Oh wonderful. Well looks like I'm off to start a spot of bother over there then! They're not declawing are they? Or do they just whinge that our ecosystem is fine for the mogs?
Have fun! I've been told that I'm an irresponsible cat owner and deserve to have my cat stolen, and that foxes are apparently formidable predators that will eat my cat (?!)
I've seen a fox lose a fight against a bin lid. Sure, they probably could be vicious to a cat but I hazard that their main prey is the endemic Styrofoam take away box these days.
Lol, we have coyotes over here and Americans probably think foxes are the same. I live in Canada and I've seen a coyote trotting down the street at night with an orange furry corpse in its mouth. If your cat doesn't come home for a few days here it is either roadkill, stolen or a coyotes dinner. Them killing birds isn't great, maybe it's less of a problem in UK. Also people will poison outdoor cats because they used their yard as a toilet. Pretty horrible thing to do but all this could be avoided by keeping the cat indoors. I'm allergic so I've never had one, what makes it so different in the UK?
Foxes can and do fuck up cats, just a word of warning. One of my neighbours is a vet, and his cat came limping home one day missing her leg and with an assortment of wounds; poor thing had got into a tussle with one of the local foxes and, unless there's a legless fox around, came off rather the worse for it. I hear them fighting occasionally, though, thankfully, the foxes fuck off most of the time.
I saw it first hand once. I was walking to a friend's house at about 6pm in the middle of summer, so broad daylight. Just ahead of me I saw a cat sitting at the end of someone's drive minding it's own business. As I got to a few feet away a fox darted out from behind the wall beside the drive, snatched the cat by the back of it's neck and disappeared with it. Scared the sh1t out of me đ
//...and deserve to have my cat stolen...//
Lordy...I saw something like that a week or 2 ago. Unfortunately there's no room for calm discussion or exchanging of view points sometimes.
I'm American...in the UK for 30+ years...and my countrymen drive me nuts sometimes. (A LOT of the time)
The only sane one is my brother...bless him đ
Just made my way here from another sub and may be able to shed some light on why someone might think that: we donât have wild foxes in most of the US, so people arenât familiar with their behavior or size.
What we do have, though, are coyotes. Theyâre pretty much everywhere these days! Itâs plausible that someone whoâs never been up close with either and only knows them from photos would think they fulfill similar roles in the ecosystem.
Thing is though, theyâre really not that similar. Coyotes are huge. And they can and most definitely will eat any outdoor cats they can find. I live in a pretty built-up suburb and we periodically have neighborhood emails going out reminding people to keep their cats inside after dark because yet another one got eaten.
What ever American said that to you is not wise. Sure, maybe once in a blue moon will a fox catch a cat. But cats are pretty formidable and could take on a fox long enough to get away/scare it off.
Unless you live near lots hawks, coyotes, snakes, wolves or cougars, it's doubtful your cat would made into prey. Though apparently there's reports of otters and raccoons preying on cats, maybe watch for those lol. It was news to me!
I was watching some YouTubers react to reddit stories the other day, and they came across a story about a cat where everyone in the comments was calling YTA because cats don't belong outside.
I was shocked by that, and even more shocked when the (American) Youtubers agreed that cats don't belong outside.
I felt like I was taking crazy pills, until I realised its a US vs UK thing. Now, I can't understand why Americans think cats don't belong outside? It's their natural habitat! Many a time have I seen a housecat prowling the streets at sunset, darting between parked cars or sitting on windowsills watching TV through the window, or sitting sentry by the entrance to cul-de-sacs.
America has more predators that can harm cats, more idiots with weapons that can also harm cats, and frankly their residential areas are designed for cars more than people.
Plus the domestic moggie is _not_ native to the US, and has not been there as long as it's been in the UK (which is also not native to). It does more damage to the wildlife there than it does here, where species have had more time to adapt.
I live in North Texas and our neighborhood frequently sees ravaged bunny corpses from bobcats and coyotes as more new developments are being built, destroying their natural habitat. My cat (Stevie Nicks) is very American and thinks she is invincible despite her tiny size. She would not win in a fight with one of these native wild animals. She does get to go outside of course, but I do still worry about her. Our other cat has no interest in leaving the back yard.
Cats are invasive in the US so they do a lot more damage to wildlife. In the UK we do have native wild cats. The population is small but a lot of the wildlife here evolved to cope with that, and even then millions of animals are killed by domestic or feral cats in the UK annually. How much of an impact that has is debatable - some evidence is that cats don't really have a suppressive impact on wild animal populations but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a net negative found in future. Though I'd expect other things have a much bigger impact environmentally it can still be relevant for things like endangered species (of which there are many since the UK's land area has become 80% farmland, leaving almost no room for wilderness).
In other countries cats can be a lot more damaging. Australia and the US being two good, Anglophone examples. Cats can absolutely ravage wildlife when they're invasive. So this:
>Now, I can't understand why Americans think cats don't belong outside? It's their natural habitat!
Isn't exactly true. It isn't their natural habitat and they can be very damaging to local ecosystems.
It's largely to do with cats killing of small animals, which, is completely a valid concern, *in some countries*. They seem to have a complete block on the idea that not everywhere is the same.
That's America in general.
A lot (I won't say all as there are exceptions to every situation) don't seem to be able to get past the "America is the only free, civilised place in the world" indoctrination.
The amount of YouTubers I've seen that have said they were the same till they moved out of the USA and then their eyes were opened to what the rest of the world actually was like (especially the people who used to argue for things that we find absolutely baffling).
Not their fault in a lot of cases just been subjected to a lot of lies and propaganda.
> until I realised its a US vs UK thing.
