Cats Indoors or Out?
The best solution for protecting all wildlife from your cat is to keep your cat indoors, as promoted by the American Bird Conservancy Cats ("ABC") Indoors program.
Many veterinarians also tell us that keeping a cat indoors for its lifetime will lower its risk of disease, accidental injury, or becoming prey to wild animals. Simply put, your cat will live longer as an indoor cat. If you can keep your cat indoors, you should do so.
However, realistically speaking, we know that a lot of people are going to let their cats outdoors. The best approach may be the solution that works for you and your cat. Visit the ABC page of "Safe Solutions" to see more recommendations, including their endorsement of the Birdsbesafe cat collar cover.
If you let your cat outdoors, perhaps you can limit its roaming in one of these ways.
1 - Let your cat outdoors only in a confined area such as a fenced in area or small cat-friendly enclosure that you make or buy. Remember, though, your cat may still prey on birds if only fenced in.
2 - Let your cat out for walks on a leash with a harness, or in an enclosure. As strange as this concept may seem at first, many cat owners are experimenting with it, especially in city areas.
3 - Limit your cats' time outdoors to some degree. Avoid letting the cat out at dawn hunting hours.
4- Find out from local birdwatchers when to expect common birds in your yard may be fledging, and try to confine your cat more than usual at that time.
5- Try to keep any birdseed off the ground, if you are feeding birds. And think hard about whether or not to feed the birds if you are letting your cat outdoors. It might well be best to do one or the other.
6 - Lastly, if you cat does go outdoors, at a minimum, please try to protect birds from your cat. Although the Birdsbesafe® cat collar can not protect 100% of birds at all times, it can significantly lessen the number of birds that your cat captures or harms.
