Cool Cats Crave Catios: Safer Outdoor Time for UH Felines
Some of the coolest people in UH have cats. Or, rather, are employed by cats. It’s often unclear who’s in charge in these relationships. The rest of us often admire a charming feline or two on our walks in the ‘hood. Even a few of our braver UH dogs respect the nonchalant cats who loll about on the sidewalk, displaying their bellies to any would-be scratchers. “So bold!” the dogs must be thinking.
Sadly, though, domestic cats who are allowed to roam outdoors hunt, whether they’re hungry or not. This behavior puts the continued existence of actual wildlife in peril. Birds, butterflies, lizards, etc., already under pressure from climate disruption and habitat loss, not to mention the pesticides and herbicides like Round-Up that people continue to use indiscriminately, are being killed by the billions in the US each year by outdoor cats (domestic and feral). “It’s not illegal,” some cat owners will say. But are we really acting as good stewards of our environment if we turn our domestic pets lose to decimate wild species, particularly threatened pollinators like birds and butterflies?
Folks who’ve had a beloved cat run over by a car, killed by a coyote, or sickened by a communicable disease are well aware of the risks outdoor cats themselves face. Avian flu, often deadly in cats, has spread to cats who kill and toy with or eat infected wild birds (among other ways they contract the disease), and we can expect more feline cases of this flu soon in our area.
For these reasons and more, “catios” have popped up in UH and elsewhere. Every cat owner, no matter their living space, can erect a catio allowing their feline companions the joys of outdoor engagement minus the deadly aspects of cats roaming freely. Pop-up pens, window seats, multi-level catios, etc., not to mention more traditional cat trees and condos set up in front of windows, allow domestic cats and the wildlife with whom we share our neighborhood a much better chance of flourishing, and in the case of threatened bird and insect species, of continuing to exist at all.
Options abound. Etsy, for example, sells customized window catios that can fit any sort of renters’ or homeowners’ space, large or small. Chewy.com sells all manner of catio structures that can be easily erected and attached outside a home’s windows or on a balcony. Additionally, Catnetting.com sells netting and portable catios that allow cats time outdoors while keeping them safe in their own yards. A trip to the local pet superstore would yield additional options.
Bird and insect pollinators, already up against huge existential threats, need our support. One of the easiest concrete actions we can take is to stop indirectly killing wildlife by keeping our pet cats enclosed indoors or in their own fresh-air catios, and, when possible, helping to home feral cats rather than feeding them. Any way we can help the web of life around us to thrive is worth the effort, after all. Now more than ever.