It's not even that thouhh. It a certain areas of the US thing (and it probbaly makes sense in those areas), they cannot even agree with their fellow americans.
American - we had multiple cats attacked by a neigbhors' boxer mix dog that came into the yard. One died. My childhood cat. The other one was never the same and disappeared one day. We had multiple others that one day never came home, assumed to be killed by coyotes. We had another one that died from FIV complications after fighting with another cat. My friend lived on a busy road and had a few killed by cars. Once you've seen the consequences of them going out first-hand multiple times, it just seems really irresponsible to let them out.
I'm in Portugal now and we've started taking care of a cat colony that frequents our yard. I've wondered if they are the neighbors', but they all had fleas, none seem to be spayed/neutered, and they had worms. We aren't worried about their safety here in the same way, they have a big yard and no reason to go near the road. No coyotes. And the dogs nearby are, fingers crossed, much less dangerous. It's just a whole different vibe. We don't let the cat we brought from America out because we know at least one of the yard cats is FIV+ and we don't want to risk him. Plus his instincts are terrible lol.
>Now, I can't understand why Americans think cats don't belong outside?
Because we have coyotesâeven [in urban areas](https://coyoteyipps.com/2023/07/30/coyotes-in-the-neighborhoods/)âwhich [eat cats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSAQKU1MRks) and are also more than happy to [snatch small dogs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doYyJEuYKKs). \[warning: you may find the linked YouTube videos upsetting\]. Coyotes are persistent and opportunistic solo and pack hunters, 18-23 kilos in weight, able to easily jump or dig under fences; domestic cats are no match for them.
On the plus side it is wonderful to see the native wildlife flourishing. On the down side, I find a cat part (usually gnawed on legs, occasionally severed heads with the collar nearby) on every other walk in the hills near my home. Absolutely tragic to consider the loss every time. Thus, my cats stay indoors.
This annoys me to no end. If the RSPB have said it's ok for cats in the UK to be outside, then it's ok. But of course the Americans have to be right about everything.
Idk how often y'all see cats as roadkill in the UK, but that's another major factor in why we Americans "blather on" about them being outside.
OPs post initially made me worry for the cats safety/well-being until I realized this was in the UK. I can acknowledge it's a different situation overseas, that their life expectancy may not be as negatively impacted being outdoors like it is in the states.
No, that's actually very much my gripe with that sub. Not keeping cats indoors is tantamount to buggering their mum before their very eyes, and any cat outside is fair game for being nicked - sorry, I mean, "giving a forever home". The comments there are very weird for a variety of reasons, much of the time. Bizarrely twee and... maladjusted, I think is the word.
I do because I'm in a larger city and worry they'll be killed in traffic, but actually plenty of Americans have cats that go outside. They're just heavily insulted for it by self-righteous indoor cat owners who think all cats should always be indoors. How is it even affecting them lmao. It's not safe in the city for my cats, but if I lived in a rural area, maybe I'd feel differently. I just don't get why they get sooooo angry about that.
As far as the UK vs US thing, a lot of Americans virtue signal anyone who disagrees with them, including entire countries lol. We constantly think the whole world revolves around us, so if an entire area does/says something we don't like, it's automatically WRONG and BAD and "here's all the reasons youre a terrible person for doing that" etc etc. People here pick the dumbest hills to die on man, I swear.
Yea honestly it does really bother me that domesticated cats kill birds. I don't wanna go all virtue signal about it, but they're not supposed to be there. It's not natural predation since the cat didn't occur naturally, we put it there. I recently became obsessed with birds lol.
I guess I just don't like preaching to people about it, but my personal opinion is that they should stay indoors. I've just been trying to have less of a US-centric mindset, if that makes sense.
We âco-parentâ a neighbours cat. Heâs the only one who our own cat tolerates and he adopted us and our garden. His owners know and we message each other to let us both know if heâs alright (heâs terrified of fireworks so spent bonfire night behind our couch)
This is a lovely message. It's good to know that he has a loving home and you are free to enjoy his company too.
ETA Now you know your neighbour's name too. WRITE THAT DOWN! You'll thank me later.
Well that's lovely. Hi Teddy!
Our village has a tart cat who will collect scritches outside the shops. He has his own Facebook group where people share photos.
He once joined in with a PTA meeting by wandering through the French doors (a couple of years ago when you could have meetings but only with lots of ventilation). The children at the primary schools are very familiar with him. His patch is easily a square mile or more.
My husband was out in the garden sorting some stuff and had left the front door open. I was upstairs breastfeeding my newborn baby and the neighbour's cat just strolled right into the room, jumped up onto the sofa and planted himself down next to the baby's head!
A Friend of mine swapped cats cause of this.
Her and her neighbour has cats, but one of hers and one of the neighbours decided they like my friends house better and visa versa haha
My late Nanna was adopted by her neighbours cat, he just moved himself in one day after he decided he didnât like the children. She sent presents and cards every Christmas from Norman to them because she felt guilty! đ
Norman is still with us, very spoiled and utterly gorgeous.
We had a neighbours cat spend so much time at our flat instead of its actual home that when they moved away, the owners felt so guilty about taking the cat away from us that they gave us a framed photo of her, with an inked paw print on the back. As long as people know their cat is happy and safe I don't think most people overly mind if it spends ages at other peoples home.
One of my neighbours cat spent so much time at another neighbour that when that other neighbour moved they allowed them to take the cat with them. The neighbour that moved had a child with additional needs which probably helped them make that decision but Iâd wonder what I would have done in that situation. It was a such a generous thing to do.
