Cats Indoors

Cats indoors

Millions of cats are run over by cars, mauled by dogs, poisoned and lost each year.. Hundreds of millions of birds a are killed annually by free-roaming cats.

The question arise. "Should I keep my cat indoors?" "Yes" for your cat's sake. The life expectancy of a outdoor cat is two to five years while it is 17 years for a indoor cat. Outdoor cats are constantly in danger!

The following dangers threatened outdoor cats:

Cars : Many cats are run over by cars each year. Outdoor cats crawl into car engines for warmth and are killed when the car is restarted. Motorists risk accidents in attempting to avoid hitting free-roaming cats.

Human Cruelty : Each year, animal shelters and veterinarians treat cats who have been abused. Cats may also be captured and sold to research laboratories  to train fighting dogs.

Animal Attacks : Torn ears, scratched eyes, abscesses, internal injuries, diseases, and sometimes death result from encounters with dogs and other wild animals.

Overpopulation : Unaltered  cats are the  most important cause of cat overpopulation.   Millions of cats must be euthanized each year.

Disease : Cats allowed outdoors risk exposure to fatal diseases like rabies, feline leukemia, distemper, and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). Vaccines are not 100 percent effective.

Parasites : When outdoors, cats are more likely to contract debilitating parasites such as worms, ticks, mites, and fleas.

Poisons and Traps : Exposure to pesticides and antifreeze poisons and kills thousands of outdoor cats each year. Cats are killed in traps set for furbearing animals.

Birds and other wildlife face more obstacles to their survival than ever before. Wildlife habitats are destroyed every day, and many species are declining as a result. Even the impacts of natural predators on their prey is changing based on how humans are altering natural environments. And the presence of an unnatural predator -- the domestic cat -- is having an impact as well.

Birds killed by cats are members of relatively common species, like   Song Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco; others are rare and endangered -- the  Piping Plover, Western Snowy Plover and California Gnatcatcher.

Is the killing of birds by cats how nature intended it?

A descendant of the wild cat of Africa and southwestern Asia, the domestic cat instinctively hunts. Wildlife in the Western Hemisphere did not evolve in the presence of a small predator like the domestic cat, and thus did not develop defenses against them. Cats were only introduced in North America by European immigrants  a few hundred years ago.

While cats may instinctively hunt, it is clear that they are not adapted to life in the wild like wild cats  and mountain lion.

Outdoor domestic cat populations are most commonly found in and around human settlements;  they can not  survive without direct or indirect support by humans. They are  very different from native predators.

Truths about Cats and Birds

Cats don't have nine lives, but there are three other myths about cat predation we'd like to dispel.

1.  Cats with bells on their collars can learn to stalk their prey silently. Even if they don't, wild animals do not  associate the ringing of a bell with danger.

2. Well-fed cats kill wildlife. The urge to hunt and the urge to eat are controlled by different portions of the cat's brain.

3. Once caught by a cat, few birds survive. Infection from the cat's teeth or claws or the stress of capture usually results in death.

Tips for Happy Indoor Cats

Kittens who are kept indoors usually show no desire to go outside. We can change most outdoor cats into happy indoor cat with knowledge, patience and time.

The following tips can assist in the transformation:

1. Provide a safe, outside enclosure, such as a screened porch.

2. Provide window shelves to allow cats to observe the outdoors from the safety of the house

3. Play regularly with your cat.  Paper bags and  boxes are sources of hours of amusement.

4. Plant kitty grass (available from pet supply stores) in indoor pots so your cat can graze.

5. Supply a clean litter boxes regularly.

Cats may slip out an open door or window, keep in mind the other essentials of responsible pet ownership:

1. Spay or neuter your kitten very early.

2. An identification tag on your cat's collar is her ticket home.

3. Where programs exist, license your cat.


Please do not feed  free-ranging cats without making a commitment to giving or finding them a permanent indoor home or take cats for whom you cannot care to your local animal shelter to give them the best possible chance of a loving home.

More for the Birds

Support efforts in your community to protect wildlife and their habitats. All wild animals have three basic needs:1) food, 2) water and  3) plants that provide escape cover and nesting sites. When you feed birds in your yard, locate feeders away from windows and brushy vegetation to permits cats to hide. Keep the feeders clean and well stocked.

Cats cannot be blamed for killing wildlife, it is the responsibility of cat owners to ensure that their cats are indoors.

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