Want a cat? Keep it indoors!


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Jul. 31, 2005. 08:17 AM

Want a cat? Keep it indoors!

Despite feline crisis, Toronto

Humane Society not relaxing rules

SIKANDER Z. HASHMI AND PATRICK EVANS

STAFF REPORTERS

Despite going through its most "most desperate crisis ever" with more than 500 cats on the property looking for a home, the Toronto Humane Society isn't loosening up its adoption policy.

The society, which does not euthanize animals, found itself in a crisis after two recent seizures of 37 and 17 cats.

But potential cat owners who insist on de-clawing their cat or letting it out on the loose will still find themselves walking away empty-handed, leaving behind a building overflowing with homeless cats.

"Sometimes, it's very tough," says shelter manager Vijay Kumar, but "the reason for turning people down is because we have to make sure that the cat is going to a safe place and not going to the wrong home."

The "cat care" section on the society's web site strongly encourages owners to keep their cats indoors.

"At least as important as loving, feeding, neutering and providing proper veterinary care for your cat, is keeping him inside the sanctuary of your home!" reads the notice.

Among reasons for keeping the kitty indoors: being hit by a car, picking up a disease, and being attacked by a dog or a raccoon.

Despite the humane society's tough reputation, and a rejection rate Kumar estimated to be about 9 per cent to 10 per cent, more than 125 cats were adopted yesterday. No potential cat owners were refused.

All those seeking to adopt are given a form to fill out and undergo an interview during which they're asked, among other things, if they plan to declaw the animal and if it will be allowed to go outside.

A "yes"can shut the door to adopting a pet ? almost.

"If you came and said, `I live out on Yonge Street and I'm going to let my cat out,' we wouldn't adopt you a cat, absolutely," said the society's volunteer president, Tim Trow. "It's not right. The bylaws prohibit it.

"You're meant to keep your cat on your own property."

But there's still hope if the reply is based on ignorance.

"If you said, `Oh, I didn't realize that but sure, I'll keep her in,' sure, of course (you can adopt the cat)," said Trow.

"You don't see a lot of unhappy people walking away empty-handed," he said.

Most people who come want to be good pet owners, said Trow, adding, "People want to learn how to care for their pet."

There's no uniform policy on free-roaming felines in other Canadian cities.

"I know a lot of humane societies struggle with it. Some still say no," said Bruce Roney, executive director of the Ottawa Humane Society. "We try to go beyond the black-and-white of indoor versus outdoor. If someone lives in a central city core, busy street, we will not adopt to them if they're planning to let the cat outdoors. Suburban cats ? we'll reluctantly do adoptions," if they're going outside.

Calgary has a bylaw against cats roaming free, but its Humane Society won't slam the door on somebody wanting to let a cat out.

"In some communities I'm told the neighbours are all fine with the cats being outside," said Cathy Thomas, executive director of the Calgary Humane Society.

Thomas said that if a potential cat owner can make the case for the safety and openness of his neighbourhood, then, "I can live with that ? but it's not ideal."

But is it in a cat's nature to roam fPamela Jamieson of the Hamilton/Burlington Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals rejects the idea that it's cruel to keep a cat indoors its whole life.e.

"In an ideal old world, a cat could live outside. The old tomcat could live to 13," said Jamieson. "Times have chaThe life expectancy of an outdoor cat is two to three yearsrs." She contrasts that with the longevity of indoor cats, "anywhere from 15 to 20 years."

The movement to keep cats indoors isn't just about keeping cats healthy, Jamieson said. The more cats breed, the more litters end up homeless, and possibly killed in animal shelters.

At Toronto's humane society, many cats are housed in the hallways, offices and the loading bay.

The animal shelter at the corner of River St. and Queen St. was a busy destination yesterday as a stream of Torontonians heeded the society's call and welcomed cats into their homes.

As an incentive, it has waived a $25 adoption fee until Monday and hopes to give away at least 250 to 300 cats by then.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...id=968332188492

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"In an ideal old world, a cat could live outside. The old tomcat could live to 13," said Jamieson. "Times have changed. The life expectancy of an outdoor cat is two to three years." She contrasts that with the longevity of indoor cats, "anywhere from 15 to 20 years."

yeah, but longevity over happiness?

maybe if you raise it from birth, knowing nothing else other than the confines of your house, it will be happy, but if it has had any exposure to the outside world, which most most strays are going to have, it is going to want out.

