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Should cats stay in or go out? They do kill wildlife,
including birds, but aren’t they just taking the place of natural
predators that once did the same?
Most environmental advocates believe that keeping cats
indoors is better for both the health of the felines themselves and for
their prey. Scientists estimate that the typical free-roaming housecat
kills some 100 small animals each year. This means that the 90 million
domestic housecats living in the U.S. alone are killing hundreds of
millions, if not billions, of birds, small mammals, reptiles, and
amphibians every year. And though housecats on the prowl may serve to
replace the natural predators long ago extirpated by humans, their
popularity as pets puts their population density far ahead of those that
came before them. “Cat predation is an added stress to wildlife
populations already struggling to survive habitat loss, pollution,
pesticides and other human impacts,” says the American Bird
Conservancy, which in 1997 launched its controversial Cats Indoors!
campaign to educate animal lovers about the benefits of keeping Tabby
inside. The ABC also points out that free-roaming cats are exposed to
injury, disease, parasites, and collisions with cars and can be lost,
stolen or poisoned. Cats can also transmit diseases and parasites such as
rabies, cat-scratch fever, and toxoplasmosis to other cats, wildlife, or
people. To help drive its point home, ABC produces a wide range of
educational materials (including a brochure, “Keeping Cats Indoors
Isn’t Just for the Birds”) and public-service announcements in
the service of their ongoing campaign. Nonetheless, many cat lovers believe that it is
inhumane to confine felines indoors because they have evolved as hunters
and thrive on the natural stimulation only available outside. To help
soften the blow and wean your cat from the outdoors slowly, the ABC
suggests gradually curtailing your cat’s out-of-doors time over the
course of a few months until it is eventually not let out at all. In doing
so, you will need to provide your cat with a lot of attention and play
indoors. New scratching posts and toys are a good bet because they may
entertain cats that ordinarily occupy themselves chasing birds and rodents.
The ABC suggests hiding various toys around the house so that cats can
sniff them out and
not miss so much the thrill of the hunt outdoors.
One last bit of important advice: Many fear that
confining their cats indoors will lead to more shredded upholstery —
but declawing your cat should never be an option. According to veterinarian
Dr. Christianne Schelling, cats’ claws are a vital part of their
anatomy. Declawing is not simply fingernail trimming but the removal of the
last joint in a cat’s toes. It is a painful procedure and can lead to
serious physical, emotional, and behavioral complications.
Alternatives to declawing include providing scratching
posts in various locations around the home and trimming your cats nails
occasionally. This involves trimming only the clear tip of the nail (never
the pink or dark fleshy parts, which are skin) and should be done only
after first consulting with a veterinarian. Another option is a product
called Soft Paws, lightweight vinyl caps that you apply over your
cat’s own claws. They have rounded edges, so your cat’s
scratching doesn’t damage your home and furnishings.
For more information:
Cats Indoors! www.abcbirds.org/cats/; Declawing Cats: More Than Just a
Manicure, www.hsus.org/ace/11780; Soft Paws, www.softpaws.com.
Send questions to Earth Talk, care of E/The Environmental Magazine,
P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881 or e-mail earthtalk@emagazine.com.
This article appears in Nov 22-28, 2007.
