Jan 21
A pet lover opines
Folloder (Non Sequitur) is a pet lover. He just doesn’t love YOUR pets. Specifically, he doesn’t love them when they mess in his yard or mess up his yard.
The only thing I have to say is that he’s a bit optimistic about even the most responsible pet owner controlling a cat. It’s wonderful if you have one of those lovely cats that never, ever wants to go outside. But if you have one that howls and scratches at the door to be let out, well… he/she is gonna do whatever they please. I don’t fault cat owners for paw prints on my car.
The other suggestion is that if your dog is a “runner” and some breeds are, get a microchip. Especially do this if you take your dog on trips with you.
January 21st, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Optimistic, eh? Every cat I have ever shared a house with has not had the howling scratching persona you mention. And I know lot’s of others that behave similiarly. And I love lots of other people’s pets… the ones that are well-cared for, in a responsible legal manner. While I appreciate the link, I do think that you are painting with an overly broad brush.
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:02 am
I’ve had both kinds of cats. The ones that like the indoors are keepers, the others you lose.
I didn’t mean to paint with a broad brush. I thought all your ideas were great ones, it’s just that I’ve seen people try really hard and not be able to live up to your ideals.
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:24 am
It’s interesting… I don’t see them as ideals, more of common sense methods. Pet ownership is actually pretty serious. A person agrees to be responsible for the life of another living thing. Pretty powerfuls stuff! When I see mom and dad standing around chatting while their 9 year old frapgs the new puppy up and down the street by its collar, I get upset. I suppose that I should justbe happy that it’s on a leash. But I feel sorry for the dog. And when the neighbor’s two pit bulls are constantly chewing through the fence and terrorizing everyone in the neighborhood, well, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when the law puts one down or some parent beats the tart out of the dog because dad thinks the pit bull is charging his kid. And yeah, I get real annoyed when an animal take their morning (or afternoon) ablutions in my yard. It’s not the animal’s fault, it’s the owner’s fault. And there *IS* a leash law for dogs and cats where I live… really!
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:17 pm
A leash law for cats? That’s a new one to me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a leash on a cat.
Our neighborhood is almost rural with woods behind the houses on either side of a dead end street. Everybody has a dog and a few are completely irresponsible, forgetting that they do live in the city limits.
As for cats, the real problem here are wild ones. There were five kittens born under our storage shed and we tried every thing we could to catch any or all of them to get them fixed. We were not successful.