Just had to chase the neighbors cat away from a juvenile kookaburra that was on the ground in our yard. The cat has been on the other side of the fence waiting for its chance to finish the job.
We put the bird in a cardboard box to take to the local vet tomorrow.
Can anyone give me any good reason why cats are still allowed to roam free without consequence in this country?
Update: We were woken by cat noises again this morning. After a safe and quiet night in a box the fledgling kookaburra was released where it was found and after several attempts it managed to fly up onto a roof where it will at least be safe from ground based predators today. Multiple adults birds in the area this morning and some amazing bird calls.
My previous cat was absolutely terrified of the outdoors. She liked looking out of windows, but I walked her 5 feet out the front door once, holding her the entire time. Afterwards, she’d watch that door on alert while sitting with me on the couch rather than nap like she used to. Did that for a month or two at least, maybe longer.
Anecdotal, but sometimes cats and outdoors don’t mix. It’s never a necessity.
The rescue I use makes you sign a contract saying that the cats you adopt will be strictly indoor cats. It’s better for them, too, not just for the environment.
My old roommate had two indoor cats, and they lived their entire lives inside of that tiny apartment. One day when walking home, I saw one of the cats just chilling outside looking at me with a confidence I’d never seen before.
Thinking he’d escaped the house, I tried to grab him and take him back up, but he kept scampering away. After giving up, I went home and up into the apartment, and both cats were indoors. One of them just had an outdoorsy twin.
We’d have to keep careful whenever we opened the apartment door, because the cats would sometimes sprint out of the place and down the stairs out of curiosity.
One of the cats died recently, and I do sometimes lament the outdoor life he never and that his doppelganger was currently living. I don’t think they were unhappy - they were fed, loved, entertained - I just feel that they were imprisoned a little somehow in that space