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A veterinary blog for pet lovers, vet voyeurs and the medically curious...
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Cats may get the raw end of the deal when it comes to how much their owners are willing to pay for their medical expenses relative to dogs. And they may have fewer bucks thrown in their direction when it comes to research.
Despite the stats, we still love our cats like mad. Dogs may win out for now in terms of dollars but there’s no reason for that condition to persist. In fact, demographic studies show that US cats currently beat out their canine counterparts in total numbers owned (88.3 million cats in 38.4 million households!).
None of this, however, means we’re nationally well disposed towards the free-roaming cats in our midst. A recent JAVMA (Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association) study of 703 households in Ohio shows that a huge disparity exists between cat owners and non-cat owners in their attitudes on these kitties.
Non-cat owners were more likely to look at these free-roamers as feline interloping nuisances whereas kitty-keepers reported far more favorable impressions.
Suburban respondents were less likely to see free-roaming cats than rural and urban individuals surveyed. Suburbanites also tended to hold more favorable views on the cats in general. Rural and urban respondents were more likely to consider cats in a less favorable light, though cat owners differed dramatically from non-cat owners in all three zones.
For me (and to a large extent, for the study’s author), what comes through in this extremely detailed study (I’ve not done its depth much justice here, I’ll freely admit) is something we’ve always observed here on Dolittler:
- Cats have a way of eliciting strong opinions
- There’s tremendous polarization between various demographic groups when it comes to the proper keeping of cats.
- Cat owners in rural areas are more likely to defend their cats’ outdoor habits.
- Urban cat-watchers are more likely to hold negative views on the free-roamers.
- Sizable differences of opinion exist between cat owners and non-cat owners.
- Significant differences of opinion exist among cat owners themselves, typically depending on whether they allow their cats access to the outdoors or not.
It’s the author’s view, and also my own after reading countless comments on blog posts like this one, that only the more moderate solutions to the free-roaming cat dilemma are likely to hold sway in the court of public opinion. Furthermore, those solutions with the most legs tend also to further the welfare of felines in general.
For that reason, low cost spays and neuters and trap-neuter-return (TNR programs) are the most obvious candidates for public funding. Feral cat eradication programs and restriction of outdoor cat freedoms will ultimately serve to divide communities further, creating rifts not only between cat lovers and those who would see an end to their visible existence altogether, but also between cat owners themselves who differ on their preference of feline lifestyle.
The disparity within our own cat-loving ranks might well prove a chasm the no-catters could drive a truck through, given enough steam and sufficient confusion/lack of collusion on our end.
Hmmm…the self-congratulatory me thinks the Democratic candidates for President could learn a thing or two from Dolittler based on this borrowed insight.
Feel free to offer your own words of wisdom here…
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"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
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- Mohandas Gandhi
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I like the idea of a curfew, with cats outside after the curfew trapped and impounded for a while. Microchipped means returned to owner, for a fine (happens for dogs). The rest rehomed if possible, or euthanased humanely if diseased, badly injured or very old. Some are FIV or carrying other diseases which they are passing onto other feral cats and pet cats. Or neutered and returned - whatever works best for that area. Rehoming adult cats is never easy.
I agree that non cat owners dislike roaming cats more - they have less understanding of cat behaviour. But for anyone, they can become a nuisance. My now indoor cat would be more settled indoors if he wasn't presented with a view of the strays every time he looked out the window.
I don't like seeing any cat dead on the roadside from being run over by a car, or skinny and dehydrated from lack of food and water, or obviously injured or sick. But they keep breeding out there. And the born ferals, unless trapped while very young, may never become a good house cat.
Since all seem to acknowledge that WE are the primary reason songbirds and so many other species reach the point of precariousness, and that cats are at best a distant second . . .
Why are those so eager to kill free-roaming cats not talking about killing humans? I mean, after all, we are the real problem.
That is not a serious question. Nor do I intend to imply that I think it would be a good idea. I just think it is no less ridiculous than thinking cat killing solves the problem.
