Reminder that puppies are babies. They are learning. The human world is VERY confusing for human kids, let alone infants of an entirely different species. They aren’t “assholes” and they don’t do anything to spite you or make you mad. They interact with the world with their mouth because they don’t have hands.
When playing, they’ll bite you harder than you like because they just don’t know it hurts! And yes, they’re going to chew on things.
If you aren’t watching a puppy and they chew something you don’t want chewed… that is not a choice they made. They aren’t being naughty. That is the puppy being a baby, exploring the world with the only tool they have.
Plus… teething is hella uncomfortable. Their mouths hurt! Chewing helps. That’s why you buy them all kinds of chewies, and keep anything else they can fit in their mouths out of reach. That’s your responsibility.
Confinement areas are so important. Playpens, not just crates. If you aren’t watching your puppy and they chew on a shoe or poop somewhere, that’s on you. Again: that is not a choice they made. If you can’t watch your puppy, put them somewhere safe. Personally, I use x-pens with a crate, a pee pad, a water bowl, and tons of things to satisfy their teething instinct on.
I’ve raised four puppies now and I’ve learned a lot. The most important thing I’ve learned is patience and compassion. Try looking at things from their point of view before you get angry at them.
@zoologicallyobsessed this is all I can think about while watching/participating in these stupid arguments about outdoor cats
@slightlyunderokayartist I can’t believe you genuinely think the “enrichment” your cat gets from going outside is worth him possibly being run over, mauled by a dog/raccoon/possum/etc, being poisoned, or otherwise being severely hurt or killed. What’s it like caring that little for the well-being of your cat?
You are not a cat. Your cat does not understand the risks of the outside, nor does he understand the ecological damage every time he hunts birds or other animals for fun. You may be able to conceptualize the idea of taking risks and doing risky things, but your cat does not. He does not understand it is risky to stand in the middle of the road, or eat strange food left outside by assholes that purposefully poison cats. He isn’t capable of weighing the risks and benefits of walking out your door. YOU are his owner, and it is YOUR job to make decisions that keep him safe and healthy.
If you genuinely cared about the value of enrichment for your cat you would give him that enrichment indoors, harness train him, or have an enclosure for him outside.
Cats are cats. They aren’t dogs, or babies, or hamsters, or teddies, or antique china ornaments. They are wild animals that also enjoy hugs.
If you have objections to letting them go outside, choose another pet.
Funny you mention hamsters because cats have been domesticated for way longer and hamsters are much more of a wild animal than they are.
It’s also really ecologically irresponsible for you to release non native wild animals into new biomes, that’s how we wind up with invasive starlings and sparrows and rats and weasels. If you think the cat is a wild animal that’s all the more reason you shouldn’t let it outside and instead just not keep it as a pet at all.
God people are so damn frustrating about this topic I legit sometimes think it should be made illegal to have outdoor cats because its obvious no one that advocates for them knows a damn thing about cats and therefore shouldn’t own one anyway!
For one thing we don’t release tigers in the middle of Canadian forests just because they’re “wild animals”. Not all predators are equally good in every environmental which is like grade 2 biology knowledge. Cats are an invasive species, allowing them to compete with local predators not only puts a bunch of pressure on them but also does the same to the prey animal(s) leading to potential extinction of one or more species WHICH BTW ISN’T JUST A HYPOTHETICAL THING! We know domestic cats have been the major factor behind several species going extinct in the modern era and other being pushed to that brink. On top of all that nature is finely balanced so those types of extinction often have a domino effect where adjacent species either have their population grow out of control or themselves go extinct. Like its bad enough humans habitation is fucking up everything without our literal pets doing their part in that.
And that’s all just discussing predatory nature of cats as a species, we have yet to come into the topic of disease vectoring! You’ve heard of rabies, right? Well there’s a bunch of diseases/parasites out there that can get spread to you by your cat which wouldn’t be the case if your cat wasn’t roaming the street like literally no other domesticated animal is allowed to do… you know because that’s fucking reckless! So not only is your cat’s health at a massive risk by doing this nonsense your entire freakin’ family is put at risk by doing it as well. Also yes if you’re wondering it goes in reverse too because your cats has its own range of diseases and parasites natives species can’t handle. So yeah, even if your dang cat isn’t intentionally killing things they’re doing it anyway just by existing in the same space.
