My God, this sucks.

[tmanjim]

Two of my cats were out on Halloween. One came home, the other did not. We looked everywhere and put up signs. Yesterday my 8 year old son found our litttle Tigger, in our back yard. She had been mauled by a coyote and how she survived 2 1/2 days with her injuries is beyond belief. I cannot tell you how it feels to know she was out there that long with that much damage. There was nothing the vet could do but put her down, she will be missed.

 

[Anastasia]

Awe, Am so terribly sorry for ur loss
my heart goes to you, I have been seen this myself
with my kitty, poor little one

 

[Drachenjager]

sorry for your loss. I strongly suggest all cat owners to keep thier cats inside at all times. They are not big enough to defend themselves. they are a terror on things smaller than they are but dont stand a chance against a bob cat or a coyote

 

[phil jones]

thats very sad and upseting for you i feel so sorry for you and your cat thank god we do not have coyotes in the u.k. ----- phil

 

[tmanjim]

DJ,

I have had cats for a long, long time. They need to go out. This is nature. I have had up to 7 cats at one time and this is the first time it has happened. I can see in Texas, alot more predators, but I am in a city with a few acres of forest preserve around. The felines wipe out quite a few rodent pests in the area and they usually do not wander very far. As stated, this is nature but it still really sucks.

 

[Ted]

arent any predators where i live.
they've all been killed off by development.
if my cats didnt go outside, think i would have to kill them.
they go bonkers when kept indoors.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

First off, my condolences for the loss of your pet.

I'm not too crazy about letting cats free-roam. I'm reasonably certain that they kill far more beneficial and/or harmless fauna than they do pest species. I was at a friend's house just a few weeks ago and noticed a cat killing a small snake. I intervened and the cat dropped the snake and took off. I was unable to locate the snake, hopefully it did not sustain fatal injuries. I've seen relatively few cats carrying mice or rats but many with songbirds and other more or less harmless rodents such as chipmunks which can be pests, but are not generally considered as such.
I've never had a free-roaming cat die of old age. All of those I've had just ended up disappearing. Cars, poisons and predators help insure that there are not many old, bold outdoor cats. This is just my experience from living in the suburbs, country cats may fare a little better, at least from cars and poisons. By the same token, predators probably have a higher impact there. And of course coyotes are starting to be all across the board invading urban areas as well as suburbs and cities.

I found this at a message board discussing the problem. Mind you, this is a quote of a quote, so I cannot attest to the accuracy of these facts with a proper cite. But it sounds accurate to me. Of course these are figures from Australia, and concerns feral cats, but what is a feral cat but a domestic kitty slumming it?



From: chrisy® 21/12/2001 7:40:01
Subject: re: Feral Cats: Impacts of ... post id: 24251
"He may be cute and fluffy but Puss is Australia's biggest serial killer"
This quote from ecology expert Sue Hutchings of Deakin University who was just completed her PhD on the effects of cats on the environment.

Some facts and figures from Dr Hutchings work

* On avergae every dom cat in Vic kiled 16 mammals, 5 birds, 5 reptiles a year

* Cats have wiped out some bird species and put others on the endagered list. 38 avian species including the Stephens Island wren have disappeared to cats

* In 1991 there were an estimated 900,000 dom cats in Vic plus 300,000 stray cats and 200,000 feral cats

* Taking dom cats average killed above, 900,000 pet cats times 26 wildlife = 23 million native Australian animals die each year from cat attacks in Victoria alone

* 300,000 stray cats estimated to kill 5 native animals weekly = 78 million native Australian animals dead from stray cats each year in Victoria

* Feral cats need to eat the equivalent to 7 native bush rats or 10 native birds each week

* 200,000 feral cats each estimated to kill 10 native birds weekly x 52 weeks = 104 million native birds a year

* Do the sums, that is 205 million native animals killed by cats in Victoria each year

 

[Drachenjager]

DJ,

I have had cats for a long, long time. They need to go out. This is nature. I have had up to 7 cats at one time and this is the first time it has happened. I can see in Texas, alot more predators, but I am in a city with a few acres of forest preserve around. The felines wipe out quite a few rodent pests in the area and they usually do not wander very far. As stated, this is nature but it still really sucks.

there is nothing natural about domestic cats my friend , NOTHING.

