I had an indoor-only cat who was taken away from his barn-cat mother a little too early, and he was very good at catching mice in the house…but then clearly had no idea what he was supposed to do with them after that! It was like he knew he was supposed to do something with his mouth so he’d try to lick them, but didn’t like the taste and would make the ‘stank-face’ (flehmen response) after getting a mouthful of mouse. I ended up taking away quite a few exhausted and slobbered-on-but-unbitten mice from him over the years!
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Well said! A classic example. I love cats but they should be kept inside. Lots of science to support that recommendation. The most persuasive research to me is the stuff that shows that indoor cats live much longer than outdoor, or indoor-with-outdoor-access cats. But the impact of outdoor cats on bird and small rodent populations is considerable.
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My slobbering man manged to live 18.5 years inside, definitely wouldn’t have made it that long outdoors considering all the predators (coyotes, cougars, bears) out where I live! He never wanted to go outside except for one time (well into his old age) I had to dive for him when he rushed the door because he was convinced that he could take down the 900 lb fully-grown elk cow browsing in front of the house. XD
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That’s like arguing that animals in zoos live much longer than their counterparts in the wild.
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Like it in what regard? Presumably, animals in the wild don’t live as long as ones in zoos because humans haven’t intervened to provide them with the resources they need to survive.
However, with outdoor cats vs. indoor cats, both receive human support. I may be incorrectly assuming here, but one of the reasons that outdoor cats live shorter lives is that their time outdoors leads them to pick up diseases, pests, you name it. At least, that’s how I always thought it was.
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Outdoor cats can pick up pests, both internal and external, and diseases. If they are cared for by humans they may be vaccinated and treated for disease.They also fall to predation and fights, and for a lot of them, vehicular collision.
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Good points
Where are the memes? I came here for the memes.
It seems to me that the indoor-outdoor pet discussion is rather off-topic. (And experience suggests that this is a topic that people tend to have strong feelings about, meaning that there is a fairly low likelihood of a constructive exchange of ideas that does not deteriorate into fighting.)
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Apologies forgetting off topic. People like to chat.
Time for you to add a meme?
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That’s true, but they are also killed by cars, dogs, coyotes, territorial fights with other cats when the bite wounds get infected, etc. I am sad to say that I once tried to warn a new neighbor about the two-lane road that we lived on being dangerous for pets because so many people were speeding on it. I suggested that he keep his pets inside and he said no, his cats were car-savvy. The sad part was that it wasn’t long before the cats were hit by cars and killed. (I was really happy to move away from there.)
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Yes, I was reluctant to bring it up, but the alternative is to allow people to say that cats are “cruel” by nature, when it is a situational problem. Keep your not-trained-to-kill cat indoors and it is unlikely to be a problem.
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Well said. I should have just read a little further before responding and left that comment to you.
No problem! I’m here for the fun! 
Dang it, those shorebirds are exactly like a game of Where’s Waldo!
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I would pay for a “Where’s Walaii?” book. Pls Someone make this real.
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i laughed from the photo, then i saw the bird’s name. i laughed even louder
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