"She's an indoor kitty..."

For excercise. For fresh air. So it can shit out there. So it can climb trees. So it can, you know, do cat stuff.

**Also if you are going to let your cat climb into neighbor's yards that's completely inconsiderate and rude.**

What? Are you totally serious? You think I should sit the cat down and negotiate some ground rules? 'Hey, avoid Mrs. Smith's dahlias, but you should be OK as long as you dump the mice behind the shed'.

**I mean if your neighbors wanted eaten plants and dead bugs and rodents and cat shit in their yards**

Hey, Ally. THEY BURY THEIR SHIT! Well, yours doesn't, obviously, since it's cooped up in a yuppie apartment. But OUTDOOR CATS DO! And DEAD BUGS! Oh fuck no! DEAD BUGS IN THE YARD. CALL THE FUCKING EMERGENCY SERVICES! DEAD BUGS! DEAD BUGS! OH HELP!

And yes, you should "negotiate some rules". My sister manages to keep her cat from rummaging neighbors' yards, as does a former friend of mine. It's not that hard to watch your own pet. I mean don't get one if you find this an impossible task.

A) perfectly happy indoors
B) reticient to go outside

I mean who is anthromorphosizing the cat now?

I have stolen someone else's outdoor/indoor cat, when I was little!

You don't 'watch' them - you let them find their own territory, depending on what other cats live close etc. And guess what, if a big dog moves next door, THEY DON'T GO IN THERE ANY MORE!

Ally! Shame on you.

I mean who is anthromorphosizing the cat now? **

She wasn't perfectly happy indoors. She was lethargic and anxious, despite being 2 yrs old. It wasn't through boredom, as she there is usually someone at home for company. The vet could find nothing wrong. She seemed to want to go out, but would run in terrified after a few minutes. She would only go out if someone was in the garden, but clearly enjoyed running around, lying in the sun, exploring etc. I believe that it was the right thing to do to keep encouraging her out. Now she's happy to come and go all the time, looks in much better condition and is a different cat altogether.

**So, what we cat owners are *SUPPOSED* to do is let the cats out and just hope they don't get squashed by a car on the city streets. Is that correct O Grate 1? **

No, I didn't say that. My point is that if you live in a suitable place where the cat CAN go out, then it should go out. Ally's busy telling me that it's all wrong because of infringing on neighbours' privacy and leaving DEAD BUGS all over the place.

Personally I wouldn't keep a cat in a place where the traffic was so bad that it was in serious danger of being run over. Or where it couldn't go out for any reason.

Note that I stated that and that my 'fuck you' was conditional.

Why on Earth would anyone think you were making blanket generalizations based on that? It's madness, I tell you.

much like... humans.

When I'm really angry, I pee in the laundry basket.

I would like to apologize to Ally and M.White for losing it, being rude and sarcastic and, as I say, generally being an arse. I'm sorry!

"i am not scared of bugs or foxes or vets with clippers"

There are plenty of indoor kitty's in the uk, my friends had one when they lived in the stockbridge area of Edinburgh, now though they're living in the middle of the countryside and he's turned into a right little mouser, much to their annoyance. There certainly isn't much declawing in the UK, so I think Dr C is on the mark - indoor cats in built up areas only.

I'd like a cat, but we live in a first floor flat, and letting them in and out would be a pain in the butt. Plus my mum would never forgive me as she's got really bad asthma.

We live in a main road, which has never been a problem, but a few years ago one of our cats was run over (though the driver was actually nice enough to stop and give us a ride down to the vet). After this, we made sure only to let the cats out the back door, even if they were pawing at the front door, and it's not happened again (thank god). Of course he finds his way out the front pretty quickly, but I think it's made the whole area in front of the house seem a little more alien and unwelcoming so he'll be cautious when he gets out there. I've often seen him out and about when I've been over the park or walking down to town and he's the same old cat, he'll still recognize his owner and come up to me for a fuss.

He's pretty tough too - a couple of months ago I heard a racket out the back and saw him pwning a fox! He was batting it in the face with his claws and making the most godawful shrieking noise. Eventually the fox limped off silently, so Dr. C OTM re: foxes (and re: a lot of things).

with our cats it just seemed unnatural to keep them in. if they die or whatever, oh well! i mean, i care, but having a lethargic, overweight depressed cat vs. a happy, rascal cat is worth the risks.

if the cat's not into tho, that's cool.

now spaying and neutering.... that's a different deal and i probably sound hypocritical, but uh unless you live on a farm or want to deal with giving your kittens away, it just seems unwise. being a cat lady/dude is the fast track to health code violations and getting on the news for being a FREAK!
m.