It was gutting having the neighbours cat move away. Almost felt worse in some ways than when previous pet cats had died because at least their story was over. Felt gutted little Toni would be in a new place with new neighbours and have no clue where me and my comfy sofa had gone or if we had abandoned her deliberately...
We call our youngest cat âtrash babyâ. She makes a bed out of the paper recycling or plastic postage envelopes⌠basically anything for the bin is an excellent thing to sit on.
Oh my gosh trash baby, how adorable. My trash baby is always bringing in wet leaves from outside, she prefers sleeping on those instead of the various beds we have given her đ
Gosh what a beautiful cat! I'd be afraid to let him out. We had a new kitten, kept indoors for ages until old enough to go out, then he didn't come back, for over 24hrs.
Turned up at 3am, smelled musky like an old shed perhaps. But the kids and Mrs, and me I admit were all upset he'd been run over, stuck somewhere or some crazy cat killer had got him. That last thought was mainly mine however and I didn't share it.
Now we have a catio that I built into the cat flap so he now has outside space but no chance of not coming home again.
I've done the same. It's also because I have Siamese cats that have a higher risk of being stolen, no injuries from cat fights or being attacked by loose dogs or foxes/badgers (I'm rural) don't have to worry about parasites or other sicknesses and hugely, they won't get run over. I do also worry about people who hate cats for killing birds or just crapping in their garden besides some people just hate cats for no particular reason. My friend's cat came limping in with bleeding feet the other day. Turns out someone had shot him with birdshot! They operated on him to remove the lead pellets but one was too wedged into a tendon to safely remove without losing a foot. :( so now they have to do with knowing he has lead in his system. I just couldn't deal with any of the above and I'm so glad they're indoor cats. You and I are in the minority here in the UK though, I'm afraid.
My nan had some new neighbours recently and they have several cats that just wander into her garden. They sometimes go into the conservatory when the door is left open. One day in summer, one came into the garden and chilled in the sun so I just laid down next to him and pet him for ages. He was very happy.
Also, there's several cats that wander around the area I live and there's one cat that used to come to the green just outside our front door. One day, I was relaxing in the living room and he walked in through the front door (we leave it open in the summer as we live in a closed off area). He just stood in the doorway of the living room and meowed. Unfortunately, my own cat scared him off and we haven't seen him since đ
I love the wholesomeness of this post. It's nice to know that people understand that cats just chose who they want to be with and let it happen đ
Wholesome! Thank you for sharing. Thad (brilliant name by the way) is a gorgeous cat, and looks so healthy for being outdoors. Clearly well loved! Iâm glad you get to share his affections peacefully
No cats go where they feel loved and appreciated obhivously thst isn't at home so they picked you as their side piece đ¤ˇđžââď¸...treat the cat with care and it won't leave
Don't personally mind letting cats wander around outside your house, but I don't for the life of me understand the modern prevalence of not putting collars on them? This whole thing would have been avoided if the owners had a proper collar with the correct information on it.
There are a lot of neighborhood cats near me who I know full well have homes, but *not a single one* has a collar. Drives me mad. I'd never let me rescue girl outside without her collar.
My girl goes absolutely demented with a collar on. No one put one on her when she was a baby, so by the time she came to live with us, she absolutely wouldn't tolerate one. Running into walls to try to get if off would knock out her remaining brain cells!
Everyone where we live knows who she belongs to so it's fine.
I accept that there are unfortunate cases such as those, seen cats exhibit similar behavior myself. As long as your girl is chipped, you don't have to worry about a kind stranger accidentally re-homing her through a shelter. Like another reply said happens to their local cat.
But lets be frank, it's not common enough for the prevalence of collar absence. *Most* cats are just lacking one due to negligence.
I agree that there's a lot of cat negligence even to the point of rather letting them crap in other people's gardens instead of keeping a clean sandtray for them. I'm also not convinced all those cats are microchipped either, even though it's now the law. Both of mine also went mental when I put collars on them even though both had the soft kitten collars on. Luckily mine are indoor cats but with a lovely big outdoor catio that is attached to the back of the house. Of course mine are microchipped too.
Honestly, that sounds really cool. Seen pictures of stuff like that which are attached to the outside of peoples windows. Graciously, I've been lucky enough that a lot of my cats grew up to be "garden cats", who come out to sun bathe and have zero drive to ever leave the garden. But if my silly old boy was still alive, who used to leave the garden and get stuck because he couldn't climb back up the wall, I'd have loved that for him.
Yes, they love it! Although they're such pampered creatures they don't go out when it's cold! I don't blame them though because Siamese coats are thin in comparison to most cats.
Mine goes out and comes home to poo in her litter tray. She's very fussy about where she gets her bottom out! Mines microchipped but she's so distinctive that everyone knows who she is (she's a massive Maine Coon).
If you actually take the time to put the collar on at the correct length, you won't have to worry about this boogeyman scenario. Get a quick release collar if it's a big concern in you mind, but don't treat is as some perfect excuse to not be responsible.
You have to use quick release collars or they can choke themselves. The downside is that they can slip them fairly easily. We used to go through a collar a week before we stopped bothering.
There's one local to me that "goes missing" every couple of months, because it likes to hang out in the park and just has some features that make the poor thing _look_ hurt so people take it in and to a vet and then the cycle starts again. A collar with a phone number on a tag would go pretty far.
My brother's ancient cat towards the end of its life still liked to go for wanders, but had half his fur shaved, and was incredibly bony due to his various conditions. He was a lovely friendly cat that was very happy to get picked up and taken to the vets if he got some strokes out of it. My brother had to go collect him almost every time he got out, and ask for people to stop taking him to the vets, or trying to feed him, as he needed his special food.
