On Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:26:20 -0500, Brooklyn1 wrote:

On Wed, 2 Feb 2011 12:38:52 -0800, "Bob F" wrote:

aemeijers wrote:

And keeps them from digging up the neighbor's freshly planted veggies
and pooping in their spinach.

I have to put screens over the beds whenever I plant because of
neighbor's uncontrolled cats.


Better that than a smelly cat box (and yes, they ALL do smell- the
owners are just desensitized), and a cat that starts trashing
furniture and becoming crazy and/or obese from lack of stimulation and
exercise. And before you say it, I consider declawing to be animal
cruelty. How would you like the last joint of all your fingers and
toes cut off?
Sorry, 'indoor only' cats may live longer, but they aren't cats any
more. I could never do that to a sentient creature.

But you have no hesitation to do a number on your neighbors with your
cats.

I made a nice toilet for my cat, outside. I filled some planters with a
nice sand. One, the most used by the cat, is 50 feet long, by 3 feet
wide. There are enough plants, where the cat has privacy. There is no
problem with too many poops, as they just decompose, the sprinklers come
on every other day. Also my yard has other areas for the cat to poo,
hang out and play in. The dog also likes to be in the yard, and protects
the cat from any larger creatures that may stray in. The cat can come inside
when it wants to. Sometimes, when we leave the animals are all locked
outside with food and water. I taught the dog to be ok when left alone.
As a puppy, I made sure he had plenty of alone time, and plenty of time
with strangers. I didn't want my pet to be dependent on me for comfort.
Of course the dog and cat love to come in at night, but a couple of times
a week I make them stay out, to maintain their comfort with being alone.

It is late, forgive me for grammar or spelling mistakes.

People who put house cats out can't possibly care about their pets any
more than people who put their five year olds out to play on the
freeway. Domesticated cats are not ferral, they have very few outdoor
survival skills if any. Most folks who are annoyed by their neighbors
pet cats will shoot them. .177 pellet guns make no noise and leave no
identifying traces.. more cats die from gun shot than from any other
cause. Anyone who puts a house cat out because they think they are
harming a sentient creature by keeping it indoors is a pinhead with a
lower IQ than any cat. And cats don't smell, not unless they are ill.
Exuding no odor is just one way how nature made felines one of the best
hunters on the planet, which is why they also bury their waste, the only
animal that does. Naturally the lazy *******s that don't regularly
clean the cat box are who smell, not the cat. Humans smell... and I'm
positive if I ever visited your terlits I'd about die from the stench.