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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / July 2004Cats and Coyotes
It looks like I lost my beloved little guy to a coyote. The cat and I had bonded to each other, and I'm heartbroken. When I get over this I might like to adopt another cat, not just any cat, but one that appeals to me as much as the little guy did when I first met him. But coyotes will continue to be a dread for all owners of small pets where I live. They have moved in on us. So, the question for me is, if I do get a cat what do people recommend to keep it protected from coyotes? Make it an indoor cat? And if so, how? Is the price on the cat's psyche too high to pay? -- Dick > It looks like I lost my beloved little guy to a coyote. The cat and I > had bonded to each other, and I'm heartbroken. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > -- > Dick cats can be perfectly happy inside. You could train it to leash or make an enclosure where kitty is out only when you are home and safe if you have your own house. There are lots of cat trees available. mine are very happy with theirs. Put by a sunny window its fine watching. they also get exercise climbing up and down them frequently. Either adopt a cat that has always been inside or if you get a kitten don't take it outside. It will not know the difference. I also suggest getting two as they are no more trouble than one and keep each other entertained. I'm really sorry to hear about your kitty. See the happy kitties here: http://tinyurl.com/3b8be Karen >It looks like I lost my beloved little guy to a coyote. The cat and I >had bonded to each other, and I'm heartbroken. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >-- >Dick Dick, I'm very sorry about your cat. If the coyotes are coming up in the daytime (rare), you've just got to keep the cats in the house. Or build them an enclosure. If they're *not* seen in the daytime, let them out in the morning and early afternoon only and keep a watch on them. Never let them outdoors near dusk. Never leave anything available that the coyotes might feed on near the house. Be especially diligent in early spring, as they are very active and mating then. OTOH, if you never let your new cat out, he'll probably be happy indoors all the time. If I were you, I think I'd just not let New Kitty get a taste of the outdoors. He won't miss anything. >Be especially diligent in early spring, as they are very active and >mating then. Actually when coyotes have pups they will come out in the daytime searching for more food. This is spring to early summer time. They also like to den in overgrown bushes. Make sure there's no ground cover around your property so they won't live there. Hmm... Slightly crabby and indoors or Outdoors and eviscerated. Tough choice. > It looks like I lost my beloved little guy to a coyote. The cat and I > had bonded to each other, and I'm heartbroken. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > -- > Dick << Hmm... Slightly crabby and indoors or Outdoors and eviscerated. Tough choice. >> My indoor cats are not crabby at all and some of them have been strays that lived outdors. None of them ever try to sneak out and they have a happy full life inside. Dick, I'm very sorry about your cat but in the US, it's just about the norm now for cats to be indoors only. Too many dangers. Candace (take the litter out before replying by e-mail) See my cats: http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace "One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other than human." (Loren Eisely) > It looks like I lost my beloved little guy to a coyote. The cat and I > had bonded to each other, and I'm heartbroken. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > -- > Dick Coyote stu sounds good. >But coyotes will continue to be a dread for all owners of small pets >where I live. They have moved in on us. We have actually moved in on them and other wildlife. They were here first. Of course coyotes are attracted to our trash, pet food left outdoors, bird feeders, fruit trees and small domestic pets. It's easier for them to catch and eat domestic pets over say wild rabbits and ground squirrels, their main diet. >So, the question for me is, if I do get a cat what do people recommend >to keep it protected from coyotes? Keep cats and small pets indoors. If you must keep it outdoor, put it in a strong enclosure. Coyotes can go right through chicken wire. They can also climb 6 foot fences. You could just fence your entire yard with 6' fencing and put a coyote roller on top of the fence. http://www.coyoteroller.com/ >Make it an indoor cat? And if so, how? Is the price on the cat's psyche >too high to pay? Cats can be happy indoors. Just play with them, give them lots of toys and attention. My entire yard is enclosed with 8' fences. My cats can't get out and no one can get in. I have one can who prefers to just stay inside all the time even though I have a kitty door. circa 03 Jul 2004 00:53:55 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Mary (mmmaryinla@aol.comspam) said, > >But coyotes will continue to be a dread for all owners of small pets > >where I live. They have moved in on us. