[alt text: an illustration of a person with a head-empty expression on their face, who is saying, “Not letting your cat outside is CRUEL!” Around the person are various gruesome scenes of different cats in distress. From the top and going clockwise, the scenes include: a cat being carried away by a hawk; a cat that is on fire; a dead cat in the road that has been run over by a car; several dead kittens; a cat that is missing an eye and various patches of fur; a cat that is feasting on a songbird; and a cat that is being carried away by a coyote. The person appears to be completely oblivious to these scenes of distress.]
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This has gone like other “cats are not native to everywhere and are massively impactful to the areas in which they are introduced” threads has gone, and while it has been more civil than the last, is going a bit sideways.
Depriving cats of enjoyment and engagement is not nice, that’s why we as owners can play with them using toys designed to satisfy their predatorial urges. Leaving cats unsupervised outside is also not nice to local bird populations, or those unsupervised cats who suffer unspeakable outcomes.
This is a good overview for folks that think cats should be outside. This particular quote stands out:
Although originally bred from their wild counterparts, domestic cats (which include feral felines and pets) are not native to any ecosystem, making them an invasive species everywhere they exist
https://www.popsci.com/environment/outdoor-cats-spread-diseases/
I’ve never understood how this is so controversial
People’s parents taught them that cats need to be allowed to roam outside to be healthy and happy. Many people don’t have the critical thinking skills to change the views that their parents gave them.
This neither funny nor informative. You’re just antagonizing for the sake of it.
i care a lot about the health and happiness of cats AND about the health of my local wildlife. Clearly some folks don’t understand that letting their cats roam outside is bad for the cat and for the local native wildlife, so I would argue that this post is plenty informative.
Edit: generally, I would say this follows the format of other political cartoons - using an illustration to make an argument succinctly.
succinctly
It’s not a very clever cartoon, you’re just painting the one you don’t agree with as a literal shithead.
while pointing out the contradiction in the statement, with the various scenes surrounding the shithead.
I agree with the point of the cartoon, but I also agree it is not a good cartoon. There are bits of ableism and in general it just seems like it wants to be shocking to get a reaction. It is a good topic to discuss, but there are better ways to go about it.
sure, that is fair. it’s not my favorite cartoon ever, i will admit. but it makes a point that i don’t think needs a lot of subtlety.
Ah that was the subtle detail I missed.
/s
i forgot, political cartoons are only valuable if they are highly clever and subtle.
It’s aesthetics at the end of the day, I can deal with very blunt cartoons too. I think it’s not a good sign if a cartoon relies on being overtly literal.
Quick! Give us the stupidist fucking take on this that you possibly can!
Today we learned that outdoor birds and cats are extinct because cats killed all the birds and wolves/birds killed all the cats.
Several years ago, we (ie the human scientific community) learned that cats are the leading cause of death of ALL BIRDS AND MAMMALS IN NORTH AMERICA.
Perhaps all cats collectively, but not well-fed, cared-for house cats in particular. I’ve always had cats and they only very rarely catch a bird. It does the cause a disservice to be intellectually dishonest.
Agreed. The “feral” (shed cats) that we take care of (and fixed)… They’ve killed all of maybe 12 animals in the past 8 years that we know of (maybe 10x that for shit they’ve killed that we didn’t know about). The correct answer is that number would be thousands of critters… but isn’t because we give them cat food that’s available to them at will. It also stops them from roaming outside of the “local” area.
The large population of cats together can do a bunch of damage. Feral cats likely do a hell of a lot damage. But claiming that letting a single cat be outside is the end of the world for the local critters is crazy.
cats are an invasive species. this is a proven fact, supported by ecologists. and if you love your cat, you won’t let them outside to get run over by a car. there are million other ways to provide a cat with similar enrichment.
Humans are an invasive species… maybe we shouldn’t be allowed outside?
I as a human can make the conscious choice to live in harmony with the living beings around me. Cats are predators that act on instinct most of the time. It isn’t their fault that they hunt delicate species to extinction just for fun - they literally cannot help it. Which is why we, the humans with big brains and reason, need to help them more harmoniously with their environment. Especially given that we are the bastards that brought them all over the world in the first place.
