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meow_irl (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 11 months ago by cabbagee@sopuli.xyz to c/meow_irl@sopuli.xyz

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[-] Neato@kbin.social 119 points 11 months ago

Cats should stay inside. They live a lot longer inside as they don't come into contact with risks like other cats, predators, stray dogs (family lost 2 cats this way), diseases and parasites from birds and rodents.

They should also stay inside because house cats kill for sport and they kill between 1-4 Billion birds in the US every year, driving some species into threatened, endangered, and even extinct status.

[-] joelfromaus@aussie.zone 18 points 11 months ago

I used to do some work for a local fauna park (like a small zoo) and cats were terrible. If a fox got in you’d find a couple of dead (and eaten) fowls but you could tell if a cat got in because there could be a dozen dead birds that were otherwise untouched. They just like killing. Knowing that each cat could be doing that to native birds each night is why I tell cat owners to keep their cat inside.

[+] A7thStone@lemmy.world -14 points 11 months ago

Their bird kill is exaggerated

[-] Neato@kbin.social 8 points 11 months ago

1 is too many. There's no reason to let your cats outside. It's stupidity.

[-] LwL@lemmy.world -1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Ethical reasons.

Also if you want something environmental, commonly used types of cat litter aren't biodegradable and cats with free outside access don't need any.

Oh and cats are also far more likely to kill birds that are already in some way impaired by something like old age or sickness, so while the impact is undoubtedly there, the numbers may paint a worse picture than reality.

And they also kill rats which in most places is a positive.

[-] Neato@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago

So now you're just making things up. If the litter is a problem, DON'T HAVE CATS. Cats are bred for us. They are a problem we created.

Injured birds? Predators that'd actually eat them would kill them. Rats? No one has a cat as a ratter these days. We don't live on farms and cats can't get to where rats live in urban areas. In suburban, rats are a much lessa. problem.

These are made up justifications for doing something that has no benefit.

[-] Wahots@pawb.social 0 points 11 months ago

They unfortunately kill tons of birds, accounting for three quarters of non-natural bird deaths. :/

Non-paywalled National Geographic link: https://archive.ph/Ysy0C

[-] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

The problem with this is that the US is notably one of the worst countries to let a cat outside, but because the US dominates the western internet everyone who speaks English gets scolded for leaving a cat outside even if if they have other bigger local environmental problems to solve instead.

Personalty for my local area i would much rather have we stop having grass gardens because there is a lack of diversity of local plants, or to stop driving cars because roads are creating floods.

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[-] flicker@kbin.social 47 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I have patiently explained to my cat that he is kept inside not for his safety, but because he is an amazing, large, fast, intelligent, talented murder machine and I can't let him destroy all the birds and lizards and, of course, the other cats in the neighborhood. He seems to appreciate the flattery.

[-] altima_neo@lemmy.zip 20 points 11 months ago

I don't let them out because then they pick up fleas and mites, which in turns means tapeworms and other illnesses related to all that. It's not good for the cat and definitely not good for my wallet.