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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] A rewarding little fruit...

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  • From: Keith Benson <kgbenson@mindspring.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] A rewarding little fruit...
  • Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 16:25:30 -0500



list@ginda.us wrote:

The two chief sources of outdoor mortality are cars and coyotes.

Yep

We try to avoid the latter by keeping the cats indoors at night.

That will have a significant impact.

The female hangs out around the house, and stays off the roads. The male may be killed by a car, but he was clearly an outdoor kitten before we got him, and he begged to go out from the day he joined us. The first day we let him out (on purpose, when he knew we woudn't try to grab him and put him in) he was ecstatic, rolling and leaping and climbing until he was out of breath, and then going back for more. (Have you ever seen a kitten pant?)

Yep, many.

Quality of life counts for something, and this cat is meant to be an outdoor cat.

Quality of life certainly counts - and that is a decision every cat owner must make. Notice in my post I did not say keep them indoors, merely made you aware of the relative risk. I have known many many cats that would have been ill-suited to live indoors. There are those that think that every cat can be an indoor cat, and while I think that the vast majority are perfectly happy that way, I do not kid myself into thinking that this is 100% true.

That the two of them seem to kill rodents is a plus, not the reason they go outdoors.

I think that 2 year figure is fake, or is driven by a lot of kitten mortality.

It is not fake, though I will not bother to locate a reference as you have obviously made up your mind and will beleive what you will. As to being driven by kitten mortality it is better described as being driven by novel outdoor cat mortality. What matters is does the cat have expereince, not how old they are (outside of being 8 weeks old - that would surely have an impact). The mortality also goes up when experinced cats are moved to a new area with new "rules".

I've know lots of outdoor cats, and ones who make it beyond a year live nearly as long as indoor cats.

Still a few years less, but you are right, outdoor cats in a stable area that have survived longer than a year tend to have considerable lifespans. More of them die each year than indoor cats, but it is true that expereinced cats can do OK. The question to be answered everytime one decides to make their cat an indoor vs. out door cat is will this cat make it past that year? And FWIW - many cats that are experieinced do still get run over, or become ill and cannot get home and then taken for assistance.

There's a movement to avoid all danger at any cost (see the link to the bee-ban, earlier this week) but danger is a part of life.

Not a movement, but there is risk and there is stupid risk. In my neighborhood having an outdoor cat is a stupid risk. Three of my enighbors have tried in the last year. Haven't seen those cats in a while. And I am sure no one stole them.

Again - I am not telling anyone to never have an outdoor cat - just realize that about half will not see their second birthday.
Keith




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