Texan female animal vet shoots arrow through head of cat - posts smiling picture of self with cat

Try your hardest ... wrote:

Where was it said that someone LET this cat "wander" outdoors?

Don't split hairs. You know this was someone's "outdoor" pet. Why do you deny the owners are responsible for the well being of their pet, regardless of it being inside or outside?

Have you ever had a pet that got out accidentally?

Yes. And I purposefully went and retrieved it.

Should I kill all pets I see outdoors, just because you feel that owners should be aware of the risks?

I am saying this: if you are not aware of the risks to outdoor pets, you are an idiot.

Last year, the woman who lives next door to me had three outdoor cats. Now she has one. One cat she ran over in her own driveway. The second just "disappeared." Another neighbor lost a cat when she started her car. It was cold out, and her outdoor cat had curled up in her engine block to stay warm. I recall yet another neighbor's cat dying in convulsions evidently from some poison it found and ingested.

Should you kill all outdoor pets because I said that owners should understand risks?

No. My poor opinion of your argument does not absolve you of the responsibility to make decisions that are moral, legal and rational.

My family had outdoor cats. Five or six over the years. They were not feral. They were loving, friendly, tame. They had names: Carrots, Lancelot, Silva, James and Artie. They lived outside. They slept under the porch of our old Victorian house. They came meowing to the door every afternoon, waiting for the bowl of cat food. During the winter, we sometimes let them into the basement. But they preferred being outdoors. They were very sociable. All but one lived long, healthy, happy lives.

Smarter Than You Is Easy wrote:

bad pusy wrote:

Seems like you ALMOST get it. Keep trying champ!

It is better to have cats in the neighborhood than you for example. And that's an excellent example!

Did you really just resort to using "champ"? Seriously?

OK, I accept your defeat.

Go get 'em, Champ!

J.R. wrote:

KudzuRunner wrote:

I didn't say that it wasn't a feral cat--although apparently it wasn't.

It was defintely a wild feral cat.

Otherwise, where exactly did she get it, someone's living room?

When you go outside are you a feral human?

Kevin52 wrote:

This calls for a duel between the "vet" and Pirate Cat Gun Girl.

I clicked on the thread hoping it to be chalk full of Pirate Cat Bow Girl jokes. Can't believe it took until late in the 3rd page for anyone to even mention it.

COME ON LRC

Black cat - victim was defending herself

White cat - evil witch felled beloved feline beauty

Red cat - cat was probably drunk but we feel a bit guilty anyway

Brown cat - who's gonna mow my lawn!?

J.R. wrote:

It was defintely a wild feral cat.

Otherwise, where exactly did she get it, someone's living room?

Homo Ferus wrote:

When you go outside are you a feral human?

No, because I don't invade other people's property, not at any time of the day or night. I don't crap in and ruin people's gardens, and I don't kill billions of birds and other animals every year.

If I did those things, then someone would probably shoot me.

Feral cats are worthless creatures, I so applaud the courageous people who get rid of them.

J.R. wrote:

J.R. wrote:

It was defintely a wild feral cat.

Otherwise, where exactly did she get it, someone's living room?

Homo Ferus wrote:

When you go outside are you a feral human?

No, because I don't invade other people's property, not at any time of the day or night. I don't crap in and ruin people's gardens, and I don't kill billions of birds and other animals every year.

If I did those things, then someone would probably shoot me.

Feral cats are worthless creatures, I so applaud the courageous people who get rid of them.

I hope you are neutered.

Homo Ferus wrote:

J.R. wrote:

No, because I don't invade other people's property, not at any time of the day or night. I don't crap in and ruin people's gardens, and I don't kill billions of birds and other animals every year.

If I did those things, then someone would probably shoot me.

Feral cats are worthless creatures, I so applaud the courageous people who get rid of them.

I hope you are neutered.

Can anyone actually defend the common practice of letting pet cats outdoors? They are certainly a menace to wildlife. Not the cat's fault, of course. That's what cats do. But the owners should be shot.

this is how most veterinarians feel about (and act around) cats:

http://www.pleated-jeans.com/2013/02/05/if-i-was-a-veterinarian/

in some ways, it's good her psychosis came through only a couple years into her career - fewer animals may be harmed for it.

How did she know the cat was feral?

There are 6 cats living outside in a community garden behind my apartment. They have no owners, they have no collars but someone leaves food for them every day. Therefore they are not feral. A feral cat is completely wild and fends for itself. If someone fed the cat, or looked after it in any way, it wasn't feral. I doubt she checked with the local community before she killed it.

And if you do find a feral cat, call the authorities who will decide whether to release it where it can't bother anyone or put it down humanely.

Ken Anyone? wrote:

Can anyone actually defend the common practice of letting pet cats outdoors? They are certainly a menace to wildlife. Not the cat's fault, of course. That's what cats do. But the owners should be shot.

