I cannot see putting a beautiful member of the family outside unprotected. I really like the idea of the safety "play yards" for them if you want them to get some "air," but why in the heck would you expose an animal you cherish to danger, or your wallet, which you probably cherish even more, to the likelihood of possible medical bills for things that could have been prevented. (And then you p*ss and moan because it costs too much)

I wonder who these people are. Are these the same people who take their unwanted rabbits out to the park and leave them there, thinking they can fend for themselves? (As you can guess, I'm a rabbit person)

I'm of a mind that not only should our animals be "registered," but I think owners should have to pass a test to own an animal.
After all, you wouldn't leave your child outside. Would you?

Anyone who has ever lost a beloved pet to a violent tragic end knows why cats belong indoors.I had a dear sweet Russian Blue who loved to charge he door to go out every time the door opened. When I lived in the Grove, he would go nuts every time the Peacocks would come in our yard. He was a big, front de-clawed cat but no match for the peafoul. There was one white peahen that was particularly fond of chasing cats - and racoons - and whatever else had four legs and got in her way. Silver was treed more than once by the white terror. He was content to be out for a few minutes at a time. He would bring home mice, birds, rats, even an occasional squirrel that he would rout out of my tree covered yard.
He remained relatively safe in the Grove because he never left the yard.

When I moved him to PA, much to his dismay, he had fields to run in, still charged the door to go out, and chased all manner of critters through the corn fields. One night he treed a coon in a 30' dead tree and fell to his death. He made it home to my patio to die in my arms. None of my cats have been outdoors since.

We have six cats and one dog and all live indoors with us. Not one is over weight and all are stimulated by playing with toys and their humans. All of these kitties love to play chase and to fetch. A little piece of wadded up paper is loads of fun for hours. Bugs, fleas, ticks... stay outside where they belong and the kitties don't become prey to coyotes, foxes, owls, hawks.... While many places don't have the foxes or the owls, everyplace has coyotes. In my lifetime, I've lost two cats to cars. I will never have an outdoor cat - unless it's in a catio.

IIRC, indoor cats have an average lifespan of 10-12 years, while outdoor cats have an average of only 4 or 5 years. To me, that's the best argument of all for keeping cats indoors, and might have been a good thing to point out to the writers you responded to. Even if indoor cats do tend to be overweight, having two (or more) times the years of life says to me that the weight is a LOT less dangerous than the outdoor environment.

I have 2 cats and 3 dogs. My cats are strictly indoor cats. I choose this for safety and health issues. I feel any responsible pet would keep their beloved pets indoors. If you don't want your cat to become overweight well then don't fed him so much. My cats do just fine living indoors. I love them so I want to do what is best for them. I would never let my cats go outside because it is just to dangerous. Besides becoming road kill, there are too many diseases that would put them at risk. While my cats receive thier annual shots, It is just to dangerous.

I totally agree that cats should remain indoors. I had one semi-feral cat that would come into the house and stay in the spare bedroom if the weather was bad but she grew up outdoors and didn't take too well to staying in permanently. Needless to say, she disappeared within 3 years..supper for an owl or coyote. All of my other cats have been strictly indoors and have lived long lives. They are allowed outdoors in a safe environment as long as I can supervise.

While I would have to agree with all the above comments, I have to say that our cat goes outdoors. Originally he was to be strictly inside, but he is so determined to get outside that it is near impossible to keep him in. We have reached a compromise with him. He goes outside during the day, and I keep my bird feeders in the open where the birds can see him, and he stays inside at night.
I make sure he is in at night by feeding him when the last person is in for the night. I do worry about predators getting him as we live in a rural area, but as I would be unhappy living my life indoors with no risk I know that he is happier taking some risks and being outside.
I would far rather have a shorter happier life than a long miserable one.

As for the litterbox issue, there are so many different types of litters and boxes that I'm sure there is a match for every cat. And if you can't stand scooping, get a litter maid, or even better, a cat genie.
www.catgenie.com

We've had one for 3 years now; no more arguements over who empties the cat litter; I don't have to lug 20# bags home from the store - everything is shipped to my front door; no cat odor in my house; their customer service is excellent, I cannot say enough good about it!

in my yard end up gone forever, one way or another.