As for property rights and garden destruction, I think you should ONLY be allowed to kill cats who mess up your garden if you ALSO kill all human tresspassers who step on your plants.
Its completely ridiculous to kill someone -- including a furry someone -- for messing up your plants. And there is always a better solution, like -- GET A BIG NOISY DOG!!!!
Part of the problem we face today is because we have the arrogant attitude of demanding total control of a piece of land, and ultimately the entire patchwork of land, to use merely for our pleasure and needs, without any idea of compromising by sharing. This is why we will make ourselves extinct. The concept of property rights itself may in fact, be part of the whole psychological attitude that is causing us to destroy everything. It's ridiculous. The earth is going to come roaring back and show us whose property it REALLY is. She did that with Katrina. And if things don't change, Katrina's will be happening left and right.
When people talk about "Saving the Planet" it makes me want to laugh because it is one more example of utter arrogance. The planet will be fine. It will do what it always has done. Once we are gone, the atmosphere will change again. Life will grow in the oceans. The earth will rotate, gravity will exist. And on and on . . .
We just won't be around to see it. Of course, neither will cats, songbirds, dogs, poloar bears, wolves, deer, or most of the creatures we know and love now -- or revile or argue about now.
This attitude has to change if we are to "SAVE OURSELVES." Don't do the planet any favors. Its doing itself a favor right now -- getting rid of us. We must change our arrogant attitude of control and usurpation and abandon short-sighted "solutions" like killing free roaming cats, engaging in war, etc. We need kinder, gentler solutions to everything that are in harmony with life, not more attempts to dominate and control.
We've are truly ridiculously deluded, and the idea that we are being magnanimous or charitable by recycling or putting solar panels on our houses shows how deluded we are. We are implored to do these things in the same way that we are asked to "Save the Children", or "American Idol Gives Back", or "Do the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer." And then we recycle and feel superior and magnanimous and tell people how we are "SAVING THE PLANET." We feel good about ourselves as though participating in some "do gooder" cultural fad. When in fact, it is about LIFE or DEATH - SURVIVAL. NOT the planet's -- but our own.
Sorry for the digression, but the idea of killing cats for trespass seems very much tied into the kind of attitude that tells me loud and clear that we WON'T be turning this thing (environmental changes) around in time to keep our species around much longer. That kind of thinking is exactly how we got here.
Regarding feral and strays, I can understand most viewpoints but will never condone inhumane killing as a solution (I feel the same about other wild animals, too). Ferals are there for the same reason stray dogs are - somebody who either didn't care or wasn't educated enough to know otherwise let their cat roam and reproduce. I think shelters should be given the funding to utilize TNR w/humane euthanasia for ones better dead than alive (FeLV +, chronic disease, etc.) the same way they are given funding to deal w/stray dogs, although I'm well aware of what a stretch that it given most shelters' funding situations to begin with. I think those who feel they've got a right to shoot or poison or otherwise inhumanely dispose of what they view as pests on their property should be fined for animal cruelty (assuming it gets reported). At the same time...
I think those who insist kitty is happier outdoors should be fined anytime their cat is found off property, the same way they would be if their dog was allowed off-leash in an area not intended for such use. I think all pets allowed off their owner's property should be required to be tagged or chipped w/fines for noncompliance. I think people need to be held to utmost responsibility when it comes to their pets - shame on you if you allow kitty to dig up someone else's garden or piss on someone's door, and shame on you even more if you're in the kind of denial that claims kitty only hangs out on the front porch. I swear, almost everytime someone brings in an injured indoor/outdoor cat, they swear up or down that this was the first time kitty ever wandered out into the street or into the neighbor's yard. I have a really hard time believeing them, although I believe it may have been the first time they SAW kitty roaming.
More responsibility all around is in order, and I think it starts w/pet owners. And I personally think fines are the way to go - most people respond to a quick punch to their pocketbook more than they respond to being educated.
