Should cats be allowed to roam free

This seems to be a real concern for some, so it probably deserves its own thread.

So, are municipal laws which prohibit free roaming cats required?

I picked no.

Only because there's always 1 bad apple. Well actually currently theres 13 bad apples.

I picked yes. There should be a rule that all cats and dogs be spayed or neutered, but let cats go outside.

Wow. I'm putting two and two together, here, and the five that I've come up with is that Canada is currently being terrorised by gangs of rampaging felines. I know a woman who has two "housecats" which she never allows to go outdoors. She says they won't come back if she does, although how she knows this is a mystery, and personally I consider her to be quite mad. Keeping hamsters caged is bad enough, but the free spirited felix domesticus? That's potty, if not cruel. Surely in a country of three and a half million+ square miles, there's room for a few kitties? And anyway, don't you need them to help contain those Hanta virus-ridden rodents?
Having said that, I fail to see the reason that city people feel the need to keep medium to large sized mammals in their homes in this day and age; as far as the UK is concerned, I think banning domestic animals, coupled with a spaying/neutering programme, would be no bad thing (but only 'cos woolly human rights laws stops us from neutering the f*cking morons who think owning, then badly training, vicious, many toothed 'fighting' dogs makes them look tough).
So, what's the beef in Canada? (And don't say "cows").

Cows.

The problem with cats in Canada is twofold...people who don't get their animals spayed and neutered and people who hate cats. Bad owners and bad non-owners.

My area is semi-rural so our cats do perform a real service by keeping the mice down in the shed and garage and keeping the birds and rabbits out of the garden. It's too bad they aren't big enough to keep the deer out of the Saskatoons.

Cats do exceedingly well when kept indoors. They don't need large territory. In fact a house or apartment is the perfect amount of "territory" for them. Mine "patrol" the house. Making sure no one has entered unannouced!

This mad lady who thinks her cats won't come back might be surprised to learn that they will. IF they've been treated right.

My 2 former ferals have "escaped" and come back. Course I didn't know they'd escaped until they climbed back in through the window!

I've always had cats that were both indoor and outdoor. Meaning they went out when they wanted and came back in when they wanted. This was in Victoria though. No Coyotes there.

It wasn't till I moved to mainland that I lost my Meeno to coyotes and decided not to risk it anymore.

There are some distinct advantages to cats remaining indoors. Those involve no fleas. No disease. No getting hit by cars. No accidental poisoning. No weirdo's using leghold traps. No cat fights. No neighbours complaining cause your cat mistook their garden for a potty. and such.

Although indoor cats require more care. I clean the litter box every day. I provide cat grass for them and lots of toys (they have their own toybox!) and multiple scatching posts. I love cats. Find them fascinating. So I enjoy playing with them. Mine play fetch. We're working on the bringing it back part though. Currently it's me throwing the toy. them chasing it until it's dead. me getting up and throwing it again.

When I live on an acreage (when I lived up north) I used to have cats and they came and went through the doggy door and had there own little room to eat and sleep in(when know one was home, otherwise they came in house). But there was lots of deer mice up there. The one I have in the city now is very lazy and does not like going outside. Strange, but he likes people(always likes to sleep with the kids) and was easy to train. The worst he does is sit and stare at the Aquarium but has yet to actually try to climb in, yet. ha ha

It is hard to say what to do about some cats, cats cannot be contained in a back yard like dogs.

Actually. You can build a run for them. the top has to be inclosed though. And it can be quit expensive. Worse if you have coyotes cause they can dig. and then the cat can't run.

i voted no. if no cats are allowed outdoors, what will the homeless and satan worshippers do?

Well I voted yes, because I think critters belong outside, sure they can come once and while for a snuggle, and something to eat. (think husband :P ) but otherwise...off you go
I with methitabel the cat on this one. She free and has a gay old time :P

this is the song of mehitabel
of mehitabel the alley cat
as i wrote you before boss
mehitabel is a believer
in the pythagorean
theory of the transmigration
of the soul and she claims
that formerly her spirit
was incarnated in the body
of cleopatra
that was a long time ago
and one must not be
surprised if mehitabel
has forgotten some of her
more regal manners

i have had my ups and downs
but wotthehell wotthehell
yesterday sceptres and crowns
fried oysters and velvet gowns
and today i herd with bums
but wotthehell wotthehell
i wake the world from sleep
as i caper and sing and leap
when i sing my wild free tune
wotthehell wotthehell
under the blear eyed moon
i am pelted with cast off shoon
but wotthehell wotthehell

do you think that i would change
my present freedom to range
for a castle or moated grange
wotthehell wotthehell
cage me and i d go frantic
my life is so romantic
capricious and corybantic
and i m toujours gai toujours gai

i know that i am bound
for a journey down the sound
in the midst of a refuse mound
but wotthehell wotthehell
oh i should worry and fret
death and i will coquette
there s a dance in the old dame yet
toujours gai toujours gai

