Information

                                                      CATS

                                                             Keep Your Cat Indoors

            If you love wildlife, keep your cat indoors because:

• Everyday, cats kill between 4 and 5 million birds in the U.S. alone.
  

• Collar bells don’t work.  Birds and other wildlife do not associate bells with being stalked.
  

• Ground-nesting birds are very susceptible to predation by cats.
  

• Even well-fed cats will hunt small wild animals.
  

• Most young birds leave the nest before they are able to fly well, spending a day or two days
  on the ground as  they   learn.  These fledglings are frequently caught by cats.
  

• Most of the birds caught by cats, but not killed outright, die of their injuries or infection.
  

• Cats that kill small rodents can eliminate a critical food source for owls and hawks.
  

     If you love your cat, keep him or her indoors because:

• Cars kill millions of cats each year.
  

• Outdoor cats are exposed to serious, and often fatal, infectious diseases, such as feline
  leukemia and rabies.
  

• Parasites such as fleas, ticks, and intestinal worms post a health threat to your cat.  Some
  of these parasites can be transmitted to humans.
  

• Outdoors, cats can be chased by dogs or other cats and killed, injured, or become lost.
  

• Cats are often shot at, poisoned, trapped, or tortured by neighbors who are annoyed by
  cats using their  gardens as a litter box or hunting ground.
  

• Coyotes, Great-Horned Owls, and other wild animals are known to regularly kill and eat
  house cats.
  

• Cats that spend time outdoors require more medical treatment and their life-span is much
  shorter than cats that live indoors.