Roaming Pet Cats

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IS THE 'FREEDOM' WORTH IT?

Pet cats must be kept strictly indoors and should only be allowed outdoors under human supervision and harnessed. Even then, this may be risky and it is the owner’s responsibility to care for the cat should it be injured or subject to abuse. Even stray cats are being devoured by snakes, thrown off a building and become road kills almost everyday; what makes you think that your cat is smarter than these street cats? 

If you are allowing your cat to roam, please stop immediately. You are exposing your cat to dangers and likely causing a nuisance to your neighbours. 

If your cat is trying to get out of the house, please ensure your cat is sterilised and provide it with distractions and re-train it to stay indoors. This could include placing cat condos by a meshed window so that they have a view to observe birds and insects safely, providing them with treat puzzle toys and even hunting toys like mice and feathery toys to stalk and hunt.

If your neighbour is allowing their cat to roam, please advise them to do so by leaving this advisory at their doorstep. If they refuse to do so and the cats are causing a nuisance (caterwauling, peeing to mark territory, roaming, etc), please write to info@catwelfare.org with the exact address of the unit, the time the cat is spotted and what nuisance it is causing.

HOW MANY OWNERS TRULY CARE ABOUT THEIR CATS?

Responsible owners will ensure that their pet cats are kept safely indoors and that any windows or gate has grilles/mesh that will not allow a cat to accidentally fall out.

If you see a cat sitting at the window/balcony/other unmeshed part of the house from which the cat can fall, please advise the cat owner to mesh their home by approaching them with this advisory. There are a variety of options to secure homes with varying price range, so there will be something that suits every home. 

If they refuse to do so and the cats are repeatedly found in such a situation, please write to info@catwelfare.org with the exact address of the unit and images of the cats exposed to the dangers and the date and time the cats were spotted.

If your house is presently unmeshed, please get it meshed up. 

Your failure to mesh can result in your cat falling down and injuring itself or dying a slow and painful death. 

Just because your cat has never jumped to the window does not mean that it never will. 

There are many options you can consider for meshing and they all have different price ranges so research these options. 

If you need more information, please visit this page.

Harsh realities taken from Singapore Facebook cat groups.

Article source: Cat Welfare Society.