Again, why is it okay for your cat to go outside unsupervised but not your dog?<br /> <br /> The ancwer to that is Quite simple and im suprized you didnt think of it before posting, its the LAW.<br /> <br /> You all failed to even menchion anything about the stress related diseases. The fact indoor cats have poor Diets, both in obesidy and in the loss of vegitashion for indoor cats that outdoor cats get. <br /> <br /> @ himpDog<br /> "The fact that you are blatantly ignoring all the facts and proof about why it is a bad idea to let your cat out says tons about you as a pet owner."<br /> <br /> The fact that you compleatly ignore all the health risks indoor cats face as well says a lot about you as a pet owner as well. A indoor cat can get stressed out by something as simple as looking out a window and seeing other animals outside, and yet you are ok with putting your cat threw that stress because you believe its "the right way to do" your cat can become very ill from that stress, and acording to you, thats ok because at least (in your opinion) hes safe. <br /> <br /> I have seen tons of animal hoarders and dog fighters also claim that they are responsible and "just doing what the animal wants!"<br /> <br /> I do not hoard animals or fight them, i simply let them out side my home because im not scaird to death something one day maybe might happen.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> "I don't know why we're arguing whether indoor or outdoor is safer for a cat. It's just nonsense."<br /> <br /> because its NOT nonsense, once again fell free to see my last post and read about the health related diseases indoor cats get. Or about the poor diets, or about obesidy witch puts more presshure on the joints of a cat.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> You claimed that spaying/nuetering your pets is not responsible because it's "lazy" and that you should just watch them like a hawk.<br /> <br /> i do believe it IS lazyness to spay /nueter a pet simply so you dont have to watch them. However i ALSO said that i did not start out with my pets, i got them off of Craigs list, they came spayed/nuetered, not my choice but there previous owners.

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I don't know why we're arguing whether indoor or outdoor is safer for a cat. It's just nonsense IMO.<br>Indoor:<br>- Your cat might get into cleaning chemicals if you leave them sitting around, cap off, within reach of the cat [lol what], but that isn't an issue at all if you have baby locks on your cupboards.<br>- Your cat may choke on a chicken bone, but not if you dispose of it properly in the garbage pail<br>- Your cat may eat a poisonous house plant, but not if you know which plants to look out for.<br>- Your cat may eat food that is poisonous to cats, but not if you don't leave food laying around for it to eat.<br>- Your cat might eat a poisonous mouse, but not if you keep snaptraps high up on shelves where your cat won't wander, or if you buy safe, metal traps.<br><br>Outdoor:<br>- Your cat can easily lick up cleaning chemicals and someone can easily poison your cat [Seen it happen to stray cats here]<br>- Your cat can choke on a chicken bone, digging through someones garbage bags put outside [seen it happen with stray cats. They also drag my garbage all over the sidewalk]<br>- Your cat is within reach of PLENTY of dangerous plants outside<br>- Your cat can eat poisonous food walking around, in peoples garbage.<br>- Your cat can easily, EASILY get tapeworms, hookworms, fleas, ticks, and other diseases from catching mice and birds [seen it happen to an uncles cat and dog. They can't get rid of the tapeworms because he won't stop letting the cat roam]<br>- Your cat is at risk of being hit by a car<br>- Your cat is at risk of getting into fights with strays and other small animals<br>- Your cat is at risk of being eaten by a hawk or coyote<br>- Your cat is at risk of being mauled by someones dog<br>- Your cat is at risk of being target practice for kids<br><br><b>EDIT:</b> I currently live in Windsor, Ontario. <a href=http://www.phototravelpages.com/canada/ontario_photos/windsor.jpg rel=nofollow>This place</a>. Yep. No coyotes right? Wrong. I've seen coyotes and foxes roaming the streets. My dads friend also had all his outdoor cats eaten by coyotes.

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-Nathaniel<br /> Very well said!<br /> <br /> -Kenoth<br /> <i>"& vinegar + spraybottle method is extremely cruel. Vinegar is acidic. Spray it in your eyes & mouth and then tell me how humane that method is."</i><br /> <br /> You only want to use one part vinegar and ten parts water, just enough to give it that nasty vinegar smell. Never ever use pure vinegar and never spray it in the animals face either. Usually the smell and the cold squirt on the hips or back is enough to get a cat to stop meowing. <br /> <br /> Jambers-<br /> </i>"...i live in the city, no cyotes here. as for dogs my cat can climb a tree, a dog can't. Fact is people tend to forget just how recorceful a cat is."</i><br /> <br /> Uh, coyotes live in the city and you are only fooling yourself if you don't believe that. In fact they tend to thrive there... by eating small pets and trash. They run a whole lot faster than a cat does, so whether or not your cat can climb a tree won't matter if a coyote (or other dog) has the cat in it's mouth before it gets to that tree. Go check out <a href="http://www.projectcoyote.org">Project Coyote</a> as they have lots of information on that.<br /> <br /> <i>"Cats belong outside and inside in my opinion. They like being outside, they need to go outside. every bone in there beeing screams to go out.</i>"<br /> <br /> My dog constantly wants to run across a huge and busy highway to go see other dogs. Should I let him do that because "every bone in his being screams to go?" Absolutely not. It's like letting your child stick their finger in a blender while it's on because "every bone in their being screams to do it!" <br /> <br /> You also failed to answer something from my previous post.<br /> <br /> <i>""My dog does not go outside WITHOUT a leash on, she is under supervishion at all times, if i am not here she is in the full sized basement down stairs...."</i>A comment you posted in <a href="http://www.alacritysim.com/forums.php?boardid=6379&category=Debate&s=20&np=2">this thread</a>.<br /> <br /> Again, why is it okay for your cat to go outside unsupervised but not your dog?<br /> <br /> I also noticed something else in that same thread. You claimed that spaying/nuetering your pets is not responsible because it's "lazy" and that you should just watch them like a hawk. Yet here you are saying you ARE responsible because your pets are fixed and you don't watch them like a hawk. Which is it? <br /> <br /> The fact that you are blatantly ignoring all the facts and proof about why it is a bad idea to let your cat out says tons about you as a pet owner. (As does the thread on the breeding debate.) Just because you say "I'M RESPONSIBLE" over and over again does not make it true. I have seen tons of animal hoarders and dog fighters also claim that they are responsible and "just doing what the animal wants!" Tons of people here have pointed out what you are doing wrong, if you chose to do nothing at this point then it's your own fault when something finally does happen to your cat(s).