That's not something to brag about, Donna.

In fact, it could be taken as a confession of acts of animal cruelty.

My Fellissa, lived 21 yrs. She went outside, when she wanted too. She was the love our lives. Her job was to care for our 2 yr. old. No she never chased birds or mice. Now our Grandcat,Charley is never outside, he would not last a day, if it moves he is on his way. He has everything he needs inside. Like Kids no one is alike. Today if you love your Kitty, keep them safe.

That's the term. Inside vs outside? Doesn't matter, but I would say if you are going to put your cat outside, you have a responsibility to ensure your cat is contained.

I love animals, but I don't love nuisance. Cat urine and feces in my yard, paw prints on my truck, I do not like. I love cats, and I have two, but I will not tolerate the destruction of my property.

I had a neighbor that had two cats and five kittens. Through creative trapping, I got em all and took them to the pound. I even paid to drop them off. The lady then went and got them, and brought them back, and again, they were in my yard.

I caught them again and dropped them off, only not at the same shelter. This time, she didn't get them back.

When she told me of her plight, I told her if they are in my yard, they will be trapped and removed from her custody. She said "Did you take my cats?" I repeated my line.."If your cats are found in my yard, and I catch them, they are gone." Funny, that was three years ago and she hasn't spoken to me since.

If you let your cat outside, make sure it's contained in YOUR yard. Thanks!

This got out, years ago, A Sheller worker, told me, some-so-call people were getting cats for their barns, (not too bad) in fact they turn them lose to kill them, teaching their Kids to hunt. Now get MAD I did, to stop this The sheller, no longers gives Cats for free.Like I said, if you love your Cats keep them safe. Some people are sick. Thank-you Dr,Khuly...Wake-up-call

Another hazard: I saw one of the cats in my apartment complex drinking out of someone's oil change pan the other day. It was accumulated rainwater, but I'm sure there was oil residue in it and that can't be good for digestion, to say the least.

I know dogs are attracted to antifreeze spills because of the sweet taste, and I assume cats are too? Then there are poisonous plants like lilies, and people like donnadw up there...

You're right- that sounded bad. Cats in my backyard, if I can't find the owner, are taken to the pound.

I have a 20 year old persian that has never been outside and weighs 3 pounds. I have a 7 year old cat that has always lived outside. We try to get him to stay in but he wont have any of that. Unfortunately I think most of the people in our neighborhood think he belongs to them and feed him - junk food probably. He weighs 11 pounds. We put collars on him, people take them off - very rude if you ask me. If any of you are reading this Rocky, the big gray cat, belongs to us!!!! Someone actually took him when they moved away, we called them and said we would like our cat back, he was back the next day. They had the audacity to call him Lucy - get with the program.

This spring I watched three baby robins hatch and grow and fledge. I didn't interfere just kind of peeked into a bush that I would pass every day on my daily rounds of walking my two dogs. I worried about those little birds who looked so vulnerable. When it rained cats and dogs (this was in Miami) I was sure they would die but the next day when I peeked in the bush there they were, just fine, waiting for their Mom or dad or both to get back (not sure how Robins do it). The other thing that got me worried were the neighborhood cats, loads of them. I caught one hanging around one day and shooed it away. Of course one day the birds were gone, did they fly away, jump to the ground and get eaten by the cats? Not sure but I know that the odds of birds making it is slim already. I just wish it wasn't made worse by something so avoidable as someones pet cat.

Dr. Khuly did not even address evil neighbors taking cats to municipal shelters where they face certain death.

I can't believe people brag about doing something like that.

Apparently you're animal lovers up to your property line, once it's a hassle, kill it. Nice.

I could just as easily say to you "Apparently you're an animal lover to the point where it's not domesticated. Once it's wild, kill it."

Why should I, as a bird and other wildlife lover, have to put up with cats being attracted to my yard because I have feeders and other bird attractions?

I don't anyone is BRAGGING about this. If cat owners were responsible, it wouldn't even have to happen.

