What? The cat ran outside and you forgot about it? 😧

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My cat is fine, she wants to wander outside all the time, sometimes you don’t even notice that she slipped outside when someone opens the door. There’s some bushes in my front yard that she hides in for safety.

Last week, my cat spent the night wandering outside. Then at 3-5 AM next morning, my mother woke up to a loud cat meow and opened the front door to check. There it is, my cat dashing toward the door. She slipped outside the night before when the door was opened.

        • WtfEvenIsExistence1️@lemmy.caOP
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          1 year ago

          Please explain to me how a family member coming home from work from a tiring day is going to notice my cat sneaking out?

          I can’t lock my cat in a cage, that’s animal cruelty. Are you suggesting I commit an act of animal cruelty?

          • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
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            1 year ago

            Making sure the cat doesn’t run by when entering or exiting a room when it’s not supposed to, let alone my entire home, has literally never ever, not even once, been an issue.

            You have no excuse.

          • Player2@sopuli.xyz
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            1 year ago

            Note that the initial post is about intentionally letting the cat out.

            I have had several cats over my lifetime and them escaping has never really been an issue for us, though of course I don’t know your particular situation. Still, it is pretty important that cats are not allowed out. I know all the animal shelters across two countries I have worked with will simply not allow someone to adopt a cat unless they sign a document stating that the cat will be indoors only, with the exception of leashed walking.

          • asteriskeverything@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Here is an honest solution I hope your household works on… watch your feet when you come and go out the front door and only open enough to get through. That way you can more easily try to block them from escaping with your body or bags or whatever.

  • Alteon@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Stop letting your cat outside. It’s not only dangerous for that cat, but dangerous for literally every other animal smaller than it. Your cat is contributing to the destruction of your local ecosystem. They kill for sport, not food, and are responsible for literally millions upon millions of dead birds, small mammals, frogs, toads, and insects. Please please please be a responsible pet owner. Learn how to entertain your cat indoors.

    • WtfEvenIsExistence1️@lemmy.caOP
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      1 year ago

      Seem like you didn’t read the text. My cat often sneaks outside when someone comes home from work, often at late hours.

      Please cease making false and harmful accusations before you have understood the situation. Thank you!

      • Alteon@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Okay…so. irresponsible pet owners that can’t manage to keep their pet inside. Got it.

      • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Like through your legs while your waking though the door? We’re careful how wide we open the door to prevent that very thing from happening.

      • Neato@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Please cease making false and harmful accusations before you have understood the situation.

        You made a bait-and-switch meme. No one’s impressed. Most people are seeing the meme on their feed, not reading your “excuse” text.

      • seathru@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        The internet has been on a “OMG cats cannot be outside” kick for a few months now. Probably an article that came out. So I wouldn’t take it to personal. I post pictures of my cats in leashes and they still come shit up the thread.

        Like housing/urban development doesn’t kill orders of magnitude more wildlife. We are the baddies, not cats.

        • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
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          1 year ago

          Few months?

          The cat shelter I adopted my cat from had a no roaming clause in the adoption agreement, eight years ago.

          This stuff ain’t new.

          Leashed outing is fine.

          • seathru@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            I didn’t say the concept was new. I’ve been looking at cat pictures on the internet for a long time. And only recently have there been so many people that felt compelled to go into any tangentially related post and strongly voice their opinion about outside cats. The fad is new.

            • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
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              1 year ago

              And I’m happy it’s finally hitting cultural critical mass where people who don’t properly care for their pets get told off, instead of everyone shrugging it off because it’s “normal”. People get shamed for a variety of inappropriate actions, and a lot of it society just lets slide because its just what “everyone” does.

              But that’s not how you get cultural norms to develop towards being more fair. When you see BS, you call it out. That too is something that’s happening more. People are growing increasingly aware that the world sucks, and more and more are taking action to incite improvement in whatever small way they can.

              That should be lauded, not condemned.

              And while its unfortunate, any such thing will gain momentum, and have idiots pushing the pendulum past middle and the other direction, because they aren’t actually self-aware enough to understand the movement, but are just caught up in it, enjoying the dopamine or whatever.

              But it seldom gets pushed further up the other way. Once it is swinging freely, it’s just a matter of time until it settles in a new middle.

  • My cats used to be indoor-outdoor cats until one day the apartment complex manager knocked on my door and returned my cats, saying they weren’t allowed outside. I was pretty upset but I complied. I later learned tht indoor cats live on average about 11 years, compared to outdoor cats which live on average about 4 years.

    I’m not telling you want to do with your cat, but I am saying that on top of the usual risks for outdoor cats, you also have to contend with assholes who will try to kill your outdoor cats too.

    Food for thought.

  • cleverusername@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    536,000,000 animals are killed every year by wandering domestic cats in just Australia alone.

    Keep your cat inside!

  • Thisfox@sopuli.xyz
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    1 year ago

    My cat is the exact opposite. It’s bad to let cats out during the times crepuscular animals are out, especially in our country, and so we bring the cat in before dusk and let her out well after dawn. She happily comes in when she’s meant to, because dinner is delicious. She wants out again at 3AM, just before the best hunting starts, and has loud arguments with us at dawn when we’re getting ready for work.

  • Moxvallix@sopuli.xyz
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    1 year ago

    Jeezums how out of touch is this comments section? Do people not know that cats escape outside regardless of whether you want them too or not? Not every cat is content to live it’s life indoors and unfortunately there is little you can do about it.

    • crashoverride@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That’s like, not true at all. You most definitely can control your cat. And then going outside isn’t good for them or the environment either.

      • Moxvallix@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        Firstly, unless every single person that enters your house stays fully vigilant, you can’t expect that the cat never gets out. Secondly, yes letting it out is bad for the wildlife, but I fail to see how it’s bad for the cat itself to be outdoors.

        • Stuka@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          Well my cat once got out for less than a day, came back with feline leukemia, infected her sister, and they both died long before they should have.

          But yes, I expect anyone at my house to be vigilant about not letting my animal(s) outside.

          • crashoverride@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Also, they can get to fights with other cats or other animals. So that’s another danger, not to mention getting hit by a car or getting stolen. We’re getting picked up a animal control and you not knowing where it is. There’s a lot of things

  • Pika@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    I’ve tried and failed to train mine to not do this, if he goes out at 8 he isn’t coming back in till I wake up, he’s still pissed in the morning but never seems to connect the dots

  • cantstopthesignal@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    I have a cat that will wander and sometimes decide not to come in all night. If I can’t wake up at dawn to get him he will be out until dusk the next day. Fucker loves it outside. I live in a city so I truly don’t give a shit if he’s killing animals.