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Cat's in urban areas that aren't socialized are always skittish. It's about not being socialized to humans are a critical age. The areas that you are finding "friendly" strays are where people abandon former pets. Former pets were socialized at the critical age and want human contact.
Basically you are describing areas with shitty humans as areas with superior humans.
If your little murder floof is on walkabout, it's either unplanned or you need to re-examine things. If you want fewer mosquitoes, keep your cats inside 100% -- that's almost a binary choice.
The world has changed; and any cat outside should be seen as the indication of a problem. Also, depending where you are - eg k2k - the coyotes or similar indigenes will handle things in ways you don't want.
I, like many, will have to disagree. This is just my personal opinion though.
One of our cats we let out whenever she wants, she desires being outside and I can't seem to steal that freedom from her. I know it's more dangerous outside, but she was a stray for the first couple years of her life and is probably more aware of the dangers than most people. Now she mainly just sleeps in a chair on our porch watching birds.
Our other kitty has always had a home and loves outside, but only goes out on a leash (before her I honestly didn't think a cat would use a leash).
I think the main issue with outdoor cats isn't even the danger posed to the cats; it's the danger the cats pose to everything else. Numerous species — especially birds — have gone extinct specifically because of cats. It's one thing to have a barn cat or mouser, but cats wreak havoc on ecosystems. And iirc, indoor cats have a lot longer life expectancy than outdoor cats. I understand wanting to give freedom to our furry friends, but cats hunt for fun and are basically murderous little fluffballs to anything smaller or similar size than them.
Recent numbers I've seen estimate domestic and feral cats kill billions of song birds annually. As you mentioned avian insectivores help keep flying insect numbers in balance. Cats also predate beneficial reptiles and amphibians. Even the mice, gophers and other small mammals cats kill fill a niche in a habitat, killing them can weaken the food web.
The majority of human beings live in urban areas where its ridiculously unsafe for cats. In the city every outdoor cat is either abandoned or feral and neither particularly long for this world.
Outdoor cats live about 3-5 years, indoor cats live 10-20. Again shitty humans.
Atomic family has amassed 60 years total working SPCA/Vet/etc . They can all confirm it's that bad.
Good think we don't have to make up the answers when we can look them up!
14% of Americans live in rural settings
https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/102576/eib-230.pdf
(warning large pdf) search for text 14 percent its on page 4.
https://www.petmd.com/cat/care/can-indoor-cat-be-part-time-outdoor-cat
It really is very very bad. rural areas may have less traffic but they also have more wild animals
It's weird that you respond to actual information based on what your feels tell you.
There are in fact not. Smaller states still have cities and people tend to be concentrated around those cities ND the very definition of a shit hole state with nothing in it. 85% of its meager population lives in the metro areas surrounding its 5 biggest (for ND) cities. The other 15% live in the other 99% of the state.
Lets look at a population density map to better visualize this. https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2021/geo/population-distribution-2020.html
Outdoor cats just don't live near as long on average. This isn't about your feels its about reality its about stats.
Regarding the safety of rural areas. Dogs kill cats, cats kill other cats, raccoons kill cats, eagles and other predatory birds kill cats, cars kill cats, eating poisoned nuisance animals kills cats, coyotes kill cats.
Quora is a very very bad source. You'll find threads there in support of the flat earth! It's as real as asking your neighbors knowing that none of them actually know and everyone is just repeating their own anecdotes. I on the other hand quoted UC Davis Veterinary Medicine. All the threats I mentioned are in fact very real.
You offer fanciful counters like the cars won't be a problem if the driver stops! You are just trying to justify your outdoor cat which will die sooner than mine.