Let me know when I can give my dogs free rein to rummage in your trash, kill your cats, walk all over your car, defecate in your childs sandbox, kill the native wildlife you love to observe, and yowl and fight all night, and then we'll be equal.

I keep my well loved pet cat contained. He's either in the house or in his escape proof yard. Given that, I treat all cats I find outdoors with no owner present with them as strays and take them to the shelter where they belong. We DO have coyotes and owls that will take cats here, they're safer at the (no-kill) shelter than running loose. The fact that they're not pooping in my garden then doesn't hurt. If it is YOUR pet, it shouldn't be in MY yard.

I am on Donna's side with this. I love animals, but I don't work my butt off in my yard so someone else's cats can come over and destroy it. In my story listed above, when I said I dropped off the cats a second time, only not at a shelter, I never stated where I dropped them off. I didn't state that because i didn't want to start this line of discussion. Seems like Donna started it for me.

I dropped them about 20 miles away outside of a farm. Farms, as a rule, have "farm cats" that keep the mice and rat population down. I hope they survived. I know my flowerbeds and truck did.

Sound's heartless? No, heartless is the woman that kept turning them loose into MY BACK YARD! I put them in no more danger at the farm than she did in my back yard. The only difference is she ensured that while they are exposed to dangers of outdoor living they are taking a crap in our flowerbeds.

I don't let my pets in her back yard. I don't let my cats poop in our flowerbeds or walk all over my truck. The local shelter or any other shelter on Petfinder would just give her back the cats. What was I to do?

Donna, you are 100% right on this one. To Esmee, give me your address. The next time the cat lady sets her littler loose in my back yard, I'll pack em in a pet friendly shipping crate and send em off to you and you can deal with em.

And yes, once a cat or dog enter my yard without permission and become destructive, they are no longer an animal. They are a nuisance.

I'm sure the cats got what they deserved for pooping in your yard. And I'll bet it taught those jerk neighbors something.

Out here in the country cats are a pest and the ones that aren't killed by owls or dogs or coyotes, alot of people use them as target practice. I just read an article today where kids in England are using them in inner cities to train fighting dogs keep 'em inside.

My 5 cats are indoor only, although I'm sure they would love some outdoor time, since they rush the door when the dogs go out. I am currently trying to find plans for an affordable and easy-to-build enclosure so they can get some outdoor playtime, but be safely contained.
As for rabbits being turned loose, I can only say:
Setting your rabbit loose doesn't make them "free";
It makes them "food". (for predators, not for me)!!

I think cats need to be kept inside unless they are supervised and/or in an enclosed area. For animals that do not know life outside the house, they are unaware to all of the dangers.

They make fences and fence-toppers that can turn any backyard 'catproof' and safe for a cat to enjoy without the worry of escape. There isn't any excuse to let a cat roam the neighborhood freely in this day and age.

It always makes me roll my eyes a bit when I see "indoor cats are all obese" as a good defense for allowing your cat to roam. The number of fat cats I see wandering about the neighborhood on my daily walks is evidence enough that going outside is not a magic diet. Added to my own four indoor only cats who are not fat, well, that's plenty of evidence for me.

I used to have an indoor/outdoor cat. He was an adult stray who moved in, spent a year completely inside, and then decided he needed to go out. I fought him for a long time, and eventually he won. He went out during the day, was always in at night. Until the time he didn't come home. I never saw him again. I plastered the neighborhood with fliers. He was microchipped. It was over a year ago. I have no idea what happened to him. I still have a hard time living with it.

All of my cats have been indoor cats for their own safety. We live in a city with crazy drivers and the city shelter is a kill shelter.

It makes me furious that my brother and his significant other persist in letting their cats roam even though they have lost three -- THREE -- in the past five years to cars or dogs. They are the kind of people who never listen to anyone else, so I don't waste my breath anymore. I just bite my tongue and mutter under my breath.

Apparently Dr Khuly forgot to mention that mean-spirited people pose a serious risk to outdoor cats.

"You're right- that sounded bad. Cats in my backyard, if I can't find the owner, are taken to the pound."

Ah.

