Expert: Ali - 11/14/2008

Question
Hi, my name is Deirdre and I have 2 cats. Sasha is a neutered male and he is 9 years old, and Chloe is a spayed female who is 6 months old. I live in southwest Florida. My worry is for Sasha, who goes outside. When I first got him as a 9-month-old kitten, he never went outside and I never intended for him to go outside. He was (and still is) declawed. But as he got older, I started letting him out little by little. Now he is out more than he is in. Over the years he has never encountered any other animal he couldn't handle - despite being declawed he is quite fierce, and quite large! Not overweight, just a very strong, muscular cat. However, I now live in a rural area where there are coyote and bobcat sightings. I have personally seen very large snakes. Sasha loves the rabbits, mice, rats, and whatever else he can get his mitts on. I don't know how he hangs on to them without front claws, but he does. I am so worried about him, though. It would break my heart if he were to be killed, whether by a bobcat or a car or a snake! But he is so unbelievably miserable when I try to make him stay inside. He cries and cries, has diarrhea, and is just overall very stressed. I know part of his stress is Chloe, who is a typical kitten who always wants to play. She adores Sasha and always wants to be around him whenever he is inside. He isn't quite so enamored of her! There have been a couple of incidents of swiping and nipping at each other, but nothing serious. He will hiss as he walks by, if she is in that room.
My question is, do cats mark their territory outside, and does this keep other (wild) animals away? A friend told me that he has probably encountered the bobcats before, but they most likely just stay in their own space because they can smell his "territory" and vice versa. I am seriously considering moving to a new house with a fenced in back yard, just so I can let him out and not worry!

Thank you for any advice you may have.

Deirdre

Answer
Deirdre,

Personally I prefer to avoid declawing cats simply because it is inhumane and unnecessary in my opinion. Declawing is equivalent to amputating a person's fingers at the first knuckle joint. If your kitty does get attacked by a bobcat or any other wild animal he won't be as able to defend himself without those front claws. If your area has critters like bobcats it probably also has fishers- these guys are nasty, they routinely kill and eat domestic cats. In future to avoid concerns about wildlife attacking your cat and possibly causing serious injury or death I would highly recommend the use of a product called Soft Claws/Soft Paws...These are vinyl nail caps designed to allow the cat to defend himself, but they prevent him from being unaware and unable to fight back against a predator. There is a small chance that your cat has seen and gotten away from predatory wild animals before, but this is a game of Russian roulette and this kitty's luck may run out at some point. I don't necessarily agree with the opinion that this kitty's territory is uncharted for wildlife, I think that it's far more likely that the cat and the wildlife haven't crossed paths just yet. You can purchase kennels or other types of enclosure that allow you to supervise where your cat is at all times when he is outside. An enclosure also allows you to be secure in the knowledge that your cat won't be hit by a cat, killed by a dog or wild animal, and he will also avoid being the victim of animal cruelty at the hands of people.