Comments on Your Cat is Dead

"We got him!"

People who let their sweet cute adorable cats outside deserve what they get. And not just at night either, they can get hit by cars during the day, catnapped or join Al Quida.

Poor pooties. Perhaps more people will keep their cats indoors where they belong. America's songbirds will thank them, too.

Why do coyotes eat cats? I thought the general rule was that land-based carnivores don't taste good. (I thought this was why many cultures eat dog, but few eat cat.)

When I was in college my childhood cat was killed by a fisher (a type of marten) in Maine when, for some reason, my parents started letting him out at night. I was pissed, but tried to not make them feel bad (kept telling myself "it was an accident, they're sad too", etc.). But damn. Who let's their cat outside when they live in a forest in the middle of nowhere?

And who lets their cat outside when there's a coyote problem in your city? Sheesh. My 90 lb dog wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against a coyote, let alone a housecat.

Jeez, Dan. Happy Monday to you, too.

@ 3, they eat just about any animal that's smaller than them, including small dogs. In my neighborhood here in Denver a pomeranian and another small mutt were killed in the same day by a coyote that was hunting in the day (which is very unusual).

OTOH, when I first moved to Seattle my cat escaped and was gone for 11 days, but came back unhurt, just a little skinnier...

I surfed on over and read one of the reports on urban coyotes. Interestingly, several of the positives listed for coyote presence (controlling rodent populations, most notably) are listed as negatives on official sites about free-ranging cats. So packs of wild dogs roaming around a city eating small pets are an important part of the ecosystem, but cats roaming around a city eating mice and rats are a menace.

Particularly interesting given that cats were originally kept as pets to catch rats and mice.

The Coyote Tracker website (nwcoyotetracker.googlepages.com) doesn't show any coyotes in Belltown! How come? Aren't we good enough? Or is it the lack of small furry animals?

@2: Fuck the songbirds. They strip my goddamn fruit trees.

We've got coyotes are our condo. The woman across the lane from me insisted on letting her cat out at night, despite my warnings about the coyotes. One early morning(about 6:00 a.m.), my dogs started barking like someone dropped the A bomb. I looked out the window and there was a coyote, running away with a kitty in his/her mouth. My neighbor was surprised that her kitty was missing.

Sigh.

The average life expectancy for an indoor cat is 15+ years. Outdoor cats--2-3 years.

It's unnatural to keep a cat cooped up inside all its life. Better to have a few years of happy cat life than a long but boring healthy life of neurosis-inducing confinement. Look at most indoor cats, they're bored out of their fucking skulls. Oh, and Michigan Matt-- why do I need any more loud shitting west nile-bearing birds in my yard than I already have?

The solution is obvious: pit bulls. Lots, and lots of pit bulls.

@ 12, You've never had indoor cats or else you wouldn't have written such a silly thing like "they're bored out of their fucking skulls." Look at my cats - they have towers, book shelves, windows, our furniture, a toddler, and each other to keep themselves happy.

@12 - wow, you hate cats AND birds.

What an asshole.

the Seattle Sunday Times Travel section on Greenland (YAY!) includes a photo of a coyote-like sled dog.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2003959670_greenlandcruise210.html

naturally, it was more stunning in the print edition. and not only does it 'feel' like a painting IMO, again W. Benjamin's 'Art in the Age of Reproduction' can be referenced, but the color composition just 'feels' so Stranger-y cover rip-off.

@ 9 and 12--Native songbirds are swiftly disappearing across this country for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is, surprise, feral cats and outdoor cats.

Birds eat fruit b/c, um, that's what birds do. Don't like 'em eating the fruit off your trees? Drape netting over them. The wonderful thing about planting plants that bear fruit is that they can provide food for us and for other animals.

I'm talking American songbirds here, folks. Not pigeons, starlings, English sparrows, or the like. Sweet Moses.

Oh, and indoor cats are bored? Blame the fucking owners. Don't let your cat outside to exercise so it can take a shit in my flowers, kill birds in my yard, and yowl in heat at all hours of the god damn night.

"Look at most indoor cats, they're bored out of their fucking skulls."

It' always fun when people anthromorphosize animals. In that case, how would you like it if a coyote ripped your fucking head off, asshole.

I saw a number of cats and other animals that had been run over over the last week - don't think I saw Osama.

"My 90 lb dog wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against a coyote, let alone a housecat."

Geez, what kind of a dog do you have? My 55-pound husky-malamute cross could take one, no problem.

