What do you have written on your dog's tag(s)? (by keedokes)

malnmutt

I cannot tell you how many mangled cat corpses we get in. I hate having to dig through the freezer and pull out a dead cat with its guts hanging out and make it presentable so that people can ID it.

If you would like to hear my reasons for letting my cat outside, ask. I don't much appreciate your scare tactics or judgemental attitude.

And I already said I was putting a tag on mine. It's not up to me whether my Mom or aunt put tags on their cats.

My eldest act doesn't have tags but then again, he spends most of time with us or in the yard. He's a pretty velco cat. Crombie was going to have tags but I was in the search of finding the one collar that he couldn't get off.. Lol..He was Houdini when it came to collars...

Kameo I'm not worried about at all.. Like I said, he's a pretty velco cat but if I moved in to a larger city, I would get him tags and turn him to an indoor only cat. 

chelsea_b

If you would like to hear my reasons for letting my cat outside, ask

I'd like to hear them, as I have also pulled out mangled dead bodies from the freezer......

 Chelsea, they aren't scare tactics or judgments. I'm telling it like it is--it's hard to understand how it feels unless you've done it.

If your cat has a tag, it makes it easier, that's it. It's also safer for your cat. I'm sure you've heard a gogillion times why a lot of folks consider it unsafe to let your cat outside and if your cat stays in your back yard that's cool. If I had a backyard I'd get cat fencing and let mine go outside too.

 I'm glad you're putting a tag on your cat. Hopefully he'll never stray far from home, but if he does he'll be happily reunited with you. (i'd get him chipped too, if he's not)
 

We should probably start a new thread if we're going to continue this conversation, but I'll answer this real quick.

Kovu was originally only let outside because the other cats are, and it's literally impossible for me to keep him in when doors and windows are open all the time. When I move out of my Mom's house, it's likely he'll be an indoor cat, unless I end up living in a secluded-ish area, or it's clear to me he'd be better off being allowed outside.

I don't worry about him much now because:
1) I live in the center of a very large neighborhood (800+ houses), so while neighborhood cars are a concern, bigger roads aren't.
2) He's a scaredy cat, and I doubt he's ever been more than 3 or 4 houses up the road.
3) Most, if not all, cats slip out occasionally, and I'd rather he knows how to handle himself outside, than have no clue and get run over if he happened to slip out.
4) I believe he's a happier cat for it, and that alone to me is worth the risk.

We're talking about a cat here who was BORN feral. He's very affectionate towards me, but otherwise..he pretty much behaves just like a feral cat. And while trying to get him into a crate yesterday, I realized the extent of this. He is a strong, determined, wild-acting animal. I'm not convinced it's right to keep a cat like him indoor-only, but that's another discussion...

Monster (our cat) is also an indoor/outdoor cat.  He's got a cat door to wander in and out of at will--because I was sick and tired of him getting out last minute at night and then not coming back kfor days because he couldn't get back into the house--he has perfected every single method of sneaking out, including the 'entice the toddler to open the door when mom's not looking' . He is most definitely a happier cat.  He is microchipped and has a collar and tag that he rarely loses.  I can't say I'm happy about him roaming around out there, but he's getting flea/tick/heartworm treatment, he's up to date on vacc's, and he's registered with the city.  I'm not going to be letting my dog do that, so I'm running into a few different morality issues with it, but at this point I really don't know what to do.  I'm hoping the birds and rabbits in our yard get the picture soon, though.