wrote in message
oups.com...
First let me say I'm not being antagonistic, I'm just interested in the
(apparent) culture difference between the US & the UK as regards our
feline friends.

With regard to letting cats out: All the cats I know go outside, they
(usually) learn their way back home from their local neighbourhood,
they don't go too far but suss out gardens, wildlife, other cats and
people, and hopefully realise that traffic isn't for playing with.
There's not too many birds in London and no-one seems to care about the
pigeon population anyway. Some get lost, some get hit by traffic (mine
for example isn't allowed out the front to the road, only the back
garden where he doesn't seem to want to climb the fence to escape from
but if he did I'd let him).

It seems natural for a cat to want to venture outside, and to me it's
cruel to keep them inside (unless they're not interested).

It seems that in the US people are much more likely to force cats to
stay indoors, or take them out on a leash (something I've NEVER heard
of over here and to be honest I think people would laugh over here if
they saw a cat on a lead, but fair play for succeeding in training a
cat to do it), or build these enclosure thingies for them, to protect
the wildlife, also I've never seen one over here.

It's interesting, do you think it's a cultural thing? How long have
people in the US been doing these things? Perhaps it's not the general
population, just people in cat groups As I say, I wasn't saying
that either way is right, it's just interesting how people do things
differently.

Marcia
Lord Otis's slave and minder


It may be partly cultural, but I think it is also at least partly
environmental. There are numerous natural predators in the U.S. (predators
that prey on cats, that is) that apparently are not a problem in England.
We sometimes have problems with acts of deliberate cruelty plus instances of
accidents (such as, ingestion of antifreeze). I can't really address that
last point in a comparative sense with any real accuracy. In addition,
there is a problem that surely occurs in *both* Britain and the U.S. -- that
is, automobiles. It only takes one car at the wrong time to kill or badly
injure a cat.

All of my cats have been very happy as indoor cats, even the one that
started life as a feral cat. He showed a great interest in going outdoors
for about the first year but not afterwards. None of my others have even
shown an interest in going outdoors, although I realize that this is not
true for many cats. I do provide lots of attention, toys, scratching posts,
and cat trees. I personally think that they are happier -- and certainly
more healthy -- than many outdoor cats that have been injured in cat fights
or other ways. I do realize that I may be rationalizing and there is room
for a true difference of opinion, but I also believe that each situation
(indoor vs. outdoor) has some advantages and some disadvantages.

MaryL

My cats --
Duffy: http://tinyurl.com/cslwf
Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o
Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e