OK, here's my question-- why do people let their cats
outside on a regular basis? Vet bills (vaccinations,
injuries, etc.) would be enough in itself to keep them
in. Good grief!
We chose to live in the *county* specifically not to
have the city laws dictate the number of *indoor* cats
we could have. I can't even imagine letting these guys
outside. It's one thing to impose them and their
idiotic behaviors on my husband and me and quite
another to let them loose on the unsuspecting
neighborhood.
Oh, to keep this plant related-- our, small
east-facing bedroom is my indoor plant room: the door
is kept closed and I go in there to enjoy the
greenery. The spider plant and gardenia in the kitchen
window have been sufficiently "pruned."
Debra (lotsa cats, but all inside!)
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Our city is in the process of passing a cat bylaw and I just keep hoping
they hurry up. Only problem is, impossible to enforce, but maybe the
more responsible of the irresponsible will keep their cats in.
I actually went in to google and typed in cat deterrant and stumbled
across a similar thread on another forum. Investigated and found:
http://www.uk.gardenweb.com/ - garden forums if anyone interested
Not too much new, or that I know that works for keeping cats away, but
may investigate some of the other topics too.
I guess I'm just too much of a wimp when it comes to confronting a
neighbour!
Brenda
Lee Ann Reiners wrote:
Just to clarify too, I DO like cats. Love them. Don't agree with
letting them out either, so any that I would ever have would be
indoors. But the problem is that I also hate litter boxes, and also
hate the damage that cats can do to the house. So, would never have a
cat myself, but love playing with friends' cats. In fact, will be cat
sitting this weekend (indoor cats!)....ones that I just gave a chunk of
honeysuckle to!!
Just as an aside...a neighbour just told me that they have an old
carpet, and though it was clean, they knew that over the years, their
aging dogs had had accidents. She had cleaned up after the dogs, there
were no stains, but she felt that she wanted to get the carpets
professionally cleaned this spring. So she had a carpet cleaner come in
and she explained the situation. A friend of mine is a health inspector
and often goes into restaurants with UV lights....rat urine will kind of
"glow" in the light, showing if the restaurant has ever had a problem
with vermin. So this carpet cleaner did the same thing - UV light -
apparently virtually the entire carpet glowed. Even the chair in the
bedroom glowed. You apparently could see where she had cleaned (it
didn't glow) and you could also see every speck of lint (came out like
sparkles). The carpet cleaner said that to treat the carpet for pet
stains would be exhorbitant and it would be better to replace the
carpet. Yikes. So if any of you are wondering, the carpet cleaners can
perform this "service" for you!
Brenda
Debra Widera wrote:
Acckkk! You've just reminded me that the lawn company is coming
tomorrow as are the garbage men. Have to go out and pooper scoop!
Brenda - running out before it gets dark!
George Shirley wrote:
Whew, back in now.
Our dog law (there is presently no cat law - except I think limit on #
cats owned) is similar. Must be on leash outside of property and we
also have a pooper scoop law. And let me also clarify that there are
just as many irresponsible dog owners out there who take their dogs for
walks either on public property or allow their dogs to poop on private
property without picking up. You often see them just as dusk or shortly
after, so their ignorance is planned. There is a "green strip" running
through the city that is a popular place for walking - dogs included. I
took my dog (armed with poop bag!) and was disgusted at how much dog
poop there was long the strip. So much that I don't even go along there
any more, preferring the cement sidewalks. As long as I pick up after
my own dog, I don't feel bad about her going on someone's lawn. And the
green strip runs through a few school yards, so I feel sorry for the
kids that have to deal with it on a daily basis. There was also a law
just passed that says we cannot allow dog poop to accumulate even on our
own lawns.
Alas, the cat laws are lagging way far behind the dog laws.
Brenda
George Shirley wrote:
Our city has a cat and dog law, they must be on a leash if they are
outside of your fence. Some of our neighbors let their cats roam in
violation of that law and I am quick to call the animal control folks
when they come on my property. I will not let your pet poop on my
property and I scoop Sleepy's stuff up and put it in a sealed bag daily.
Besides she is trained to only poop in one place in the yard, commonly
known to the grandchildren as "Sleepy's potty place."
Since most of these cats are not collared nor have ID tags they are
either given up for adoption or put down by the pound folks. My daughter
and eldest granddaughter are cat lovers (misbegotten children!) and
their cats live indoors and are actually frightened if taken out. If you
love your pets you take care of them and letting them roam isn't taking
care of them. I can't count the number of cats I've seen splattered all
over the roads around here and a few dogs to boot.
Miss Sleepy Dawg won't go out an open gate unless she is with one of us
so we don't worry about her getting out on the street. She was also
trained as a pup to NEVER go in the street under threat of being beaten
with a lightly rolled newspaper, of which she is deathly afraid even
though she has never been struck by one. If folks truly love their
companion animals they will take care of them, sounds like most of the
folks on this list do so. IT'S THOSE DEMON NEIGHBORS WHO DON'T GARDEN
WHO DON'T. Rave off.
George
Brenda Pink wrote:
On my cat list, the reason given is becaue the cat *wants* out. Duh.
Mine *want* out but I don't get everything I want so why should they ;-)
Seriously, I love my cats too much to let them out. I rarely see any
stray cats around my house any more. Not since 2 years ago when I
started feeding the one I eventually took in "temporarily" to have her
kittens. None of them ever left.
Obligatory gardening content: with nine indoor-only cats, no plant
stands a chance. I gave up on houseplants years ago. I did try growing
some in an off-limits-to-cats room, but I'd forget about them and they
all died of thirst. I do have them in my office at work, though; the
cats don't go there ;-)
Barbara A. in Southcentral Virginia, Zone 7
Debra Widera wrote:
My 2 cats age 18 and 16 have never been outside to roam. They never try to
go out. One fell 3 feet from a window when the screen became unlatched and he
promptly walked halfway around to the front door and meowed to come in. They
have never seen a flea, tick, cat bite infection or had to run from cars.
They run all over the house even at their old ages and seem to be happy. They
use 2 scratching plsts and have never damaged furniture. They travel with us in
a car or our motorhome, have been in 30 states and just returned from a 3 day
trip to Maine.
I have many house plants and a greenhouse. The older cat likes to sleep in
the greenhouse on sunny days. The only plant I cannot have is a spider plant.
They devour them.
My garden is blooming mostly blue and white this week with forget me nots and
shasta dasies dominating. The lupines are also blue.
Anne in MA
I don't know, but I wish they wouldn't. When I was still living with =
my folks we would let our cats out, but only with strict supervision and =
they were leash trained. They loved it, were safe, and the neighbors =
yards and gardens were left alone.
The average life span of an indoor cat is roughly 20 years. The =
average life span of an outdoor cat, less than 5.
SueNY
----- Original Message -----
From: Debra Widera
To: GARDENS@LSV.UKY.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 7:12 PM
Subject: Re: cats, was A secret visitor
OK, here's my question-- why do people let their cats
outside on a regular basis? Vet bills (vaccinations,
injuries, etc.) would be enough in itself to keep them
in. Good grief!