Like this is not unreasonable: cats are a domesticated species which wild counterparts are almost certainly not even native to where you live. They shouldn’t be allowed to freely run around not only for their sake but for the sake of literally everyone else too! If you cannot keep an animal that sleeps the vast majority of the day entertained you are clearly unfit to keep that animal. No excuses like “baaaah I can’t afford cat food/I can’t figure out how to potty train them”. If you’re clearly that bad of a fit for a cat that you can’t get the most basic shit together give them to someone else that actually knows how to be responsible.
Cats don’t deserve to have the neglect of their care so normalized by people so fucking ignorant of EVERYTHING POSSIBLE THING ON THE TOPIC they think they’re the actual good guys here. Eat my entire ass, I rather see a goldfish in a tiny bowl than this shit. At least fish care fuck ups doesn’t result in in multiple bird species going extinct and their owner getting like worms or some shit.
Okay, head’s up. This little critter is called a slow loris. NEVER TAKE ONE AS A PET. They’ve experienced a boom in popularity as pets in parts of Asia and then the rest of the world, and this is not okay.
Why?
A) They’re endangered
B) They’re venomous. The only known venomous primate, to be exact. They store it in their inner arms.They’ll get in defensive posture, suck the venom from their glands, and them bite. And the bite can kill a human. (Seriously, one nipped Lady Gaga in Feb 2014 when she thought it would be a good idea to use one in a music video. They dropped that idea, thankfully.)
C) They’re endangered directly BECAUSE OF THE EXOTIC PET TRADE
D) When the poachers trap them, THEY CLIP THEIR FUCKING TEETH TO MAKE THEM “MANAGEABLE.” Many slow loris’ will die before ever being sold because of complications with HAVING THEIR FUCKING TEETH CLIPPED. (There’s a reason the loris’ in the videos are only eating soft foods…)
E) The exotic pet trade on slow loris’ BOOMed because of youtube videos like the one above.
And please make it very clear to everyone who thinks these videos are cute, that the animal in question has been stolen from it’s natural habitat and horrifically abused just so it could be a “cute” pet.
Okay. This guy really is so very cute. But it’s just fucking weird to me to keep a primate as a pet.
And its even worse when they have been mistreated in order to be a ‘good pet.’
According to researchers, coordinated critics have mounted a “misinformation campaign designed to purposefully fabricate doubt regarding the harmful impacts of outdoor cats and stymie policies that would remove outdoor cats from the landscape.”
The conflict stems from a groundbreaking study published in 2013 by scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That study evaluated the combined impact of the tens of millions of outdoor cats in the United States. The authors found that roaming outdoor cats kill approximately 2.4 billion birds every year and are the leading source of direct, human-caused mortality to birds in the country. Similar results have since been confirmed in Canada and Australia.
To those of you still in denial about how bad outdoor cats are to wildlife not just in your own countries but globally here’s the cold hard scientific facts stating that you are apart of a movement of uneducated critics spreading misinformation.
Here’s the link to the open-source scientific artificial as well:
Cats live longer, happier, healthier lives indoors.
Longer and healthier, yes. Happier, I’m honestly not so sure about. Both my rescue and my born-as-indoor-cat love fresh air and would leave the house if they could. Especially when they see birds, but even if I just open a window for some fresh air, they’ll try to get out. I always feel like I’m denying them something they need or desperately want. They have plenty of indoor space and toys (even feathered ones that simulate flight). I’m not sure they’re happier inside but it’s the only way I can guarantee their safety given that I live in a city apartment.
Catios and supervised outdoor time on a porch or on a leash can be good forms of enrichment for cats. But I don’t think cats are happier if they are left in unsafe situations for extended periods of time. Cats are animals, and while some of them may have an impulse to chase birds outside, thar doesn’t mean that being a free roaming outdoor cat is actually good for them.
TRY TAKING YOUR CAT ON A WALK WITH A HARNESS
It’s something that cats (just like dogs) can be trained to do. And something that some cats (just like some dogs) never really take to, while others really do.
And if your cat doesnt like it, or you can’t be bothered to train them with one, then you find other forms of enrichment. Not free roaming.
Now I’ve wondered why it can’t be made law just that all cats should wear collars with bells- I’m guessing it just wouldn’t help, but feels like it should… that way cats can still roam about as they like but won’t be anywhere near such a threat to wildlife.
