06-23-2017, 05:54 AM
I feel for you Tom. My brother has cats, one of whom often sleeps with his head on the pillow beside me. My parents have 2 cats and they are so attached to them that I shudder to consider what would happen if harm befell one of the cats. In my brother's case two previous cats met painful or violent deaths outside so they now keep the cats indoors. My parents have gradually evolved in their views so that they now allow the cats out only for short periods during the day. The cats are older now and don't wander or hunt as much as before. Nevertheless I wish they would keep the cats completely indoors. The cats would object though and since they have my parents wrapped around their little toes that is not likely to happen.
Now is not the time to pick on you but might I suggest that any future cats be kept indoors? Sounds like your cats avoided the violent fate that often awaits outdoor cats. Not so for the various prey items they brought home as well as the many more they left mangled in the bushes.
In this respect I am like a reformed smoker getting on everyone else's case. When I was a kid we had a cat that left bits and pieces of carcasses on the porch and we thought nothing of it. You live and learn. I think the plight of rare birds is more severe now than it was in our callow youth too.
Now is not the time to pick on you but might I suggest that any future cats be kept indoors? Sounds like your cats avoided the violent fate that often awaits outdoor cats. Not so for the various prey items they brought home as well as the many more they left mangled in the bushes.
In this respect I am like a reformed smoker getting on everyone else's case. When I was a kid we had a cat that left bits and pieces of carcasses on the porch and we thought nothing of it. You live and learn. I think the plight of rare birds is more severe now than it was in our callow youth too.