I just let my cats out, and exclaimed, "Go forth my night beasts!" When they come in they get greeted in various other fashions. What kind of weird stuff do you say and do with your pets?
Hey. So... i live rural and my cats are pets but also are working cats to keep the rodents out of my house.
Just saw some saltiness going on in the comments and wanted to address it.
Didn't make this post with the intention of making anyone upset and I apologize to those I did.
Does the bird decimation happens in the wilderness too? When birds have trees enough to hide? The cats we've had very rarely brought birds home. I think our livingroom windows have taken out more birds than our cats ever did. They brought back mouse often instead.
So my guess is that it is also the lack of cat-safe hiding spots that get small birds killed in cities. Not all birds are able to stay on roofs when its a bit of wind. And cats can easier sneak up buildings than out on a thin tree branch.
Cats are an invasive species in much of the world. They've driven species of birds, mamals, and reptiles to extinction, and many more to the brink.
If someone let's their cats run loose outside, they are an irresponsible pet owner. Not to mention the risk of the cat(s) being hit by a car or mauled by a dog or something. Bonus irresponsibility if one let's non-spayed/neutered cats roam free and lead to more invasive strays.
Cats are very effective and sadistic predators who kill for fun. Keep them contained and instead of contributing to a the decimation of birds and small wildlife in your area. (Meaning the universal you btw, not directing this at you personally!)
You only really need to do that in spring when there's loads of baby birds about. Birds are pretty good at evading predators, just don't feed birds in your garden if you have a cat.
Not sure it's healthy to keep an animal locked inside for all of its life. I rescued my cat from some nutter who had 20 cats in a flat. The charity wouldn't let me take her without a home visit to check it was a suitable home.
You can also have them supervised outside or on a leash. You're presenting this as a false choice between two options: keep them locked up forever, or let them roam unsupervised.
There are ways to be a responsible cat owner. Letting them decimate local birds, reptiles and small mamals is irresponsible.
Also, allowing pets to wonder and be hit by cars is very irresponsible pet ownership as well. I get so pissed off at whoever the guardian was any time I see a cat or dog hit on the side of the road (happens too often around here). If someone let's their animal wonder freely and it's struck/lost/killed, the pet's guardian is fully responsible.
"My cat/dog knows better.." Yeah, until they don't and they're dead....
My cats are not allowed past the catio because they will either destroy everything in sight or be destroyed. If you love your cats, don't let them roam.
I capture cats in a Have-A-Heart trap and take them to the humane society. Costs people $70 to get them out.
Fuck every one of you shit bags that let your cats run free/out of control. You are shitty pet owners and don't deserve animals because you can't care for them properly. Why can't you be responsible and keep control of your pets?
Neither my previous (dead of cancer) nor current cat exhibit any sort of hunting behavior not even bugs. The previous cat was all of 6lbs. and didn't have claws when I adopted her. Perhaps I should not have taken in the one-eyed starving cat that came to my door begging for food and a home? Keeping them inside was not an option. (See below.)
My street is on the edge of town, a rung in a ladder. No traffic but people that live here, and there's only a few.
Both were fully vaxxed with a clean bill of health and regular vet visits.
Now here's the part where HamSwagwich@showeq.com explains that, none the less, I'm an asshole.
If these people want to argue the morality of allowing cats outside, let's hear them defend keeping them inside. Their cats are not behaving normally, but they think it's cute and funny.
"LOL, my cat's so neurotic and weird! I love him so much!"
Yeah, about that. Cats that allowed outdoors don't do any of that weird shit. They're content and calm.
While we're at it, I had an outdoor cat 25-years ago. Killing machine, barely ate his cat food. He caught all the mice in my house and hunted the industrial area out back for more rodents. Ya know, the whole reason we domesticated cats in the first place? (Never killed a bird for whatever reason. Dunno.)
He was another rescue in dire straits. Hook, round and tape worms, fleas and ticks, blacked ears with mites and feline leukemia. Vet told me to kill him. I saved his life instead.
And it's not like I have a choice given the giant dog door for the pigs. But remember kids, I'm an immoral asshole, circumstances be damned. Enjoy your nervous, freaky, fucked up indoor cats.
I mimic their sounds and am not ashamed of it :-)
Whether cats, dogs, or birds, or the pair of wild crows i feed outside, it doesn't matter.
I even mimic the sound of danger that our wild doves make when they see a sparrow hawk. So, if i see one while hand feeding a dove, i point and make the sound and look up very obviously so they know there is one circling around our garden (but often they notice before i do).
Not pets, but I greet the wild birds around here with "Gmorning, boids" or something. The reason is simple: I hate being a bother, even to animals, and the birds are less likely to be scared and fly away if I speak to them.
Also when I lived with cats, no cat who was let out would ever forget to say "mrr", which I interpreted as a "thank you". Of course I responded to them like I would a human.
When I take my dog outside and he shuffles around looking for the perfect spot to crap, I tell him to "get with the program." He seems to understand that I'm becoming impatient.
My pig is 4-yo and I've never seen him poop, not once. He has his own spot of yard and packs that shit in like Teris bricks. Once an area is full, he moves on. LOL, you should see the plants out there!
I've been known to tell my husky-mix "Return with the survey results" when I let him out into our fenced yard. Every time he goes out he seems to do a systematic grid search of the entire area.