Things you were shockingly old when you learned

The person who posted the controversial tweet says the cats are living in a fool's paradise:

"But my cat likes it outdoors!" is not the excuse you think it is. You would not let your cat eat poison if they liked it would you? They are not able to understand the danger and harm so you have to take the responsibility.

— Nova🍓He/e (@RealityBent) May 22, 2021

I watch the little building cat in the vacant lot outside my window, he couldn't catch a bird if it flew right into his mouth

We had an indoor/outdoor cat when I was a kid. Some things that happened back then:

- The cat bringing a dead bird to the house (presumably a gift for the family)
- The cat bringing fleas into our house
- The cat coming back once with a huge scar and lots of missing fur around one of his ears from a fight with a stray cat

So I have an indoor cat now. I sometimes let her out a bit in the backyard when I'm outside but that's it.

it's like the best of both worlds for indoor/outdoor cats. They get a mix of absolute freedom/soft domesticated luxury that dogs could only dream of.

I had – no exaggeration – something like 20 cats and dogs while I was growing up. (Not at the same time, mind you.)

Only one of them lived past five, Cro Cat (1982-2000, RIP.)

- The cat coming back once with a huge scar and lots of missing fur around one of his ears from a fight with a stray cat

Our cat came home one night with one ear almost completely severed. Fortunately, a vet lived next door and he came over and sewed it back on in our basement. Cat was NOT happy.

The same cat used to sleep in a neighbor's garage; we learned this the morning after a major snowstorm when he tried to come home through snow that was roughly waist high. He'd give a horrible yowl, leap as high in the air as he could, and splat down into the snow, then do it again and again until he finally made it across the street to our house, where we were waiting with towels.

Oh, and they were either outdoors-only, or in/outdoors.

having grown up in suburbs in scotland i think wholly indoor cats were close to unheard of (although that has changed, i know of multiple people who have indoor cats in the suburbs now, and i had a friend who adopted cats from the SPCA and they specified that they shouldn't let them out as they were close to a busy road) and the phenomenon seemed more common when i moved to vancouver.

when i got my cat i thought of letting him out but the combination of knowing that i wouldnt have much choice in where i lived, and therefore couldn't guarantee outside access once i moved out of the apartment i lived in at that time - which was a correct assumption, and the fact that literally everyone i knew in the city who had an indoor/outdoor cat had the cat either be killed or seriously injured outside by cars and wildlife when my cat was a kitten dissuaded me.

Both sides love their cats and just want them to have good, happy lives, p sick of the perpetual "omg you're a horrible person for doing" some thing that flows on social media.

The important thing is to draw a thick, immovable line in the sand

For them to shit in.

Both sides love their cats and just want them to have good, happy lives, p sick of the perpetual "omg you're a horrible person for doing" some thing that flows on social media.

Yep, one of the most toxic developments of social media has been the overdriven shift from "oh, that's interesting, here's my approach" to "fuck you, that's wrong and you are one of the worst people on the planet for doing that differently". Which isn't to say the latter didn't exist prior to social media, but it's been amplified so much more and the lines getting drawn are even thicker and pointlessly.

That's what happens when you allow cats access to social media.

xpost I have a friend who has chronic depression that she's heavily medicated for and this social media motif has almost immobilized her in response to a recent local controversy that has divided the community.

xxp yes that is true. now could you please tell me what you think about rateyourmusic.com?

You still use rateyourmusic.com?!? You should probably burn in hell forever and ever, PS ur evil.

I just heard sublime's "what i got" for the first time and now realise that that godawful "heaven is a halfpipe" song is a complete ripoff of that song in particular

I'm sorry you got this far in life never hearing 'What I Got' without getting the rest of the way through your life never hearing 'What I Got'.

really not difficult in UK where nobody has heard of sublime

Love is what oi got, mate

Heard that yesterday too. Wasn't until I got home that I realized it was the 25th anniversary of dude dying.

And achieving immortality on KROQ.

I bet that Dalmatian's got to be dead by now too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzJ_rgmqLfI

TIL some people are not familiar with the concept of "indoor cats"

I felt so bad for not allowing my cats (particularly the one who always is scheming to run outside) to go outside that I bought a harness and leash. Immediately proceeded to traumatize the one cat by not putting the harness on him correctly. In my defense, it's a horrible design.
Then a month or so ago, he escaped. Was dark out so I put on a headlamp and went out back where he always goes upon escaping. I see 2 pairs of eyes glowing just beyond my property line (it's open country beyond). Yeah he "made friends" with one of the local strays. I shoo away that guy and then try to pick up my guy, except he's gone completely feral. Our bond has disappeared. Something about his confrontation with the stray cat has turned off the "domestic cat" part of his programming. I couldn't get within 3 feet of him. He's a scared he's trying to escape from me but in so doing he's thrashing around in all the thorny desert bushes and I'm worried he's gonna scratch himself to death in them. I wound up grabbing a tall clothes hamper from inside and placing it over him, closing the top.

