Who here has indoor and outdoor cats??

[greeneyedpookie]

Also what critters do they bring in? We have a kitty door that let's the cats roam when ever the please (if we didn't do that, they would bug us all night!) Now, I have come home to dead birds in the house. Headless Horny Toad found when going to bed. Waked up be the loud squeeks that a baby bunny makes (5:30 in the morning, trying to save the bunny to find out when I grabbed it, it's intestines were hanging out!) I know that there are their presents to us. However, GEEZO!!!! Too many dead creatures are being found in my home!!

The Suspects:
Milo & Shasta


Buddha and Mysterie w/ Milo



GEP

:bounce:

[fricasseed_gourmet_rat]

1. I have an outdoor cat

and boy, has he been meowing his head off all night.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because the cat, George, is very very shy. But he's a beautiful gray tabby who looks rather like greeneyedpookie's picture of Shasta.

But anyway, yes. We got George for the purpose of catching moles, which he was quite good at until he decided to stop earlier this summer (could be that he's driven them all out) but yes, occasionally he'd find a frog, bird, or bunny. When he catches something "good" we reward him with his favorite food, Fancy Feast Savory Salmon -- when he catches something "bad" we gently spray him with a spritzer bottle and hope he learns. He hasn't caught anything for a while, which I theorize is because he's on vacation for the month like certain other Georges.

The "dead animals all over the place" thing is helped a LOT by the fact that George is exclusively an outdoor cat except for when we let him into the pantry (and that's the only room of the house he's allowed in, though he has a cat door to get into the garage for when it's chilly).

[greeneyedpookie]

4. Interesting about George

with the water thing. We have a spray bottle for the "off the counter" kind of thing, however never though about the bringing in the "present" sort of thing. THank you, will have to try that one!

GEP

:bounce:

[mike_c]

2. they're predators, but interestingly, my FIVE rarely kill anything...

...but fruit. Every morning and afternoon during summer I have to pick up the fruit that one of them in particular brings in from the neighborhood yards with fruit trees. We're currently enjoying a bumper pear crop in my home office. One of my dearly departed kitties was a rodent monster, but my current cats are all pretty benign.

[AuntieM1957]

3. babies live longer when they stay inside

so mine do so.

but I had one male cat (from kittenhood) who was determined to get out once in a while. He was neutered young, but still thought he was a tom. Unfortunately, he had scars from his imagined toughness. Almost lost him once due to an infection. But he lived nearly 17 years - because he went out only rarely.

His buddy, a more docile female, is 20 years old. She goes out in the garden for about a half hour every day. Eats grass, suns herself, then wants back in.

I don't much care for it when neighbors let their cats out at night, because they bring fleas, etc.

Sorry, but I'm not a fan of the roaming feline. Safer for them, and safer for the wildlife, and much more neighborly.

[Corgigal]

5. 4 indoor kitties

but I have a kitty door to the garage and for some reason they think it's outside. They even catch some bugs and once a mouse in there.

Here's a picture of my munchkin kitty ..Halo (aka BAY-BEE, it must be yelled at the top of your voice to freak out the cat)

[MichiganVote]

6. They usually just stay on the deck. The male roams in the woods

we own behind our house but he too, checks in for water, food and of course, the powernap! I never leave them out at night altho' they would love it. Only the male shows up with a mouse now and then.

They are all three pretty civilized. We call them the subculture.