Dear Amy: My buddy’s cat has been lacking for 2 weeks.
I’ve been supportive in serving to her attempt to discover the cat. I additionally really feel her ache.
I’ve at all times had cats, however since dropping a cat 30 years in the past, I’ve at all times saved my cats indoors.
My buddy lives in a canyon with plenty of wildlife, together with coyotes, mountain lions, owls, and different predators. (She had one other cat that needed to have its leg amputated as a result of it was caught in a rabbit snare.)
Her remaining cat continues to be allowed outdoors. These are small 2-year-old cats!
I’m having a tough time with this. I do know it’s her cat, however I can’t stand the considered one other one going lacking attributable to this inconsiderate conduct.
I’m feeling very judgmental/offended, and will not need to keep mates along with her.
I can’t resolve if I ought to sit by and never choose, or ought to I bail on the friendship?
– Cat Lover and Friend
Dear Cat Lover: There are many credible experiences exhibiting that permitting a cat to roam outdoor considerably shortens its lifespan, and that indoor cats dwell for much longer.
This is from the ASPCA (aspca.org): ” Please maintain your cat indoors. Outdoor cats don’t dwell so long as indoor cats. Outdoor cats are susceptible to trauma from vehicles, or from fights with different cats, raccoons and free-roaming dogs. Coyotes are recognized to eat cats. Outdoor cats usually tend to change into infested with fleas or ticks, in addition to contract infectious ailments.”
Your buddy is ignoring this commonsense recommendation, and her young cats are paying the worth.
Tell her that you’re hoping for the perfect end result and that you’ll do all the pieces you’ll be able to to assist.
You don’t need her to really feel worse than she presently does, however you’ll be able to hope to encourage her to deal with her animals in a different way.
Once there may be some decision to this, I do assume you need to inform her that you just discover it upsetting that she permits her cats to freely roam outdoors, given the numerous dangers they face.
And sure, relying on how she responds to you and her animals, this is able to be a troublesome factor to get past.
You can e mail Amy Dickinson at [email protected] or ship a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You also can comply with her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.
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