5 ms·

How Far Do Your Cats Roam?

32 points by psibi 12y ago

bluewolf 12y ago
If you have a cats that roams outside, beware of bunchers. Bunchers are thieves that trap and steal domesticated pets and sell them to laboratories to be experimented on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buncher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buncher An RFID microchip combined with a GPS collar (Pawtrack.com has a good one) may help prevent such a terrible outcome, but there are no guarantees.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- personZ 12y ago
  Interesting consideration, but is it a legitimate concern? For the actual "Bunchers", it seems like there are much easier ways of acquiring cats than trying to steal domestic cats. And for cat owners, free roam cats face an endless array of very serious perils, including disease, cars, malicious neighobors/teens, dogs, coyotes, etc. I can't imagine that people stealing cats for research account for much more than a blip compared to the completely banal sources of imminent mortality when a cat runs free.
  - bluewolf 12y ago
    If it happened to your pet, it would be a legitimate concern.
cremno 12y ago
The BBC has an article about tracking cats (from 2013), although the animation could have been better. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22567526 http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22567526 (animation) http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22821639 http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22821639 (actual article) The accompanying documentation can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPthfv1XL_w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPthfv1XL_w
timr 12y ago
I don't understand why people are allowed to let their pets roam free. I grew up fishing feral cats out of places they weren't supposed to be, and it drove me crazy that people would just let their un-spayed, un-neutered cats wander around to become their neighbors' vicious little problems. Even if your kitty is fixed, she's plenty destructive to the local wildlife, not to mention a disease risk when she gets in fights with raccoons and other animals that carry rabies. Dogs aren't allowed to run free, and cats shouldn't be, either.
- sjtrny 12y ago
  Because most of the time they hang around the house. If you read the article and watch the video they say that a small minority go exploring. Most people also keep them inside at night. Furthermore since they are generally fed well by owners they have diminished interest in hunting. Keep in mind that dogs are locked up because they are usually a lot larger than cats and can attack people. It also helps that they aren't as good at jumping and climbing as cats. If dogs could jump and climb like cats then people wouldn't own them as pets.
  - Pxtl 12y ago
    Also because dogs don't have the decency to bury their poop. I've never had to scrape cat crap off of my stroller. There are more cats in my neighborhood than dogs, there are laws demanding that dog owners clean up their poop, but still I keep getting dog poop on my kids' stuff.
    - coryl 12y ago
      Question: where are you letting your dog poop?
      - Pxtl 12y ago
        Don't have one.
  - timr 12y ago
    ...and yet, clearly, enough roam that it becomes a problem. I have the scars to prove it. In any case, all of those things apply to dogs, as well, but we're not allowed to let our pet dogs roam.

32 points by psibi 12y ago

If you have a cats that roams outside, beware of bunchers. Bunchers are thieves that trap and steal domesticated pets and sell them to laboratories to be experimented on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buncher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buncher An RFID microchip combined with a GPS collar (Pawtrack.com has a good one) may help prevent such a terrible outcome, but there are no guarantees.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
personZ 12y ago
Interesting consideration, but is it a legitimate concern? For the actual "Bunchers", it seems like there are much easier ways of acquiring cats than trying to steal domestic cats. And for cat owners, free roam cats face an endless array of very serious perils, including disease, cars, malicious neighobors/teens, dogs, coyotes, etc. I can't imagine that people stealing cats for research account for much more than a blip compared to the completely banal sources of imminent mortality when a cat runs free.
- bluewolf 12y ago
  If it happened to your pet, it would be a legitimate concern.

cremno 12y ago

The BBC has an article about tracking cats (from 2013), although the animation could have been better. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22567526 http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22567526 (animation) http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22821639 http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22821639 (actual article) The accompanying documentation can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPthfv1XL_w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPthfv1XL_w

timr 12y ago

I don't understand why people are allowed to let their pets roam free. I grew up fishing feral cats out of places they weren't supposed to be, and it drove me crazy that people would just let their un-spayed, un-neutered cats wander around to become their neighbors' vicious little problems. Even if your kitty is fixed, she's plenty destructive to the local wildlife, not to mention a disease risk when she gets in fights with raccoons and other animals that carry rabies. Dogs aren't allowed to run free, and cats shouldn't be, either.

sjtrny 12y ago
Because most of the time they hang around the house. If you read the article and watch the video they say that a small minority go exploring. Most people also keep them inside at night. Furthermore since they are generally fed well by owners they have diminished interest in hunting. Keep in mind that dogs are locked up because they are usually a lot larger than cats and can attack people. It also helps that they aren't as good at jumping and climbing as cats. If dogs could jump and climb like cats then people wouldn't own them as pets.
- Pxtl 12y ago
  Also because dogs don't have the decency to bury their poop. I've never had to scrape cat crap off of my stroller. There are more cats in my neighborhood than dogs, there are laws demanding that dog owners clean up their poop, but still I keep getting dog poop on my kids' stuff.
  - coryl 12y ago
    Question: where are you letting your dog poop?
    - Pxtl 12y ago
      Don't have one.
- timr 12y ago
  ...and yet, clearly, enough roam that it becomes a problem. I have the scars to prove it. In any case, all of those things apply to dogs, as well, but we're not allowed to let our pet dogs roam.