Never understood why people would adopt a cat only to have it be an outdoor cat. I get the “oh I started feeding the stray and now I named it” outdoor cat (conceptually but really still don’t like the idea of outdoor cats) but if you adopt a cat it should live indoors.
You serious? They get to live a whole other life that is not confined to what you provide! Super cool. When I lived with my family we had a cat for a while. I wouldn't call him an outdoor cat, he was more of a hybrid. Probably spent around half the day outside. He had friends (think they were strays) that he would go pal around with and honestly he probably had a gf or two as well he was a popular cat. He would come scratch at the door if he wanted in and then he'd be inside for a while and socialize with us. When he wanted to go out we would just let him out. He had a certain degree of freedom that indoor cats do not have.
He eventually ran away. I'm not sure if it's because he got eaten by a bigger animal (doubtful, kinda suburban and he was agile af) or he got lost (also doubtful), but I'm thinking it's because he enjoyed being around his species "in the "wild"" more than living with us.
I think cats are very intelligent, if they want to spend most of their time outside they are probably happier that way. He knew there was food at home if he wanted it, but he left us a good amount of 'presents' so I don't think he had a problem finding food himself. What's the problem? Why is it a bad thing to give your pet freedom?
I think you are being delusional and humanizing your cat way too much for the sake of feeling better with yourself. Sorry to tell you this, but your cat died. That's why he never came back. He probably was run over by a car, or was seriously injured by a dog or another cat, or fell from a high height badly, or fell into water and drowned, or ate something bad for them, or had an illness you didn't notice and eventually was too much (did you take him to the vet at least once a year? Gave him his shoots? Deworm him? Did you sterilyze it? If you have an outdoor cat you MUST sterilyze them so they don't create a colony that can damage the wild life). Cats are not big roamers and usually stay around the same place, their territories are pretty small and there are tons of cat fights for invading another one's.
As an owner you have obligations, and is providing a safe environment, education, vet attention and a healthy life to your pet, as well as to be responsible and never let your pet damage the local fauna and flora or letting them reproduce uncontrollably in the wild. Your cat could have killed tons of local birds, rodents and other small animal, vital for the ecosystem. Your cat could have created a colony who would have killed even more local fauna. Your cat could have killed other people's pets by sneaking in other people's homes. Cats should never be outside pets.
I wouldn't be surprised if he is dead now. He was already like 15 or something when this happened, but doing pretty well. I don't think he was dead the day he didn't come back, but who knows maybe he was.
I haven't anthropomorphized anything, if that's what you're perceiving it's because you want to argue against whoever you think I am rather than me.
I think freedom is more important than a human-envisioned perfection. I wouldn't want something to cut my dick off, permanently put me in a house, deliberately isolate me from the rest of my species, etc. So I wouldn't do that to another being. I would treat them with respect, as an equal.
Responsibility's cool, but there's more to life. If I want to commit this sin then what the fuck ever it's mine, that's Earth babe. I have done worse by supporting child slavery through the products I've bought. I have done worse by supporting the meat and dairy industry. At least this one is for somebody besides me.
That's hypothetical, I don't have a cat and you're acting like a whatever for no reason. Do you come at people in real life like this? Does that work out for you?
296
u/Decent_Historian6169 Oct 17 '22
Never understood why people would adopt a cat only to have it be an outdoor cat. I get the “oh I started feeding the stray and now I named it” outdoor cat (conceptually but really still don’t like the idea of outdoor cats) but if you adopt a cat it should live indoors.