how long would a 10 year old cat that has lived indoors all its life and only has rear claws last outside?

and by last, i mean live

your opinions needed

2/25/2011 12:37:23 PM

In the city or in the country?

2/25/2011 12:39:35 PM

depends on what type of "outside" you are talking about.

Is it a yard? If so, is it somewhat contained?
If it very rural or more urban? Are there lots of predators in the area?
Is the cat ever going to be allowed back indoors?

2/25/2011 12:39:50 PM

Not a great idea...primarily from the claws perspective.

I have two eight year old cats that have almost never seen the outdoors. I can't bring myself to put them outside.

2/25/2011 12:40:04 PM

djeternal, a suburban neighborhood bordered by a busy highway on one side and woods on the other

the cat will never be let back indoors and will likely no longer be fed by its owner

2/25/2011 12:41:07 PM

Predators wouldn't be an issue imo. Catching food might be difficult due to the lack of claws, but with it being suburban the cat could probably find plenty of food scraps in trash.

The highway is probably your biggest concern.

2/25/2011 12:42:27 PM

3 days unless taken in by another owner.

2/25/2011 12:43:57 PM

i say a week

2/25/2011 12:47:14 PM

Yea I'd be worried about the highway the most.

Predators would only be an issue if they are common in the area and significantly larger than the cat (ie: coyotes), and the cat couldn't figure out how to climb a tree or something. (although I have seen a cat climb a tree with only back claws before)

Finding food would not be that bad I suppose, because I seem to recall the cats we had when I was a child bringing in small rodents and what not, and I believe all of them had no front claws (I may be remembering incorrectly though). And as djeternal mentioned, scraps are probably readily available.


Is it not possible to find a new owner willing to at least feed it, as an outdoor cat?

2/25/2011 12:48:09 PM

2/25/2011 12:49:43 PM

Whoever is doing this to this cat should be shot.

With a .50 caliber black powder rifle. In the leg.

2/25/2011 12:50:36 PM

is there not a humane society or animal control where yall live?

2/25/2011 12:56:27 PM

just to be clear, i would never do this

i am gathering opinions to help me make the case against this type of behavior

2/25/2011 1:26:15 PM

I don't think a cat could catch food without front claws, so it will only last a few weeks unless the highway gets to it first.

2/25/2011 1:32:28 PM

They can do it without front claws, they basically have to rely on pinning the prey down and biting it at that point, though. Unless the prey is big and they can rake at it with their back claws.

[Edited on February 25, 2011 at 1:34 PM. Reason : It would be challenging for them to catch food without front paws, however.]

2/25/2011 1:34:31 PM

Quote :

"djeternal, a suburban neighborhood bordered by a busy highway on one side and woods on the other the cat will never be let back indoors and will likely no longer be fed by its owner"

wtf is wrong with this person?

2/25/2011 1:38:17 PM

since you asked,

terminal cancer

2/25/2011 1:39:06 PM

probably not long declawed cats are pathetic

i know this because I have one

poor thing, cats really do need those front claws for defense, without em the back claws dont matter

unless the cat can find a stray dog to go on an adventure with and work together to survive.

the problem is that there are much more predators around than youd think, and there are much more stray cats that have established territory than youd think without claws the cat wont be gaining ground and will be forced into less optimum areas awith less food and more pressure from predators

[Edited on February 25, 2011 at 1:42 PM. Reason : f]

2/25/2011 1:39:45 PM

Quote :

"Whoever is doing this to this cat should be shot. With a .50 caliber black powder rifle. In the leg."

Yes, because clearly the life of a cat is equal in value to that of a human

2/25/2011 1:43:07 PM

Have the cat put down.

2/25/2011 1:46:46 PM

Quote :

"Predators wouldn't be an issue imo."

Hawks, osprey, falcons. BAM. Where'd that bitch go?

2/25/2011 1:46:57 PM

Put a tracking collar on it and take bets on how long it will survive. I give it 8 days.

The cat is going to die anyways. At least this way it's body will be recycled back into nature and not pumped full of deadly chemicals. It will go out feeling like the wild fucking animal it was designed to be and not some bitch ass house cat.

2/25/2011 1:47:33 PM

it would last years if it learned to stay out of the road

2/25/2011 1:50:32 PM

Quote :

"Yes, because clearly the life of a cat is equal in value to that of a human"

Hmmm...what if we substituted "dog" for "cat"...furthermore, what if this was YOUR dog?

Figurative, son, figurative...

2/25/2011 1:54:03 PM

Quote :

"since you asked, terminal cancer"

Has this terminal cancer affected their ability to bring their cat to the SPCA?

2/25/2011 1:57:37 PM

to play devil's advocate, the SPCA is a death sentence for an old cat

2/25/2011 2:08:07 PM

The SPCA is a no-kill shelter so I don't really see how that would be the case.

2/25/2011 2:14:13 PM

no kill shelters don't put any animals down AT THAT SHELTER, but they're linked in to shelters that will and if an animal is around too long they'll be transferred over

2/25/2011 2:17:36 PM

boy...is it ever a slow Friday in Chit Chat

2/25/2011 2:18:37 PM

^^ Which tin hat conspiracist told you that As someone who worked at the Raleigh SPCA for awhile I can assure you they don't do that lol.

