― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 16:59 (eighteen years ago) link
Is this some kind of fucking joke?
(several xposts)
― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:01 (eighteen years ago) link
― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:03 (eighteen years ago) link
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 (eighteen years ago) link
― Wiggy (Wiggy), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:03 (eighteen years ago) link
― andy --, Monday, 3 October 2005 17:05 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:07 (eighteen years ago) link
You say that now...
― The Ghost of The Backyard Is A Gateway To The Darkside (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:07 (eighteen years ago) link
― andy --, Monday, 3 October 2005 17:09 (eighteen years ago) link
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 (eighteen years ago) link
http://www.worth1000.com/entries/167500/167500mrTQ_w.jpg
― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:11 (eighteen years ago) link
― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:16 (eighteen years ago) link
― Morley Timmons (Donna Brown), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:17 (eighteen years ago) link
― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:22 (eighteen years ago) link
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 (eighteen years ago) link
― Mendoza Lineman (Carey), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:25 (eighteen years ago) link
xpost
― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― andy --, Monday, 3 October 2005 17:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― The Ghost of Andy --: Felinophile (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:26 (eighteen years ago) link
― Mendoza Lineman (Carey), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:30 (eighteen years ago) link
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 (eighteen years ago) link
THAT. WOULD. BE. AWESOME.
― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:32 (eighteen years ago) link
― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:33 (eighteen years ago) link
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 (eighteen years ago) link
http://www.sfspca.org/WhereWeStand/wherewestand_jan_02.shtml
― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:33 (eighteen years ago) link
― andy --, Monday, 3 October 2005 17:37 (eighteen years ago) link
― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:37 (eighteen years ago) link
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 (eighteen years ago) link
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 (eighteen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:40 (eighteen years ago) link
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:49 (eighteen years ago) link
― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:54 (eighteen years ago) link
― foxy boxer (stevie), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:56 (eighteen years ago) link
― it was a different shark (wetmink2), Monday, 3 October 2005 17:58 (eighteen years ago) link
What, exactly, is this woman doing????
― The Ghost of It's A Cat, Not A Theremin (Dan Perry), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:00 (eighteen years ago) link
― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:05 (eighteen years ago) link
― andy --, Monday, 3 October 2005 18:11 (eighteen years ago) link
― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:11 (eighteen years ago) link
― Mendoza Lineman (Carey), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:11 (eighteen years ago) link
(xpost)
― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:13 (eighteen years ago) link
Gear! takes care of the latter for us. He just needs to train the cats.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:15 (eighteen years ago) link
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 (eighteen years ago) link
― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:22 (eighteen years ago) link
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 (eighteen years ago) link
― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:30 (eighteen years ago) link
― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:33 (eighteen years ago) link
― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:34 (eighteen years ago) link
― my name is john. i reside in chicago. (frankE), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:34 (eighteen years ago) link
LOL
My mother in law named her Black Lab (who now lives with us) "Lorenzo." I have rechristened him "Larry."
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:31 (eight months ago) link
We lived in the country. Our cat Girlie Girlie was gifted to us by my older sister from the Guru Ram Dass Ashram in Buffalo and had only been fed brewer's yeast for her entire life. She came to us with a big jar of brewer's yeast and was so skinny. We were very skeptical of that and eventually fed her meat, which almost drove her crazy - it was like a lightning bolt for her. We let her outside and she became a predator, killing birds and mice and bringing them to our doorstep
― Dan S, Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:34 (eight months ago) link
Otm: Peach, Peachie, Pooch, Peachypeachypoopypie, Floof, The Floofer, Mrs. Land-shark, /Butch, Butchie, Butchinator9000 (what he most commonly goes by), Mr. Chunks (he’s been on a diet lately so this name has sadly gone out of fashion)
― Peach’s burner account (H.P), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:34 (eight months ago) link
We let Tuffy out in the backyard on a leash; his collar is loose enough for him to escape from it if he gets caught. Even on those rare occasions when he has gotten loose, he knows where he is and always returns to the back door. I don't think he'd even make a concerted effort to leave the yard, unless he was caught up in a chase.He's not very good at catching things but I do have to credit him for making me vegan.
― Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:37 (eight months ago) link
He's not very good at catching things
Usually only cicadas.
When I was a kid, I had an outdoor cat that survived all kinds of disasters: a near drowning in the pond, being run over by a car, being bitten by a dog (and getting a huge, foul-smelling abscess in his leg). We moved to a slightly more rural area and he vanished. The vet speculated he got carried off by an owl.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:39 (eight months ago) link
The Butchinator lives either on our bed, or on top of the beer fridge in the backyard. He is the keeper of booze in the house, one has to give him a little boop on the nose every time they get a drink. Privileged to have a kitty who can live outside yet doesn’t leave the house boundary (unlike another cat we have who we’re still trying to change the habits of; an impossible battle)
― Peach’s burner account (H.P), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:40 (eight months ago) link
I’m sorry jimbeaux, I laughed at that last sentence and I know I shouldn’t have.
That family cat who ate the rat was the same. I think he outlasted something like 5 other cats that came and left the family in his life time (he’s still around). Got run over, constantly came home with scratches on his face from street kitty fights. He was the nicest house cat in the world during the day, but lord knows what he got up to at night
― Peach’s burner account (H.P), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:42 (eight months ago) link
I laughed too. I was pretty bummed at the time. I mean, he wasn't anyone's idea of a lap cat, but he'd been with us for so long and had survived so much it seemed like he'd live forever. It didn't seem right for him to end like that. I hope he gave the owl a hard go of it, anyway.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:44 (eight months ago) link
My fave part is coming up with all the dumb names. We have Laszlo (his Official name), Laz, Lazopolous, Lazbian, Lazamatazz, Razzlo, Fattyboombah, Chonkers, Big'n'Fat, and Fuckface.I would never belittle Baxter’s dignity by expecting him to tolerate “Biggidy Baxter” or “the ol’ Baxterino.” I simply pay him the respect of a peer by saying “g’day cunt” when he enters a room inquisitively.
― vashti funyuns (sic), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:45 (eight months ago) link
For all we know, he could have won that fight and now sits enthroned as the conquering overlord of the native owl society
― Peach’s burner account (H.P), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:45 (eight months ago) link
I think that was the first time I ever thought of owls as anything but wise.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:46 (eight months ago) link
My wife highlighted to me the other night that the only being on this earth that I have ever called a bastard is Butch, who is referred to as such literally everyday as he sneakily flings a claw up at my toe hanging on the edge of the bed, or bites my finger at 3am, or knocks all my books of my bedside table at 4am, or meows at the door at 6am, or vomits on the floor at 7am.
It cannot be overstated; Butch really is a bastard
― Peach’s burner account (H.P), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:48 (eight months ago) link
jimbeaux's cat:
https://i.imgur.com/Qms7YD0.gif
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:49 (eight months ago) link
Give it another 50 years, and cats and owls will evolve into a symbiotic relationship where the owls pick up the cats in their talons and do regular air raids on smaller bird societies, splitting the spoil in two. You’re cat could have been the start of a new zoological revolution.
― Peach’s burner account (H.P), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:51 (eight months ago) link
Lol Trayce
(I'm sorry if that was insensitve, I didnt mean it to be!)
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Tuesday, 17 October 2023 02:25 (eight months ago) link