Do you let your cat/s go outside?

[nollilols]

You forgot the first part.

It was the 90s. I was 15-16 years old. I feel bad about it now, but I can't take it back. It's one of those things you learn from. My mother was wrong about a lot of things, that one included.

No no, I wasn't ignoring the first part, that's why I said later in my post that I understand people don't think about common practises because they're just that - common. I wasn't blaming you, or your mother for that fact, I was literally only commenting on the more general concept that it was ever so commonplace that people did it as a matter of routine. Not criticizing the people who did do it without knowing better. I may not have phrased it well!

[CrazyCatLady]

My kitties have passed on, but all 3 were inside only cats.  Samantha was our first cat, my son found her in the backyard when he was 7.  It was either let him live in the yard (to protect her) or let her in the house.  We lived on a busy street and I didn't want to worry about her getting run over, or getting in fights.  Even though she was originally an outdoor cat, she had no problem adjusting to life inside. 
Our other 2 cats were adopted as kittens (6 weeks & 3 months), and never knew anything except life inside. They had the run of the whole house and seemed happy. They did like to sit on the screened-in back porch when it was warm.

[STLGusty]

It was the 90s. I was 15-16 years old. I feel bad about it now, but I can't take it back. It's one of those things you learn from. My mother was wrong about a lot of things, that one included.

I wouldn't feel bad about it!  The vets know what they are doing.    As long as you keep kitty protected after the procedure, it's all good.  It'd be more cruel to have that done then throw the cat outdoors and have nothing to fend for itself with.  I'm sure your cat still live a happy a healthy life.  Both of mine do (TOO happy most of the time, if you ask me!  Spoiled little things...)

[Refuse to Dance]

At the time it wasn't something I thought much about and was still a pretty normal thing to do, everyone I knew with cats had them declawed. Luckily, she hasn't had any of the major issues that can develop from it.

I still can't believe it's normal practise anywhere. I know that's easy for me to say, living somewhere it's pretty much illegal, but it seems incredibly inhumane, and I have to agree with what numerous other posters have said - if someone's living conditions require a declawed cat, they shouldn't have a cat, absolutely end of. I understand though that unfortunately even cruel practises can go unconsidered when they're really common practises - I used to assume because pet shops sold hamster cages of a certain size that it was okay to use those cages (I wouldn't dream of using a petshop cage now!) - so I just hope it becomes less and less common. And I'm really glad your kitty hasn't developed any issues!

You forgot the first part.

It was at my mother's insistence and one of the conditions for her to allow me to get a cat. I was in highschool and had wanted a cat for years (this was in the 90s).

It was the 90s. I was 15-16 years old. I feel bad about it now, but I can't take it back. It's one of those things you learn from. My mother was wrong about a lot of things, that one included.

My cat hasn't developed any issues either. And she has adapted quite well. I tried everything to stop her from destroying things: redirection and showing her where to scratch, scolding, squirt bottle (which she would stop if you point it at her or squirt her, but then go right back to it), claw caps( and those she tried to rip off and hurt her paw). Nothing worked.

[nollilols]

I wouldn't feel bad about it!  The vets know what they are doing.   

The vets also know what they're doing here, where they generally refuse to do it on the grounds of cruelty even though its not illegal, and in every country where it's illegal due to cruelty.

[MilkyTaroMochi]

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Meet Freckles, aka "Meemers".  He's going to be 14 in June, was about 3 months old when I got him, and has been basically an 85% outdoors cat, although my parents do let him inside the house everyday, including whenever it gets very cold outside. Ever since we got Freckles, he'd been an outdoors cat (my sister was allergic, and my mom wasn't too fond of cats at the time, and didn't want him to scratch the furniture. She think he's cool now. ).
He generally stays in the garage nowadays and has a few cat beds in a small corner under some shelves. My parents crack the garage door open for him so he can go and hang out in the front yard as he pleases during the day (they park their cars outside). He never really leaves too far from the yard, excluding when he decided to chill at the next door neighbor's yard.

There was a time a few years ago when after the night of the 4th of July, Freckles disappeared for five days. I was worried sick and even printed out missing cat flyers in the neighborhood. I started to think he was hit by a car, catnapped, killed by a dog/coyote/mountain lion (although i am certain mountain lions don't live in the area,), or had even wandered off to pass away due to old age. But he showed up about the 6th day at 2am, at the backdoor of the house, as if nothing was wrong. He did have a scratch on his muzzle, but that was nothing compared to the battle wounds he'd come home with when he was younger. The people in our old neighborhood referred to Freckles as "King of the Cats" due to all the fights he'd get into with other cats. 

[kellyponyfeathers]

Regarding the debate over declawing, I certainly don't encourage it.  All 7 of my cats still have their claws.  But let me say this:  There's plenty of REAL cruelty and neglect in this world.  I think we should concentrate on solving that problem before we worry about differences of opinion with things like declawing.  As long as the owner has the procedure done correctly and responsibly, and takes good care of the cat otherwise with proper food, love, and medical attention, I don't think declawing should be condemned so harshly.  If it's necessary to keep peace in the household, and if it's the price a homeless cat pays for a lifetime of free food and care, then maybe it's not such a horrible tradeoff.