Packs of them on the other hand, she might need help from the other two dogs. We're out in the country, though, so they've got room to run away too - you don't really have that in the city.

@ 20, coyotes are loners, not pack animals. But you're right, 90-lb dogs are more than any of them will take on.

Baby Coyotes are so dang cute. I'm so glad that Momma Yote is finally making good use of all those feral cats out there; they should not go to waste.

wow, a lot of people on here apparently did NOT click on the links in the coyote map website...a lot of misinformation being bandied about...

coyotes are quite capable of killing your 55lb husky mix...just not likely too. but if hungry enough, or cornered...

coyotes eat cats. cats eat birds. birds eat fruit and shit a lot. didn't any of you idiots see the Lion King? Circle of Life, baby.

The reason coyotes are eating your fucking cats is because people have mowed down their habitat, leaving them no choice but to move into populated areas.

Count your blessings. In New Jersey it's bears.

@3 I have been staring at your post trying to figure out the difference-- cats and dogs are both carnivores that live on land. What are you talking about?

They mowed down greenwich village and the masculine hairy gays moved to jersey? That is incredible!

from the map it's pretty obvious-

queen anne = NIMBY!

I realize that coyotes probably would not attack my 90 lb dog. But, in the event that they did, I think he would be a goner. He is a Doberman, but has zero combat experience (never been in a fight, never killed anything) whereas coyotes kill things for a living.

From Wikipedia: "Even with a size advantage, large dogs are usually at a disadvantage against coyotes in physical confrontations, due to the fact that coyotes have larger canine teeth and are generally more practiced in hostile encounters"

When it hauls off a human baby, that's when the shit really hits the fan. Mmmmm baby meat.

I'm bored. Wait - there's a bird.

Sure it is all fun and games until people start bringing coyotes into bars.

I'm not anti-cat, I just don't see why some people seem to be equating it to animal abuse to let a cat outdoors. Sure, it'll probably die sooner. But you could say the same thing about locking up anything for its own safety. I know I'm never going to own a dog again unless I'm in a place I can let it run free. The amount of joy my childhood pooch had on the occasional leashless hike made me regret ever putting the leash on again.

@32 - Lythea, letting a cat outdoors is not abuse per se. I've known outdoor cats to lead long lives - but not in coyote areas (which, sadly, is most of the US these days).

Letting a cat outdoors in a coyote-infested area is roughly the equivelent of dropping your cat into a pen filled with hungry, cat-eating predators. I'd say it's abuse-level negligence.

How dare you mock the death of precious felines? You are a rude, insensitive and I seriously question whether you have a soul.

The most infuriating thing about urban coyotes is that they never come up with any rent and they're never around when the tab comes.

What am I, a fucking millionaire?

Cats sleep 16 hours a day. They're really not in need of that much entertainment.

@21,

Coyotes sometimes travel in packs. When they do, a favorite tactic for killing large dogs is for one coyote to approach the dog and act playful and friendly. It'll then draw the dog to where the rest of the pack is waiting.

@12: Don't talk shit about indoor cats, it's never "better" for something to die a violent death. I'd rather my cat lives a long life indoors than she romp about outside, only to be killed by a dog/car/coyote/neighborhood asshole.

Seriously, she's not that bored if she's happy spending 2 hours a day licking her own ass. I've hung suet feeders outside and there's a perch for her inside where she can watch them all day long. If you don't want an indoor cat, DON'T GET A CAT.

I have no problem with coyotes. They're only adapting to the terrain that's available to them. I do have a problem with people who are lax enough about their pets to let them roam outside when it's blindingly obvious that there's coyotes in the area.

Who the hell names their cat after Osama Bin Laden?

@38-look closer, there is no relation to "Bin Bin Laden". Sounds like a song.

A friend of mine named his cat Osama, cause when it was a kitten, it was a terror.

That's what he said anyway.

June Bee @16, I think the sled dog is a wolf-hybrid, not a fox-hybrid. At least almost all sled dogs in MN are.

Fnarf@24, it could be worse *here*: we had a bear sighting on Squak Mt in Issaquah about two blocks from my house two weeks ago. And last year a neighbor had a cougar in one of their trees.

um@25, I thought most domesticated dogs (unlike wolves) are actually herbivores, yes? Somebody answer my question: is it true that carnivores don't taste as good as herbivores? I know that what you feed cattle effects how they taste, hence "corn-fed beef."

Farley Mowat wrote a great story about his uncle (or grandfather?) raising cattle that were fed carp caught in a fish pond. They taste as you would imagine carp-fed beef would taste: vegetarianism-inducing.

