Catlitter or the open wild?

[cowmuflage]

Just wondering what you use. My cat Slyvester does his poops outside hes allways has and hes like 20 now so I don't think hes going to stop till he carks it!. He loves freshly mowed grass the best as he does not need to scape up grass to hide his poop. At our old house we had a sand pit and when we used to play in it on the odd time we would find some of his gifts XD. Hes good he has only done it inside a few times and thats when hes been locked inside over a few days by mistake. I mean the plants don't mind they love it!

If you can't tell Slyvester is a everywhere cat as theres no real reason to have a indoor cat here as theres not big beaties that would eat them besides the odd stray dog.

[zedxrgal]

Cute kitteh you have!

My little kitty is indoor only and has been his whole life. Safer for him this way. So no nature boy for him.

[Lupis]

Yeah, my cats are indoors-only. We live in the middle of the country, with foxes, hawks and owls all over the place. A fox lives on a hill right down our property, in fact.

[cowmuflage]

See the only big meat eaters here are 1 type of hawk and 1 type of falcon so my cats safe to go outside.

[Redith]

we have 2 cats. 1 old girl who has allways done the "Ill be inside at night, but I poop outside" shes about 18.
Then we have my sisters cat who used to be an apartment cat. Front paws declawd, and litter box trained.
He is now a outside/inside cat. And oddly enough the fact that he has no front claws hasnt stoped him from being a badass. He can climb, hunt, and kick stray cats ass.

Now heres the real question...who lets their dogs poop inside with that potty pad?

[cowmuflage]

O.o Ok thats odd a potty for a dog? Wow the things people make!

[zedxrgal]

My dog is 70 pounds so you can sure as hell be she's not pooping or peeing inside.
I've heard of people using those dog potty pad thingies and I feel it's gross. The only reason an owner shouldn't take the dog outside to potty is if the dog or owner is physically disabled. This is my personal opinion. Though indoor potty pad things are from what I've seen for lazy owners. A couple of ex female friends had those indoor lawn potty pads because they refused to walk their dogs and take them outside to potty. Their dogs were like 10 pounds!!!!

Any way. Back on topic.

I live on a busy street, there are other cats and .... well .... my little cat isn't the sharpest tool in the shed and doesn't have much "street smarts" so I fear him being outside. Just safer for him to not be nature boy that does his business outside

[Miraga]

Our oldest chihuahua, Daisy [13!], is unable to go potty outside anymore =[[ It's so cold here where we live that when she goes outside, all 3lbs of her gets stiff and she can't move. We have potty pads set up for her and she uses them just fine =] I think it's all personal preference, really. Training from potty pads to outdoors may be difficult though.

Anyway, I think it'd be cool to teach a cat to do its business in the toilet. :3

[cowmuflage]

I know you can train your cat to do that!

[Miraga]

hahahahahaha! Lookit that kitty! X] Just like "Oh don't worry about me. Just doin' mah poops!"

[zedxrgal]

I so need to train my cat to do that!!!

[Kaleos]

*snickers at every mention of the word 'poops'* Yes, I'm that childish. XD

[Acherontia]

Cat litter for me and any kitties I have in the future! Worked at a wildlife rehab place, and in most places in the world, domestic cats are the #1 cause of wildlife death. They aren't native to the US, so the wild songbirds and small mammals there have no natural defenses

[cowmuflage]

They are not the #1 here that goes to the scummy ferrets.stoats and Weasels and possums. Seeing as I live in a urban area we don't get many small natives here only big things like Tuis

[Ryai]

They are not the #1 here that goes to the scummy ferrets.stoats and Weasels and possums. Seeing as I live in a urban area we don't get many small natives here only big things like Tuis

Cowmuflage I think you really need to read up on Cats. Cats AREN'T like those animals you listed off, cats will hunt not even when hungry but just to kill and torment. I've had to death rescue several lizards from cats, and by death rescue I mean save the poor things from being tormented as they died as they were to greviously injured to do anything for. Cats will also hunt small birds, squirrels and other things. There's also nasty diseases they can pick up even with shots.