I've worked as a vet assistant, and I've known plenty of very dedicated cat owners who also made the choice to have their cats declawed.  Claw caps don't always work well (I've known vets who didn't really recommend them because they can become uncomfortable as the claws grow and very difficult to get off).  And with proper pain meds, most cats are quite numb to the procedure and recover easily; I've seen them act playful and high on painkilling drugs after surgery.  That said, some cats don't react as well to the drugs, especially when they're older.  Kittens seem to bounce back a lot more easily; that's why some vets recommend having it done at the same time as neutering, figuring that if you're gonna do it, do it then.  In rare cases, some cats even seem to understand perfectly well what was done to them without their approval, and they can hold a grudge about it for life.  When this happens, it's usually in mature cats that are newly declawed, and some owners have said it changed their relationship with their cat for the worse.  So the decision to declaw certainly isn't one to be taken lightly.

So anyway, declawing is something I sort of frown upon personally, but I've seen too many peaceful households with happy declawed cats to really condemn it.

[FantasticFirefly]

I agree with you kellyponyfeathers, and as I mentioned in my post- sometimes it's the vet's office themselves pushing clients to get this procedure done on their cats. I had to say no a number of times before they booked ours for a spay only.

[aellos]

Most of our cats have been inside cats, though I remember one we had when I was young that was an inside outside cat. I don't think she lived long, but it was also on a farm. And we had coyotes.

My cat is an inside cat. She seems fine with that. When we were in our apartment, she would look warily at the open door but wouldn't go anywhere. She seems perfectly content inside.

[FeatherFang]

Growing up, our cats were always indoor/outdoor cats.  We moved frequently, however, so we'd do things like keep them indoors for a month after a move (no matter how loudly they wailed!) to ensure they knew THIS was home now.  We were fine until we moved to a more urban area.  In the space of two years, we lost two cats to cars.  The other two were more content to stay close to home, and died of old age.

Since I've been on my own, I've had two cats.  One, Miken, was primarily indoor.  "Primarily" because whenever we were home in the city, I kept her strictly indoors (and she seemed quite content with that!).  When we were at my parents' in the country, she was allowed outside during the day (and at first only on a leash), but called back in during the evening to avoid larger night predators.  Whenever we heard or spotted signs of feral dogs or coyotes, she'd be kept indoors.  She'd also come in on her own on windy days (air was NOT supposed to move!).  I lost her to bone cancer in her jaw at 14 yrs.

The other cat is strictly indoor because she has lupus.  She's indoor by her own choice.  Going outdoors, even on a leash, overstimulates her and triggers a mild seizure.  If the whole family is outside, then she sits at the door and cries for everyone to come back in.  The only time she's ever tempted by outside is when there are hummingbirds around - she seems fascinated by anything like strobing lights.

Right now I'm sharing living space with a family that has four cats, three of which are declawed.  Normally I'm of the "NEVER DECLAW!" camp, but even I have to admit these cats, all of whom were declawed as kittens by a careful and attentive vet (the same one that figured out my Griffin's lupus condition), and they all act perfectly fine.

However, I'm being reinforced on the "indoors, and outdoors under controlled conditions only" camp.  Two of their cats are indoor by choice (there's SKY out there!!), but the other two regularly come home with nasty wounds, and I know they've lost two cats to neighborhood dogs that run around loose. 

One of the cats also kills an alarming number of birds, which puts me of a mind about an environmental article talking about the number of bird species that appear to be dwindling in large part due to domestic and feral housecats.  Not exactly a balanced ecosystem, that.

All that aside... loving the pictures of all the kitties!

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That's my "chimera" kitty Griffin.  Not much of a huntress, as you can tell.  That was a bird that got into the house... she was just irritated to be woken from her nap! 

And "chimera" because she has talons more than claws, tends to walk sideways like a crab, has a tail that regularly gets mistaken for a snake (and fangs to go with it on the other end!), and has an illness that shares its name with a wolf.

[kittybethy]

My cats are indoor cats (we live outside city limits and have coyotes/snakes/owls, and lots of dangerous animals here). Also, we have no fence in our back yard.

  We let the kitties go out when the weather is nice, but only if someone goes out with them and watches them!

[Nana-Rena]

We currently have one cat. We are looking to get him a friend. Our kitty is a four year old castrated tomcat Mr. Gaius B. Catullus. He is an indoor cat, because we live in the city and he would not be able to go out, even if we wanted him to, which we do not. I have had too many friends and relatives who live in the country, who have lost their cats or they have been killed.

I want to keep mr Gaius safe and sound because he is my furry buddy, no matter how annoying he is and even though he doesn't scratch his scratching pole but prefers our coach.
He has been micro chipped in the unlikely even that he were to get lost.

He is a happy house cat and my little helper. Oberve, mr Gaius helping with my dissertation!


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[nollilols]

Oh my god Gaius is the best name for a cat ever. It makes me think of Richard Wilson in Merlin and that makes it even better! I so want a cat called Gaius!

[Nana-Rena]

Ours is named after Gius blatr on Gattlestar Galactica. he is also a hedonist and an escape artist, although my fiancee insists that we aren't so nerdy as to name a cat after a scifi tv show, so he says Gaius is named after Gaius Catullus the roman poet. I know better though  !

Mr. Gaius is very friendly and playful and he gets along with other cats, dogs and even rabbits, when we still had them.

[Vintergatan]

Kitty pics are adorable!!
FeatherFang, I can't believe how chilled your kitty is wit ha bird in front of him! :O

Nana-Rena - what a coincidence! my cats are scholars as well! One of mine helped me do my final paper in environmental law, and another seems to like to help my husband while he's doing physics, lol!


Deep musings on cases regarding Environmental Impact Assessment in the European Union - who knew cats cared about such things!
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