Cats inside house (2 Cats Dead; 1 Cat Adopted; 1 Raccoon, 1 Possum Relocated)

[Terraism]

But as I said, I completely understand why some people prefer their cats to stay inside. In fact, for some cats, its definitely better. But, at the same time, this isn't neccessarily true for ALL cats. Or all pets for that matter. That's really where my sticking point on all of this is, as I've seen cats that love the outdoors and live just fine out there as much as inside for many, many years.

My family has a cat that's just shy of seventeen years old. He has lived outside his entire life - first, in San Diego suburbs, and then, for the last ten years, in northern Vermont. Year-round, 24/7. He's been inside the house for more than a few minutes only when sick (twice) or when we had a family of vicious critters living under our garage.

At seventeen, he's still going strong - though a little slower than he used to be - and one of the smartest animals I've ever known, and I tend not to appreciate animal intelligence much. He's friendly, well-behaved, and cared for. (Truly - I know some will be gasping in horror at the prospect of leaving him out in winter, but we do provide a covered lean-to shelter with some mild heating elements that stays moderately warm during the colder months.) If he's ever done property damage, which I doubt, it's never been spoken of in the neighborhood.

Long post, anyway, only to point out that cats, in fact, do not need to be kept indoors - and they can do well without.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Ok, good news. The orange and white cat got adopted.
The woman that used to help her out at the shelter
came by to visit and adopted him. He was so nice that
she couldn't resist. The other cat was so feral that
she had to take the cage, she couldn't get him to calm
down to even transfer him. She said she'd bring the
cage back by this afternoon. She's trying to get it
to settle down before trying to handle it. If she
can't get it to calm down she's going to have to put
it down. I told her, "Hopefully, this is the last
time, because I think that's the cat we've been trying
to catch."

New Total: Cats Dead: 2; Cats Adopted: 1; Raccoons forcibly put on all Natural Diet:1

Well, that's 2 Cats Dead now. THis one was so feral it spit, hissed, & nearly knocked itself unconcious when we got within 20' of it. Animal Control had to take the whole cage with her, then use some of the special equipment to get the cat out & return our cage. It was raining today, so she is going to give it some time to "Cool Down" to see if it is tame enough to keep (and she felt the need to assure us, it showed no signs of Rabies). Barring a complete 180 of this cats attitude, its going to be put to sleep in a day or two.

As for the little, friendly orange cat:

It clearly belonged to somebody. It was very tame, worked well with others, and they had to pick straws to determine who got to adopt it. Whoever owned it never bothered to register it, so they never really owned it. Animal Control kept it for 5 days, when no one claimed it, it went up for adoption (which took less than 48 hours). We never found anyone who was missing a cat. It might have been dumped.

Or someone is out there wondering where their kitty is & what happened to it. They'll never know.

If they had bothered to collar & register their cat (or the microchip thingy), they would have gotten a call from Animal Control about their cat & a warning not to let him play where he could get hurt.

At least he's in a good home now. I feel sorry for the 2 Cats that got put down & I'm sure the raccoon is cursing us as his diet of A&W & Donuts is now Frogs & Nuts.

So far:

4 Cans of Bait Used:

4 Animals Trapped:

100% Effective

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Well,

I think we got all the rogue cats (for now).

Last time we set out the trap, we got a possum (incidentally, the most aggressive, people-scared critters we got were the cats; the Raccoon & the Possum were really laid back).

But, the Squirrels have returned to our yard (the utterly vanished due to the cats). I figure the squirrels are a good barometer of Cat Activity (in addiition to cat crap in the flower beds).

I hope my cat problem is taken care of, but eventually some more will show up.

PS. Since the Racoon got nabbed; the Casey's down the street hasn't had anything get into their trash. Yep, goodbye Pizza & Doughnuts, hello grubs & bugs.

Heaven help us if that Raccoon ever finds his way back to our house.

 

[frankthedm]

Last time we set out the trap, we got a possum (incidentally, the most aggressive, people-scared critters we got were the cats; the Raccoon & the Possum were really laid back).

Surprising. The possum's I have seen have been very unpleasant in demenor. I kind of think of them as the north american dire rat.