Instead of killing them yourself, you pay someone else to do the deed.

"I am on Donna's side with this. I love animals, but I don't work my butt off in my yard so someone else's cats can come over and destroy it."

Cry me a river.

I'm not a gardener, but my sister is, my mother was, many of my neighbors are, my tenant for five years who like me had INDOOR cats herself was. The community where I live, and my mother and sister lived until recently, and also the community where my sister now lives, both have an abundance of feral, semi-feral, and owned free-roaming cats.

And yet somehow the gardens don't get dug up, the lawns don't get damaged, and I don't hear, even from the people who don't realize I'm a cat owner, how Awful it is that those cats are Wrecking Everything.

And I gotta say--I've never found pawprints on my car. How does that work, exactly?

Are you planting catnip or any similar plants in your garden? If you are, then you're intentionally luring them in to do the damage.

"I dropped them about 20 miles away outside of a farm. Farms, as a rule, have "farm cats" that keep the mice and rat population down. I hope they survived. I know my flowerbeds and truck did."

Sure you hope they've survived. That's why you took urban cats, familiar with urban dangers, and dumped them in a rural area where the dangers are completely unfamiliar to them. Puh-lease. It's just that unlike Donna, you're too cheap to pay to have them killed outright.

"Sound's heartless? No, heartless is the woman that kept turning them loose into MY BACK YARD!"

Uh, somehow, I gotta doubt that interpretation. But then, I don't think the world revolves around me.

"I put them in no more danger at the farm than she did in my back yard. The only difference is she ensured that while they are exposed to dangers of outdoor living they are taking a crap in our flowerbeds."

Do you have any idea how self-absorbed this sounds?

You stole her cats. You dumped them in a very different environment from the one they knew how to survive in.

And you brag about it.


"I don't let my pets in her back yard. I don't let my cats poop in our flowerbeds or walk all over my truck. The local shelter or any other shelter on Petfinder would just give her back the cats. What was I to do?"

Stop planting catnip or its equivalents? Cat-fence your property? Get therapy so that you can stop having the vapors over the possibility of muddy pawprints on your truck?

The only plants we have are some bushes and flowers, nothing edible. My yard is a half acre four houses away from hers. The cats were delivered back to her house twice before I took them to the pound the first time. The second time I delivered them, I was pretty direct with her as to my intent to take them to the pound the next time they came to my yard. The cats use the mulch as cat litter. I am not proud, ashamed, embarrassed, or bragging about what I did or do to take care of my yard. My truck cost about $10,000 when it was bought new 10 years ago. My house cost considerably more. It's mine, and when someone attempts to destroy it, with their own hands or their cat, I tend to get a bit upset.

Truth be told, I have returned people's dogs to their yard as well, and have given the same warning about what I do with the trip to the pound the next time the animal gets in my yard. Understand I am asking nothing more of these neighbors than what I expect of myself. That's fair.

It is obvious to me, from your replies, that you need to see a few more cats die from feline leukemia-associated cancers. Or waste away from FIV. Or succumb to massive injuries inflicted by dog wounds. Or die of ethylene glycol or rodenticide ingestion.

Maybe you need to see more cats covered nose to tail in ringworm, abdomens distended with parasites. Cats crawling with fleas, covered in cat-inflicted bite wounds. Cats scratching their ears bloody from ear mites. Maybe you need to observe some necropsies of cats who died suddenly and unexpectedly, only to see a heart infested with heartworms.

These are the realities of cats who are left to wander outdoors unsupervised - most people just don't have to deal with cleaning up the mess as part of their occupation.

In fact, I have a Hav-a-Hart trap set in my front yard right now. I'd rather they be humanely euthanized than meet any of the above fates. When my finances allow, I trap/neuter/vaccinate/release. I'm sure some of these cats have "owners". I could care less. If they cared that much, they'd keep closer tabs on them.

descendingdaphne, you apparently have some reading comprehension difficulties. I did mention explicitly that my cats are inside cats and don't roam.