At our old house we had a sand pit and when we used to play in it on the odd time we would find some of his gifts XD.

This is the other reason it was bad, you do know he wasn't just going #2 in there, but #1 as well? Meaning you could have left yourself open for a whole host of nasty crap, even with washing your hands.

Also, there's more than 'big beasties causing threat or harm' to a cat to keep them inside, it's just, part of being a responsible owner because it doesn't HAVE to be a big beast to take your cat away. It could be an injury, a stray dog, a car, or hell even another person. And you will never know what happened to your cat :/

[Makoes]

wEll, When we lived in a house, the cats where indoor/outdoor kitties. It was great because we never had to worry about litter, or cleaning it and stuff. But, when we moved to the 2nd floor of an apartment, we had to break out the litterbox. It was nothing new to the cats, we'd littertrained them for the first year of thier lives, and when we went away for long periods we kept them inside. So moving to the apartment, my Famale cat Pixie (so named because she is very small, and had a rough start on life) loves to be inside, so she;s happy not having to go out, but Angel Boy (um hard to tell gender when they're small and fluffy) loved to be outside, he was the hunter, the king of the backyard. And the overall lord of the cats in the old neighbourhood (even kicked the ass of the mancoon next door-big BIG tomcat) Sadly he didnt take so well to being inside all the time...He died last year (2010) I just wish I'd been able to let him outside more. (Eagles, racoons, cougers around...lotsa pissed off racoons)

When I move into a house again, my pets will be indoor/outdoor.

[erwil]

I lived on a farm my whole childhood, and our cats spent their time mostly outside. They came inside every now and then, but they only had litter box as kittens. The owls and foxes were a menace in my old home though and some of the young cats we had, went missing. But, the first cat we ever got (a mixed tabby) she lived for around 20 years in the vicinity of the house and died of old age. She was earth colored, so I think that also helped. She liked to challenge the rabbits in the nearby forests during the summer though. x)
Every house that I've lived in, after I moved away from my parents' house and every cat I have owned, have been indoor cats, and they like their litter boxes (I don't let them outside without supervision, because I'm afraid they'll get run over, or attacked by a fox or another cat/dog).

So, pretty much what ever your cat prefers. If he decides he doesn't feel safe outside anymore, you could try to provide him a litter box.

Oh and about the sand pits. We used to have one in our old house, and it always smelt like cat pee and we occasionally found hidden treasures in there too (Mental image of the "smell" reeks into my head now..). We were quite carefree children back then and our parents were not religious about hygiene, it was a farm after all. But we still kept places clean. Anyone crunching their nose at stuff would get a good tug from the scruff and told to pick it/clean it up and wash your hands afterwards.

[zedxrgal]

Ryai makes some excellent points. Cats are heavily responsible for more native wildlife deaths then even some out of control invasive species. They'll hunt anything and have no problem with attacking and killing birds large and small, rodent of all species including rats, mice, squirrels, I've even seen them go after smaller raccoons. Reptiles of all species and size are prey also.
It's not just what a cat can and will kill but it's also even altered cats fight. They can be hit by cars and killed or severely injured a multitude of ways. I'm not you saying have or should keep your cat indoors but it's really a lot safer for them and can save their human owners some heartache IF something goes wrong.

[cowmuflage]

Well Ryai ferrets.stoats and Weasels all kill native birds not just for food too. In nz they are a big problem as they kill kiwis just for there homes and not just for food.
Yes I do know the sandpit was bad hence why my dad got rid of it my god Ryai stop acting like you know me or are smarter than me jezz.
Just becouse someone lets there cat be a indoor/outdoor cat does not mean they are not a responsible owner. Nearly ever person I know who has a cat here lets them be a indoor/ourtdoor cat and they are all responsible owners.

[Saturo]

In Sweden, having a cat that you don't let outside (except in a large city. Most Swedes don't live in large cities, though.) is very, very rare, and I'm sure the owners are very responsible.

Just saying... In a lesser density area, like NZ or Scandinavia, cats walk free from the oppression of Man! EMANCIPATE! EMANCIPATE!

*Is currently high on painkillers and beer*