Cats have a place in barns....but pet cats belong indoors..all the time. It saves time and money at the vet as well as heartbreak.
Last month, I treated my Sheltie puppy for giardia after he got into "feral" cat poop in my backyard (out with me, supervised, playing; he dropped the tennis ball he was retrieving and quicky snatched up a piece of poop).
$40 visit.
$50 in fecal tests to determine why my dog had bloody, mucousy diarrhea.
$30 in lost wages because I missed a night of work to take him to the vet's.
$40 in meds to treat BOTH dogs I own.
$30 in gas to drive to the vet who is 45 min away twice; once when he was sick, once for the re-check.
$30 for a fecal recheck after the meds ran their course.
$20 to replace the dog bed he ruined due to explosive diarrhea.
$15 in other costs, such as yogurt, canned pumpkin, and dog towels he also ruined.
So we're looking at well over $200 that I am not getting back any time soon, spent treating my dog when *I* am following the rules, *I* am the law-abiding citizen with *MY* licensed dog on *MY* propery.
If they were cats that occasionally crossed into my backyard on their travels through town, it would not be such an issue with me. The issue is that my neighbor across the street is feeding these cats.
We had a feral cat population about six years ago of roughly a dozen cats. My other neighbor, who has since moved, complained to this cat neighbor numerous times, sick of the poop in his garden and the cats living in his doghouse(!). One day, while leaving for work, he backed over one of the cats in the driveway, and the cat-neighbor would no longer speak to him, period.
They started doing TNR -- we could see the traps in their yard -- and we were down to zero cats in a couple of years time due to hit by cars and natural means.
Out of the blue, the feral cat population has suddenly EXPLODED in the past six months, and now I see these cats all over the place. As far as I am concerned, they are not feral, they BELONG to this person who is feeding and watering them (but apparently not treating them for things like giardia!). I have been trying to gather evidence to have a sit-down chat with my ACO in regards to this. I have documented five individual cats that frequent (4+ times a week) my property and come up with physical descriptions.
I'm just wondering what can be done about it. As far as I am concerned, they are a health hazard, but I don't actually know if they can remove them just based on those grounds. I know they are not neutered because I listen to the darn things court each other every night, so this neighbor is not trying to solve the problem.
A post on the impact of feral cats from a veterinarian's stand point would be nice...
I'm a big fan of TNR for feral cats. I feel it's a good middle ground. They are not indigenous to the area, and therefore have no business breeding unchecked. At the very least, cat owners who let their animals roam should have them neutered. Those who do not wish to pay for altering should keep their cats indoors or not have cats at all.
Well, guess what. I DO have a right to my parcel of land. I own it. I bought it. I paid for it. Hell, I still pay for it. And I work VERY hard to keep it as nice as possible with what little free time I have. So not only do I not appreciate YOUR cat performing all the lovely antics described above, but I appreciate them about as much as I would appreciate, say, the neighbours great dane digging pot holes in my garden and yard, or crapping all over my front driveway, or the neighbourhood kids having a barbeque on my deck.
Not only that (and I've mentioned this one before) but if you loved your cat, you'd want to protect him or her from the immense dangers that await him outdoors. Sadistic people, cars, trucks, dogs, coyotes, other illness carrying cats, angry property owners, poison, etc. I also don't appreciate the anguish that I have to go through every time I run over one of your precious felines. It's not MY fault he ran out into the road, and yet it's ME who has to go through the next week feeling like CRAP because I've ended an innocent creatures life simply because someone couldn't be bothered to keep the door shut.
As far as the squirrels and the rest of the wildlife... well that's just it, itsn't it. WILDlife. They were there first. YOU put that cat there, and it's YOUR responsibility. Don't park your car in my driveway, and don't crap your cat in my garden.
Re: "So not only do I not appreciate YOUR cat performing all the lovely antics described above . . . Not only that (and I've mentioned this one before) but if you loved your cat, you'd want to protect him or her from the immense dangers that await him outdoors."