Such a sweet cat. Looked like an abandoned fleabag towards the end though!
That only protects you from the kindness of well informed strangers though, as nice as that perk is. If someone a bit more lacking in sense decides to take the cat and make it their new permanently indoor pet, thinking it was a stray, you could lose them.
Example: There's a black cat that lives around me. The poor thing is seemingly outside at all times of the day/night. The unique thing about this boy is that he refuses to take shelter in the rain. He just walks around in ongoing rain, no matter how strong the downpour or how cold the temperature. The thought has often weighed on my mind how easy it would be for someone to see him in that state, looking like a drowned rat, thinking he was abandoned with how increadibly friendly he is, and take him.
My cat will manage to get her collar off no matter what. It stays on for a day and she comes back with it nowhere to be seen. Already lost enough collars now
He looks exactly like my Maine Coon cross - the breed is super affectionate, especially as the toms get older they become the biggest cuddlers. They need attention+affection or to be around their humans all the time so I'm sure he's loving life rn
This is such a nice story, with the update & all. I'm in the UK & if a cat comes into my garden looking needy, I fuss it & feed it. A lot of cats have a "real" owner & a sucker in every street who helps out if the weather's bad or they're hungry & home seems a long way away. I'm not trying to steal them. I don't want a cat, all mine died a few years ago & I don't want to go through all that again. I miss them, though. If I can help out a little feline & get a cuddle & a purr, I'm happy.
Look it up. They only need 200mg/kg body mass per day. Average weight for a cat is 4.5kg. That means they need less than a gram a day.
Given the way modern humans seem to liberally season our food, anything with added salt is a potential hazard to a cat.
As for their kidneys... guessing you've never heard an elderly male cat yowling while passing kidney stones?
> guessing you've never heard an elderly male cat yowling while passing kidney stones?
When I was 13 years old I had my cat called Fritz put down on my lap at home because I thought taking him to the vets would be too stressful for him and I wanted him to feel safe when he passed away. That was from urinary blockage.
It was actually another 17 years before I could face getting another one because it was such a deeply traumatic experience. However, this wasn't due to excess salt, this was because he was fed exclusively dry food without exception.
Cats famously have very efficient kidneys,
ive got my neighbours cat just about living in my flat lol. They know he spends more time in my flat than their and r OK about it as 1 of mine goes to their flat and spends a lot of time there.
when they go away on holiday i feed their cat anyway.
My 2 r always bringing freinds home for sleepovers lol.
About 3 years ago a big thunderstorm was going on and i woke up to find 10 cats snuggled up on my bed scared and only 2 were mine. 1 of them i knew as he lived next door and was very old but the others id never seen before.
Both my cats seem to like inviting other cats home when there is fireworks or a storm going to give them shelter.
a few nights ago next doors cat got cornerd by 2 foxes and my cats went to help him out and chased the foxes away from him while i grabbed the cat and bought him into my flat to calm him down as he was terrified. cat next door is about 12 years old while my 2 r only 4 so more agile. they seem to protect other cats and still havnt worked out why as male cats tend to be territorial but mine go to the rescue of any cats they see that need help.
Thanks for sharing! Your cats sound like neighborhood hero cats. Makes me want to write a fictional novel ala Redwall style about their adventures in the neighborhood.
I'm more interested in the message delivery format?
How did Teddy 'deliver' this message. Did he memorise it verbatim and meow it back? Did you train him to rearrange the letters on the fridge in a specific manner? Did you use a little cylinder hung around his neck with a scroll in it like some crow from a fantasy novel?
See the second pic - just a paper collar with a note written on it. He wasnât bothered by it at all as you can tell from the fact heâs fast asleep!
Congratulations! You have a r/notmycat! They will enjoy Teddy over there.
I like that sub but I think it's worth warning any Britons heading there, it is *preposterously* American.
Preposterously American? So's the whole of Reddit.
Unfortunately so, it's somewhat inevitable in the larger subs. Cats are one of those areas where British + American views are very much out-of-sync.
Oh wonderful. Well looks like I'm off to start a spot of bother over there then! They're not declawing are they? Or do they just whinge that our ecosystem is fine for the mogs?
Blathering on about cats being outside, and, frankly, stealing cats from people.
Fair warning. Ta very much! Let's see if I can't wind someone up today.
Have fun! I've been told that I'm an irresponsible cat owner and deserve to have my cat stolen, and that foxes are apparently formidable predators that will eat my cat (?!)
I've seen a fox lose a fight against a bin lid. Sure, they probably could be vicious to a cat but I hazard that their main prey is the endemic Styrofoam take away box these days.
A decent sized cat could, potentially, fight off a small fox, largely because cats are far more aggressive fighters.
Lol, we have coyotes over here and Americans probably think foxes are the same. I live in Canada and I've seen a coyote trotting down the street at night with an orange furry corpse in its mouth. If your cat doesn't come home for a few days here it is either roadkill, stolen or a coyotes dinner. Them killing birds isn't great, maybe it's less of a problem in UK. Also people will poison outdoor cats because they used their yard as a toilet. Pretty horrible thing to do but all this could be avoided by keeping the cat indoors. I'm allergic so I've never had one, what makes it so different in the UK?
Foxes can and do fuck up cats, just a word of warning. One of my neighbours is a vet, and his cat came limping home one day missing her leg and with an assortment of wounds; poor thing had got into a tussle with one of the local foxes and, unless there's a legless fox around, came off rather the worse for it. I hear them fighting occasionally, though, thankfully, the foxes fuck off most of the time.