I have a cat named Osama...because she was a terrorist when she was a kitten. She had one litter and one looked so much like her, I named her Osama Junior...OJ of course.
I also have nopt seen her OJ's) brother since the 14th of July. I live in the sticks so I know what happened. He had always been an indoor/outdoor cat. (Osama was born in the barn afterall) He would have been miserable if I had tried to make him an indoor cat only.

keshmeshi @36 - if that is true about coyotes attacking in packs like that, it is by far my favorite fact of the day. And yet another reason why my dog would be toast.

This is so sad. Someone's best friend died.

@44

"someone's best friend"?

No THAT is sad.

@41,

I believe domesticated dogs are technically omnivores. Although I really have no idea about the taste difference among herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores. I'm pretty sure I've only sampled the former.

Pigs are omnivores, so a dog would probably taste much like a pig. That's what humans supposedly taste like as well.

It's not because carnivores taste bad that we don't eat them. It's because it's too expensive to raise them. You have to feed the food that you feed them. People who hunt do eat carnivorous animals though.

And we aren't encroaching on the natural territory of the coyote. Coyote's just happen to have adapted well to us. Naturally their range was much smaller, but they have increased it because they do so well living among us.

I bet a road runner tracker would show a similar pattern. Has anyone found a "Yikes!" sign laying around? Perhaps a tunnel painted on a wall somewhere?

Sigh. I knew Osama the cat. He was dumb, ugly, had matted hair and smelled bad, but his owner - who does have other friends, thanks - loved him.

Big Sven @41: The nursing home across Front Street from me had a bear (literally) knocking at their door a couple weeks ago. Growing up in the sticks, I'm fairly complacent about coyotes. Bears, however? Oh hells no. That's when I get the wiggins. It could be worse, Seattlites. There could be bears on the Hill, and not just at the bars.

Fuck songbirds they trash my trees and shit on my car fing arseholes

My indoor/outdoor kitty lived for 15 years in West Seattle. A pet door (always open) allowed her freedom to roam in/out as she pleased. I don't believe in keeping kitties indoors. They learn about cars eventually, they learn which houses to stay away from (dogs), they learn about coyotes and if they don't - well it's Darwinism in action. If you have a problem with your cat killing birds, put a bell on their collar. It helps.
It's a cat, not a child. It's one of the most effective predators and escape artists around. It doesn't need to be coddled and protected from the world. If allowed to learn how to live in a city while young, it can eventually teach YOU a thing or two about survival in the streets. But if they are sheltered and kept indoors their whole lives, they end up stupid and helpless and dependent. If you want a helplessly dependent pet, get a dog.

>um@25, I thought most domesticated dogs (unlike wolves) are actually herbivores, yes? Somebody answer my question: is it true that carnivores don't taste as good as herbivores? I know that what you feed cattle effects how they taste, hence "corn-fed beef."

I don't know what you feed your dog, but isn't most dogfood meat? At least canned/wet dogfood. I'm not sure what dry dogfood is made of, but its similar to dry catfood, so either way they're still at the same level as each other.

I have heard that herbivores taste better, yes. But I've also heard that animals that eat fish taste better than those that eat other meat, and cats would more likely eat more fish, so...

(I'm vegetarian)

Yes, let your cat roam free!!! Free to discover I-5 during rush hour, or perhaps the local coyote pack. Maybe get poisoned by some guy who gets off on poisoning pets.

Ask the Seattle Animal Shelter (you know people who know stuff about cats) and they will tell you it is better to keep your cat indoors. And some cats you can adopt they tell you need to be an indoor cat.

They learn about cars eventually

or if not, they become a sail cat, which is more fun to play with, actually -- much like a frisbee.

should I call the number on the flyer and say "maybe a dingo ate your baby?"

actually, truly horrible. if my cat went missing I would die! DIE!

my cat is trying to write something here...his paws are on the keyboard...he says he enjoys going outside now and thenm sfjk but he likes being inside too

@36 - I bet if the lead coyote senses the dog might be gay, he probably taps his paw a few times - luring him into the stall where his pals are waiting.

This whole thread is quite ridiculous. While pet-owning is certainly different from being a parent, one similarity should be quite obvious - it's up to the individual to decide what's best for that which they love. Some cats seem content to live their lives indoors. Not surprisingly, there are also cats that seem to have the relentless urge to spend at least a bit of time each day outdoors. Cats will have different needs. As pet owners, I hope that we could acknowledge that there is no definitive way to raise an animal, rather, we just have to make choices based upon what we think our pets need to live fulfilling lives.

