The instincts to roam and to hunt are important motivators of cat behavior, but cats who follow these instincts outdoors may be exposed to a variety of dangers. Pet talk columnist Sharon L. Peters recently published an emotional article in USA Today taking exception to pet owners who let their cats roam freely. Her biggest concern however, is the increased risks of outdoor roaming to aging cats, whose hearing, eyesight and quickness have diminished with age.
Here’s an excerpt from Ms. Peters’ article.
Three — all pets of distant acquaintances of mine —met their demises in cat-vs.-nature ways. One petite feline was carried off by a hawk, one was taken out by a bobcat that snuck upon her as horrified children watched from a bedroom window, and the third did not survive a stealth strike by a fox. All of these attacks happened not in some middle-of-the-woods outpost, but in urban yards less than five miles from city hall.
By all accounts, the cats had all been beloved family members.
They had three other things in common: Each was an indoor/outdoor cat, each had survived many years in that lifestyle, and — highly pertinent, I’m thinking — each was getting on in years, the youngest reportedly 12 years old; the eldest 14.
First thought: We all wish we could offer a hug and condolences.
Second thought: Why? Why do otherwise reasonably savvy people not recognize that as a pet gets older, there’s a real good chance she’s not as fast, she doesn’t hear as well, and her vision may not be as acute as it once was? And those factors, combined with the outdoors-sometimes lifestyle, significantly increase a pet’s likelihood of enduring a terror-filled end . . .
Don’t get me wrong. I hate it when a younger feline pet gets killed by a coyote or a fox, too. But I’m moved to stunned exasperation when owners of elderly cats wail, “I never worried. This cat had outwitted dogs and foxes for 10 years. I just don’t understand it.”
Can there really exist such a high level of incognizance about what the aging process does to all creatures . . ?
Many people are extremely defensive about a cat’s right to live at least part of every 24 hours outdoors, arguing that keeping cats inside is cruel because they’re essentially wild animals, they require free-roaming adventure, blah, blah, blah. I guess it’s possible those people are, as they seem to believe, the world’s leading authorities on this topic.
But I’m more inclined to believe what the actual experts — people who study cats and love cats and examine and track cat behavior — say. And that’s that indoor-only cats are perfectly happy when people take the trouble to spend time with them and make sure they get enough stimulation. And, the actual experts point out, indoor-only cats live an average of 15 years; outdoor cats live five. Many shelters and rescues will no longer adopt out cats to people who won’t agree to keep them inside.
The experts also insist that even cats that have lived their lives up until now partly outdoors can be trained (and it’s not that hard, though it’s likely to be quite noisy for a few nights) to embrace an inside-only life. Moreover, such cats can adapt pretty quickly to being allowed outside only when they are contained in cat fencing, or walking on a harness, or being in an enclosed area when the owner’s around — all strategies that are especially important as cats get older and slower and deafer.
Cats love to be outside, and what pet owner wants to deny their beloved cat what he or she wants? But of course, we also want our pets to be safe. So what is the right answer, or is there a right answer? We would love to hear what you think about allowing your cats to spend at least part of their time outdoors.
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Image credit: “Bleach is 18 years old” by Invisible Hour / Flickr
