Keeping cats indoors is a rare solution where everybody wins | Calla Wahlquist
www.theguardian.com
In the debate over protecting native wildlife from domestic felines, one thing is often overlooked: cats should be kept indoors for the sake of cats

cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/1965826

I am not here to make the case that cats should be kept indoors for the sake of local wildlife – that case has been made over and over and over and over again. Cat owners know these arguments, and if they have not been persuaded by the fact that cats kill more than 6 million native animals in Australia a day they will not be persuaded by me.

There is a fairly tedious assumption that if you love wildlife you must hate cats, and visa versa. And nothing will turn cat people off faster than encountering a person who hates cats.

I understand this. I also hate people who hate cats. So let’s set the birds and the bettongs to one side for the moment, and consider the other, obvious fact: cats should be kept indoors for the sake of cats.

    • CameronDev@programming.dev
      51·
      1 year ago

      In my experience (2 cats, 1 inside and 1 outside), if you have raised the cat always inside, they are completely fine with it. But if you give them a taste of that freedom, its very hard to put the cat back in the bag. My parents outdoor cat learned to operate the dog flap very early on, and when the flap is locked he will climb the flywire/curtains to get free :(

      For my current, inside cat, our solution has been supervised outside time. We put her on a lead and harness, and let her explore the garden. No risk to wildlife, no fights or road risks. And she is definitely a happy cat.