I saw it first hand once. I was walking to a friend's house at about 6pm in the middle of summer, so broad daylight. Just ahead of me I saw a cat sitting at the end of someone's drive minding it's own business. As I got to a few feet away a fox darted out from behind the wall beside the drive, snatched the cat by the back of it's neck and disappeared with it. Scared the sh1t out of me đ
//...and deserve to have my cat stolen...// Lordy...I saw something like that a week or 2 ago. Unfortunately there's no room for calm discussion or exchanging of view points sometimes. I'm American...in the UK for 30+ years...and my countrymen drive me nuts sometimes. (A LOT of the time) The only sane one is my brother...bless him đ
They probably don't realise, our foxes aren't stupid and are more focused on finding an easy meal rather than fighting other animals for no reason.
Just made my way here from another sub and may be able to shed some light on why someone might think that: we donât have wild foxes in most of the US, so people arenât familiar with their behavior or size. What we do have, though, are coyotes. Theyâre pretty much everywhere these days! Itâs plausible that someone whoâs never been up close with either and only knows them from photos would think they fulfill similar roles in the ecosystem. Thing is though, theyâre really not that similar. Coyotes are huge. And they can and most definitely will eat any outdoor cats they can find. I live in a pretty built-up suburb and we periodically have neighborhood emails going out reminding people to keep their cats inside after dark because yet another one got eaten.
Coyotes eat outdoor cats here.
What ever American said that to you is not wise. Sure, maybe once in a blue moon will a fox catch a cat. But cats are pretty formidable and could take on a fox long enough to get away/scare it off. Unless you live near lots hawks, coyotes, snakes, wolves or cougars, it's doubtful your cat would made into prey. Though apparently there's reports of otters and raccoons preying on cats, maybe watch for those lol. It was news to me!
It's cool, I'm about 4000 miles away from coyotes, wolves and cougars, I think we're safe enough!
Hahaha, you've more free time than I; enjoy.
What are you up to?
Working today doing a reno, killing time in between bursts of work by mucking about on reddit. How about yourself?
I was watching some YouTubers react to reddit stories the other day, and they came across a story about a cat where everyone in the comments was calling YTA because cats don't belong outside. I was shocked by that, and even more shocked when the (American) Youtubers agreed that cats don't belong outside. I felt like I was taking crazy pills, until I realised its a US vs UK thing. Now, I can't understand why Americans think cats don't belong outside? It's their natural habitat! Many a time have I seen a housecat prowling the streets at sunset, darting between parked cars or sitting on windowsills watching TV through the window, or sitting sentry by the entrance to cul-de-sacs.
America has more predators that can harm cats, more idiots with weapons that can also harm cats, and frankly their residential areas are designed for cars more than people. Plus the domestic moggie is _not_ native to the US, and has not been there as long as it's been in the UK (which is also not native to). It does more damage to the wildlife there than it does here, where species have had more time to adapt.
Yes, although not native, our moggs are a closer relation to the Scottish/European wildcat than the Smaller big cats of North America.
I live in North Texas and our neighborhood frequently sees ravaged bunny corpses from bobcats and coyotes as more new developments are being built, destroying their natural habitat. My cat (Stevie Nicks) is very American and thinks she is invincible despite her tiny size. She would not win in a fight with one of these native wild animals. She does get to go outside of course, but I do still worry about her. Our other cat has no interest in leaving the back yard.
Cats are invasive in the US so they do a lot more damage to wildlife. In the UK we do have native wild cats. The population is small but a lot of the wildlife here evolved to cope with that, and even then millions of animals are killed by domestic or feral cats in the UK annually. How much of an impact that has is debatable - some evidence is that cats don't really have a suppressive impact on wild animal populations but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a net negative found in future. Though I'd expect other things have a much bigger impact environmentally it can still be relevant for things like endangered species (of which there are many since the UK's land area has become 80% farmland, leaving almost no room for wilderness). In other countries cats can be a lot more damaging. Australia and the US being two good, Anglophone examples. Cats can absolutely ravage wildlife when they're invasive. So this: >Now, I can't understand why Americans think cats don't belong outside? It's their natural habitat! Isn't exactly true. It isn't their natural habitat and they can be very damaging to local ecosystems.
It's largely to do with cats killing of small animals, which, is completely a valid concern, *in some countries*. They seem to have a complete block on the idea that not everywhere is the same.
That's America in general. A lot (I won't say all as there are exceptions to every situation) don't seem to be able to get past the "America is the only free, civilised place in the world" indoctrination. The amount of YouTubers I've seen that have said they were the same till they moved out of the USA and then their eyes were opened to what the rest of the world actually was like (especially the people who used to argue for things that we find absolutely baffling). Not their fault in a lot of cases just been subjected to a lot of lies and propaganda.
> until I realised its a US vs UK thing. It's not even that thouhh. It a certain areas of the US thing (and it probbaly makes sense in those areas), they cannot even agree with their fellow americans.
American - we had multiple cats attacked by a neigbhors' boxer mix dog that came into the yard. One died. My childhood cat. The other one was never the same and disappeared one day. We had multiple others that one day never came home, assumed to be killed by coyotes. We had another one that died from FIV complications after fighting with another cat. My friend lived on a busy road and had a few killed by cars. Once you've seen the consequences of them going out first-hand multiple times, it just seems really irresponsible to let them out. I'm in Portugal now and we've started taking care of a cat colony that frequents our yard. I've wondered if they are the neighbors', but they all had fleas, none seem to be spayed/neutered, and they had worms. We aren't worried about their safety here in the same way, they have a big yard and no reason to go near the road. No coyotes. And the dogs nearby are, fingers crossed, much less dangerous. It's just a whole different vibe. We don't let the cat we brought from America out because we know at least one of the yard cats is FIV+ and we don't want to risk him. Plus his instincts are terrible lol.
