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A collection of some classic Lemmy memes for your enjoyment
I witnessed basically this exact conversation once. We were in the exam room, and our vet stepped out to the computer in the hallway to show a woman her cat's X-rays. Apparently it had been attacked by a dog and wouldn't make it.
The vet literally said, "So what did we learn today? Don't let your cat outside if you want it to live."
Funny.
In Europe we've the same discussion for the opposite reasons.
Do not let the cat outside, it will kills other animals.
It's really both. Eventually cat will get into an accident, but on the way there it will take a whole bunch of smaller animals and birds with it.
This works for people with empathy who care. The former works for people who are selfish. Both are good to tell people. One may work where the other doesn't.
Bigger issue imo is cats destroying wild life not the wild life destroying cats. Either way, keep your cat inside.
Some of us live in countries that don't really have dangerous wild life and cats have been allowed outside for over 1000 years.
Humans can sustain a large density of cats that wasn't possible in the wild. If it's a pet cat, don't let it hunt. It will imbalance the ecosystem by adding too many predators who don't depend on the prey for sustenance
I always love bringing out this good ol chart.
Fake news. Birds aren't real.
cats have been allowed outside for over 1000 years
That's simply not true. There were never as many outdoor cats as there is today and cats used to have natural predators everywhere to keep environmental balance which is lost today. Keeping all of your pets indoors (or at least backyard) is the only ethically viable position.
Downvoted by people who don't like facts. There isn't a country in the world with a domestic cat population that wouldn't see a huge benefit to their native wildlife by keeping those pets inside or in a pet run. But people don't like the change or the effort of doing so, so they ignore this inconvenient fact.
Indeed, pet owners simply don't want to hear the truth which is incredibly irresponsible.
Even if you really must let your cat out there are things you can do like colorful collars with an attached bell which:
The BBScc reduced the number of birds brought home by 37% (probability of reduction of 88%). The number of mammals brought home was reduced by 54–62%, but only with the additional bell (probability of reduction of >99%)
https://zenodo.org/records/15210938
I've never seen a cat owner who cares enough to even do that when we have clear evidence this works. The naturalist argument of "oh they are local animals" is such an irresponsible cop out where they can't even bother to put a collar on to diminish the damage. It's inexcusable laziness, nothing else.
Yeah I always found the argument absurd as I live on a paved over rectangle with a few square feet of grass my cat likes to poop on while he hangs out with the local squirrels. He is far too lazy to hunt anything, he killed a mouse that was actually inside the house many many years ago but has been a pacifist since. He is 15 he literally wants to sit in the sun and do nothing.
Of course there are some cats who will hunt, and their owners should not allow that. But the blanket statements about environmental impacts, while they cool their house with AC, burn fossil fuels to heat food and go to work, order crap on Amazon...just lacks perspective.
As a cat owner who works in the animal industry, you're suffering from 'my personal experience is reality-itis'.
You can't 'not allow' your cat to hunt. The only chance you have is to keep it inside. Your old cat likely doesn't hunt outside but to think it killed a single mouse it's entire life, is delusional.
I don't understand people like you. Can you not accept that there are shades of gray, and exceptions to every rule? I'm simply arguing that not all cats MUST be kept indoors no ifs ands or buts. I concede that many cats, young ones in particular, will kill small animals. My (rescue) cat was an indoor cat for most of his 15 years and only when I moved from a major urban city apartment building to a slightly less-urban city single family house did I let him outside under controlled circumstances. I straight up know he isn't going around killing things. I didn't go out and BUY this cat, I'm not actively contributing to breeding or anything. I have an animal that deserves to enjoy his old age.
I should probably not engage with you people and just keep my truth to myself.
Cats don't always show you what they kill. I had a roommate that kept letting my cats out. Never saw them kill anything. Then my neighbor told me about how they were little murder machines while I was out at work. Tried taking out a whole near of baby birds.
So, now you're starving coyotes?
Let's keep building houses and not talk about how that destroys countless species' habitats.
No, let's shit on cats for the misery WE cause.
Saying an animal can't go outside because they are the Hitler of animals is so disingenuous and out of touch with reality.
Cats are animals and are in their element outside. Birds are not being massacred by cats. They are being massacred by humans, and you are a fool for thinking any different.
Maybe stop hating cats and start hating humans if you want to protect birds' habitat from being destroyed.
Hypocrites, the lot of you.
Birds are not being massacred by cats. They are being massacred by humans, and you are a fool for thinking any different.
Google is right there, dipshit
Get a catio.
Don’t let cats kill more birds and amphibians. Cats being let outside has contributed to the extinction of countless species.
Also, lead walking! Most cats can be trained to be very receptive to lead walking especially if you start them young. Your cat still gets the enrichment from walking around outside and all the lovely smells and sights that entails but without the danger of cars or the cat killing everything is feels like.
Holy crap..yes. leash your cats for the love of all that is fuzzy.
The anger people have when you tell them it's neglect when you just let a cat roam free. It's insanity. Your cat can easily just never come home or be found dead to many things, and they also destroy lots of wildlife and crap on people's property with no respecting owner to clean up.
No one would take this from dogs..so why cats? It's literally for their safety and the safety of other animals...its mind boggling and the downvotrs prove it
The anger people have when you tell them it’s neglect when you just let a cat roam free. It’s insanity.
If you want to see people loose their mind, suggest that the way we dominate these animals to please us is the root cause of all that suffering and neglect.
*I live with a cat and am having beef for dinner. I'm a hypocrite, not PETA.
Peta is also Extremely hypocritical but I agree.
Here is a perspective from someone who has owned an inside/outside cat for the last 12 years. My cat is independent and resourceful and yes, contributes to ecodestruction by killing birds and mice occasionally. To me this is negligible compared to the ecodestruction of simply existing in a city. If I lived in nature I would not have a cat. I don't think you can conflate my cat killing a pigeon twice a year in an urban environment with destroying the ecosystem.
It's also disengenuous to ignore the quality of life improvements of having a cat who is free to explore vs. one locked in an apartment all day. I recently moved and am now experiencing this and it sucks. I feel terrible for restricting her freedom and she is visibly less happy. If you think animals are sentient and have emotions, and you care about the environment, then none of what we are currently doing makes any sense.
I can't take anyone seriously on cat welfare if they have a cat mutilated just to prevent furniture getting some scratch marks.
My cat loves her 6 C-size breast implants thank you very much. The reduced scratching is just a tangential benefit to her self image.
My Nextdoor app = 1000 I lost my cat posts daily.
I had a idea of how to stop them but my wife wouldn't let me.
Respond with a picture of a coyote, bobcat, mountain lion, great horned owl or other predator with the caption, "Thank you for dinner, it was delicious."
It is better for the bird population, too.
As a coyote, this hurts me more.
I've had to chase the neighbor's cat away several times in the mornings before work because the scrub jays that had a nest in our bushes would be screaming at 5 in the morning because the cat would be out there
I set up motion detector sprinklers in my yard this year for pretty much the same reason. Has worked really well. I definitely forget they are on sometimes and get blasted but worth it otherwise.