I've strongly considered taking my cats out on leash walks, but I suspect once I start that they will become giant pains in the ass wanting to go outside all the time

Understand that walking a cat is very different than walking a dog in that, essentially, your cat will walk you. You might take a few steps, then stop so they can take a few sniffs. A few more steps, a quick dart to explore a bug, followed by a few more sniffs, etc. From there, you might go into a little bit of a trot, only to stop again for more sniffing. Clearly, this is not the excursion into aerobic exercise that walking a dog can be, so be prepared for the slower, more contemplative experience of cat-walking.

I think this would drive me to caticide

https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/blog/leash-walk-my-cat-ask-the-cat-daddy/

Seems like indoor vs. outdoor cats is crying (mewing?) for its own thread

"She's an indoor kitty..."

if i did the leash thing with my cat, which i don't think i could because i think just training him to accept having a harness on would be months of my life and a lot of scratches and bites, im sure he would just want out constantly after that. can't let him get a taste!

I shoo away that guy and then try to pick up my guy, except he's gone completely feral. Our bond has disappeared. Something about his confrontation with the stray cat has turned off the "domestic cat" part of his programming. I couldn't get within 3 feet of him. He's a scared he's trying to escape from me but in so doing he's thrashing around in all the thorny desert bushes and I'm worried he's gonna scratch himself to death in them. I wound up grabbing a tall clothes hamper from inside and placing it over him, closing the top.

― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Thursday, May 27, 2021 9:59 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

a friend of mine with an indoor/outdoor cat says that every time he bumps into his cat in the neighbourhood (his cat has a reasonably large range that he goes out in) it runs away from him as if scared of him

it's like when you see your primary school teacher in the supermarket

My guy does turn into an annoying whiny shithead after having an outdoors experience. But it only lasts for a few hours, maybe a full day tops. Thank God cats have pretty short memories.

Then I'm the annoying shithead in his eyes cause I'm outside lounging in a patio recliner, soaking up that sunshine and fresh air, ignoring him as he pleads to join me.

"a cat is very different than walking a dog in that, essentially, your cat will walk you"

only someone who has never owned an oversized, strong-willed and stubborn as a mule labrador would say this!

Ha, I started the indoor kitty thread 15 years ago.. plum forgot

(xp) LOL, yes, dogs walk their owners all the time!

I suppose the difference is that dogs at least understand the concept of a walk, of going at a slow yet steady pace while following the straight, sterile, hard path through the neighborhood.

I grew up with indoor/outdoor cats, biggest surprise with indoor only cats is that they live forever. My mom’s first indoor only cat (adopted when I was in junior high) made it to 24 and died in her sleep.

my dad's last two indoor/outdoor cats both lived to about 20

The record for indoor-outdoor for us was 12 - disease or accident got to them. Or my super friendly cat Chester who disappeared (probably walked into someone’s house and never left).

"I suppose the difference is that dogs at least understand the concept of a walk, going at a slow yet steady pace while following the straight, sterile, hard path through the neighborhood"

absolute bollocks ime! In the same way I wouldn't ask a joiner to fix my boiler - I wouldn't ask cat people to talk about the dog owner experience.

My last two dogs in the last 17 years have been black labs and aggressive pullers and I literally see a hundred other dogs like this every year, even small dogs.

Pakistan is an acronym

Yes, my own black lab mix had two primary modes of "going for a walk", 1. Dragging me along excitably in all directions except " straight" and 2. Refusing to budge.

Trying to walk an 80 pound lab/chow mix on my new ‘aggressive inline’ roller blades ended poorly.

lol they are such stubborn fuckers and a lot of hard work, but wonderful noble beasts.

xp

I think I already knew that but can't remember where I first knew it. It might have been reading Magnificent Delusions a few years ago,

Aw yeah, they're the best <3

Anyone have experience in an indoor/outdoor dog culture?

during my old commute i used to see this woman with earbuds "dance walking" with her cat down the sidewalk, jazz hands and possible singing aloud as well.. the cat just kind of slowly trudged behind her.