My family has lived in the same house for at least twenty-five years. Wedged in the depths of Freelard, we were lucky to be removed from most major avenues and this apparent coyote dilemma. All of our cats were indoor/outdoor and they've all lived through their teens. Of all the cats I've ever owned, two are still alive - one is thirteen and the other is rounding out his tenth year. Both have had vastly different outdoor experiences. While my thirteen year-old cat did get lost for a week during her kitten years, she has never gotten sick and she's still holding her own even in her older years. The other cat, however, has run into some troubles. As a male cat, he has been more prone to fights and his urge to fight got him into trouble when he caught 'songbird flu' earlier this year. Despite these minor concerns, these cats like being outdoors and my family would rather have them be out in the world than terrorizing the house while they're all at work. These are just the decisions that they made and clearly, it works out most of the time.

Accidents will happen. As many of you have mentioned, the outdoors pose the risks of cars, dogs, coyotes, cat fights, illness, and all sorts of other concerns. Of course, indoor cats aren't immune to danger either. For instance, one of my friends owned a strictly indoor cat and, after only a year and a half of living in their apartment complex, it died a hideous death. Apparently the circulation gave the cat some sort of lung disease. When its owner returned home one day, she was horrified to discover that the cat had thrown up blood all over, pooped on itself, and died. While this story is out of the ordinary, such accidents can happen to an indoor cat. They can chew on stuff on the floor. They can escape. They just might get sick and die. In a world where life is so fragile, I would hope that we could acknowledge that, as pet owners, we'd make the right choices and allow our pets to live happy lives.

And, really, is it annoying to see those 'lost cat' posters on telephone poles? Is it so obnoxious that we need to scoff at owners for the fruitless effots to retrieve their lost pets? Really, is this such a bother that it's even worth a thought? What is it that we're thinking about anyway? Are we sad that a cat died or mad that the owner wasted paper for all those posters or happy that we'll have one less animal pooping in our yard? Does a poster for Bin Bin merit all this emotion?

Just do whatever you want with your own fucking cat.

Well, I'm from Upstate NY, and I have to tell you that all of my animals were indoor/outdoor except the horses that we just wouldn't let in. I think the PROBLEM with the city cats is that they aren't in familiar territory. My cats usually died of disease or road deaths, and averaged 10-15 years of age at death.

My previous dog (a collie shepherd mix) made rather a career out of coyote extermination. Perfectly safe around other dogs, small children, cats, etc... death to coyotes. His last confirmed kill he was handicapped by being 17 years old and on a leash... dang thing came charging out of a culvert at us while I was walking him, and my dog just stepped to one side, grabbed the back of it's neck, and shook. Ghastly sound. We had the corpse tested for rabies, it was clean, so no idea why it decided to charge.

Oh, forgot to add the reason I mentioned that -- he only weighed about 49-50 pounds, so it certainly doesn't take a large dog to kill a coyote.

All canidae (dogs, wolves, etc) are carnivores. There's a termite-eating specialist (the aardwolf), but otherwise, they are almost exclusively dieting on meat. Felidae (cats) are even more carnivorous than canids. Both groups have the teeth and stomach for eating meat...they cannot chew and digest plant material efficiently.

Regarding taste preferences...it's typically cultural, but historical preferences for herbivores may also be related to the ease of capturing the more numerous herbivore species (often group living) than chasing solitary predators who roam over huge territories.

I am always amazed at how much misinformation most people have in regards to biology/natural history of the plants and animals that live in your backyard. Work on your scientific literacy people!! Ecology, evolution, and conservation knowledge is vital to making informed voting decisions.

Yeah, C @ 63, it sure is amazing.

Except that dogs are omnivores, not carnivores. You can have a vegetarian dog and it can live a healthy life, with full number of years' expectancy. Not true of a cat. Thus, cat = carnivore, eating only meat. Dog = omnivore, eating meat and plant foods. Go check out the list of ingredients on any store-bought dog food.

So, uh, your amazement at others' lack of knowledge is kind of amusing, all things considered.

We've seen coyotes more than once in our Bellevue neighborhood, once in the daytime. God knows my pug would probably try to hump the coyotes, and we'd end up with some really scary hybrids (if he wasn't fixed). He gets lots of free running in Marymoor Park offleash area.

My indoor cats aren't bored; they spend hours every day either ambushing each other or teasing the pug.