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- #21
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- Sep 6, 2019
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So,
There's really no such thing as a truly happy indoor cat. Even with an infinity of enrichment, it's still confining a deadly obligate carnivore whose true nature is to roam freely.
I specifically wrote that I was fully aware a very large cat can seriously injure something. I also said I think that is a good thing. I am putting emphasis on this point. A cat like that demands respect. I would like other species we live with to understand fully that cats must not be trifled with.
So far the only discouraging things are that cat size is not very changeable with breeding.
And that Mr.'s Bobcat is no match for an equal sized dog. This is entirely surprising, as felidae is almost always pound for pound more effective than any dog. The risk that my housecat wouldn't win 99% the fights a dog picked with it is unacceptable. Particularly if it risked being injured while not just terrorizing and panicking any uppity neighborhood dogs. Or possibly predating them. I want a Cat tyrant, not a fight a dog could possibly win.
Because I want a happy cat. I believe there are no truly happy indoor cats. Thus, my cat must be indoor outdoor for its own enrichment. And I don't want my poor cat to get injured or killed by all the awful dogs people own. Which requires it to be far more dangerous than a dog. That's half of the point of owning a giant cat. It can protect itself when it is out and about. I certainly can't keep it from roaming the neighborhood, it will easily find a way to escape any enclosure that isn't an absolute eyesore.
Sometimes I wonder if people truly care about their cats. Cats will let you know with everything they do that you can't confine them to decades of prison life inside your home. And who am I to force my cat to stay caged its whole life? That's just wrong. I won't and can't do it. Just like you can't lock your children inside to keep them safe. Eventually they need to live free. Always. It's terrifying for parents to get their teenager their first car, or let them move away for college. We know they might kill themselves with it. But we also know that without that freedom, they can't live their own lives.
So we teach them. We give them wisdom, rules, boundaries, and explain ourselves. We can't really give all that to our beloved cats, but we can give them better tools to defend themselves as they live the life they choose to live.
The really sad thing is that might be harder than it sounds.
There's really no such thing as a truly happy indoor cat. Even with an infinity of enrichment, it's still confining a deadly obligate carnivore whose true nature is to roam freely.
I specifically wrote that I was fully aware a very large cat can seriously injure something. I also said I think that is a good thing. I am putting emphasis on this point. A cat like that demands respect. I would like other species we live with to understand fully that cats must not be trifled with.
So far the only discouraging things are that cat size is not very changeable with breeding.
And that Mr.'s Bobcat is no match for an equal sized dog. This is entirely surprising, as felidae is almost always pound for pound more effective than any dog. The risk that my housecat wouldn't win 99% the fights a dog picked with it is unacceptable. Particularly if it risked being injured while not just terrorizing and panicking any uppity neighborhood dogs. Or possibly predating them. I want a Cat tyrant, not a fight a dog could possibly win.
Because I want a happy cat. I believe there are no truly happy indoor cats. Thus, my cat must be indoor outdoor for its own enrichment. And I don't want my poor cat to get injured or killed by all the awful dogs people own. Which requires it to be far more dangerous than a dog. That's half of the point of owning a giant cat. It can protect itself when it is out and about. I certainly can't keep it from roaming the neighborhood, it will easily find a way to escape any enclosure that isn't an absolute eyesore.
Sometimes I wonder if people truly care about their cats. Cats will let you know with everything they do that you can't confine them to decades of prison life inside your home. And who am I to force my cat to stay caged its whole life? That's just wrong. I won't and can't do it. Just like you can't lock your children inside to keep them safe. Eventually they need to live free. Always. It's terrifying for parents to get their teenager their first car, or let them move away for college. We know they might kill themselves with it. But we also know that without that freedom, they can't live their own lives.
So we teach them. We give them wisdom, rules, boundaries, and explain ourselves. We can't really give all that to our beloved cats, but we can give them better tools to defend themselves as they live the life they choose to live.
The really sad thing is that might be harder than it sounds.