Cats, may be 'domesticated' but I dont think their natural instinct to hunt, etc. has been bred out yet. Our tamest cat, still likes to go hunting for grasshopers, which is about all she can handle since she is declawed; but our 'wildest' cat, has brought in everything from a frog, right up to a baby rabbit that was screaming bloody murder.

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yeah, but longevity over happiness?

maybe if you raise it from birth, knowing nothing else other than the confines of your house, it will be happy, but if it has had any exposure to the outside world, which most most strays are going to have, it is going to want out.

Cats, may be 'domesticated' but I dont think their natural instinct to hunt, etc. has been bred out yet.  Our tamest cat, still likes to go hunting for grasshopers, which is about all she can handle since she is declawed; but our 'wildest' cat, has brought in everything from a frog, right up to a baby rabbit that was screaming bloody murder.

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Are you talking about the happiness of your declawed cat? :huh:

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My cat was on the streets the first 6 months of its life. For the almost 3 yrs since then, it's lived in my downstairs room with me and doesn't like being anywhere else, not even upstairs. I'm pretty sure he's quite happy to have a home.

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I took a hefty 22 lbs cat in last summer... this cat was obviously, at one point in it's life, a street fighter (indicative by a portion of his ear missing, his size and muscularity, and his strength). This is the kind of cat that can take out most small-mid size dogs... it was clear to me at first that this cat used to live outdoors...

Parker (the cat) is the biggest suck you'll ever meet :blush: We bonded instantaneously and still share a very special friendship. He has taken to indoor-life quite nicely... I take him outside in my backyard, however I never leave him unsupervised.

I can see that he feels safe... it's all over his face and in his eyes :)

dsc002128mj.jpg

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Are you talking about the happiness of your declawed cat??:huh::

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nono, I was just saying that a cat that is confined to a house, might'n't be as happy as a cat that can venture outside.

only one of our cats is declawed....

I know my arguements are rather garbbled, arguementative essay writting has never been my forte, sorry.

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[Thread Cleaned]

Cat Carrier image removed. We've probably all seen it by now. It's been posted here too many times.

Let's not troll people. Offtopic flame-bait posts are against the Community Rules.

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Both my cats came in to my home off the street as kittens, and neither has any desire to go out. This is after 2 & 3 years respectively.

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That's crazy! Iv'e never heard of anyone in NZ keeping their cats indoors it's so unfair on the cat!!! They need to able to play and hunt and explore etc. Having a cat locked up inside all day while your off at work just seems cruel to me.

I suppose if you live in the middle of town or in some high rise appartment it's probably not best to let a cat outside due to safety issues but if this is your living situation you shouldn't have one in the first place.

My cat pines something awfull if we lock it inside and the cat before my current one was an outside cat and lived to 18.

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That's crazy! Iv'e never heard of anyone in NZ keeping their cats indoors it's so unfair on the cat!!! They need to able to play and hunt and explore etc. Having a cat locked up inside all day while your off at work just seems cruel to me.

I suppose if you live in the middle of town or in some high rise appartment it's probably not best to let a cat outside due to safety issues but if this is your living situation you shouldn't have one in the first place.

My cat pines something awfull if we lock it inside and the cat before my current one was an outside cat and lived to 18.

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I don't think NZ has urban areas on the order of 3+ million people. The animal welfare agencies here would rather you keep your cat indoors. It is considered cruel to allow them to go outside.

Cars, disease, dogs and raccoons are all listed as threats. Every block around here has a family of raccoons.

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It's a totally different thing in a farm-like unpopulated area, but anywhere with heavy traffic, I just don't understand it. Especially everytime I see a cat dead in the street. :( :crazy:

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That's crazy! Iv'e never heard of anyone in NZ keeping their cats indoors it's so unfair on the cat!!! They need to able to play and hunt and explore etc. Having a cat locked up inside all day while your off at work just seems cruel to me.

I suppose if you live in the middle of town or in some high rise appartment it's probably not best to let a cat outside due to safety issues but if this is your living situation you shouldn't have one in the first place.

My cat pines something awfull if we lock it inside and the cat before my current one was an outside cat and lived to 18.

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If I resided in certain parts of Europe, I wouldn't dream of letting my cats outdoors :no:

I've seen children abuse them, grab them by their tails and fling them :x, and throw rocks at them :no:

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My wife and I have 4 cats. Two of them love going outside for short times, especially when it is really sunny, the other two pretty much love staying indoors.

