Moseby's tummy's starting to hang, charmingly, but it's one of the reasons why I'd like to free him from the appartment once in a while. How does this work? He's 1. I live at a busy intersection, but have quiet space in the back alley. Obviously, he'd need proper vaccination, but fill me in on how this goes otherwise.

If you've already ripped his claws out, forget about it. First encounter he ends up in with a stray will have him hurtin'.

He's clawed, but trimmed.

Just the sound of living near a busy intersection makes me cringe at the thought of allowing your kitty outdoors. I'd hate to learn he became a squished during one of his outings.

Don't do it.

I had outdoor cats for years previously.

The following had occurred:

1) Killed everything possible and left it as a present on our back porch (My mother wanted to KILL ME on those mornings, they were my cats)

2) Managed to either get hurt in fights with bigger animals, or picked up by the pet police(even though they wore tags), found themselves on a busy street, walked through a newly tarred driveway and managed to get themselves covered in tar(NOT easy to clean let me tell ya) and

3) They're more prone to picking up illnesses in the outdoors. I had higher vet bills when I had my cats years ago then we do now with our two happily indoor cats.

You're not doing your cat a favor let me tell ya. All cats get the tummy hang, he'll deal with it.

That's pretty convincing, except that I still feel like a jailer.

nah, they don't mind. My cats love watching out the windows of our 21st floor and watching cars go by. That and the birds are a lot closer to the windows to see. They think it's cool(Or we suspect they do).

if you let him outside he will get hit by a car and die.

Or will he just chill in the backyard/alley? I let him hang out there unsupervised for a little while at a time (5 to 10 minutes max), and he never goes far ...

Don't do it, J. All it takes is one little thing to spook him, out he runs in front of a car or a big stray dog happens to be strolling by and it's CURTAINS for your pussy gato. Don't do it!

It's hard as hell to hit a cat with a car.

You've tried.

no. the only way that this story ends is in death and you know it. this fat-ass cat simply isn't equiped to deal with steel belted radials, kids or dogs. he will die.

Well, I've never hit a dog (or a cat), but not because they are that nimble. Some dogs don't even attempt to get out of the way. Cats apparently are just better at physics and know when to scoot.

Tell that to the 4 or 5 pancake-kitties I saw while out driving today.

If the hanging tummy bothers you so much, why don't you put him on a diet?


...or at least consider liposuction. Do you have pet insurance?

Why? They won't listen.

If a cat was crapping on my lawn, I'd do something drastic. I hope you plan on keeping him in his own yard.

fp

one of our cats is so lazy when I let him outside in the back yard he walks about 5 steps then flops down and stretches out - eating a bit of grass

buy a leash and tie it to a fence, pole, or something and let it roam around on that.

Um, I think we already established that as a bad idea.

well, just don't leave it unsupervised. 1/2 hour at a time or something.

Get it a hamster wheel.

And a hamster.

I'm picturing one of those cheese wheels, except they're different flavours of hamsters -- "Look, this one has been fed nothing but corn it's entire life, I wonder what that tastes like?"

May I second the diet notion? Alright, seconded.

Do they have Atkins for pets?