Cat owners

I've owned indoor cats and indoor cats. Converting an outdoor cat into an indoor cat is generally an exercise in futility, but an indoor cat from the start should be fine.

Cats don't really get bored as far as I can tell, they spend the vast majority of their lives asleep.

I've got a Bengal, so relatively little hair shed and no dander. You want hair, get a dog, no cat I know sheds wiry pube-like black hair like my dog.
 
As most people have said, if you can adopt some streetwise cats then letting them out would usually be preferable, but having indoor cats is fine too. Getting two cats would be a good idea, but make sure they genuinely like each other because what you don't want is two cats that hate each other and fight all the time stuck in the same house.
 
I have two cats and they are indoor cats due to the fact I live in a flat - with secure front and rear doors so if I let them out - they couldn't get back in.

They are great, have never chewed at wires/walls etc and seem very comfortable and happy :) They get lots of playtime when I come home from work to stimulate them and give them exercise also

In regards to the smell, it only smells if you don't keep on top of their litter tray and buy good litter. I remove the saturated bits and solids twice a day - once in the morning and evening and change it every second day and its fine.

The only problem is fluff - it gets everywhere so make sure you have a good hoover to give it a once over every few days also.
 
estebanrey said:
"6,447 people were admitted to hospital for dog bites in 2011-12 - a 5.2% rise on the previous 12 months.

Of those, under-10s accounted for the highest rate of admissions by 10 year age group with 17 per 100,000 population. That is 1,040 admissions."


So you think maiming young children is more moral than killing a few mice and birds?




Apart from being pretty stupid....

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It's the owners fault that those dogs are able to attack anyone, not the dog.

Cats can't be trained to not kill.

I'm all for banning humans too if that helps?
 
We have a house cat, He used to go out but after our other 2 got killed the other half decided he was to stay in.

He's great, Uses the toilet so need need for a litter tray. left alone quite often for the day but with fresh water and food he's fine. Like others have said though that amount of time is just a nap to them :D
 
estebanrey said:
So a species that has been an outdoor animal for 99.9999% of evolutionary history is responsible for the extinction of birds and rodents today now that we keep some of them inside...

Errr, what?

Why do rats still exist? Cats have been around longer than humans
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I speak from a position of knowledge; I actually work for a conservation charity. Human introduction of domestic cats are responsible for at least 33 species extinctions worldwide, and this number is rising rapidly. They are the single biggest threat to wildlife in this country to date.

Rodents are not limited to rats. Various species of moles, voles, shrews and mice are all threatened by UK domestic cats.

Do some research before you all criticise an 'invalid' post.

http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=24
 
estebanrey said:
So a species that has been an outdoor animal for 99.9999% of evolutionary history is responsible for the extinction of birds and rodents today now that we keep some of them inside...

Errr, what?

Why do rats still exist? Cats have been around longer than humans
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1. Cats were introduced to this country by humans (the Romans iirc).
2. Cats in this country have no natural predators (Chinese restaurants not withstanding). We used to have bears and wolves, but they were hunted to extinction here.
3. The population density of cats in this country is not something that would occur naturally. We provide the food and shelter that sustains these super populations.

As much as I love cats, there is no doubt that they can do immense damage outdoors. It was a real consideration when deciding to keep an indoor kitty. It wasn't my main concern (kitty's safety was), but it was a good reason nonetheless.
 
The RSPB reports that although there is no scientific evidence that cat predation in the U.K is affecting bird species, some British garden birds are in decline and cat predation impacts those species already under pressure. According to the RSPB, domestic cats will catch prey regardless of whether they are hungry.
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Now consider that garden birds make up just 20% of total kills. The majority of kills are mice, voles and other small mammals, many of which are in decline. Global studies identify domestic cats as a causal factor in the extinction of 33 species, and this number is rising. While cats aren't solely responsible, they are a significant contributory factor along with destruction of habitat and loss of food sources.
 
Nice quote but it also says that cats are most likely to kill those that already weak, I.e. the old or ill.

Anyway its a pointless debate, the op wants indoor cats.
 