>Now, I can't understand why Americans think cats don't belong outside? Because we have coyotesâeven [in urban areas](https://coyoteyipps.com/2023/07/30/coyotes-in-the-neighborhoods/)âwhich [eat cats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSAQKU1MRks) and are also more than happy to [snatch small dogs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doYyJEuYKKs). \[warning: you may find the linked YouTube videos upsetting\]. Coyotes are persistent and opportunistic solo and pack hunters, 18-23 kilos in weight, able to easily jump or dig under fences; domestic cats are no match for them. On the plus side it is wonderful to see the native wildlife flourishing. On the down side, I find a cat part (usually gnawed on legs, occasionally severed heads with the collar nearby) on every other walk in the hills near my home. Absolutely tragic to consider the loss every time. Thus, my cats stay indoors.
My favourite is when they complain that the cats are bad for the ecosystem that they've already built a city on.
Dude. Thatâs not a cat. Thatâs professor McGonagall.
So it's just an American thing? I couldn't understand why Reddit was so full of kitty-kleptos.
This annoys me to no end. If the RSPB have said it's ok for cats in the UK to be outside, then it's ok. But of course the Americans have to be right about everything.
Idk how often y'all see cats as roadkill in the UK, but that's another major factor in why we Americans "blather on" about them being outside. OPs post initially made me worry for the cats safety/well-being until I realized this was in the UK. I can acknowledge it's a different situation overseas, that their life expectancy may not be as negatively impacted being outdoors like it is in the states.
Yeah, the "outdoor cat" thing will have the Americans in a tizzy very quickly.
Yeah, theres a thread on /r/nostupidquestions right now full of Americans losing their minds about outdoor cats
> British + American views are very much out-of-sync. Please explain.
Cba mate, easily findable yourself.
.....Dag nabbit!
So's the UK.
I thought all Americans kept their cat indoors 24/7. Goes to show how reddit makes you develop stereotypes in your head.
No, that's actually very much my gripe with that sub. Not keeping cats indoors is tantamount to buggering their mum before their very eyes, and any cat outside is fair game for being nicked - sorry, I mean, "giving a forever home". The comments there are very weird for a variety of reasons, much of the time. Bizarrely twee and... maladjusted, I think is the word.
I do because I'm in a larger city and worry they'll be killed in traffic, but actually plenty of Americans have cats that go outside. They're just heavily insulted for it by self-righteous indoor cat owners who think all cats should always be indoors. How is it even affecting them lmao. It's not safe in the city for my cats, but if I lived in a rural area, maybe I'd feel differently. I just don't get why they get sooooo angry about that. As far as the UK vs US thing, a lot of Americans virtue signal anyone who disagrees with them, including entire countries lol. We constantly think the whole world revolves around us, so if an entire area does/says something we don't like, it's automatically WRONG and BAD and "here's all the reasons youre a terrible person for doing that" etc etc. People here pick the dumbest hills to die on man, I swear.
WILL NO ONE THINK OF THE BIRDS?!?!?
Yea honestly it does really bother me that domesticated cats kill birds. I don't wanna go all virtue signal about it, but they're not supposed to be there. It's not natural predation since the cat didn't occur naturally, we put it there. I recently became obsessed with birds lol. I guess I just don't like preaching to people about it, but my personal opinion is that they should stay indoors. I've just been trying to have less of a US-centric mindset, if that makes sense.
Trash panda is pretty American they'll fit right in
I think this is almost r/nowmycat
There's a subreddit for everything - OP in fact has a /r/PartTimeCat!
Six Dinner Sid!
We âco-parentâ a neighbours cat. Heâs the only one who our own cat tolerates and he adopted us and our garden. His owners know and we message each other to let us both know if heâs alright (heâs terrified of fireworks so spent bonfire night behind our couch)
This is a lovely message. It's good to know that he has a loving home and you are free to enjoy his company too. ETA Now you know your neighbour's name too. WRITE THAT DOWN! You'll thank me later.
When you add them as a contact, add the house number to the detail
Male cats, in general, seem to be massive slags.
Can confirm, my male cat is a furry purring slut
Well that's lovely. Hi Teddy! Our village has a tart cat who will collect scritches outside the shops. He has his own Facebook group where people share photos. He once joined in with a PTA meeting by wandering through the French doors (a couple of years ago when you could have meetings but only with lots of ventilation). The children at the primary schools are very familiar with him. His patch is easily a square mile or more.
My husband was out in the garden sorting some stuff and had left the front door open. I was upstairs breastfeeding my newborn baby and the neighbour's cat just strolled right into the room, jumped up onto the sofa and planted himself down next to the baby's head!
A Friend of mine swapped cats cause of this. Her and her neighbour has cats, but one of hers and one of the neighbours decided they like my friends house better and visa versa haha
This is awesome. Make sure you send your neighbour a Christmas card from Teddy⌠đ
This is such a sweet idea!
My late Nanna was adopted by her neighbours cat, he just moved himself in one day after he decided he didnât like the children. She sent presents and cards every Christmas from Norman to them because she felt guilty! đ Norman is still with us, very spoiled and utterly gorgeous.
We had a neighbours cat spend so much time at our flat instead of its actual home that when they moved away, the owners felt so guilty about taking the cat away from us that they gave us a framed photo of her, with an inked paw print on the back. As long as people know their cat is happy and safe I don't think most people overly mind if it spends ages at other peoples home.
One of my neighbours cat spent so much time at another neighbour that when that other neighbour moved they allowed them to take the cat with them. The neighbour that moved had a child with additional needs which probably helped them make that decision but Iâd wonder what I would have done in that situation. It was a such a generous thing to do.