Sorry, Kim, guess again. I assume you are talking to me since that property rights rant was mine, but my cats ARE indoor cats, and my cats ARE NOT digging in your yard.
Nice try, though.
But even though the cats involved aren't mine, I don't think digging in your garden or messing up your plants is deserving of a death sentence.
There is a raccoon that gets into my trash and I find it strewn all over the yard in the morning, but I am not sitting at my window with a shotgun.
Someone, presumably a neighbor, came and cut all the tulips on the border of my property to take indoors for their own enjoyment in the last week. Again, I am not sitting at my window with a shotgun.
I used humane traps when I had mice.
I simply try to avoid issuing death sentences to creatures on my property as much as possible. There have been a few large, threatening spiders that I have chosen to kill rather than catch and release (although I have caught and released the majority) but I simply don't think garden destruction is death-sentence worthy. Very little is.
I have let the squirrels and rabbits know that when it comes to my yard, mi casa, su casa. The raccoon is welcome too, I think it's funny.
Yeh, its "my" house but . . . not really. The bank still "owns" it and besides, all this land really does belong to the earth.
I'm not doing a lot of territorial marking, unless something very bad were to go on.
I actually had a very pleasant dream about animals coming into my backyard. I may plant some lettuce for the bunnies.
"Someone, presumably a neighbor, came and cut all the tulips on the border of my property to take indoors for their own enjoyment in the last week. Again, I am not sitting at my window with a shotgun."
No, but you could seek legal recourse if those tulips were particularly valuable... much the same way I would love to seek legal recourse for the $250+ I lost thanks to the feral cat poop in my yard causing my dogs to become ill.
"There is a raccoon that gets into my trash and I find it strewn all over the yard in the morning, but I am not sitting at my window with a shotgun."
If your neighbor were specifically, purposely encouraging more and more raccoons to your area, though, I bet you would be pretty upset though, right? Considering the diseases raccoons carry?
And the fact of the matter is, feral cats have a death sentence living in urban/suburban/even some rural areas. Cars. Ever notice the only place you find feral cat bodies is in the middle of the road?
The options for feral cats in most areas are: get spayed/neutered, released to spread more disease/parasites, and end up as either coyote food (encouraging more coyotes to suburban/urban areas) or roadkill (more work for the ACO who already humanely trapped the cat once); OR get picked up and be euthanized, unless it is particularly friendly/probably once a house cat/a kitten and can be placed in a home.
TNR does not stop the spread of lovely bugs like giardia, coccidia, and external or internal parasites that you, your kids, and your pets can pick up when they encounter cat feces. TNR just stops reproduction. And cat reproduction is only a small part of the equation.
I should also like to make two things clear.
1. At no point did I threaten any living being with a shotgun.
2. I believe that the main target of the dear Dr's post was those cat owners who allow their kitties to roam free, with a little TNR thrown in for discussion sake.
That being said, I'm a former TNR supporter, until I really began digging into the hard facts.
These are not indigineous animals. Like introduced pigs, rabbits, bugs and rats, they have unleashed parasites, caused damage and greatly impacted local wildlife. Let's face it, if this was a locust, and not a kitty cat, we'd be screaming for some action... and it wouldn't be locust birth control.
The solution is simple. Mandatory spay/neuter. Low cost spay neuter clinics. Mandatory microchipping and licencing. And yes, the veterinary community would need to be a part of the enforcement. And YES, feral and over crowded cats should be humanely euthanized if they lack a rescue or sanctuary organization to take them, rather than simply being sterilized and dumped back on the street where they can use my neighbour's sandbox as a tapeworm deposit box.
We've been involved in rescue for many years, and we help as many as possibly can, but we are realists. And the reality of the situation is that these animals are PETS. You won't see a TNR prorgram for pythons in florida, and you shouldn't see one for cats anywhere else either. They just don't belong there.