From: ac999257@umbc.edu (ac999257)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: DECLAWING?
Date: 22 Jan 1993 21:55:37 -0500
Organization: University of Maryland, Baltimore County Campus
NNTP-Posting-Host: umbc8.umbc.edu

In article <1993Jan22.162334.29258@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> rkn3u@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (Keith Norwood) writes:
>
>What exactly are the positive aspects of the indoor cat?

Let's see if I can come up with 10 reasons to keep a cat indoors, 
then you (not necessarily Keith, but anyone reading this) come up 
with 10 reasons not to keep a cat indoors. These aren't in any
particular order (although I think #1 is very serious in my area),
and I've tried to stick to factual reasons and not to be redundant.

1. Less chance of being hit by manmade device (e.g. car, truck)
2. Less chance of catching communicable disease (e.g. feline aids,
   feline leukemia -- vaccines, by the way, are not foolproof and
   do not cover every possible communicable disease)
3. Less chance of catching parasite (e.g. worms, fleas)
4. Less chance of being kidnapped by lab performing testing on
   live animals
5. Less chance of getting into fight with other cats, which could
   lead to worst case death, otherwise infections, disease, etc.
6. Less chance of getting into fight with other animals such as dogs,
   possums, racoons, etc., and possibly dying as a result
7. Less chance of being kidnapped by some 'ethnic' restaruant and
   being served as some unsuspecting person's dinner (there are 
   actual cases of this happening where I live)
8. Less chance of getting trapped in some horrible place and dying
   of starvation (there are actual cases of this, too)
9. Less chance of becoming pregnant before owner has a chance to
   spay (females only)
10.Less chance of impregnating some female before owner has a chance
   to neuter (males only)

Please add any that I may have missed. (OH wait! #11, less chance
of annoying the neighbors, but that's not exactly as factual as
the others.)

I will say in all honesty that it is possible to have an outdoor cat
live a long healthy life (Figaro is 11 and has been an outdoor cat
all her life, she comes in only in cold and even then begs to go out
during the day for at least a little while). It is also possible for
a cat to die a very rapid and needless death beneath the wheels of
your very own car (my mom accidentally backed over my cat Smoky when
I was 4 years old and I've never quite gotten over that. and that's
only one of several incidents I can site of very young cats dying
from their owner's automobile as well as tons more from other
peoples cars). There are also some cats who clearly do not care to
be outside at all, some who want just to be wherever their owner is,
and some who want out all of the time. It is the responsibility
of the owner to make the decision as to whether their cat is an
indoor or outdoor cat based on the probability of 1-10 happening
and based on the 10 reasons that someone comes up with to allow a
cat outdoors.

Mary

P.S. Figaro is my parent's cat and lives in a rural area of
Pennsylvania. (Well, she was *MY* cat until I moved to Maryland.
Now my dad thinks she's his cat.) The two cats that live with
me now are indoor, except for frequent outings in the fenced in
backyard or balcony, and except for supervised outings in
more open areas. I only have to worry about 1-8 above, but they
are each highly probably in my area, so I refuse to allow my
cats to roam freely.