape-shit if they are never let outside. Mine rarely feels the need to sit on the window sill, let alone get out. Also, my cat is a Siamese. I've heard from various people that Siamese aren't as interested in getting out.

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:17 (7 years ago) Permalink

Yeah Siamese and Siamese mixes are more interested in making as much noise as possible, than they are in going outside.

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:22 (7 years ago) Permalink

The thing is, the cat will be timid and well-behaved when you first let them out, but eventually the cat will wander further and further, and be pushy and aggressive about getting outside.

My experience is completely the reverse - when I didn't let him out, stopping him getting out was a terrible struggle, because whenever the front door was opened he'd dash for it. Now, he's fairly calm and much less aggressive about getting out.

― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:27 (7 years ago) Permalink

Allyzay OTM. Sometimes I want to let her out of the apartment, via the window (5 floors up).

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:30 (7 years ago) Permalink

I have only had Siameses as a teenager, and boy do they like to yell and carry on like freaking lunatics. I'm pretty certain Mr. Kitty is a Siamese mix, though I have no way to know for sure, based on A) his physical characteristics besides coloring B) THE FACT THAT ALL HE DOES IS SCREAM 24 HOURS A DAY. I've never seen an animal with SO MUCH to tell me. And it's like, shut the fuck up, I don't even understand your language and it probably amounts to "Did you know the human head weights 8 pounds??" Oh my god. Headache inducing sometimes.

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:33 (7 years ago) Permalink

I thought he maybe wanted to go outside, hence the vest and leash that cost nearly $100. But no, he didn't want to go outside because that upset him a lot. He just wanted to stare at his reflection in the glass and SCREAM at himself. Ugh. Stupid animal.

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:34 (7 years ago) Permalink

i keep singing this thread title to the Pinball Wizard chorus.

― my name is john. i reside in chicago. (frankE), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:34 (7 years ago) Permalink

I have an irrational fear that I've posted all of my anecdotes here before (is there a word for that?) but one time my kitty ESCAPED from the apartment and like an hour later my neighbor rang the doorbell and said "Is this your kitty?" and kitty was trembling all sweaty and weeping inside a cardboard box in the hallway less than two feet from my apartment door, which was as far as she'd gotten.

― Paul Eater (eater), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:38 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Did you know Barbie's measurements, if projected to adult size, would be 38-18-34?"

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:39 (7 years ago) Permalink

There was this one time ("one time") he climbed right up onto my chest while I was on the computer typing some paper or another ("paper"), and stared me right in the eyes with this MAD expression and started YELLING. Over and over and over, he wouldn't shut up, and I'd bat him off and he'd come running back to do the same thing. And he had food, and water, and I would try to pet him...still, same thing. Yowling at top voice and STARING, like 3 inches off my nose. Then he started purring and poofed out his whiskers and ran to sit on top of the fridge. Who knows what that was about!!! Still better than the time he threw all my liquor on the floor while making that same crazy face!! Ever tried to clean schnapps and cat hair off a floor? It never comes off.

I'm convincing myself to bring the cat outside, this is for certain.

My sister's cat likes to go outside. He is also a Siamese. he screams and yells and howls...until someone blows cigarettes on him, or lets him smell a bleach bottle. This is what the outdoors does to a domestic animal.

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:43 (7 years ago) Permalink

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

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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