Keeping country cats safe | Living the Country Life

Keeping country cats safe

Living the Country Life Radio Program with Betsy Freese
Visit the vet

Other animals can give cats a multitude of diseases, so it's important to make sure your kitties are up-to-date on their yearly vaccines. Also make sure they're spayed or neutered. It has life-saving benefits beyond birth control.

"This will prevent, especially in outdoor males, aggression, and roaming, and the tendency to fight," Maza says. "And as such, hopefully prevent the transmission of infectious diseases like feline leukemia, FIV, rabies, and common cuts, scratches and abscesses."

Our cats are great mousers. Occasionally, they'll be so proud of themselves that they'll leave a body on our doorstep and give us a look like, "See what I did!" Good kitty!

But I'd rather not see the evidence of their success.

If you use rat poison around the property, be careful, because if a cat eats a rodent that's died from the poison, it can also kill the cat.

Learn more:

Preventing rabies in dogs and cats: Wild animals and even other cats and dogs can spread rabies to your pets. Here's how to keep them safe.

Installing an outdoor cat fence: If you want to keep your outdoor cat close to home, a cat fence may be a good solution for you.

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Comments (2)

rainmaker141 wrote:
The problem with an outdoor cat in our area aren't foxes, but coyotes. And a cat has zero chance against a coyote, unless the cat has enough of a head start and can flee. I'd suggest a collar and tagged pet door system, that will open the door for the cat once if it approaches the pet door, but will keep a predator brazen enough to pursue your cat to the porch out (no RFID signal, no open pet door).
bigskywells wrote:
i live in the adirondack mountains and the coyote is the problem.the key is to let your cat out at eight am in the morning and to get them in before dark .ten pm is pushing it so if you can get them in before eight pm. you could save your cats..