I'm not arguing for allowing cats to roam; I'm arguing against the self-involved cat-hatred that allows people to feel justified in killing cats, or trapping them to be abandoned in areas where they will have no familiarity with the dangers--or take them to high-kill shelters to be killed because the cat-hater doesn't want to get her own hands dirty.

Oddly, while all the horrible fates you list are certainly possible for outdoor cats, and they're at higher risk of all of them than indoor cats (and the higher risk of infection, parasites, fights, being hit by cars, and predation by either dogs or wild predators, are all strong arguments for keeping cats inside), it doesn't describe the TYPICAL condition of cats in feral colonies--and certainly not of owned cats who return to the owner's house every night, and are getting regular meals and regular vet care.

Indeed, those risks are all at their highest for cats who were owned and getting regular care, but have been stolen and dumped by self-righteous, self-justifying cat-haters in areas where they are unfamiliar with the dangers and NO LONGER have the care previously provided by their owners.

I feel like a mouse walking into a room full of cats. I have a cat who spends at least half his life outside, and has done so for the past 8 years- or maybe it's 9 at this stage. Full disclosure: he's had fleas, he's got rat poison (from inside the house, oddly enough), and he's been bitten by another cat once (a neighbour's cat, long gone now). He got good vet care and bounced back from each. He's happy, he's well cared for, and he's slim and shiny. He keeps the rodents under control and patrols his 6 acre territory. He has plenty to do.

I wouldn't do it in the suburbs or if I lived in an apartment somewhere, but in that case I wouldn't get a cat in the first place, unless I had the space to build them a nice outdoor enclosure so they don't get too bored. I've seen too many 3 legged cats.

This is just generally a good area for outdoor cats- no large predators, very few dogs he doesn't know, and a low cat population. The cat who bit him was an indoor-outdoor cat who lived to 17. It's a new experience to me to hear people talking about indoor-only cats as the normal way. Most people I know would consider it cruel unless you were in the city or suburbs, or an area with dangerous roads.

I guess I am too cheap, but why should I pay for someone else's lack of responsibility? If I chronically let my dogs run loose, I would not expect anyone who found them to spend ANY money on their euthanization- that is what tax dollars are for.

And as for "luring them"? I shouldn't be able to plant what I want, on my own property? I don't plant cat nip, as it happens, but even if I did, that still doesn't mean I deserve domestic animals (that I dislike anyway) to invade my property.

My yard is DOG FENCED because I own DOGS. I guess I am cheap because I don't want to spend hundreds more dollars keeping out cats?

And my car is nice. I guess the fact that I don't want to waste water and money by washing it more than is necessary makes me cheap and evil, too.

You, and others, keep harping about how EVIL us cat haters are- but I feel the same way about your apparent total lack of care about local wildlife that is wantonly killed off by wandering cats.

I will continue to remove cats from my property as long as they continue to invade and not feel a shred of guilt over it. Like EAB, I do try to find the owner the first time. Unlike EAB, I do not hope the cats he dropped off in the country survived. There is no place for loose cats anywhere, in my opinion.

And like decendingdaphne, I feel like if you really loved and treasured your cats, you would keep them inside. I love my dogs more than anything- hence they do not run the neighborhood indiscriminately while I expect others to put up with all their potentially objectionable habits.

Eilis- you have no idea what kind of shelter I take them to so please don't assume it's "high kill."

Part of owning a pet is taking responsibility for it. That means that either you take responsibility for containing it or accept that anything that happens as a result of it roaming free is really your responsibility as well - even if it's someone else who "did the deed."
My dad just bought a new piece of land out in the boonies. His neighbors let their dogs run free, and they chase cars. Dad hit one a few weeks back, wile driving down his own driveway, going 10 mph - it darted out under his tires, he didn't even see it, just felt the "bump." He is now persona non grata in the neighborhood, but really those people killed the dog themselves by allowing them to roam free and ignoring the warnings about chasing cars. The same is true of letting your cats run free. If they get hit by a car, mauled by a dog, poisoned, or even trapped and taken to a shelter, there is exactly one person who could have guaranteed that it would not have happened - the owner.
Any free-roaming domestic animal is at risk. If you choose to accept that risk, it is your own business, but don't blame others if it results in premature death or loss. And yes, I do believe that property owners have every right to remove nuisance animals from their backyard. They shouldn't be faced with the responsibility for bringing back the cat every time it comes around. If you want to let your cat outside but don't want to accept the risks of it roaming all over, fence in YOUR yard, don't expect me to fence mine.

