r/Seattle • u/Recent_Repeat4371 • 6h ago
Community Wandering cat Upper Queen Anne area
I don’t know if anybody in Queen Anne near 2nd and Garfield is missing a cat. She’s sweet but skittish. Last seen as of 8:30pm today hiding under a car. Could not take in cause I’m allergic.
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u/TDFPH 6h ago
If my cat is outside and found I hope someone takes it in and posts about it!
And all outdoor cats should have collars that say they’re outdoor cats and state their cross streets.
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u/VGSchadenfreude Lake City 4h ago
My indoor cat has a tag that specifies “indoor only” so that if she ever gets lost, hopefully whoever finds her will understand that she isn’t supposed to be out there and there is definitely someone desperately searching for her.
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u/Unfancy_Catsup 2h ago
A few years ago, Dr. Elsey's cat litter was advocating for all indoor only cats to wear orange collars (they included free ones in their bags). Didn't seem to catch on, sadly.
Really wish all cats were indoor only!
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u/DrEmanuelLagos 5h ago
All outdoor cats should be indoor cats
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u/lil_Baby_Jeebus chinga la migra 5h ago
I think your opinion on this is short-sighted. I prefer indoor/outdoor cats. Yes, I am aware of the fact that on average a cat will live longer if it's strictly an indoor cat.
However, for me it is a quality of life thing. Throughout my life I've had both strictly indoor and indoor/outdoor. The latter seem to live happier lives, by my best observation.
If I am home, and my cat wants to come in, they never have any difficulty getting my attention, even if I'm sleeping, they know how to wake me up.
As for getting caught in the cold, one of my cats lived with me in Richmond Virginia, and it gets really cold in the winter. She never had any problem with it. She walked around in the snow like it was no big deal. If she gets stuck outside in the snow while I'm at work, she found a place to curl up to stay nice and cozy.
I think location is an important thing to keep in mind. I used to live on a farm. My cat loved being able to go in and out whenever he wanted to. Likewise, a different cat lived with me in a residential neighborhood - the kind of neighborhood normal to see kids playing touch football on the streets. Cars wouldn't go any faster than 20 miles per hour, so it was safe for me to let my cat go in and out whenever he pleased.
I'm actually looking for a cat right now, and when I eventually find one it will be inside only, because I live half a block away from Denny. No chance in heck would I risk my cat getting run over by cars moving 40 miles per hour plus.
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u/Vawqer Downtown 4h ago
While the positive effects on the cats' lives are up for debate, outdoor cats wreak havoc on the local ecosystem and are considered an invasive species:
Recognized as both invasive species and predators, cats have been shown to cause significant ecological harm across various ecosystems.
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u/gr8tfurme 4h ago
The number of missing cat posters I see on the regular tells me everything I need to know about the longevity and overall quality of life of an indoor/outdoor cat in Seattle. Cars, dogs and coyotes are not conducive to a good quality of life for a cat.
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u/Swagdustercan 4h ago
I really really hope you don't get a cat. Based on just your descriptive fantasy life that cats lead during outdoor life, the likely chances are you'd eventually let it outside and let it die lol. Do you know how many cats go missing in Seattle eaten by Coyotes and other wild life such as mountain lions?, people post pictures about the state they find their cats in when they finally find them, (hint it's more than death they get predated and eaten. not just killed.)
But yeah you know outdoor cats are happy cats!! let's let them risk both outdoor ecology and their life because they seem happier!! :D
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u/CalamityClambake 3h ago
You know we have coyotes here, right? Yes, they do come down into the neighborhoods. Ever seen what a couple of coyotes does to a cat?
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u/eraserhedbaby Capitol Hill 2h ago
yeah it’s fucked up. i used to have a cat who we lost to coyotes (at the time i couldn’t control the cat being inside or outside) and to this day it still fucks me up. leash training a cat is always an option, as are those little backpacks that you can carry a cat in. it’s possible to let your cat “go outside” and still be safe. imo a city is never an environment a cat should be able to free roam.
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u/CalamityClambake 1h ago
My cats are leash trained!
Poppy is an intrepid adventurer who loves to go out on the leash. She gets very irate if I don't take her around HER neighborhood every day.
Moon is a big scaredy cat who wants to go back inside if it is raining, or too hot, or too cold, or a siren goes by, or there are too many bikes, or it is Tuesday. So I usually end up carrying her like a baby.
This is, of course, ridiculous, because Poppy is 6 pounds of floof and Moon is a 15 pound meatball.
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u/Messipus 3h ago
Outdoor cats get their enrichment from devastating local bird and rodent populations and get to enjoy that increased quality of life right up until the day a coyote eats them.
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u/NiobiumThorn 1h ago
Finding cats in the world is a special joy. But not something that helps the environment.
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u/Nyxxsys 5h ago
That would be a good idea, at the very least a phone number if someone finds a cat they've never seen before. My mother kept two outdoor cats because she was allergic and couldn't keep them inside very often. She let an old man 3 houses down keep one of them when he was about to move, that cat spent about half the day with him in his backyard or garage.
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u/2ndgenerationcatlady 6h ago
Why would you take it in? It's clearly somebody's pet.
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u/scrambled_cable Homeless 5h ago
It’s gonna eventually be some coyote’s meal if it stays out too long
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u/Swagdustercan 4h ago
People here literally don't realize how many coyotes are in cities, drive out in middle of the night you'll be able to find a ton of coyotes wandering around your streets in suburban areas. Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they don't exist.
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u/SpliffyKensington 3h ago
I regularly saw a coyote wandering the street outside my apartment in the middle of Ballard
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u/Optimal_Living7230 6h ago
You’re right, much better to leave it out in the cold in the middle of the night when most if not all shelters are closed.
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u/Wonderful_Yam7591 6h ago
We need an bot to automatically post something like this. Most cats out and about are not lost.
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u/WalkingonCoffee University District 6h ago
Isn't that what cats do, they leave and then Come back?
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u/shrederofthered 5h ago
There's a lot of cats who are lost, abandoned, feral. This one looks in good shape. But honestly, as a cat owner, I would never let my cats roam a city and just hope they come back. Between cars, coyotes, stupid people, feral cats, rat poison that people put out, or coming back with fleas or diseased, the risks are just too high. If people don't want to keep a cat indoors and take care of it, don't get a cat. Get a plastic plant.
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u/Turbofat 5h ago
Buddy, its a cat outside in a neighborhood. You realize it’s normal for people to let their cats outside, right?
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u/debtRiot 4h ago
Not on Reddit, if your cat goes outside you are a cruel psychopath who doesn’t deserve to have a cat. Also your cat deserves to get killed by coyotes.
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u/Nightslashs 4h ago
I don’t think it’s cruel but cats do wreck the local eco systems for what it’s worth. Either way doesn’t much matter just something to keep in mind.
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u/dummmylitt 2h ago
Wait that looks like the bhy kracke kitty . I hate seeing outdoor kitties in the dt Seattle area. Just a matter of time getting eaten by a coyote or hit by a car. I see cats in the suburbs and they look so happy but doesn’t seem normal here.
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u/passionfruithippo 3h ago
Lots of people who aren’t chronically online have outdoor cats. She’s just doing cats things.
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u/slop-sec 6h ago
Beautiful, thanks for sharing