I do. Cats are outdoor animals. Wildlife used to have to deal with all sorts of predators which man eliminated so they can deal with cats.

What do you expect to control bird and rodent populations?

KudzuRunner wrote:

My family had outdoor cats. Five or six over the years. They were not feral. They were loving, friendly, tame. They had names: Carrots, Lancelot, Silva, James and Artie. They lived outside. They slept under the porch of our old Victorian house. They came meowing to the door every afternoon, waiting for the bowl of cat food. During the winter, we sometimes let them into the basement. But they preferred being outdoors. They were very sociable. All but one lived long, healthy, happy lives.

Stop the presses: OUTDOOR CATS LIVE LONG, HAPPY LIVES

Now, I can't in any way defend the actions of the vet whose story started this strangely long thread, but my argument is that outdoor cats are disposable pets.

KudzuRunner, you describe your family's clowder of outdoor cats as living "long, healthy, happy lives," and you list five names for the "five or six" cats your family supported. Hence, as you are a defender of outdoor pets, please help me understand your relation to them by answering the following questions:

1. You say all but one lived long lives. What happened to that "one"?

3. How did "Carrots, Lancelot, Silva, James and Artie" die? If you don't know, say so. My contention is that many outdoor cats die rather violent or unenviable deaths. But perhaps yours died peacefully in a hole under your porch.

4. How did your family mark the passing of each of these cats?

5. How long are these "long, healthy, happy lives"? Be specific. A truly long life for a cat is actually between 15 and 20 years. Most outdoor cats don't live past about five years. If you don't actually know how long they lived, say so.

I will let pass your lack of precision over the actual number of cats your family supported.

Most indoor cats are walking corpses for the last 3/4 of their lives.

As the firestorm grew, Lindsey wrote in the comments underneath her post: "no I did not lose my job. Lol. Psshh. Like someone would get rid of me. I'm awesome!"

That prediction was wrong.

Fired from clinic

I LAUGHED SO HARD

Randy Oldman wrote:

How did she know the cat was feral?

It was running around wild, invading and destroying her property, and killing the wildlife that she had invited to be there.

There are 6 cats living outside in a community garden behind my apartment. They have no owners, they have no collars but someone leaves food for them every day. Therefore they are not feral.[/quote

Huh, you just defined a feral cat and then say it's not feral.

Of course it is feral, cause it's feral.

[quote]A feral cat is completely wild and fends for itself. If someone fed the cat, or looked after it in any way, it wasn't feral.

Dumb. If you feed a grizzly or a cougar, that doesn't mean they are yours, and you're certainly not in control of them.

Ken Anyone? wrote:

Can anyone actually defend the common practice of letting pet cats outdoors? They are certainly a menace to wildlife. Not the cat's fault, of course. That's what cats do. But the owners should be shot.

I do wrote:

I do. Cats are outdoor animals. Wildlife used to have to deal with all sorts of predators which man eliminated so they can deal with cats.

What do you expect to control bird and rodent populations?

See, these are the idiots that cause the filthy feral cat epidemic.

J.R. wrote:

Ken Anyone? wrote:

Can anyone actually defend the common practice of letting pet cats outdoors? They are certainly a menace to wildlife. Not the cat's fault, of course. That's what cats do. But the owners should be shot.

I do wrote:

I do. Cats are outdoor animals. Wildlife used to have to deal with all sorts of predators which man eliminated so they can deal with cats.

What do you expect to control bird and rodent populations?

See, these are the idiots that cause the filthy feral cat epidemic.

My cats are clean and neutered and not feral Not sure if you know where babies come from. Probably not.

I do wrote:

Ken Anyone? wrote:

Can anyone actually defend the common practice of letting pet cats outdoors? They are certainly a menace to wildlife. Not the cat's fault, of course. That's what cats do. But the owners should be shot.

I do. Cats are outdoor animals. Wildlife used to have to deal with all sorts of predators which man eliminated so they can deal with cats.

What do you expect to control bird and rodent populations?

OK, so one really poorly thought-out answer so far.

1) "Cats are outdoor animals": Ummm...when you put them outdoors that is true. When kept inside it is not true. Hello?

2) "What do you expect to control bird and rodent populations?": The 100 million cats in the US is roughly 100 times as many as could survive in the wild. Thus, your "returning balance to nature" argument is utterly preposterous.

Coyotes, bobcats, skunks, raccoons, mountain lions, hawks, owls, weasels...can keep things in check just fine. Are you really ignorant enough to believe that without outdoor cats killing birds and rodents that somehow their populations would overwhelm us? I doubt even you could be that ignorant. Instead this seems more like willful ignorance on your part - "believing" something that you know is absurd because it makes you feel good.

OK - any real answers?