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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!harpo!decvax!decwrl!simon@asylum.DEC
From: simon@asylum.DEC
Newsgroups: net.pets
Subject: re: who says pets should run loose?
Message-ID: <268@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 17-May-84 10:20:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.268
Posted: Thu May 17 10:20:26 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 18-May-84 02:34:05 EDT
Organization: DEC Engineering Network
Lines: 31

Path: <...decwrl!rhea!asylum!simon>

I have two cats, a 6 year old mutt and a 9 month old Maine Coon cat.
When I go to work, I leave a window open for them and they come and
go as they please.  My landlords have 10 1/2 acres over which the
cats can roam.  The mutt thinks she owns the property and oversees
every inch of it.  The Coon cat is a coward and always stays close
to home.

I would not own a cat I did not feel I could let out.  I think cats
need the freedom of the outside world.  I might feel differently if
a cat I owned suffered from ill effects of being out.  I have been
very lucky.  My mutt suffered a raccoon bite on her stomach when
she lost a territorial dispute to a raccoon.  It was fairly minor
and she recovered quickly.

The only problems I have encountered is that I have 2 freeloaders.  The
kitten my landlords own gets thrown out in the morning and comes through
my window two minutes later.  There is also a barn cat that drops in.
Both cats are nice, so I don't mind their dropping by.  There is also
a raccoon who has lost all fear of entering the house.  He stays outside
when I am out, but last night (for the second time in two weeks), I got
home and found him in the house.  He poses no problem if there is cat
food in the cats' dishes.  However, if the dishes are empty, the raccoon
goes for the trash.

All of the above has led me to believe that a cat should be allowed to go
out.  I'm not sure if he should be free to come and go as he pleases, but
at least once in a while, I think the cat deserves some freedom.

Denise Simon, Digital Equipment Corporation, Hudson, Ma