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > feeders, fruit trees and small domestic pets. It's easier for them to catch and > eat domestic pets over say wild rabbits and ground squirrels, their main diet. Yep, but suburbanites continue to blame the coyotes for what is their own fault. Sorry, it's just that this whole "coyotes are bad" line of reasoning really ticks me off. It's our own da*ned fault that there are coyotes eating housepets, and the sooner we acknowledge it, the sooner we can start to actually come up with reasonable methods of addressing the issue. Okay, rant off. Laura  SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > circa 03 Jul 2004 00:53:55 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Mary > (mmmaryinla@aol.comspam) said, [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Laura I don't blame the coyote. It would take much more than you realize to address this issue. I live in the Southern Plains, in Texas. The Northern Plains the NY Times reports are depopulated, and there are now less people than in Indian days before the white man came. The Texas Plains are also being depopulated. The drive from Dallas/Ft Worth on Rte. 287 to Amarillo is one desolate town after another, building after building boarded up and deserted. There were once small farmers here, who acted like a buffer between pet owners in cities and predators in the wild. But the small farmer has disappeared. It is not an economically viable living today. It takes HUGE amounts of capital to farm today. Like ConAgra, or Archer Daniels Midland, or Cargill. At the same time, there are enormous economic and social pressures to desert the city for brand new suburbs on what was once farmland. There is some racism involved, however, deserting the city for the country existed before civil rights and our unsuccessful attempts to integrate. Leaving the city once was the prerogative of the wealthy, who fled NY for example for the Hudson Valley to raise their families while continuing to work in NY. Think Roosevelt and Hyde Park. Then think Levittown and Eichler after WWII when millions fled New York, Newark, Boston, and so on, for Long Island, New Jersey, Westchester County. When millions flooded into Calif. The suburbs were democratized. Oil was and is a prime ingredient of this mass migration. These are the consequences of economic forces, and social and class structures, beyond my control. I daresay, beyond your control too. To address this issue would require the total restructuring of society, which I do not know how to do, not even in theory. So my next cat if I find one that I love as much will be an indoor cat. I appreciate your reassurance that that will work. </end rant> -- Dick >I don't blame the coyote. I don't blame the coyote either. I respect them. You have to respect a creature who has survived, and thrived, with no help from man whatsoever and despite their territories being encroached and being killed for sport.. The coyote's numbers are just as high as they were 200 years ago. I don't dare let the cats outside in the evening, or let them roam. It isn't safe. But still, I never let coyote hunters on my land I have heard of isolated incidents of a coyote attacking a *person*, but from the experience I've had living in the country, it would have to really be a rogue coyote. In the 50 years I've lived around them, I have seen one in the daytime, only once, and it was nowhere near the house. Sherry > >I don't blame the coyote. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > daytime, only once, and it was nowhere near the house. > Sherry I saw one pick off a cat in broad daylight - in a city park in San Jose. There were "missing kitty" sigs popping up regularly in this neighborhood - and a couple of times I found cat skulls when I hiked off-trail (or my dogs did, LOL...). One lady was walking in the park one day and was ranting that she thought the "damn coyotes" had taken her 12 year old cat from her yard. I was like, well, duh, lady, what do you expect...? It's not like people didn't know the cototes inhabit this area. a.shole DNR set snare traps for the coyotes and caught a deer. Idiots. -L. circa Sat, 3 Jul 2004 07:40:48 -0500, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Dick Peavey (me@privacy.net) said, > > Yep, but suburbanites continue to blame the coyotes for what is their > > own fault. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > start to actually come up with reasonable methods of addressing the > > issue. > I don't blame the coyote. I wasn't referring to you in particular. > It would take much more than you realize to address this issue. I don't recall stating exactly what I think it would take to address this issue. Oh, wait, that's because I didn't. > I live in the Southern Plains, in Texas. The Northern Plains the NY > Times reports are depopulated, and there are now less people than in [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > HUGE amounts of capital to farm today. Like ConAgra, or Archer Daniels > Midland, or Cargill. My uncle is a farmer; I'm quite familiar with the wholesale obliteration of the small farmer in the United States. > At the same time, there are enormous economic and social pressures to > desert the city for brand new suburbs on what was once farmland. DING DING DING! > There > is some racism involved, however, deserting the city for the country [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > To address this issue would require the total restructuring of society, > which I do not know how to do, not even in theory. I did not say *anything* about what it would take to address this problem, and frankly, having somebody put words into my mouth pisses me off. > So my next cat if I find one that I love as much will be an indoor cat. > I appreciate your reassurance that that will work. Good luck with your next cat. Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > It looks like I lost my beloved little guy to a coyote. The cat and I had bonded to each other, and I'm heartbroken. I'm really sorry to hear about your loss. Keep your next kitty indoors. There is no price for the cat to pay. They love being inside, safe and warm and fed, loved and played with. circa Fri, 2 Jul 2004 13:33:56 -0500, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Dick Peavey (me@privacy.net) said, > It looks like I lost my beloved little guy to a coyote. The cat and I > had bonded to each other, and I'm heartbroken. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Make it an indoor cat? Absolutely. > And if so, how? Don't let it outside. Really. That's all there is to it. > Is the price on the cat's psyche > too high to pay? I'm guessing you've never actually had an indoor-only cat; their psyches are quite healthy, in my experience. Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > circa Fri, 2 Jul 2004 13:33:56 -0500, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, > Dick Peavey (me@privacy.net) said, > > Make it an indoor cat? > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Laura Thanks folks, you have been very helpful. From what you tell me the cat adapts to its situation. I wish I had known that before, but I'll certainly apply it in future. It sounds to me that the "tree" is a good idea because the cat needs something to scratch as well as climb. Am I right. -- Dick >> circa Fri, 2 Jul 2004 13:33:56 -0500, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, >> Dick Peavey (me@privacy.net) said, [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > -- > Dick I think all cats, whether indoor, or indoor outdoor, should have trees inside. circa Sat, 3 Jul 2004 07:12:22 -0500, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Dick Peavey (me@privacy.net) said, > > Don't let it outside. Really. That's all there is to it. > > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Thanks folks, you have been very helpful. From what you tell me the cat > adapts to its situation. Indeed. > I wish I had known that before, but I'll certainly apply it in future. > > It sounds to me that the "tree" is a good idea because the cat needs > something to scratch as well as climb. Am I right. It certainly helps for the cat to have both horizontal and vertical surfaces to climb and scratch, yes. You'll likely find that a cat tree becomes your cat's favorite place to lounge and play. Toys are good, as well. Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > Thanks folks, you have been very helpful. From what you tell me the catadapts to its situation. > I wish I had known that before, but I'll certainly apply it in future. > > It sounds to me that the "tree" is a good idea because the cat needs something to scratch as well as climb. Am I right. > -- Dick, Cats like to feel safe. You bet any outdoor stray will adapt to a safe and fun environment in which it gets ample food and lots of petting and play! Yes, they want to both scratch and stretch, so the tree is a good idea. >From: "Dick Peavey" >So, the question for me is, if I do get a cat what do people recommend >to keep it protected from coyotes? > >Make it an indoor cat? And if so, how? Is the price on the cat's psyche >too high to pay? Years ago lived in an area that had coyotes. I also had a cat and regretably I let her outside and she was killed by a coyote. It was a hard lesson for me to learn but I've never let a cat outside since. I have taken my cats out a couple of times on a harness and leash though. You could do that or keep the cat inside. IMO, an indoor cat will be safer and healthier. Get a nice floor to ceiling cat tree and some interactive toys like a feather on a stick to keep the cat occupied. I also put out a couple of birdfeeders so my cats can watch the wildlife. I'm very sorry to hear about your kitty. Lauren ________ See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm |
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