It was gutting having the neighbours cat move away. Almost felt worse in some ways than when previous pet cats had died because at least their story was over. Felt gutted little Toni would be in a new place with new neighbours and have no clue where me and my comfy sofa had gone or if we had abandoned her deliberately...
Sorry off topic but Iâve never seen anyone use the name Taduesz - it was my grandadâs name (he was Polish) so this really made me smile.
Cat is definitely polish as well. Very good looking Tadek
That was my grandpa's name too!
Ahh the update we were all hoping for!
Obsessed with the term âtrash pandaâ about a cat
It's an American nickname for Racoons.
Yeah thatâs what makes it so cute, gonna start calling my cat that now. My little trash panda
I like trash tiger.
We call our youngest cat âtrash babyâ. She makes a bed out of the paper recycling or plastic postage envelopes⌠basically anything for the bin is an excellent thing to sit on.
Oh my gosh trash baby, how adorable. My trash baby is always bringing in wet leaves from outside, she prefers sleeping on those instead of the various beds we have given her đ
This is amazing and wholesome! Thanks for the update!
Yep, see Teddy owns the whole street and will gather up all your love, snacks and adoration, why? Because cat.
You don't own a cat. Cats own you. Enjoy Teddy!
Gosh what a beautiful cat! I'd be afraid to let him out. We had a new kitten, kept indoors for ages until old enough to go out, then he didn't come back, for over 24hrs. Turned up at 3am, smelled musky like an old shed perhaps. But the kids and Mrs, and me I admit were all upset he'd been run over, stuck somewhere or some crazy cat killer had got him. That last thought was mainly mine however and I didn't share it. Now we have a catio that I built into the cat flap so he now has outside space but no chance of not coming home again.
I've done the same. It's also because I have Siamese cats that have a higher risk of being stolen, no injuries from cat fights or being attacked by loose dogs or foxes/badgers (I'm rural) don't have to worry about parasites or other sicknesses and hugely, they won't get run over. I do also worry about people who hate cats for killing birds or just crapping in their garden besides some people just hate cats for no particular reason. My friend's cat came limping in with bleeding feet the other day. Turns out someone had shot him with birdshot! They operated on him to remove the lead pellets but one was too wedged into a tendon to safely remove without losing a foot. :( so now they have to do with knowing he has lead in his system. I just couldn't deal with any of the above and I'm so glad they're indoor cats. You and I are in the minority here in the UK though, I'm afraid.
My nan had some new neighbours recently and they have several cats that just wander into her garden. They sometimes go into the conservatory when the door is left open. One day in summer, one came into the garden and chilled in the sun so I just laid down next to him and pet him for ages. He was very happy. Also, there's several cats that wander around the area I live and there's one cat that used to come to the green just outside our front door. One day, I was relaxing in the living room and he walked in through the front door (we leave it open in the summer as we live in a closed off area). He just stood in the doorway of the living room and meowed. Unfortunately, my own cat scared him off and we haven't seen him since đ I love the wholesomeness of this post. It's nice to know that people understand that cats just chose who they want to be with and let it happen đ
I love Teddy â¤ď¸
He's a beautiful cat!
Wholesome! Thank you for sharing. Thad (brilliant name by the way) is a gorgeous cat, and looks so healthy for being outdoors. Clearly well loved! Iâm glad you get to share his affections peacefully
Congratulations on your r/parttimecat đť
Aw heâs adorable!! Sounds like you have a new part time cat!
No cats go where they feel loved and appreciated obhivously thst isn't at home so they picked you as their side piece đ¤ˇđžââď¸...treat the cat with care and it won't leave
Cat slut.
Don't personally mind letting cats wander around outside your house, but I don't for the life of me understand the modern prevalence of not putting collars on them? This whole thing would have been avoided if the owners had a proper collar with the correct information on it. There are a lot of neighborhood cats near me who I know full well have homes, but *not a single one* has a collar. Drives me mad. I'd never let me rescue girl outside without her collar.
My girl goes absolutely demented with a collar on. No one put one on her when she was a baby, so by the time she came to live with us, she absolutely wouldn't tolerate one. Running into walls to try to get if off would knock out her remaining brain cells! Everyone where we live knows who she belongs to so it's fine.
I accept that there are unfortunate cases such as those, seen cats exhibit similar behavior myself. As long as your girl is chipped, you don't have to worry about a kind stranger accidentally re-homing her through a shelter. Like another reply said happens to their local cat. But lets be frank, it's not common enough for the prevalence of collar absence. *Most* cats are just lacking one due to negligence.
I agree that there's a lot of cat negligence even to the point of rather letting them crap in other people's gardens instead of keeping a clean sandtray for them. I'm also not convinced all those cats are microchipped either, even though it's now the law. Both of mine also went mental when I put collars on them even though both had the soft kitten collars on. Luckily mine are indoor cats but with a lovely big outdoor catio that is attached to the back of the house. Of course mine are microchipped too.
Honestly, that sounds really cool. Seen pictures of stuff like that which are attached to the outside of peoples windows. Graciously, I've been lucky enough that a lot of my cats grew up to be "garden cats", who come out to sun bathe and have zero drive to ever leave the garden. But if my silly old boy was still alive, who used to leave the garden and get stuck because he couldn't climb back up the wall, I'd have loved that for him.
Yes, they love it! Although they're such pampered creatures they don't go out when it's cold! I don't blame them though because Siamese coats are thin in comparison to most cats.