 

[Lucara]

We have 7 cats right now..none of them go out. Far too many wild dogs and punk ass kids around. =(
Most of our cats are too lazy to really wander very far anyway. They are content just laying in a sunbeam. =)

I'm sorry about your cat...

 

[eelnoob]

That's terrible, sorry about your lost.

 

[Anita]

That's terrible, sorry about your lost.

Sorry about your loss, I have 2 cats an 18 year old and a 17 year old neither have caught anything more than a dead leaf they are both frightened of spiders and are too fat and lazy to try to catch a bird or rodents they just sit and make noises at them and then lay down and go to sleep to wait for their next tin of cat food.

 

[tmanjim]

Nothing natural DJ, what would you call it. Sounds like a cat basher to me. Cats comprise the largest domesticated species in the world. I think at this point in history it is extremely natural. Tell the millions of cat owners it isn't natural.

 

[Drachenjager]

Nothing natural DJ, what would you call it. Sounds like a cat basher to me. Cats comprise the largest domesticated species in the world. I think at this point in history it is extremely natural. Tell the millions of cat owners it isn't natural.

its a man made species , so its not natural. and no i have no use for a domestic cat at all. they terrorize the natural creatures ...except for the big predators. but they do make good pets if people keep them inside where they can do no harm to the environment.
I also am 100% against people letting thier dogs run loose too. they also are not natural, but at least have a practical use (except for the itty bitty ones)

 

[tmanjim]

Man made species????? You must live in a cave. Most people offered condolences. It was a terrible time, especially for my eight year old son. You should have just shut up. My family loves, respects and cares for ALL of our pets

 

[mr.wilderness]

Man made species????? You must live in a cave. Most people offered condolences. It was a terrible time, especially for my eight year old son. You should have just shut up. My family loves, respects and cares for ALL of our pets

I'm so sorry about your cat I hope with time the pain of her loss will ease. As far as the natural/unnatural debate goes, cats aren't manmade and are therefore natural like you were saying tmanjim, but they ARE domesticated, which sets them apart from a true WILD animal, and since they are domesticated from a non-native species, it isn't "natural" for them to be outdoors here (just as it is not natural for dogs, ferrets, cattle, horses, or any other non-native species to be here). I'm not saying that letting your cats or dogs out is good or bad, but it's up to the owner and they have to be prepared to accept the risks involved in doing so. But I'm sure, just like any animal that's not supposed to be in a particular place which humans have introduced, they have a definite impact on the environment. Again, sorry about the loss of your cat and I hope everyone in your house can eventually move on.

 

[pitbulllady]

DJ,

I have had cats for a long, long time. They need to go out. This is nature. I have had up to 7 cats at one time and this is the first time it has happened. I can see in Texas, alot more predators, but I am in a city with a few acres of forest preserve around. The felines wipe out quite a few rodent pests in the area and they usually do not wander very far. As stated, this is nature but it still really sucks.

I've had cats for a long, long time, too, including a Devon Rex that lived to be 19 years old, and I disagree totally that cats "need" to go out. It may very well BE "in their nature", but let's face it, there are lots of things that are "in the nature" of both man and beast that have to be kept under control. Dogs want to roam and form packs and hunt and kill things; that is in THEIR nature, since they are domesticated, mutated wolves after all, but who wants packs of dogs roaming their neighborhood, killing whatever happens to cross their paths, fighting with other packs, using everyone's lawn as a toilet and barking all night? It's the nature of children to follow the "if it feels good, do it" thing, to choose to eat things like candy over healthy foods and stay up late on a school night, but as adults, we have to put limits on what they are allowed to do and where they are allowed to go, for many reasons, not the least of which is their own safety. Ditto for cats-they might want to get out and kill birds and small animals and scrap with other cats, but they do not NEED to and can indeed live very happy and healthy full lives entirely indoors. They not only are safe from predators like coyotes, owls and stray dogs, but they're also safe from humans who hate cats, and there are a LOT of those(some are on this forum), or who just want to hurt something and don't care what it is. They're safe from highly-contagious and often-lethal cat diseases, which cannot always be safely and effectively prevented with vaccines. They can't be run over by cars, or ingest poison, or get hurt in a fight with another cat(even female cats will sometimes fight, by the way). They won't leave feces in some kid's sandbox or footprints all over some person's car. Just type in "cats" in the search box here on Arachnoboards, and you will find thread after thread written by people who hate, or at least intensely dislike cats, and their reasons for doing so, and many of those reasons involve free-roaming cats. Why add fuel to that fire and risk someone like that harming the cat? The cat won't miss what it's never known.