My cats very rarely range far from my property and far more rarely have caught a bird. They fixed and well-fed. Not all cats are equally ‘bad’.
#notallcats
Humans are not an invasive species. We migrated to everywhere we currently live. Invasive species are usually defined something along the lines of being a species that was introduced somewhere (by people) where it didn’t previously exist and is harmful to its new environment. We meet the harmfulness part of the definition but not the introduction part of it.
My first cat was eaten by a mountain lion. That was not on my Bingo card of all the things that I thought he could die from.
you’d be surprised how many predators are living within walking distance of your home, even in metro areas! Even in places where they are less, cats still have to watch out for the apex predator: Honda Civics
There’s always a bigger cat… I guess?
Not letting your cat outside is cruel. Not considering the environment it’ll be in is also cruel.
Perhaps people should just be more mindful when it comes to their choice of pets and if they should even have one.
how is it cruel? There are many, many, many ways to provide enrichment for a cat without letting them outside to get run over by a car. I’m all for catios and taking cats for a walk on a leash or in some sort of covered carrier, as a form of enrichment. But I don’t think the absence of those activities is inherently cruel.
Walk harness. Cats should be taken on walks outside, on a harness, like dogs are.
Wrong. That is NOT how cats operate…
yep all those thousands of people that walk their cats on harnesses are just imagining it.
Prove it, provide sources
It is. They need to be outside as much as you do.
Nobody thrives in an exclusively indoor environment. They go crazy. Sterilization can help a bit, but they still need to go out sniffing stuff and at least play at hunting daily.
There’s a reason even prisons have courtyards and outside activities. It’s downright dangerous for everyone if they didn’t.
I also rarely go outside, I am a perfectly normal human.
And that’s a choice.
But animals tend to enjoy the outside. They don’t surf the web, watch TV/movies, play or listen to music. They need stimuli, outside input.
Edit: I do go outside and not even I claim to be perfectly normal. XD
But animals tend to enjoy the outside
Maybe yours do. If that is the case, take them for a walk on a leash or in a covered stroller. Build a covered patio. You could even play with them in your yard and bring them inside once you can no longer supervise them. There are many, many, many ways to provide this enrichment without leaving them to get hit by a car or scooped up by a predator.
Nobody thrives in an exclusively indoor environment. They go crazy. Sterilization can help a bit, but they still need to go out sniffing stuff and at least play at hunting daily.
Skill issue. My cats haven’t been outside since they were adopted, and they live happy, fulfilling lives full of enrichment. That’s what cat toys and puzzle feeders are for.
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There are many, many, many ways to provide enrichment for a cat without letting them outside
Sure, I could buy some live mice for her to ‘play’ with, but I don’t want that mess inside my house.
your cat does not need to hunt live animals to be happy and healthy. That’s what cat toys are for. You should be playing with your cat at least 20 minutes a day, if not more. I get that some cats get lazy and don’t want to play for 20 minutes, and I got no judgment for stopping early if your cat is super uninterested. But you gotta at least try every day. That’s just part of responsible cat parenting.
To @Faydaikin@beehaw.org’s point, I think that if you can’t do that, you shouldn’t adopt a cat.
your cat does not need to hunt live animals to be happy and healthy.
It’s a predator, of course it needs to hunt to be happy.
yep. which is why you should play with your cat with toys, which won’t give them disgusting diseases like wild animals will.
Nah. She’s this fluffy little murder machine. She needs to sow death and destruction on the local mouse population.
i guess, if you enjoy being a menace to your local ecology. Then go off, king.
You simply don’t understand cats and their needs. You are also obviously very highly prejudiced and unlikely to hear anything someone like me might say to answer your question.
You are also obviously very highly prejudiced
That’s a funny way to spell “educated”. Nothing I am putting out here is my opinion - these are objective facts. All cats can get enough enrichment without being let outdoors, and there are plenty of ways to give a cat outdoors enrichment without just leaving them unsupervised to go and get run over by a car. If you disagree with me, you’re gonna have to provide hard evidence to change my mind. Like actual scientific studies or the medical opinion of at least a few vets. Because that is what my stance is rooted in.