Just to clarify, the cats in my situation were

-Returned to the OWNER twice, both times she was told they would go to the pound.

-Third time they were taken to the county shelter, which has an extremely low kill rate.

-Lady let me know that if the cats were delivered to any shelter that worked with Petfinder, she would bring them back, and that she had no desire to keep them off of my property.

Mine was an extreme case, a case made extreme by the owner, not by me. I couldn't take them to a shelter, and the lady told me she wouldn't address the issue. So, again, instead of hanging me, go ahead and tell me what I was to do to keep these cats from destroying my property.

"Ah.

Instead of killing them yourself, you pay someone else to do the deed."

Who said it was a kill shelter?

"Cry me a river.

I'm not a gardener, but my sister is, my mother was, many of my neighbors are, my tenant for five years who like me had INDOOR cats herself was. The community where I live, and my mother and sister lived until recently, and also the community where my sister now lives, both have an abundance of feral, semi-feral, and owned free-roaming cats.

And yet somehow the gardens don't get dug up, the lawns don't get damaged, and I don't hear, even from the people who don't realize I'm a cat owner, how Awful it is that those cats are Wrecking Everything."

I've had dirt in flower beds get so saturated with cat urine that I had to dig it all up and replace it with new dirt. It's annoying, costs me money, and can be SO easily prevented by owners keeping their pets inside where they belong. Why is that so difficult for you to understand??

"And I gotta say--I've never found pawprints on my car. How does that work, exactly?"

Um, the cat jumps up on the car and walks on it?

"Are you planting catnip or any similar plants in your garden? If you are, then you're intentionally luring them in to do the damage."

Cats dig, cats chew on plants, they pee in flower beds, they kill small animals and birds and leave their carcasses laying around. Why is that so difficult for you to understand? Why do you have issues with people who don't want to clean up the mess from other peoples pets?


"Sure you hope they've survived. That's why you took urban cats, familiar with urban dangers, and dumped them in a rural area where the dangers are completely unfamiliar to them. Puh-lease. It's just that unlike Donna, you're too cheap to pay to have them killed outright."

No, the original owner was too lazy to take proper care of their pet, so she was forced to deal with the situation in the best way she could.

"Uh, somehow, I gotta doubt that interpretation. But then, I don't think the world revolves around me."

I would seriously have guessed otherwise by your obviously inflated sense of entitlement.

"Do you have any idea how self-absorbed this sounds?

You stole her cats. You dumped them in a very different environment from the one they knew how to survive in.

And you brag about it."

Hello pot, have you met my friend kettle?

"Stop planting catnip or its equivalents? Cat-fence your property? Get therapy so that you can stop having the vapors over the possibility of muddy pawprints on your truck?"

How about you just keep your pets inside?? Problem solved.

It's not my plants or garden I worry about, though I have learned to always wear gardening gloves when working in my garden. It's my finches.
I spent too much time trying to make the cages cat-proof to be sympathetic to cat owners who believe cats have an inherent right to run free and hunt. By that logic foxes have a right to get into chicken coops for their dinner and feral dogs are cute when they form a pack to hunt deer.
I finally got a terrier. He'll chase anything furry out of my yard but has little interest in the birds. Cats are much less of a problem, and none has died in my yard from some fever-inducing viral disease in quite a while. He stays inside and goes on long walks.
I saw my neighbor recently teaching one of his cats to walk on a leash. I've found cats to be more trainable than most people think. If cats are to be companion animals, teach them to be so. Do what dog people did - select for cats that make good indoor companion animals, and leave the "working" cats in the rural barns. (Though I still think terriers are better mousers and ratters and birders. During my suburban chicken coop days,I once had to save my neighbor's cat from being badly pecked by my large Rhode Island red hens when it got into my chicken coop...)