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My grandparents had two cats that recently died at ages 19 and 22. They were outdoor cats and spent all day outside, only coming in at night. They never had any problems other than fighting other cats.

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Where I used to live my cat lived happily outdoors. It was way out in the country though with only a small one lane road and no traffic. My oldest cat lived it's entire life there before it died from old age a few years ago. Someone gave me a kitten after that and a year later we moved to a new house. There's a two lane highway very close with lots of traffic, and my cat got hit by a car a few months later. :(

So now I just don't have cat anymore. I can't keep one outdoors here, and I've tried the indoors thing once and it was no good. The smell, the cleaning, the hair, no thanks.

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We found my cat as a stray. We've had her for six years now and she's PETRIFIED of outside. Maybe she's unique and something bad happened to her on the street before we found her but I know she is perfectly content staying indoors. And yeah, in a major metropolitan area where there's tons of street traffic and many wild stray cats and dogs, a pet that has been domesticated probably wouldn't last long outdoors, IMO.

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As it turns out, eating cats is illegal in Vietnam.

I don't care if people eat them, well, ok, its kinda hard for me in my north-american indoctrinated mindset to fully accept, but thats not the issue.

I saw a documentary about this practice in Vietnam on TVO once, and the manner in which they treated the cats INFURIATED me, just because you are going to kill it and eat it, doesnt mean you should mistreat it, that goes for allll animals we eat far as Im concerned.

The cats were all tame enough it seemed to not know enough to try to get away. The worst part was probably the way they remove the fur. They grab them by the neck with a pair of tongs, while they are still alive, and submerge them in water that is boiling as hot as they can get it. they hold them under for, 5-10 seconds, then they pull them out, grab them by the back of the head and split the skin, peel off all the fur then toss the cat in a tub of cold water.

I was just about ready to buy a one-way ticket to Vietnam after seeing that.....

If I resided in certain parts of Europe, I wouldn't dream of letting my cats outdoors :no:

I've seen children abuse them, grab them by their tails and fling them :x, and throw rocks at them :no:

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My sister and my dad went to Turkey last year, and they brought home video from Istanbul of cats just lazing around on the side-walk, they seemed pretty tame too, if I recall correctly they petted a few. They didnt look the least bit neglected.

Edited by Scudworth
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I've seen children abuse them, grab them by their tails and fling them sick.gif, and throw rocks at them no.gif

When I was in high school I was sitting outside talking to someone during lunch, and there was a gang of punks standing in the parking lot. A nice looking cat came walking up to them and seemed to be waiting for one of them to pet it; must have been from one of the nearby houses. One of the guys looked down at it, and then just kicked it in the stomach as hard as he could. Then they burst out laughing about it; I've never been so sickened by anything in my life.

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For any punk that kicks an innocent cat and laughs about it; I have an EXCELLENT solution: I would send them to India or Siberia to (I'll pay for their ticket) to go up to a male Tiger (a.k.a) a "cat" and kick the hell out of him in the stomach. After the punk kicks the Tiger in the stomach, (of course the punk(s) would have the same "weapons" as the tiger does. (Human hands vs. Tiger paws) I'd love to see what the Tiger would do to that/those punk(s). That is something that I would LOVE to watch and send to Funniest Home Videos.

I abhor the existence of ANY person/people who are malicious to ANY animal just for the hell of it.

:angry:

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... One of the guys looked down at it, and then just kicked it in the stomach as hard as he could. Then they burst out laughing about it; I've never been so sickened by anything in my life.

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That is very sick... I can't even bring myself to yell at an animal let alone hit one... that is just sick... cats are so kind and loving, how could someone hit any animal for "fun"... :x

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I took a hefty 22 lbs cat in last summer... this cat was obviously, at one point in it's life, a street fighter (indicative by a portion of his ear missing, his size and muscularity, and his strength).  This is the kind of cat that can take out most small-mid size dogs... it was clear to me at first that this cat used to live outdoors...

Parker (the cat) is the biggest suck you'll ever meet :blush:  We bonded instantaneously and still share a very special friendship.  He has taken to indoor-life quite nicely... I take him outside in my backyard, however I never leave him unsupervised.

I can see that he feels safe... it's all over his face and in his eyes :)

dsc002128mj.jpg

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aww...lol

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