Nuthatch reviews some current research in Animal Conservation and Biological Conservation about the effects of domestic cats on wildlife. Definitely worth a look, especially if you let your cats explore the neighborhood.
Heather and I have two cats - Stripey (right) and Lily (left) - who are perfectly content being in the house. Lily spent the first eight months or so of her life on the street and is petrified of leaving our apartment. Stripey's too lazy to care.
I think people feel bad for keeping animals cooped up, and when it comes to energetic dogs like border collies and corgis, they need to be outside to run, but if cats have enough to do inside, there's no reason to put them out. We keep our cats inside for safety reasons. I don't want them getting hit by a car or turning up on my front step with an endangered bird in their mouth.
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Well said. There are a lot of things that can threaten a domestic cat -- other cats, wildlife, cars, people, bugs, disease. Our cats are exclusively indoor cats, and they seem perfectly happy that way. On the other hand, most of the *outdoor* cats I've known have had pretty brief lives.
If you had my cat you wouldnt keep them inside. If I dont let her out she cries, rips the screens and claws the furniture until they go out! Got her from the mspca because the previous owner couldnt take it any more.
Indeed. One of my cats (Chase) is generally indifferent to the outdoors, and the little one (Charlotte) loves to sit in the window and chatter at the birds. She knows there's a screen there, however, and gets freaked out anyone comes too close to the window.
I did petsit for an ecologist who loved birds and had two cats that went from inside to outside whenever they pleased. I never saw them kill anything, but I know it's been shown that cats kill birds and mice even when they aren't hungry, so I'm sure there's a secret mouse graveyard somewhere in their backyard.