This is so fucking ridiculous. My cat is almost 15, hes not an accident prone toddler and he’s not a dog, I’m not walking him on a leash unless we go somewhere unfamiliar and I need to take him with me. He’s always been an outdoor cat ever since he was 8 months old and we’ve never had a problem. His mother Poppy didn’t have a problem and his sister Holly didn’t have a problem and neither did the rest of his siblings. He just goes outside and then drums on the back door to ask to get back in, its not that complicated and he usually comes back before a certain time, especially when it’s colder, he’s a very mild and predictable cat, he’s not a rabid animal. Most of the time he just wants to sit on the shed roof and people watch over the fence. Now when I say outdoor cat I mean he goes outside in the garden to chase birds, sunbathe, climb trees and go to the bathroom. He also has a litter tray if he doesn’t want to go outside if its raining or if its too cold or snowy. He doesn’t need to be supervised, he’s fine on his own and can spend hours at a time just lying on the decking, I don’t have enough hours in the day to just sit and watch him, just leave him alone, he wants personal time. But a house is suffocating for a cat, especially in summer where in the UK the temperature in a house is unbearable because we don’t have proper ventilation or air conditioning (because we’ve never really needed it before). He wants to run around and sit up in trees, not so much in winter anymore because he’s getting older, but he still wants to have fun and not wander around the same rooms all of the time.
Theres is a HUGE difference between farm cats and domesticated outdoor cats. My cat is vaccinated, he is neutered and gets a flea, mite and worm treatment every 3 months at the vet and an all round vet check up once a year as well as having pet insurance. My cat has never gotten sick, ever. The only time he has actually been injured was when we insisted he wear a collar with a bell, which really irritated him, and he got caught on a fence and was stuck there meowing for help, it was a good thing he was in a back garden and not trapped in a shed or in a field. After that he just got a tracking chip in him instead, I’m glad I’ve never had to use it. He’s never been injured after we took it off and he’s certainly never been hit by a car or attacked by wildlife. Cats are not idiots, they don’t go near moving cars, they don’t go near foxes because they want to live. Keeping a cat indoors all day is almost cruel, especially if you live somewhere like me where there’s literal mountains and forests at your doorstep and plenty of fresh air and friendly neighbours. Literally everyone I know lets their cat outside, like why are Americans so fucking dramatic? Just let your cat go for a piss about in the garden, it literally does no harm. My neighbours let maine coons the size of small children outside and they’re the most tame cats ever, they just roam about and lie on your decking to sunbathe, I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard them fight or kill other animals.
It’s like you didnt read the article at all. But thanks for proving the point.
Science denialism is a bad look.
I did read the article, assuming things is a bad look you know. What is also a bad look is Americans going. Look! Look at this article only relevant to Americans and people who live in America every one must now follow this, everyone on Earth who has a cat hecause the whole world is America. What is with Americans and they think the entire world revolves around them and everything relevant in their country is relevant everywhere else? There are other places in the world, did you know the Earth is round? I think its just a given that you generally do not let your pets out near dangerous wildlife, like in Australia where nature is angry and is out to get you. Here you don’t even need screen doors because the most annoying insect we have is a wasp. That article is one article and is also an article which is not reputable. An article is not a reputable scientific source unless whoever is presenting it is unbiased, the American Bird Conservatory isn’t. They are biased, and also American, meaning the United States so they only represent ONE study that was done in half a continent of the entire world and the study conviently aligns with what they believe. A country that has a very big problem with stray cats. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stray or sick cat outside, ever, because people neuter their cats here and get them vaccinated. Its not a scientific journal, its not peer reviewed and is very clearly biased. No shit I’m not going to listen to it. Sure science denialism does make you look like an idiot, but also being a cheeky wanker who doesn’t know what makes a source reputable also makes you look like a massive idiot.
First of all, YOU’RE assumptions about your cat does or doesnt do when you can’t observe them doesn’t negate scientific research.
And to assume that stray cats and free roaming house cats are only a problem in the US is pure ignorance.
Like, where on Earth do you think letting cats free roam is ok?
Cats are domesticated animals. There’s no inner jaguar, yearning for freedom and The Hunt. They have an intelligence that suits cohabitation with humans, and situations outside of that are more stressful than eating and playing at home, safely. (Overall, in general, of course.)
