My rationale in telling adopters is: Cats that are kept indoors cost cat owners a lot less money spent at the vet than those that go outdoors - it has actually been proven. Cats that go out are in danger of contracting diseases from other cats, getting injuries from fights with other cats (abscesses from bites, etc), worms from eating wildlife, fleas (tapeworm), attacked by wildlife and roaming dogs, cars, and nasty people! Statistically, cats that live only outdoors, rarely make it past 3 yrs old; cats that live inside and go outside a lot, average 5-6 years, and cats that are kept strictly indoors, can live a very long time...yes, there are exceptions to each category, depending on luck and genes.
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Melinda Kerr Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 8:26 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Keep Cats Indoors My crazy Fuji just wants to make friends with them. She brought us a bird that fell out of a nest once. She brought another one, and then let it go (alive) when it was time to come in. I have caught her a few times with the hamster, but she has never hurt her. I suppose she just doesn't realize that she is a hunter! Sent from my iPhone On Mar 23, 2011, at 9:16 AM, [email protected] wrote: > I have ferals & the birds seem smart enough to stay out of my yard. > Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry > > -----Original Message----- > From: LauraM <[email protected]> > Sender: [email protected] > Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:56:46 > To: <[email protected]> > Reply-To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Keep Cats Indoors > > Yes, the number one cause of bird extinction is habitat loss, but cats are #2. > There's a well-known study that was conducted on a couple of adjacent beaches in California, one with a feral cat population and one without. The beach that is home to feral cats has no birds - remember that most shorebirds are ground nesters - while the cat-free beach supports a healthy bird population. > Of course, our birds have natural predators - some raptors such as red-tailed hawks prey mostly on birds. Kingsnakes and rat snakes are known for feasting on eggs and hatchlings. But this is natural predation & so things are kept in balance. Throw in a highly efficient predator such as a cat and the balance changes. > > --- On Tue, 3/22/11, SomeWhere Sam <[email protected]> wrote: > > > From: SomeWhere Sam <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Keep Cats Indoors > To: [email protected] > Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 4:36 PM > > > Sorry but that information is outdated or biased. > > The number one killer of birds is humans due to habitat loss or construction for > same. > > Humans: The Number One Threat to Birds > http://www.alleycat.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=325 > > SomeWhere Sam > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Bonnie Hogue <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Tue, March 22, 2011 2:37:38 PM > Subject: [Felvtalk] Keep Cats Indoors > > In the newspaper today: > > House cats are the #1 predator of wild birds. The American Bird Conservancy > estimates up to 500 million birds per year are killed by cats. About 400,000 > are killed yearly by wind turbines (less than 20% of the number killed by > cats). So now we have another reason to keep our cats indoors -- not only for > their own health and safety, but for that of our BIRD population! > Save the cats and the birds: Keep Your Cat Indoors! > ~Bonnie > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > [email protected] > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > [email protected] > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > [email protected] > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > [email protected] > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected] http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected] http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