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It broke a back leg, but took off running. I tried to follow it but it was too fast.<br /> <br /> How do you know it broke its leg if it took off running? You said yourself you couldn't get it, wouldn't a vet be able to tell better if a animal HAD broken its leg? expicaly from such a distence that you could not get to it can you be shure it did? <br /> <br /> my Chihuahua Gueta (before she died) we thought she broke her leg at one point because she fell down the steps, she missed a step and toppled down the rest of them, come to find out it was a frog in her leg after takeing her to the vet, he said she would be fine in a few days (the emergency bill however took a few weeks to pay off lol) but just as the vet said she favored the one leg over the other for a day, the next day small limp, the day after perfectly fine. <br /> <br /> EDIT<br /> Also Indoor cats are known to have a poor diet and more behavior problems than outdoor cats.<br /> <br /> <a href=http://www.ehow.com/list_6901767_different-issues-indoor-outdoor-cats.html"> clicky for a link to where i got the information, i acculy find it really interesting. </a> the Cat diseases shows that the outdoor cat can be vaccinated for that. also this part i think is relivent as well, "Indoor cats can be injured by things such as electrical or gas appliances, harmful household substances, poisonous houseplants or household chemicals, sharp or harmful household items, and other family pets."<br /> <br /> Also Indoor cats seem to get more stressed out from being cooped up inside than cats going outside, ever heard of Feline interstitial idiopathic cystitis? (and no i didnt make that up, its a disease that happends a lot more with indoor cats than outdoor cats) "This disease causes inflammation within the urinary bladder resulting in bloody urine, inappropriate urination (urinating outside of the litter box) and pain and discomfort. This form of feline cystitis has been linked to stress in cats and this is only one of the stress-related physical diseases seen in indoor cats." Also cats that are strickly indoors have more stress than outdoor cats. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.pet-health-care-gazette.com/2010/01/22/indoor-vs-outdoor-cats-should-you-keep-your-cat-indoors-or-outdoors/"> CLICKY </a>

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Here I'll put it in simple words.<br /> <br /> The cons of being an outside cat, the risks, vastly outnumber the risks of being indoors.<br /> <br /> And the cat doesn't need to be surprised or ill to fall from a tree...I've seen it with my own eyes. >_&lt; A cat was in the tree next to our street, I was out front cleaning out my leopard gecko's reptile grass and I saw the cat inching down then take off. <br /> It broke a back leg, but took off running. I tried to follow it but it was too fast. None of the neighbors recognized the description. =/

yeah, i meen its not like an animal can be truely safe anywhere, but things are much less likely to freak a cat out so badly wile sitting in a tree don't you think? i meen on a sofa a child could jump onto it screaming scairing the cat, makeing it fall off and break its leg. wile in a tree, a cat could see it comming do to the fact that theres not a large area the cat cant see, like there is on a sofa, AKA the back of the sofa itself, acts like a large wall to a cat.

I was saying "No, no, no they can't" to twisting on a long drop. Sorry I should have made myself clear. <br /> <br /> "It seems like broken bones are something that many pets (and kids) go through at some point in their lives. It can be something as simple as falling off the couch or as severe as being hit by a car"<br /> <br /> <br /> Well a break is a break, so that last part makes sense. I know animals can break their legs from falling off the couch....I've seen a Chihuahua break both front legs jumping off a low couch. <br /> Poor thing was bred so poorly, his bones were very thin.

No, no they can't. Falling from a sofa, that's a short distance<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.pets.ca/dogs/articles/broken-bones-in-cats-and-dogs/"> yes acculy they can"</a><br /> "It seems like broken bones are something that many pets (and kids) go through at some point in their lives. It can be something as simple as falling off the couch or as severe as being hit by a car"<br /> <br /> and from your post, ", if a cat is surprised, sick, disoriented or injured, it is unlikely to be able to adjust its position to land feet-first."

No, no they can't. Falling from a sofa, that's a short distance.<br /> <br /> A tree is much, much higher.<br /> <br /> And that's not my words, it's the words I took from a site. ;)

A sofa and a tree are two entirely different things. Please don't bring up something irrelevant. You're not taking in the point of my post. <br /> <br /> yeah i am your saying that cats shouldnt be in trees because they could fall out of them and break something. im not saying it isnt true but even in your own post it says that " Cats are indeed very athletic and agile animals, and they do have a unique instinctive ability to twist themselves around in mid-air to correct their position during a fall."<br /> <br /> now im saying that even though that MAY happen, a cat can just as easley fall off a sofa and break a leg. so being inside isnt any safer than being outside.