pitbulllady

 

[Drachenjager]

Man made species????? You must live in a cave. Most people offered condolences. It was a terrible time, especially for my eight year old son. You should have just shut up. My family loves, respects and cares for ALL of our pets

yeah your right , i should have not responded yo you saying that its natural for your cats to go out,

 

[Drachenjager]

I'm so sorry about your cat I hope with time the pain of her loss will ease. As far as the natural/unnatural debate goes, cats aren't manmade and are therefore natural like you were saying tmanjim, but they ARE domesticated, which sets them apart from a true WILD animal, and since they are domesticated from a non-native species, it isn't "natural" for them to be outdoors here (just as it is not natural for dogs, ferrets, cattle, horses, or any other non-native species to be here). I'm not saying that letting your cats or dogs out is good or bad, but it's up to the owner and they have to be prepared to accept the risks involved in doing so. But I'm sure, just like any animal that's not supposed to be in a particular place which humans have introduced, they have a definite impact on the environment. Again, sorry about the loss of your cat and I hope everyone in your house can eventually move on.

I meant that DOMESTIC cats are a man made species just as domestic dogs are.
And not that its anyones business but i dont hate cats at all. I just have no use for them. I actually dont mind visiting someone wiht pet cats, and i dont mind them sitting in my lap and actually enjoy petting them. But as pitt bull lady said, i do hate cats running all over killing the painted buntings i have set up a habitat for, and the other birds i try to give a place to nest. I also hated them killing my chickens. wouldnt be so bad if they killed one and ate it , but they kill one leave it kill another and so on and so on...
so i eliminate the threat to my live stock however i can.
This is only one reason i say if you are going to have a cat, keep it indoors or leash it like people have to do with thier dogs.

on a lighter note, i did have a cat at one time, it was about 45pounds and had a short tail and funny whiskers. really pretty . it whipped all the dogs in the neighborhood. then ran off into the woods and was never seen again.
his momma had only the one kitten, and he was huge.
i suspect there was a bobcat in the woodpile there. as he looked just like one.

Also, if anyone cares , i did offer condolences and also offered advice as how to prevent it from happening again.
IF you wont keep your cats inside, you should expect them to meet an untimely death, usually not a pleasant one either.
So please people dont get mad at a guy telling you how to have a win win situation with your cats, by keeping them indoors you protect them and they will do just fine, not only that but you keep them from destryoing the native wildlife.

And dont forget, spay or neuter your pets

 

[butch4skin]

I've never had a free-roaming cat die of old age. All of those I've had just ended up disappearing. Cars, poisons and predators help insure that there are not many old, bold outdoor cats. This is just my experience from living in the suburbs, country cats may fare a little better, at least from cars and poisons.

I believe cats usually wander off to die of old age. Most larger mammals do. People say you will rarely find a bear skeleton that has not undergone some sort of fossilization(Obviously, that's fairly rare too) for the simple fact that these animals, though often very large, search out suprisingly small crevices and caves and so forth to die in. Then, smaller animals scavenge the remains, gnaw on and disperse the bones, and inside of a couple weeks nothing is left. Wild cats all over the world do the same thing, and no matter how domesticated a cat is, it isn't a dog. Cats just don't have the same innate social skills as a dog, and I believe instinct drives them to search out solitude to die. Even crawling into a small closet or something, the cat could still hear peolple coming and going all day long in the house. A dog may very well drop dead right at your feet, but a cat won't.

 

[beetleman]

aww i'm sorry for your loss