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How Far Do Your Cats Roam?

news.nationalgeographic.com

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Re: How Far Do Your Cats Roam?

#11

Post by sillysaurus3 »

timr wrote: post #8
sjtrny wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because most of the time they hang around the house. If you read the article and watch the video they say that a small minority go exploring. Most people also keep them inside at night. Furthermore since they are generally fed well by owners they have diminished interest in hunting. Keep in mind that dogs are locked up because they are usually a lot larger than cats and can attack people. It also helps that they aren…

...and yet, clearly, enough roam that it becomes a problem. I have the scars to prove it. In any case, all of those things apply to dogs, as well, but we're not allowed to let our pet dogs roam.

Easy solution: live somewhere where it's illegal. But it's perhaps misguided to feel everyone in the same country should agree with you, especially those who are following the law.

Re: How Far Do Your Cats Roam?

#12

Post by Pxtl »

sjtrny wrote: post #7
timr wrote: post #6

I don't understand why people are allowed to let their pets roam free. I grew up fishing feral cats out of places they weren't supposed to be, and it drove me crazy that people would just let their un-spayed, un-neutered cats wander around to become their neighbors' vicious little problems. Even if your kitty is fixed, she's plenty destructive to the local wildlife, not to mention a disease risk when she gets in figh…

Because most of the time they hang around the house. If you read the article and watch the video they say that a small minority go exploring. Most people also keep them inside at night. Furthermore since they are generally fed well by owners they have diminished interest in hunting. Keep in mind that dogs are locked up because they are usually a lot larger than cats and can attack people. It also helps that they aren…

Also because dogs don't have the decency to bury their poop. I've never had to scrape cat crap off of my stroller. There are more cats in my neighborhood than dogs, there are laws demanding that dog owners clean up their poop, but still I keep getting dog poop on my kids' stuff.

Re: How Far Do Your Cats Roam?

#13

Post by Houshalter »

timr wrote: post #6

I don't understand why people are allowed to let their pets roam free. I grew up fishing feral cats out of places they weren't supposed to be, and it drove me crazy that people would just let their un-spayed, un-neutered cats wander around to become their neighbors' vicious little problems. Even if your kitty is fixed, she's plenty destructive to the local wildlife, not to mention a disease risk when she gets in figh…

Not everyone lives in a densely populated area where it's a problem. Or where rabies is a problem for that matter.

Although I don't really see the issue. Cats are really harmless and tend to stay close to home. They have been roaming free around human settlements for thousands of years.

Re: How Far Do Your Cats Roam?

#14

Post by coryl »

Pxtl wrote: post #12
sjtrny wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because most of the time they hang around the house. If you read the article and watch the video they say that a small minority go exploring. Most people also keep them inside at night. Furthermore since they are generally fed well by owners they have diminished interest in hunting. Keep in mind that dogs are locked up because they are usually a lot larger than cats and can attack people. It also helps that they aren…

Also because dogs don't have the decency to bury their poop. I've never had to scrape cat crap off of my stroller. There are more cats in my neighborhood than dogs, there are laws demanding that dog owners clean up their poop, but still I keep getting dog poop on my kids' stuff.

Question: where are you letting your dog poop?

Re: How Far Do Your Cats Roam?

#15

Post by bluewolf »

personZ wrote: post #5
bluewolf wrote: post #2

If you have a cats that roams outside, beware of bunchers. Bunchers are thieves that trap and steal domesticated pets and sell them to laboratories to be experimented on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buncher An RFID microchip combined with a GPS collar (Pawtrack.com has a good one) may help prevent such a terrible outcome, but there are no guarantees.

Interesting consideration, but is it a legitimate concern? For the actual "Bunchers", it seems like there are much easier ways of acquiring cats than trying to steal domestic cats. And for cat owners, free roam cats face an endless array of very serious perils, including disease, cars, malicious neighobors/teens, dogs, coyotes, etc. I can't imagine that people stealing cats for research account for much more than a b…

If it happened to your pet, it would be a legitimate concern.

Re: How Far Do Your Cats Roam?

#16

Post by JoeAltmaier »

timr wrote: post #6

I don't understand why people are allowed to let their pets roam free. I grew up fishing feral cats out of places they weren't supposed to be, and it drove me crazy that people would just let their un-spayed, un-neutered cats wander around to become their neighbors' vicious little problems. Even if your kitty is fixed, she's plenty destructive to the local wildlife, not to mention a disease risk when she gets in figh…

Cats are not domesticated in the same way dogs are. There is a wide genetic variance in cats, coming from hundreds or thousands of local strains. Dogs are two or three main groups, bred over 1000's of years to make the kinds we see today.

Why does that matter? Well, cats are not always let free; sometimes they've always been there. Feral cats can be the ones that nobody has tamed yet. As for 'destructive', that's how nature works. You might prefer the doves, but the kitty has her own ideas and they're not vicious little problems, they're behaving as god intended.

Now I'm not sure if cats were native to North America, so there it might be negligence. But consider the parrots of San Francisco, living in large groups in the parks. Parrots are expensive; probably they are descended from those that escaped out an open window. Nobody intended for them to roam free, they did that on their own.

Re: How Far Do Your Cats Roam?

#17

Post by Pxtl »

coryl wrote: post #14
Pxtl wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also because dogs don't have the decency to bury their poop. I've never had to scrape cat crap off of my stroller. There are more cats in my neighborhood than dogs, there are laws demanding that dog owners clean up their poop, but still I keep getting dog poop on my kids' stuff.

Question: where are you letting your dog poop?

Don't have one.

Re: How Far Do Your Cats Roam?

#18

Post by agapos »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #16
timr wrote: post #6

I don't understand why people are allowed to let their pets roam free. I grew up fishing feral cats out of places they weren't supposed to be, and it drove me crazy that people would just let their un-spayed, un-neutered cats wander around to become their neighbors' vicious little problems. Even if your kitty is fixed, she's plenty destructive to the local wildlife, not to mention a disease risk when she gets in figh…

Cats are not domesticated in the same way dogs are. There is a wide genetic variance in cats, coming from hundreds or thousands of local strains. Dogs are two or three main groups, bred over 1000's of years to make the kinds we see today. Why does that matter? Well, cats are not always let free; sometimes they've always been there. Feral cats can be the ones that nobody has tamed yet. As for 'destructive', that's how…

> Cats are not domesticated in the same way dogs are. There is a wide genetic variance in cats, coming from hundreds or thousands of local strains. Dogs are two or three main groups, bred over 1000's of years to make the kinds we see today.

Also, count in the fact that dogs (and formerly wolves) were living in packs, but cats did not, and this is still in their genes. Dogs are used to, and more willing to obey someone considered the pack leader, while cats retained most of loner traits even after domestication.

Re: How Far Do Your Cats Roam?

#19

Post by timr »

sjtrny wrote: post #10
timr wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and yet, clearly, enough roam that it becomes a problem. I have the scars to prove it. In any case, all of those things apply to dogs, as well, but we're not allowed to let our pet dogs roam.

Yes but dogs can attack strangers that encroach on their territory. That's why they need to be fenced. Cats can't really do the same to a human.

My direct experience trumps your theory. Cats can do plenty to attack people when they feel threatened.
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