The science is there to back it up. Cats are not only in danger when let outside on their own, but they become a danger to the environment. There have been certain times in certain places where it was actually required of people to kill strays on sight if possible, because the cats were destroying the local ecosystem.
Peoples’ feelings on the matter shouldn’t matter. This is the spanking debate all over again.
Although I agree with this research watching everyone argue the polarities is just non-sensible. Cats are a strain on local ecosystems, that is pretty evident. But please, refrain from comparing cats and dogs, they are nothing akin.
Cats are carnivorous animals, and it is impossible to fully domesticate a carnivore as is the case with cats. Yes they do have an innate, inner need to hunt. That’s why they will do it every opportunity they get and why ALL of their toys are associated with hunting. They aren’t just cute stuffed animals, they have sound, movement, etc. You’re house burns down, your cat has a better chance of survival then you do. You die, you cat will find food in the house (contrary to popular belief dogs are substantially more likely to eat you then cats). They are resourceful, they are NOT domesticated. Cats require a certain amount of independence, to strip that from them is cruel. They can be perfectly happy indoors, some cats are and other cats have a non stop desire to be outdoors.
Animal husbandry has caused a
symbiotic relationship between humans and dogs, this is what we refer to as domestication. Dogs would have a very challenging time surviving if it wasn’t from human.
Taking a cat out on a lead walk would just be cruel. You are taking your cat outside to show them all the great things they would naturally love to do and taking it away.
I have three cats myself, have volunteered at the RSPCA, and worked with many other cats in my life. I don’t think the answer is so cut. Since I’ve read this I have tried to find ways to keep my cats healthy and happy. My two cats who love outdoors can come in the backyard with me in the summer, I have seen my neighbor walking his cats without a lead which would be great if you can teach your cats that. I also go to the pet shop every once and a while and grab a handful of crickets, my cats go APE for that stuff. Some cats may be happy on a leash but I tried with mine since they were kittens and you are lucky if they permit you to drag them.
And lets your cats be the predators of your house instead of using traps. I live by a creek so every fall I get mice. When cats are cruel toying with mice, they are also giving off a pheromone that warns the rest of the mice that there is a cat in the house. This, til this day, is one of the most effective methods of vermin control.
Nothing you said is true in the slightest. You’re purposely spreading misinformation under the guise that you think you know what you’re talking about.
Since we’re talking about relevant experience in animals, here’s mine:
four years working at two city council animal shelters
a bachelor degree in zoology
four years experience in science
currently doing my Masters degree
Internship at scientific environmental research center
four years of volunteer and research work from native wildlife to insects to pets.
I think I win huh? So I think I’m going to know a lot more about cats or any animal really then you.
First – cats are domesticated. The fact you think carnivores can’t be domesticated is
idiocy
at it’s finest. The dog is considered a facultative carnivore (although some would consider them omnivores but I’d disagree) and cats are obligate carnivores. Both are carnivores we have domesticated.
Cats are 100% domesticated, hence why they, Felis catus are called ‘domestic cats’. So scientists, vets and animal experts say cats are domesticated.
Thirdly – using a leash to walk your cat is not “cruel” the fact you think that just shows you have little understanding (again) on what that word means. Cat leashes are approved by vets and are a great, safe way to allow your cat to go outside without the risk of them killing native wildlife, hurting humans, hurting other pets, getting killed by cars or humans or animals, preventing them from reproducing, eating poisons, contracting or spreading zoonotic diseases, just to name a few.
Me, a zoologist, talking about pet cats: pet owners need to keep their cats indoors for a whole list of reasons both for the safety of their pet, other animals and wildlife.
Tumblr user #59 who has never stepped foot on a farm: Oh so you want farmers to take their barn-cats and feral cats into their houses huh? Is that’s what you want? You idiot.
(2/2) AND because we don’t have a cat, we have a ton of barn swallows which are 1) not domesticated, not our responsibility to care for, and therefore cost free 2) native to our region, and 3) really, really good at eating bugs, which are WAY worse for a modern barn than rodents. We can deal with rodents by properly storing our feed and keeping our barn in good shape, but god himself cannot design a fly spray strong enough to keep both our horses and our wallets happy in the summer.
Honestly this! Every person that’s actually lives / works on a farm has said similar things, mostly that cats don’t improve rodent or pests and that there’s easier and more humane ways to do so.
The only people saying that barn cats / feral cats are important to farms are people who, surprise surprise, aren’t farmers!
ifesbob 