I've kept cats all my life. The buggers will kill things when they're not even hungry.<br /> <br /> I was raised with declawed cats and only learned -very- recently that declawing is not so good. My cats would be indoor regardless of this. Part of this is due to the dangers of coyotes, and what they would do to our native bird species, even without claws. Or what our native bird species would do to them. We have eagles here. ;)<br /> <br /> We do have a 'problem cat' though, sort of. He's my brother's cat, and he refuses to take him to his apartment, or pay to get him neutered. He slips out, kills rats (and only rats, for some reason) and leaves them on the porch as 'presents'. I don't want another cat, but I think I'm going to have to break down, get him some claw caps, get him neutered, and make sure he stays inside. It's either that or the (no kill) shelter. I'd rather the latter, but I'd also rather not face my linebacker-built sibling's wrath for taking his cat to the shelter.<br /> <br /> Sorry, rambling. I dislike letting cats outside, especially cats that have claws or no claw caps. It's a danger to other animals, and to the cat, and they are generally hardwired to kill things. You wouldn't just let an animal-killing dog run wild in an unfenced area outside without a leash, would you?

"People who don't believe their cats are hunting are fooling themselves."<br /> <br /> In the twelve years I've had my cat, she has never once "hunted" a single thing. Suppose she's A-typical. We got her from the local AWL when she was about two. She's never played with toys, never left us "presents", never used a scratching post, never had an interest in chasing things or pestering the local wildlife. <br /> <br /> I've had pet leopard geckos, birds, sugar gliders, and snakes. I frequently let them explore the house under my supervision. My cat would simply look at whatever creature I had out and then walk away. <br /> <br /> We used to let her roam when we didn't live in my current household. But she never really went far. We had a huge backyard and since she's been the only cat we've had, we believed it would be healthy for her to meet a few of the neighbor cats.<br /> <br /> We were playing with fire. Luckily nothing ever happened. She's always been healthy, never even had a flea. We now keep her indoors most of the time, and if she follows us out she stays on the porch. But I see people all the time who keep their cats outside. Some of them are blind, sick, my friend's cat had a piece of his tail fall off. It's really awful.

<i>Dae, remember the US has had natural predators for millions of years including those of the feline type, both big and small. Cats here dont make that big of an impact on our wildlife, our wildlife has adapted to that threat. </i><br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2700103/domestic_cats_threaten_migratory_songbird.html?cat=53">That is not true.</a><br><a href="http://library.fws.gov/bird_publications/songbrd.html#Cat">At all.</a>

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Dae, remember the US has had natural predators for millions of years including those of the feline type, both big and small. Cats here dont make that big of an impact on our wildlife, our wildlife has adapted to that threat. <br />

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Easy, it will kill not only the rodents, but larger animals, such as birds of prey, canines, felines, opossums, racoons, as well as anything else that can potentially get into it, things a cat could not kill. This can be by the animal personally consuming it, or prey that has, as the rodent can be eaten after it has been poisoned, passing it along. Cats are more discriminate than poison in this way, I don't see a cat killing the local owl population, in fact quite the opposite, however, owls dieing due to eating poisoned rodents was a problem at my grandparents after someone mistakenly convened them it was more humane. Therefore, yes poison can walk out of your yard.<br /> <br /> Poisoning is perhaps one of the most indiscriminate ways of pest control, it doesn't care what it kills or how much. A cat will only kill something it can potentially eat, and even then the success rate of hunting is not 100%. Also like I stated, a main reason why is I live in the middle of no where, and mice become a real problem real fast. Also do not think I did not research the local bird populations, of all of the small birds found in my area, only 3 are listed as vulnerable, of which the cause is stated to be habitat loss and competition with invasive birds (such as starlings).

Veltress: While I am against poison in general, I am curious about this line.<br /> <br /> "Poison was already a no go in my mind, its indiscriminate, and will kill any animal not just rodents."<br /> <br /> How are cats any different? Cats do not discriminate about the wildlife they kill, and poison doesn't walk out of your house/yard.

Personally part of the indoor/outdoor cat situation depends on where you live. <br /> <br /> While I lived in Florida, urban area, I never allowed my cat out for several reasons. First he was not neutered, we lived close to the road, killing of local wildlife, potential theft, feral dogs/cats, potential poisoning. As you can see there were several very good reasons to not let the cat out unsupervised <b>ever</b>. I trained him to harness and leash, and it was quite fine. <br /> <br /> I moved to a farm in rural Oklahoma, no joke my nearest neighbor is 10 minute drive, the town is 40 minutes. I personally own 180 acres, and the land that is beside mine has cattle not houses. When I first moved here, we had 2 feral cats that we kept indoors or leash the first 6 months. However there was a marked rodent problem, and the options were poison, traps or let the cats out sometimes. Poison was already a no go in my mind, its indiscriminate, and will kill any animal not just rodents. Traps we tried, live ones, the rodents simply squeezed out, and we only caught feral cats or opossums. <br /> <br /> This left the last option, these cats were neutered/spay after we had captured them, so no kitten problems. It makes a large dent in rodents right by the house, though no difference in the population at the barn which is a good 15 minute walk from the house. I like to spy on my cats when they are outside, which is only allowed while I am home, they mostly hide under the house. What I can tell from the gifts they bring me they catch mostly mice and rats, and fish (I have one weirdo cat who fishes). <br /> <br /> Why am I so against rodents in or near my house besides the minor property damage, and general ick? <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002358/">Hanta Virus</a>, there was in fact a case in the near rural area, meaning it is highly possible the rodents on my property also have it. <br /> <br /> But like I said early on, I believe a lot if it is where you live, I've had both indoor and in/out cats. Letting cats irresponsibly roam (and in my mind this means, intact, no shots, no identification, near roads) is a major no-no of cat owning. Letting kitty out for a few hours while you are home and make sure it comes back inside when you call is fine. I do not approve of "barn cats" which in my area refers to feral cats that you claim ownership of, generally not neuter/spay or fed and left outdoors at all times.

I don't think it's right to have any animal wandering off your property, cats included. It's not safe and not everyone loves cats as much as me. If they stay in your backyard it's fine.

In my neighborhood other cats are a danger to cats sometimes. Diseases that don't have available vaccinations for are common in my area. Our neighbors lost three of their cats because of it. It's only been getting worse.<br /> <br /> The shelters have had issues with cats picked up in this area.<br /> <br /> Last week there was a dead cat in our bushes. I didn't recognize it but I went around asking people if they were missing a cat of the same description.<br /> <br /> My grandma "took care of it" and I put bleach on the spot were it had died.<br /> <br /> The thing that drives me nuts, is that my mother does not pay attention or really care about our worries and lets our cats out all the time.

And this is why I like you, Fyr. You're reasonable. &lt;3