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Comment by leetcrew | Hacker News Reader

the indoor vs outdoor debate wrt cats is a timeless one, but I don't think the answer is so clear cut as you make it seem. in principle, I would like for our family cat to have free rein of the outdoors, but we don't quite feel it is safe for him. in addition to the local predators that actually have to work for a living, my parents live right next to a six-lane death road in the city. the speed limit is 30 mph, but people routinely drive in excess of 60 mph on the downhill side. I'm confident the cat can avoid vehicles moving at a reasonable speed, but that road is unsafe for humans, let alone cats.

there's also the issue of housecats killing a staggering number of birds each year. tbh, this is not really a factor that weighs heavily on our decision, but it's something to think about.

finally, many cats are rescues for whom living freely outdoors was never an option. imo, it's better to be an indoor cat in a loving home than a dead cat.

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Cats do kill an insane number of birds. We've found that attaching a large, colourful collar with reflective bits helps immensely on our cat. Birds are highly sensitive to colours, and our observation is that the cat simply isn't able to catch any birds anymore. They see him coming far too early.

As for the other points, I suspect you're overestimating the dangers, but that's not my call. I personally think no animal should be kept imprisoned in a home, though; I don't want to give any animal less freedom of movement than I have. Imprisoned pets even more depressing to me than zoos.

I've tried multiple collars. The magnetic ones always go missing, and the ones with a buckle have resulted in it being stuck in a hedge...

Our cat catches birds and rodents about equally judging on what he leaves at the door. I really appreciate that it catches mice and rats. It's unfortunate with the birds, I try to make up for it with a garden where they have ample opportunity to nest and find food.

Doesn't that also give the cat ample opportunity find food?

It does, but it is going to prey no matter what I do (short of keeping it inside), and its territory is far larger than my property anyway.

Large hedges provide protection and the cats cannot get to the nests.

I recommend sewing your own, or having someone (on Etsy, for example) custom-make it for you. We didn't find any off-the-shelf ones that were good enough.

Here [1] is what our "clown collar" looks like. It's just a loop. There's a hook that keeps it closed, but it's almost impossible to open it while it's on the cat. It sits so snug around the cat's neck that it never gets tangled in anything, and can't fall off, and we take the collar on and off just by pulling the whole thing over the cat's head.

My partner made this by sewing together some brightly coloured fabric with some shiny, reflective stuff.

[1] https://i.imgur.com/2TtG9rm.jpg

It's completely clear cut before you're responsible for the animal: don't bring a pet into an unsuitable living situation. This is why the safety and environmental arguments ring hollow for me - nobody forces you to get a cat.

This mirrors a lot of rhetoric that you might but want it to.

I completely agree. It always breaks my heart to see locked up animals, be it a cat not allowed to go outside, a dog confined in an appartement with only one outing a day in the urban concrete or a bear in a cage in a zoo. Makes no difference to me.

I firmly believe animal rights movements should discourage pet owning but it's often the other way around, at least from where i'm from.

Discouraging pet ownership, while I agree with it, would put you into an extremely fringe category akin to advocating veganism. The world just isn't ready for that level of compassion for animals. We still live in cultures where five minutes of pleasure for our taste buds trumps all ethical concerns.

It's extremely socially acceptable to get two dogs in your tiny apartment and keep them in kennels while you're at work for 9 hours, and again for 9 hours overnight. People will even come out of the woodwork to convince you that the dogs actually prefer that.

I also think we need to dial back breeding. Breeders just dump unwanted animals into street/pound circulation while breeding the most gimped animals (purebreds) out there, the last thing we need.

I don't discourage pet ownership, in fact I think it's an extremely positive thing for many reasons. I do encourage making responsible choices when it comes to pet selection.

I can agree wholeheartedly for animals that are raised by breeders, and honestly I think this practice should end; there are already more animals than people want to home. but rescue cats already exist before they are adopted. the question is not "can I provide an ideal life for this animal?" but rather, "can I offer an improvement over living in a shelter and eventual euthanasia?".

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