I love animals. Always have, since I was a child. And this love only grows. So much I decided to only have four-legged children, instead of human ones.
Nowadays I have 2 dogs and 5 cats. And they are all strictly indoors, even though I live in a house, not an apartment. That means my cats are not allowed to roam outside.
I’m writing this because it’s a subject that comes up all the time in groups about cats, in conversation with other cat tutors, or in posts from The Dodo on Facebook. They are ‘funny’ stories, like the one about a cat who disappeared and the owner, ended up trapping and even medicated (!) the wrong cat, thinking it was acting strange, only to realize he made a mistake when his actual cat came back home days later. What do I think of all this? I think it’s appalling! Two irresponsible owners let their cats out and, luckily, the only consequence was the poor cat being locked in a strange house, with a stranger, and being medicated for being too anxious (and petrified, I’m sure). Fortunately, none of the cats met an even worse end.
Cats who roam outside are subject to various risks: they can be run over, poisoned, can get into fights with other cats and end up badly injured or can catch an incurable disease, like FIV and FeLV, can get lost etc. And what for? ‘But cats need their freedom’, people will say. No, they don’t. They need care, love, food, stimulating environment, shelter to sleep and rest, sunbaths. And they can have all that without roaming the streets. There is no good reason to allow them to go outdoors and subject them to all the dangers they may encounter outside.
People who live in apartments can very easily make their places cat safe. Just net windows and balconies, as one would if they had children. And it is extremely important to do so, as a fall will, at the very least, cause fractures. Most likely death. But people who live in houses find all sorts of excuses not to keep their cats indoors as if it is an impossible task. It’s not. Just net windows, same as in apartments. And cover yards, gardens, garages. Here at home, in addition to netting the windows, I also covered the yard and netted around and above the large upstairs balcony. Just that area took 51m² of netting (550 sq ft)! My house looks like an asylum, but my cats are safe. And they love spending the day out in the balcony sunbathing, playing, watching the birds. Happy and safe.
Fortunately, serious shelters will only donate cats to people who agree to only keep them indoors. If someone can’t guarantee that, they are not responsible enough to have a cat. It really is that simple. Now we just need to convince people who already have cats, those who rescue them from the streets, buy them from breeders, or get them as gifts. It’s a change in culture and I see that Brazil is way ahead of the US and European countries when it comes to this issue. But it would be great to have organizations like The Dodo supporting this shift. They could highlight the benefits of keeping cats indoors, instead of glamorizing the stories of people who jeopardize their cats by doing exactly the opposite.
