TEN REASONS WHY CATS SHOULD STAY INSIDE

 1.  OUTSIDE CATS CAN GET LOST.  Many people think their cats can find their way home if they stray.  The truth is that thousands of lost cats end up in shelters every year.

 2.  OUTSIDE CATS CAN BE HIT BY CARS.  Many cats are hit by cars even in rural areas where traffic is slow.  Many are killed when parked cars start moving or when they climb inside the motors of parked cars.

 3.  OUTSIDE CATS CAN BE ATTACKED BY OTHER ANIMALS.  Dogs, raccoons, foxes, and birds of prey are known to kill cats.  Other cats can attack and injure or kill your cat, or infect it with feline diseases such as rabies.

 4.  OUTSIDE CATS ARE EXPOSED TO DISEASES.  There are many diseases and parasites, several of them deadly, that cats can catch outside.  Even a cat that has been vaccinated is at risk because there are several diseases that have no effective vaccine, and current vaccines are only about 80% effective.

 5.  OUTSIDE CATS CAN BE POISONED.  Either deliberately or accidentally, many cats are poisoned every year.  Many plants are poisonous, and common substances like anti-freeze are deadly for them.

 6.  OUTSIDE CATS OFTEN KILL AREA WILDLIFE.  Songbirds, squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits are easy victims for cats.  A bell on the cat’s collar is not effective at protecting wildlife.

 7.  OUTSIDE CATS OFTEN FALL VICTIM TO PEOPLE.  Unfortunately there are sick, unscrupulous people in the world.  Newspapers often give accounts of cats being tortured, sacrificed or used as bait for fighting dogs.  There are also people who will take cats and sell them to experimental labs.  Neighbors who don’t like cats in their yards can become angry when a cat wanders onto their property and the cat could mysteriously disappear.

 8.  OUTSIDE CATS DON’T LIVE AS LONG.  A recent study compared the life span of inside cats to cats that went outside.  They found that cats that never went outside lived twice as long.

 9.  OUTSIDE CATS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO PET OVERPOPULATION.  Nationwide, millions of cats are put to sleep every year because there aren’t enough homes for all the kittens that are born.

 10.  OUTSIDE CATS ARE BREAKING THE LAW.  Many areas and civic associations now have laws against letting cats run loose.  Delaware has actively worked toward passing a leash law for all domestic pets.

 Keeping your cat inside is safe, kind and responsible..

 Information provided by the MARYLAND SPCA,  3300 Falls Church Road,    Baltimore,   MD 21211