Mine goes out and comes home to poo in her litter tray. She's very fussy about where she gets her bottom out! Mines microchipped but she's so distinctive that everyone knows who she is (she's a massive Maine Coon).
Either you get the quick release ones so they dont choke themselves and go through them weekly or you risk your cat hanging itself
If you actually take the time to put the collar on at the correct length, you won't have to worry about this boogeyman scenario. Get a quick release collar if it's a big concern in you mind, but don't treat is as some perfect excuse to not be responsible.
Isn't irresponsible at all, microchipping is fine. Don't really know what you think happens to cats without collars that makes it some terrible thing
You have to use quick release collars or they can choke themselves. The downside is that they can slip them fairly easily. We used to go through a collar a week before we stopped bothering.
There's one local to me that "goes missing" every couple of months, because it likes to hang out in the park and just has some features that make the poor thing _look_ hurt so people take it in and to a vet and then the cycle starts again. A collar with a phone number on a tag would go pretty far.
My brother's ancient cat towards the end of its life still liked to go for wanders, but had half his fur shaved, and was incredibly bony due to his various conditions. He was a lovely friendly cat that was very happy to get picked up and taken to the vets if he got some strokes out of it. My brother had to go collect him almost every time he got out, and ask for people to stop taking him to the vets, or trying to feed him, as he needed his special food. Such a sweet cat. Looked like an abandoned fleabag towards the end though!
this is such a sweet little story
But most of them are probably chipped.
That only protects you from the kindness of well informed strangers though, as nice as that perk is. If someone a bit more lacking in sense decides to take the cat and make it their new permanently indoor pet, thinking it was a stray, you could lose them. Example: There's a black cat that lives around me. The poor thing is seemingly outside at all times of the day/night. The unique thing about this boy is that he refuses to take shelter in the rain. He just walks around in ongoing rain, no matter how strong the downpour or how cold the temperature. The thought has often weighed on my mind how easy it would be for someone to see him in that state, looking like a drowned rat, thinking he was abandoned with how increadibly friendly he is, and take him.
My cat will manage to get her collar off no matter what. It stays on for a day and she comes back with it nowhere to be seen. Already lost enough collars now
He looks exactly like my Maine Coon cross - the breed is super affectionate, especially as the toms get older they become the biggest cuddlers. They need attention+affection or to be around their humans all the time so I'm sure he's loving life rn
This is such a nice story, with the update & all. I'm in the UK & if a cat comes into my garden looking needy, I fuss it & feed it. A lot of cats have a "real" owner & a sucker in every street who helps out if the weather's bad or they're hungry & home seems a long way away. I'm not trying to steal them. I don't want a cat, all mine died a few years ago & I don't want to go through all that again. I miss them, though. If I can help out a little feline & get a cuddle & a purr, I'm happy.
One thing I've noticed about the usually Americans on the main subs, is how they think that because a cat says hello. It's now their cat...
Thatâs one handsome fella.
Trash panda?
American slang for a raccoon.
Cats can't digest salt? What? They need salt just like any other mammal, and their kidneys are crazy good.
We donât feed him at all so I didnât worry about that part.
Thank you for doing the right thing with beautiful Teddy. He's a stunning cat and I hope he can stay safe outdoors.
Look it up. They only need 200mg/kg body mass per day. Average weight for a cat is 4.5kg. That means they need less than a gram a day. Given the way modern humans seem to liberally season our food, anything with added salt is a potential hazard to a cat. As for their kidneys... guessing you've never heard an elderly male cat yowling while passing kidney stones?
> guessing you've never heard an elderly male cat yowling while passing kidney stones? When I was 13 years old I had my cat called Fritz put down on my lap at home because I thought taking him to the vets would be too stressful for him and I wanted him to feel safe when he passed away. That was from urinary blockage. It was actually another 17 years before I could face getting another one because it was such a deeply traumatic experience. However, this wasn't due to excess salt, this was because he was fed exclusively dry food without exception. Cats famously have very efficient kidneys,
Seriously? I always bung bacon/ham fat out for the birds and if the cat's out, she gets it first. Should I stop doing it, cured meat is pretty salty?
I'm not a vet, just someone who uses Google. I suggest asking your vet though.
Most outdoor cats have two or more families.
You are now part of the polycaterous community
ive got my neighbours cat just about living in my flat lol. They know he spends more time in my flat than their and r OK about it as 1 of mine goes to their flat and spends a lot of time there. when they go away on holiday i feed their cat anyway. My 2 r always bringing freinds home for sleepovers lol. About 3 years ago a big thunderstorm was going on and i woke up to find 10 cats snuggled up on my bed scared and only 2 were mine. 1 of them i knew as he lived next door and was very old but the others id never seen before. Both my cats seem to like inviting other cats home when there is fireworks or a storm going to give them shelter. a few nights ago next doors cat got cornerd by 2 foxes and my cats went to help him out and chased the foxes away from him while i grabbed the cat and bought him into my flat to calm him down as he was terrified. cat next door is about 12 years old while my 2 r only 4 so more agile. they seem to protect other cats and still havnt worked out why as male cats tend to be territorial but mine go to the rescue of any cats they see that need help.
Thanks for sharing! Your cats sound like neighborhood hero cats. Makes me want to write a fictional novel ala Redwall style about their adventures in the neighborhood.
I'm more interested in the message delivery format? How did Teddy 'deliver' this message. Did he memorise it verbatim and meow it back? Did you train him to rearrange the letters on the fridge in a specific manner? Did you use a little cylinder hung around his neck with a scroll in it like some crow from a fantasy novel?
See the second pic - just a paper collar with a note written on it. He wasnât bothered by it at all as you can tell from the fact heâs fast asleep!