this post was submitted on 24 May 2025
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You should be aware this is an extremely American sentiment bordering on ignorant. Nowhere else in the world do you find people berating people for letting cats go outside.
Even in America, you won't find it. It's only coming from chronically-online people who are afraid of everything.
I'm sure if you could communicate the dangers to your cats, most of them would still choose to go outside. Locking cats indoors their entire lives is cruel.
Did Australia recently sink into the ocean and I just missed it?
Yeah, no.
I've heard it my whole life from my vets. I don't know what you mean by "even in America you won't find it"
I've got bad news: your vet is a chronically online loser who is afraid of everything!
Um... I guess the rescue I got my cat from is cruel for adding a "keep the cat indoor only" clause? 🤔
Edit: I'm not taking a position on the indoor vs outdoor argument, just saying that its not exactly "cruel" to keep a cat indoors.
I think that's a YMMV depending on the cat. One of my cats constantly begs to go outside (he gets walks), the other refuses to leave the house.
While I agree that cats are fine outside (while supervised and/or staying within their own yard - a small harness and leash can do the job), cats are just as healthy and happy staying indoors. My own cat actually refuses to go outside despite enjoying looking out the window all the time. I tried taking him outside a couple times to get him some exercise and he absolutely hated it. Different cats enjoy different environments.
You're absolutely wrong. They're native to the region around Turkey, so it's not really an issue there. Everywhere else, it is. Yeah, a lot of third world countries don't give a shit because they have other problems to worry about. It doesn't make it not an issue though, and many countries have issues caused by them.
What
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_cat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mountain_cat
The cat that became the house cat is obviously what I'm talking about, not random distantly related species. I assume you know those aren't the same species, right?
I thought the point was bird killing?
Yeah, house cats killing birds in regions they aren't native to. Your comment still has notthing to do with that.
Those regions had wild cats killing birds already. China had domestic cats 5000 years ago.
They're part of that ecosystem. The domestic cat is not, except in the regions around Turkey. The ecosystem has developed to not collapse with the species that currently exist in it. When you add an invasive species, things can go horribly wrong very quickly as the native species are not adapted to defend against them and the native predetors or not adapted to hunt them. Their populations typically grow out of control and their prey often collapse.
But I'm sure you're aware of this and know this about other invasive species. You're just being annoying about domestic cats.
Broski these countries already have lots of stray cats and dogs. Number of domestic cats is dwarfed by them. No need to keep the focus on domestic cats.
And people who adopt cats shouldnt be adding to the problem. Outdoor cats have a much lower life expectancy than an indoor one, if you let your cat outdoors youre actively putting them in more danger and you shouldnt have them.
Domestic cat is the name of the species. It includes the stray ones.
Humans along with their cats and pigs have done a lot of damage to biodiversity around the world. It's just one element of the 6th mass extinction we are causing.
Years ago my indoor housecat would always try to rush out the back door whenever it was opened. One day she finally managed it and then wouldn't come back in. Okay, shut the door. She proceeded to freak out and start yowling when we shut the door and left her out there for a few hours. Whatever, weather was nice and yard was enclosed.
Let her in after a few hours when it got dark, and she stopped trying to bolt outside. Nobody suffered, cat finally appreciated her cushy indoor life, and that was a win.
None of the shelters or adoption agencies near me will even let you get a cat if you don't say it will be kept indoors on the papers. Cats can easily be given the same level of enrichment indoors by playing with them.
Keeping your cat indoors is only cruel when you don't care enough about them to play and provide enrichment to make them happy, in which case you shouldn't have a cat.