went to the movies tonight. on the ride home I saw something lying on the side of the road that very much looked like a cat. I tried to convince myself it wasn't. It reminded me of the time the hubby and I were traveling through NH, and we rounded a corner of a three lane road, and saw a cat in the middle of the road. I made him stop, turn around, and go back so I could pull it out of the middle of the road. It was beyond dead, but I couldn't stand the thought of leaving it there so some idiot could see it there, and aim for it cause he would think it would be cool (yes.. there are people who do that) I felt unbelievably foolish doing it, but Im sure the owners of the cat would be grateful if they knew. and yes.. I cried the whole time..
Also reminded me of the statistic that an outdoor cat has an average lifespan of about two years. Someone once said that their outdoor cat lived till 20. I wanted to jump up and down and tell them how lucky they were that he did. its not an AVERAGE life span for nothing. I lost my first cat Tigger at age 8. As much as I tried to make that boy an indoor only cat, he wasn't having anything to do with that. He was on the feral side of life when we adopted him from the local humane society. I had a devil of a time taking care of him and patting him because he had a very hard time trusting people. The one thing I had going for me was when you patted his chin he'd go catatonic with happiness. :) as time passed, he'd get closer and closer to us. He loved playing games like chase the stick and tag. (yes.. he actually played tag) He used to sleep under the covers in the small of my back. That kitty had personality to spare. Sadly he just didn't come home one day. It was a few months after we moved into the house we built out in the middle of nowhere. He had lived his whole live "in the city" (not much here in maine you can call a real city.. but his biggest problems were cars and dogs). Guess the wildlife out here was just too much for him.
My sister recently lost her outdoor cat as well. He too didn't come home one day.
Yes. an indoor only cat is more work. There is litter, and toys, and cat trees, and stuff.. but the trade off of the increase of the average life span from 2 years to 22 years is so worth it.
well that is if your a crazy cat lady like me :)