i once was an innocent kit
wotthehell wotthehell
with a ribbon my neck to fit
and bells tied onto it
o wotthehell wotthehell
but a maltese cat came by
with a come hither look in his eye
and a song that soared to the sky
and wotthehell wotthehell
and i followed adown the street
the pad of his rhythmical feet
o permit me again to repeat
wotthehell wotthehell

my youth i shall never forget
but there s nothing i really regret
wotthehell wotthehell
there s a dance in the old dame yet
toujours gai toujours gai

the things that i had not ought to
i do because i ve gotto
wotthehell wotthehell
and i end with my favorite motto
toujours gai toujours gai

boss sometimes i think
that our friend mehitabel
is a trifle too gay

I built two of these in the Wolsley area...the part of Winnipeg usually referred to as the "Granola Belt." The first while we were building a deck and the second because somebody saw the first. They are an excellent idea.

Coyotes are a bitch for that. They are the reason why small pets on farms disappear so often. The only thing that seems to keep them away is llamas.

Really? are you serious? Llamas? Wonder if I can get a lLama past strata?

I don't begrudge the coyotes killing and eating my Meeno. I'm actually glad that it was a coyote rather then a car or poisoning or something less......natural.
In a very twisted way it eases the loss I feel to know. Have I mentioned lately I'm a huge animal lover?

really twila I never would have guessed that :P

Really. They kick the crap out of the coyotes and the coyotes remember the smell. There are a couple of people in Saskatchewan who rent out llamas to farmers who have coyote problems...just toss them in with the livestock until the coyotes die off. Usually just a season.

I wish the same could be said of conservatives... :P

Twila, llamas (and camels, and kangaroos) are three animals you do NOT have to worry about, protecting what is "theirs"....

BADGERS and WOLVERINES, on the other hand - you should worry about until you have backed far enough away that you can no longer see them, or they you!

I say no both my cats are indoor cats and they are fine .I saw a real cat yesterday a bobcat walked out of the bush right in front of us while we sitting there on our sleds.It was agood looking specimen not to thin.It was sure nice to see

But do your cats perform a valuable service, Mr.Mom? To me it isn't whether they can be kept inside or not, ours hardly ever go out in the winter and they are perfectly happy. They like to be outside in the summer though, and they keep the vermin down to a reasonable level.

Yeah they do when we bought our house the home inspector said we had mice.A little work on my part and the cats no mice.I was told they give of a scent that keeps the little pests away .We have empty fields around us so theres lots of field mice around here.Now they stay outside.

I say no. Cats are killing too many song birds, and other animals. Myself being a hunter, I'm required to have a hunting license to do what ppl are doing with their cats all day and any season. If I took my dog out for a walk in the mid-summer and the dog killed a pheasant while out in a field, I could get charged for poaching and it’s a serious offence.

And atheists... :P

Yeah, because cats kill a lot of game animals. When was the last time you went hunting sparrows, Jay? Mice? Rabbits? These are all pests where I live. If their numbers aren't kept down they do serious damage to gardens and property.

Read the laws on the matter. (I have to because I need to know the law)

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/pubs/hu...4_general2.pdf

Rabbits arn't pests anymore than deer are.

Cats like to eat small birds, and sparrows are included in that.

If I see a cat trying to eat any of the cardinals or squirrels in my back yard, it gets IT, and I don't mean the cardinal or squirrels.

You kill people's cats, Jay? Do you realize that's not only illegal, but one of the signs usally associated with psychopaths?

Rabbits are pests when they come into my garden. So are deer.

Cats aren't very good at keeping the deer away, but they sure excel at keeping the rabbit population around here down.

"You kill people's cats, Jay?"


Not if they stay away from the birds, squirrels and rabbits.

I live in the city. I leave the cat killing to the humane society.

You better stay in the city then, Jay. Once you get out into the more rural areas you'll find that things are different. Little things...like threatening people's cats getting an immediate reaction.

I'd pay big money to anyone who can prove to me that a cat can kill a full-grown rabbit.... a rabbit would rip the GUTS out of a cat, with the claws of its very strong rear legs.
I've owned a rabbit - believe me, you dont screw around with the hind legs. Most cats wouldnt go NEAR a rabbit.

Now DOGS, on the other hand.....

No, they get the babies, Ten Packs...usually starts right around Easter. It's been cold though, so I'm guessing there will be no half-eaten bunnies on the kitchen floor this Easter morning. In fact I can guarantee it because it's still too cold to keep the dog door open.

I have a good dog/rabbit story though...My uncle used to have two dogs, an old lab brilliantly named "Blackie" and a young St. Bernard cross (allegedly with a wolf but...) named Duke. The young dog would run all over the place chasing a rabbit and the old dog would lay down in the shade. Eventually the rabbit would run by the old dog and the old dog would snag it. Duke never even got a taste of rabbit until that old dog died.

I'm from the country Rev. I know both worlds rather well.

Apparently not.