Interesting idea, but a cat’s fur doesn’t grow back that fast. She’s been shaved five times in six/seven months. If it was a spay/neuter organization recatching the same cat, they’d flip her over, see the peach-fuzz patch, and let her go without shaving again. This is a little weirder.
It gets cold there and someone is making a cat down duvet… very slowly?
4 Likes
Re-reading that headline this evening, all I could muster was “Someone, or something?”
I’m not saying aliens, but… aliens?
This is routinely done to look for a spay scar, if a cat is found outside without one, they spay the cat. Of course, if you shave the cat and there’s already a scar there, no need to do surgery.
1 Like
Someone in the neighborhood has a wire cage trap large enough for cats. Put a tracking collar on the cat and catch the prevert who is doing this to the poor kitties.
When you see two cats hanging from powerlines in Portland, then… then what? Then you need to teach your kids about sex by showing them videos of Donald Trump?
One of my cats licks that exact area every time he gets anxious, and doesn’t quit till the fur is all gone. Nice square area too. Rough tongues make for bloody nipples as well. No need to hypothesize a cat-shaving pervert. The cat is doing this to itself. The owners correlated it with a behavior change, but chose to blame someone because of course cat shaving perverts are a thing.
1 Like
The Mammal Society in the UK estimated that British cats kill 57 million mammals, 27 million birds and 5 million reptiles and amphibians every year.
They also quote an earlier study which suggested that in one English village, 30% of house sparrow mortality was due to cats.
Perfect squares are a naturally occurring phenomenon, sometimes you’ll find a perfectly square piece of dirt on a window.
But seriously cats often have shaved squares for operation reason as widely covered in the comments here, the alarming thing would be if these kitties are not just being shaved but also operated on by a rogue vet. It could be a vet or a surgeon or a barber practicing their shaving skills, it could be some da vinci code bullshit (if cats are clues they aint gonna make solving it easy).
2 Likes
The dog in question was roaming his owner’s fenced-in back yard and, for whatever reason, the cat decided to test Finny’s athleticism within the confines of a ~1/6th acre area and lost, badly.
Other than that, and having been attacked by a dog myself, I agree that pet owners should maintain control over their pets. I think the “upset” family mentioned by the OP have the right to be upset up to the point where they open the exterior door to let Fluffy visit the neighbors.
… that you are aware of. The study that inspired this Oatmeal comic (which I linked above) mentions that outdoor housecats only bring home 21% of the animals that they kill. They eat 30% of them, and kill the other 49% for fun.
Completely agree. Why are cats just “allowed” to be outside roaming the neighborhood? If dogs were doing the same people would freak out. Keep your cats in your house else don’t complain about what happens to them when they are in someone else’s yard.
1 Like
Do you, like, hire them out for cleaning purposes? Cos my kid creates filth and foul odours along with hideous levels of chaos, and I need to redress the balance.
3 Likes
It depends a little on the size of the house but I have two indoor cats that poop in their litter tray (99.98% of the time) and apart from the occasional wiff (which you’ll get from human dwellers too) it’s fine.
I’d love to train them to use a toilet though, and if I could somehow hook the flush up to a treat dispenser I could be on to a winner.
Having said all this, they do pine for the outdoors and I’m torn as to what’s best.
If they appear to be “pining” for the outdoors, it’s likely just natural curiosity. Lots of ways to make your indoor environment more interesting for them so they pine a bit less. 
Perhaps some indoor fjords?
6 Likes
Indoor songbirds?
2 Likes
We bought a Cat Genie a couple of years ago and while it’s expensive, it has been the best investment. Two cats now have taken to using it just fine and there is virtually no hassle anymore. Replacing the cartridges sucks cause they’re DRM’d (haven’t had the time to hack around it yet) and the little granules get carried all over but those are minor irritations compared to the benefits of not needing to scoop poop anymore.
1 Like
Get one of those flat cardboard scratchers and put it right where they jump out. It works great for rubbing off any bits of litter and then the litter is trapped in the scratcher. It might work for the granules in the cat genie too.
Edit: I forgot this, but one of my cats has fuzzy paws (he’s a long hair). When he gets out, if something feels stuck to his paws, he scratches the cardboard and works it loose.
1 Like
You seem to be trying to draw a comparison between two very different things. Dogs shouldn’t be free roaming either. Dogs roaming free here at least, often ends in an animal shelter call and a person having to pay to get their dog out of the pound. If there was a legitimately good way to force a cat to stay in your own back yard, i’d say power to you, let your cat out. But here’s the problem: There isn’t. Cats climb, and get into stuff. They bother neighbours, act like assholes. If they must be outside, leash them to keep them in your back yard., or take them for walks (I have actually seen a person or two walking their cat, rather amusing)
1 Like