It's a pointless debate because you're wrong? Most of the birds killed by cats are old, weak or young for a very obvious reason - most healthy birds will fly off. Other animals aren't so lucky. This isn't fiction - it is reality, backed up by a number of studies in to the impact of domestic cats on wildlife populations. It's also common sense. Cats are one of nature's most advanced predators, far more efficient than anything native to this country. With 10 million of the things here, how could they not have an impact?

Hell, there's even a study on cat owners' reluctance to accept this reality:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150626105139.htm
 
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neil_g said:
Nice quote but it also says that cats are most likely to kill those that already weak, I.e. the old or ill.

Anyway its a pointless debate, the op wants indoor cats.
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It's not a pointless debate; it might just be a little redundant here if the OP isn't interested.

Also, I'm highly suspicious of the RSPB's claims that cats don't contribute to bird declines in the UK. They've offered a blanket statement citing that;
there is no scientific evidence that predation by cats in gardens is having any impact on bird populations UK-wide
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Unfortunately, they've offered no counter arguments or evidence to suggest this, despite the many studies showing the opposite. The UK also has cat ownership engrained in our culture, therefore writers are perhaps more likely to be cat lovers, and as such, offer these blanket statements to allow cats ton continue roaming and killing at will.

There also remains another more likely and worrying prospect; cats have already made extinct any bird species here who hadn't adapted to an invasive predator of this magnitude in time.
 
estebanrey said:
So a species that has been an outdoor animal for 99.9999% of evolutionary history is responsible for the extinction of birds and rodents today now that we keep some of them inside...

Errr, what?

Why do rats still exist? Cats have been around longer than humans
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but only commercially bred on a massive scale in the last maybe 150 years?

rats exist as cats don't kill rats, they kill little birds, frogs etc. animals on a smaller scale as they can't kill rats, it would make a much more interesting fight tho!
 
They've been known to go for rabbits. It's not the size of the animal in the fight, but the size of the fight in the animal. Rats are vicious. Rabbits, voles, mice, stoats, frogs, toads and newts, not so much. Depends on the cat, how big it is and the size of the opportunity available. A cat will go for a rat, but only a stupid cat would go for a rat if the rat stands even a hope of fighting back. Cats are natural hunters, not fighters. Want something that kills rats? Buy a Terrier. They are bred to fight.
 
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Personally I think it's cruel to keep a cat indoors.

Mine has free run of the house during the daytime, comes and goes as he pleases. Night time the porch door gets shut, he can sleep in there all he likes or go out and do cat stuff all night.

If you can't let a cat do cat stuff, don't get a cat!
 
Of course they kill rats. The reason why cats aren't having an impact on rat populations is fairly obvious: the rat is a versatile, fast breeding species that is capable of living in a variety of habitats. It's pretty much an invulnerable species. How, without creating a lab-grown virus, would you go about killing every rat in the country? It's pretty much impossible.

The logic of 'cats kill rats and rats aren't going extinct, therefore cats can't be making other species extinct' is dim. There are many other more vulnerable, less flexible species out there. An unfortunate number of these species are easy prey for this country's 10 million cats. Are cats the sole cause? Nope. Are they a significant contributory factor? Yup.

TBH I thought people on this forum were supposed to be relatively smart. It's amazing how blind to reality people can get when there's a cute little ball of fur pulling at their heart strings.

For the record, I do like cats. They're adorable. I'd never own one though for knowledge of the impact they have. I can't justify it knowing and understanding the impact they have on the wider world. There's a campaign being run in New Zealand at the moment, encouraging people not to replace their cats when they die - they're driving the Kiwi, the national symbol of New Zealand, to extinction. It's shocking to think that such an iconic animal could be relegated to zoos by the time I have grandkids, all because of a situation totally within the control of Western Civilization. Many of us were appalled by the killing of Cecil the Lion, we are prepared to criticise people in far away places who hunt Rinos, Elephants, Tigers and Lions to make a living, yet most of us won't make one simple change that could affect the future of dozens of species back home.
 
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