[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.]

  • Feydaikin@beehaw.org
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    1 month ago

    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.

    • coyotino [he/him]@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 month ago

      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.

      • BorgDrone@lemmy.one
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        1 month ago

        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.

        • coyotino [he/him]@beehaw.orgOP
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          1 month ago

          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 @[email protected]’s point, I think that if you can’t do that, you shouldn’t adopt a cat.

          • BorgDrone@lemmy.one
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            1 month ago

            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.

            • coyotino [he/him]@beehaw.orgOP
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              1 month ago

              yep. which is why you should play with your cat with toys, which won’t give them disgusting diseases like wild animals will.

              • BorgDrone@lemmy.one
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                1 month ago

                Nah. She’s this fluffy little murder machine. She needs to sow death and destruction on the local mouse population.

                  • Saik0A
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                    1 month ago

                    i guess, if you enjoy being a menace to your local ecology. Then go off, king.

                    The guy mentions “destruction of the local mouse population” and this is your answer? So you think those mice are native? They’d exist if humans weren’t here?

                    They are the same issue as cats… They’re only here and only thriving because we accidentally give them too much safety/places to live/food. They would also be invasive.

      • Feydaikin@beehaw.org
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        1 month ago

        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.

          • Feydaikin@beehaw.org
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            1 month ago

            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

            • coyotino [he/him]@beehaw.orgOP
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              1 month ago

              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.

        • coyotino [he/him]@beehaw.orgOP
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          1 month ago

          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.

      • echo@lemmings.world
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        1 month ago

        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.

        • coyotino [he/him]@beehaw.orgOP
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          1 month ago

          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.