A lot of people think “oh *my* outdoor cat doesn’t catch birds or mice” but I guarantee they do. Cats hunt for fun not just when hungry. Outdoor cats are terrible for wildlife and it’s dangerous for the cats themselves, H5N1 is just the latest risk. Keep cats indoors and dogs leashed/supervised! - ThreadSky

breelundberg.com • 59 days ago

A lot of people think “oh *my* outdoor cat doesn’t catch birds or mice” but I guarantee they do. Cats hunt for fun not just when hungry. Outdoor cats are terrible for wildlife and it’s dangerous for the cats themselves, H5N1 is just the latest risk. Keep cats indoors and dogs leashed/supervised!

Reposted from Louisa

PSA for cat owners in the US: cats have been contracting H5N1 (bird flu). They are very susceptible to it and the fatality rate for cats is 67%. To avoid it:

-keep your cats indoors. They can catch it from infected birds and mice.

-do not feed them raw dairy

-do not feed them raw meat

Comments

obscuricom.bsky.social•59 days ago

There was a mouse that tried to nest in my home and Chyna, my completely indoor Sphynx cat who once got herself trapped in a wicker waste basket, killed the mouse & placed its corpse on her feeding mat to show me.
Cat's hunting instincts go deep.

ahintofoctober.bsky.social•59 days ago

Additional reason #8,002: A cat that goes outdoors is much more likely to come into situations where they can potentially contract FIV. An FIV+ cat has even less chance of surviving a deadly virus than a healthy cat.

wildforestwitch.bsky.social•59 days ago

a pedantic correction: cats don’t hunt for fun, they are opportunistic hunters with a very strong hunting instinct. even cats who are being fed consistently by their owners will go after a bird when they see one because they are just hardwired to hunt at every opportunity. i agree on all else tho.

jamesantill.bsky.social•59 days ago

> Outdoor cats are terrible for wildlife

The vast majority of this is feral/dumped cats, and not cats with owners who let them go outside.

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

Pet cats let outdoors are just as much a problem and damaging to the enviro (especially in other countries where it’s the norm to let pet cats outside). Saying it’s mostly a problem of feral cats makes people think it’s not their responsibility.

slothposting.bsky.social•59 days ago

Unpopular opinion: if this pandemic thins out the feral cat population, that's a good thing

hanolliver.bsky.social•59 days ago

our cat just caught a mouse in our kitchen last week (so far seems okay and we have an exterminator coming tomorrow) but it's so stressful as H5N1 cases keep rising. 😭 I've only lived in two places in my adult life without mice so my anxiety remains at an all-time high.

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

Oh no I hope your cat will be okay!! You’re doing your best and limiting contact will lower chances a lot vs outdoor cats who catch mice daily. I know it’s stressful though, I worry about our dog because even being leashed or supervised in fenced yard, she tries to get critters or sniff bird poop. 😣

kingdomfantasy6.bsky.social•59 days ago

Yeah, and honestly one of my biggest fears with H5N1 is that one of these days, I'll have put my cane or my shoes, or roomie rolled the wheelchair through some infected pigeon shit, the cats go to investigate or we accidentally track it through the house, and BOOM.

Infected.

kingdomfantasy6.bsky.social•59 days ago

Like, I TRY to avoid stepping in it, and don't get me wrong, I think pigeons are cool albeit another feral animal.

It's just that the part of the city I'm in is...The big businesses are leaving, so now there's less incentives to clean the sidewalks of the pigeon poop.

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

Hopefully it won’t come to that, but who knows how much worse/widespread this will get 😞

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

This is a good video to share with your friends/family if they need facts about how devastating outdoor cats are for wildlife and how unhealthy it is. (Content warning: dead animals)

https://youtu.be/VrfXmyuzBAw?si=g7DV3IiRS_KccQnT

serienya.bsky.social•59 days ago

My neighbor’s now-feral outdoor cat takes out birds and rabbits. (She has shredded the screens on my ground-floor windows and sits right outside spooking my indoor-only cats.)

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

Ugh terrible.

serienya.bsky.social•59 days ago

I don’t wish bad things to happen to pets, but I would not miss this cat at all. If you want a cat, why have it outdoors?

(Also, it’s winter, and I’m not sure they provide her with food or water and a warm place to sleep.)

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

Yeah I will never understand people who get a cat but don't actually want to take care of it/spend time with it. Same with how people get dogs but leave them in their backyards and never walk them. Some people should not have pets at all.

immagigi.bsky.social•59 days ago

Thank you thank you thank you. I feel crazy every time I tell my friends that they should keep their pets inside!!

parkermae.bsky.social•59 days ago

I love Animalogic

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

“Barn cats” or living in a rural area are also not a free pass for having outdoor cats. It’s a myth that they provide adequate pest control and the dangers and consequences (even before H5N1 was spreading) far outweighs any benefits. https://feralatlas.supdigital.org/poster/barn-cat-colonies-in-americas-dairyland-empty-the-landscape

florashark.bsky.social•59 days ago

🙏

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

I’m locking replies on this now because it’s getting outside my circle and I don’t feel like arguing with anybody.

diandramae.com•59 days ago

I saw a video yesterday where a big cat rescue in Washington state lost a bunch of cats because of this virus. 😭

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

It’s so sad 😔

lukathemouse.bsky.social•59 days ago

Thanks for sharing, it makes me mad as well that people are fine leaving their cats outside like this. They're called domestic cats, they're not wildlife nor meant to be interacting with wildlife at ALL!! If ppl really want their cat to go outside, take it out with a leash and monitor them

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

Exactly! I can’t believe it’s still such a persistent problem (especially in certain countries). It’s hard to change people’s minds.

alptraumfairy.bsky.social•59 days ago

Nice things about preventing my cats from getting sick is it’s all stuff I’m already doing. They’re indoor only. They aren’t fed milk at all much less unpasteurized. And they eat normal cat food.

oneminutemonkey.bsky.social•59 days ago

We keep ours inside. Especially because this orange doofus is actually a mighty hunter. Only one I’ve ever owned who knows what to do with birds and mice.

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

What a cutie!!

petitwallaby.bsky.social•59 days ago

Besides… Even if they really do not hunt them, there’s no guarantee they won’t get in contact with their feces! There’s nowhere birds can’t poop!

ahintofoctober.bsky.social•59 days ago

Yep. They'll often happily munch on grass, and roll around in it then groom themselves. And even if they don't actively hunt (doubtful), people have never seen their cat having a grand ol' time with dead bugs/spiders they find? They'll do that with dead stuff they find outside, too.

Keep them in.

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

True!

nexjql.bsky.social•59 days ago

Unfortunately, even indoors cats aren't completely safe...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-news/northwest-naturals-pet-food-recalled-bird-flu-contamination-cat-dies-rcna185405

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

Yep, pets should NOT be fed raw food EVER. Besides the new risk of H5N1, there have been studies showing they contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

nexjql.bsky.social•59 days ago

Just realized it's raw food. Good grief - that doesn't seem safe for people to even handle.

breelundberg.com•59 days ago

Yeah, probably bad even just handling it! Regular pet foods/treats are fine since they're cooked and sterilized during process so I think only the raw ones are an issue.

nexjql.bsky.social•59 days ago

Very good to know! Still will check with our vet to be sure.

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