I'm an advocate of keeping cats indoors, but object to the dubious scientific claims made by many of those opposed to free-roaming cats (and especially TNR). Careful scrutiny of these claims reveals exaggeration, misrepresentations, and more than a few errors. This was the impetus for my blog Vox Felina (www.voxfelina.com), where I untangle some of these claims.

As I say, I'm all for keeping cats indoors--but if we're going to debate the issue, let's leave the pseudoscience (which invariably creeps into the discussion) out of it.

Peter J. Wolf
www.voxfelina.com

"How about you just keep your pets inside?? Problem solved."

Ah, another one suffering from a lack of reading comprehension.

I do keep my cats inside, and have for many years--quite possibly since before you were born.

But there's a few things you and the other self-absorbed cat-haters are missing.

1. Killing rodents is why we welcomed cats into our homes in the first place, nine or ten thousand years ago, and it's a major reason we've continued to welcome them into our homes ever since. The notion of cats as "just pets," exclusively, is not just very modern, but downright contemporary.

2. Rodents, wonderful little opportunists that they are, do not limit themselves to barnyards.

3. The actual, real-life gardeners I've met, including family and neighbors, really don't seem to share your enthusiasm for the "wildlife" cats typically kill, and do not share your distress at the dead mice, small rats, chipmunks, etc. that AREN'T going after their gardens or burrowing under their lawns.

4. Birds poop will flying, and occasionally, one of them scores a direct hit on my car. Even though this is a much nastier cleaning job than the occasionally muddy pawprint, I've never quite shared your rage or your sense of violation--Tom Lehrer's "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" remains just funny song to me, and not a plan of action.

As others have pointed out, the very definition of self-absorbed is contining to do something that others find objectionable if YOU like it. Your right to do something (and this is the generic you) ends where my rights begin. I have the right to control my own property. You have the right to either keep your property on your own property, or lose control over it. Your overwhelming sense of entitlement for cat owners is just irrational.

As for the birds- they do not fly in my garage and defecate on my car. My neighbors cats have, however, gone in my garage, and urinated on garden tarps.

Why is "wildlife" in quotes? Do you have some evidence that chipmunks, squirrels, and mice are in fact tame?

You are not going to change my mind. I look upon outdoor cats as vermin. I completely understand why Wisconsin briefly considered declaring outdoor cats as fair game for any hunter and why Australia did or does, deem them something to be eradicated. Indoor cats? I adore.

Funny, I just finished a two part series on this topic generated by a reader's question--she lets her cat roam in the forest...and after three cats went missing from my neighborhood.

It might sound odd but I like adjacent to the national forest and we have a lot of predators in the area.

What confuses me is that the pet owners are upset--a excruciating death of a pet could be prevented by simply keeping an animal in--and then the person is upset?

But then I tend to be a bit more pragmatic as a professional animal person.

I'm not sure about link posting here but Part Two of Indoor Outdoor Cats is here: http://www.arkanimals.com/2010/07/17/cat-outdoor-run/ and there is a link to the previous article on all the risks I believe outdoor cats face.

Up until we got our last two feline furballs our cats were all in/out cats.

Now we no longer feel safe letting the cats out in fact if you hold the door open they will just sit there and look out the open door.

We simply feel this is the best thing for them.

We have 4 housecats. A small doggie-door was installed & they can access a completely enclosed outdoor run built on 1 side of the house. Oliver is almost 15 & has walked on a leash since age 2 - too large for his mother's womb, he was born with bilateral hip dysplasia & cauda equina, requiring surgeries on lower spine & hips.
Neighborhood cats poop in our yards & try to fight our cats thru screens. Cats should be INDOORS & licensed like dogs.
2 years ago, a neighbor's cat's eye was shot out by a whizkid using a BB gun. Last year, I saw her cat out again & approached her - do you want your cat to lose his only remaining eye, too? The whizkid stills lives (unfortunately) in the neighborhood... I got the same BS story about cats "needing" to be outside. I wanted to punch her, but just walked away instead.
My very first cat lived to be 19 1/2 - she spent her whole life as an indoor cat with leashed, controlled visits outside. :o)