sriddles@aol.comkitty  (Sherry )
writes  

luvkats00 wrote

inside.  So many posts have >been written about pets cats who >either were let
outside on purpose >or who have escaped by accident.  >A significant number of
those who >post DO report sad tidings about >the death - painful many times -

are brought in (to die) >because they were hit by a car or >bitten by a dog or

posts

Absurd? No....what's qbsurd is that this topic has been active year after
year....posts have been written year after year (chronicling the death of cats
who were accidently/purposely let outside.) Some newsgroup veterans respond
from time to time and others (who have been recently introduced to the
newsgroup or the subject add to the posts.  

As previously mentioned, those who have been reading and/or responding in the
groups have read a significant number of posts from people who are now grieving
because their pet died while outside. Why play Russian roulette with your
(beloved) cat's life?

Oh..I forgot to directly respond to the question  
">So you've researched this? Don't >you think twenty miles is a bit >absurd?

20 miles may have been selected as an arbitrary number.....15 miles...25
miles....or more, if you'd like.  The point is:  the topic has been actively
discussed year after year. Research has been done (on Google, for example). I
also based some of my responses - throughout the years - on documentation from
Animal Planet's "Emergency Vet" episodes and my personal experiences as a
veterinary assistant, cat shelter volunteer worker and animal rescue volunteer.

When you consider that the average cat can roam many miles, I don't think
20 miles is too absurd - maybe an overstatement - but better to err on the
side of care...

-Silver
"I love cats because I enjoy my home; & little by little, they become its
visible soul."

- Jean Cocteau 1889-1963.

If I'm going to lose any more cats on the road I will give away all our cat
equipment to the shelter and help them with their work as a hobby and to
make up for the fact that I have no more cats. The loss of Minka has thrown
me into a major life crisis. It does no harm to reconsider one's life every
now and again, but it's not really a nice experience either. One other
option would be to get a cat that has only lived indoors but for some reason
needs a new home. Maybe that one would not walk away. I can't fence in my
whole garden, it's too big, but that of course would be the best option.

Carola

Believe me, I have plenty of good reasons to keep my cats inside. Besides
the fact that the road directly in front of our house is a speeding zone and
I have seen at least one dead bird, possum, fox, dog or cat dead on the
road, I have had two cats trapped by neighbours and disposed of even though
they were wearing bells, collars and ID tags. A cat I had a few years back
was a very good hunter despite the bell she always had on her collar. She
brought back birds, snakes, lizards and huge rats. My sisters cat, bell
also, brought back baby hares and one day even a galah. I was always saving
birds from my cat and was unable to keep her inside because my ex was
allergic to cats and forbid it. I did lock them up at night time though. I
have heard many stories about cats being maliciously treated by cat-hating
neighbours and even had one neighbour in court over threats to kill my cats
because they went into her yard. She also threatened to bait my dogs which
were not even in her yard. This same neighbour thought nothing of killing a
snake, or spraying chemicals around here house to kill spiders (and
inadvertantly green tree frogs and geckos). The longest I have owned an
outdoor cat is seven years (which was only the one). One average they would
live 2-3 years. My cat is an oriental x burmese and has a habit of attacking
dogs rather than running from them. This nearly became her downfall when she
escaped one day and was simultanously attacked by 3 dogs at once. How she
got out of it (with barely a scratch too) I do not know. Another cat I owned
expected cars to stop for her as she strolled leisurely across the road. One
cat had a habit of inviting itself into peoples houses, another would let
any complete stranger pat him and pick him up.
It might be 'life' to lose a cat, but as they cannot make informed decisions
most of the time regarding what is safe and what is not - I tend to protect
them. They are happy, they display no abnormal stress-related behaviour,
purr a lot, play a lot, bask in the sun, do not get into fights, cost us
less at the vet on average and I know they are most likely to be safe. If I
lived in the country-side, I would consider letting them out during the day,
but while I am in town that is not an option for me.