2/25/2011 2:27:13 PM

good call, i didn't realize they went no-kill in July

^ if you worked there before july 2010 they absolutely did that

2/25/2011 2:28:54 PM

No, they did not. The only agreement they have had is between themselves and the Wake County Shelter. And that agreement is basically if the animal is seized within city limits, it goes to the SPCA. If it is seized outside city limits, it goes to the Wake County shelter. They do not pawn off animals in their possession to other shelters to kill. You have a couple of specialty rescues that will come in and take breeds that they specifically work with but you'd be hard pressed to find one of those that would go to the trouble of taking an animal from the SPCA just to put it down. That would just be weird

2/25/2011 2:37:12 PM

i misread the comment you were replying to

you're right, before july 2010 they would just kill it themselves

no need to ship it to the wake county shelter

2/25/2011 3:36:08 PM

I would be more concerned about other cats than predators.

2/25/2011 3:39:35 PM

is there a cat fighting training program this cat could be put through before release

2/25/2011 3:40:16 PM

I could develop one. What kind of pay are we talking?

2/25/2011 3:41:50 PM

[Edited on February 25, 2011 at 4:06 PM. Reason : fuckin jeopardy ]

2/25/2011 4:05:15 PM

we got a cat from the shelter and she was about 5 or 6 when we got her. they said she was always an indoor cat and she has her front paws declawed. she started peeing everywhere inside so shes been an outside cat for the past 10 years or so. she does fine, gets in a scuffle with other neighborhood cats once in a while but is otherwise fine. even though she is declawed she still likes to leave us presents on the mat once in a while

2/25/2011 4:05:37 PM

Schrödinger got this on lock. Ask him.

2/25/2011 4:07:23 PM

^^ didn't the shelter make you sign something promising to always keep the cat indoors

2/25/2011 4:09:59 PM

when i was 15, my cat had babies. we gave away some and kept 2. at age 31, I had to take one to get put to sleep cause it couldn't eat and stuff like that. it died on the 10 minute drive to the vet

as soon as the first never came home, the second stopped eating. i took him to be put down the next week. i think he would have lived for a lot longer if his brother didn't die. i honestly think that "killed him"


sad story, yeah. but they lived to be 16 and had great lives. only vet visits were the neutering and shots, plus trips to the vet when they were obviously sick.

got good mileage outta them thar cats

16

2/25/2011 4:15:46 PM

Quote :

"Hmmm...what if we substituted "dog" for "cat"...furthermore, what if this was YOUR dog? Figurative, son, figurative..."

A human life is worth more than a dog life too. I ran over my 16yo dog last year and you know what? I didn't shed a tear because it's a fucking DOG! Pets are animals, simple as that. Just because we become emotionally attached and attribute human characteristics to them does not change the fact that they are sub-human animals. People who treat their pets like children really fucking piss me off.

2/25/2011 4:23:27 PM

Quote :

"^^ didn't the shelter make you sign something promising to always keep the cat indoors"

nope

2/25/2011 4:24:45 PM

Well, you're entitled to your opinion, no matter how inane and assinine I think it may be. And I am entitled to mine as well, no matter how dumb you think it is.

That said, you are a complete bastard.

Carry on.

2/25/2011 4:26:25 PM

Quote :

"A human life is worth more than a dog life too. I ran over my 16yo dog last year and you know what? I didn't shed a tear because it's a fucking DOG! Pets are animals, simple as that. Just because we become emotionally attached and attribute human characteristics to them does not change the fact that they are sub-human animals. People who treat their pets like children really fucking piss me off"

you know, i totally agree that people who treat pets like babies are silly, and i agree that pets are lower life forms in a scientific sense (not social, at least not in this society).

but when my 16 year old cats died, i cried like a little bitch each time. in fact, i had to pull over and get my little brother to drive the second time because halfway there i started crying so hard i couldnt see.

so i think you didnt shed a tear cause youre either a liar or a homo

2/25/2011 4:32:14 PM

sometimes I read jackleg as jetlag

2/25/2011 4:40:51 PM

Quote :

"I ran over my 16yo dog last year and you know what? I didn't shed a tear because it's a fucking DOG!"

you don't have to think animals = humans to think that's pretty fucked up

not even ONE tear?

2/25/2011 4:41:41 PM

Quote :

"ran over my 16yo dog last year"

By accident or on purpose

2/25/2011 4:47:46 PM

I mean I was def choked up and I felt bad for killing him, but I can honestly say no tears flowed. The worst was having to tell my mom, because she loved that dog. I'm not ashamed to say I cried a little telling her on the phone because I felt bad for her and it was my fault. At 16 he couldn't hear and could barely see and he had terrible arthritis. I would rather kill my own dog than have him put to sleep in some doctors office. I kind of owe it to my dog, rather than bitch out and have a stranger do it. I don't advocate animal cruelty or anything, they're to be respected. But no matter how attached you get to an animal, you have to overcome emotion and realize it's just an animal. I think growing up on a farm and being a hunter has given me a pretty utilitarian viewpoint towards the animal kind.

[Edited on February 25, 2011 at 4:52 PM. Reason : .]

2/25/2011 4:50:07 PM

^^Totally on accident. Twas not fun hosing blood and lung matter out of the driveway.

2/25/2011 4:50:57 PM