Caring for your cat in an eco-friendly, sustainable way means keeping your cat indoors.  This ensures you protect your cat’s health and welfare and reduce his/her  environmental impact.  As guardian of a green pet, you will be glad to know the top eight reasons to keep your cat indoors.

Reasons to keep your cat indoors:

1.  Disease

You increase your cat’s risk of incidence to life-threatening diseases such as Feline Distemper, Feline AIDS, Feline Leukemia, Rabies, Cat-scratch Fever (Bobcat Fever) and Toxoplasmosis.

2.  Poison

There are all sorts of products your cat could get into when not under your watchful eye.  Cats are curious by nature and they could very easily get into rat poison, antifreeze, oil, gas, etc.  What about those other hidden poisons?  Chemical-laden lawn/plant treatments are used frequently and though you may not notice symptoms instantly, there could be health concerns in the future due to these toxic substances.  Keeping your cats inside keeps them green and keeps them away from poison!

3.  Birds/Critters

Scientists estimate that “Free-Roaming” cats kill hundreds of millions of animals each year ranging from birds, rodents and other small mammals as well as reptiles and amphibians. You may be thinking…”Well, that’s the nature of cats.”  Many of these species are already struggling due to pollution, pesticide and herbicide use, loss of habitat, etc.  Not to mention, some of these critters or birds could have diseases that would affect your cat’s health.

4.  Homelessness

It is possible that your cat may wander off and not come home. Not only would it break your heart, but what happens to your cat?  If your cat is micro-chipped, you may be able to bring him/her home again, but there are not so happy consequences, too.  Millions of domestic cats are euthanized each year because there are not enough homes for them and although we don’t want to think about it, there are research companies that will pick up unattended cats/dogs and perform experiments on them.  The horror!

5.  Vehicles

Your cat may get hit by a car or other vehicle.  The road is populated with vehicles and inattentive drivers. If you cat manages to survive, it will be costly for your pocketbook as well as their long-term health.  Often times rehabilitation, etc. will require many surgeries and many vet visits.

6.  Fights

Another source of injury or death could simply be an attack by another animal or predator.

7.  Parasites

Think fleas and ticks.  Bobcat Fever comes from ticks.  Even if you think you have taken precautions to protect your cat from fleas and ticks, if they eat an infected animal, it could still have drastic consequences to your kitty’s health.

8.  Population Control

If your cat has not been spayed or neutered there is great chance you will be contributing for to the population of feral cats.  Think again, about the hundreds of millions of cats that are euthanized each year.  Make a promise to you and your pet that you won’t be a contributing factor to these deaths.

If you love your cat and you care about his/her health, safety and well-being above many things, ensure you keep your cat indoors.  You’ll be doing Mother Earth a favour too since you’ll be helping improve her sustainability by protecting birds and other critters from your cat’s inherit predatory traits.  Don’t forget to keep your cat happy and entertained while indoors!

Marisa

Technorati Tags: cat indoors, green pet, keeping cats indoors, pet care tips