Yesterday morning, I was getting in my car to head to work, when I saw a cat trying to get into our condo building.

The cat had a phone number on his collar. He looked familiar actually; I thought I’d seen him on a lost cat sign months ago. I couldn’t tell if this cat was an outdoor cat, or just lost, so I asked my husband to call the number on his collar so that I wouldn’t be terribly late for work.

I know several people in rescue are vehemently anti-outdoor cats. There are so many reasons why your cat can live healthier and longer if they live indoors. I am split in the middle on the decision. I personally won’t let my cats outdoors, because my first cat, Itchy, was hit by a car when I was little.

One thing I noticed about this guy was that he was intact; meaning, he had very big un-neutered testicles. It’s not illegal to not neuter your pets, but there’s so many reasons that you should (if you’re not a breeder). It prevents cat overpopulation, decreases aggressiveness in males, disinterests the animal from escaping the house.

My husband called the number, and a woman answered stating that yes, that was her cat. He had been missing for a month, but came home eventually. She tries to keep him indoors, but he tries to escape every now and then. She told him not to worry about him, he’ll come home eventually, don’t bother bringing him inside.

As much as I didn’t want that to be the end of that, I have no choice. He didn’t see it being effective to lecture this stranger over the phone about the merits of neutering (even though that’s probably why her cat keeps escaping). I can’t force someone else to pay to have their pet neutered. Plus, if the cat mates with a female stray, is it her problem? Maybe it’d be her problem if she had a female cat that had come home pregnant. But nope, her male cat escapes the house, sows his oats, and comes home happy.

The responsible cat lady in me screams on the inside and reluctantly pouts on the outside about this situation. That it’s okay for someone to have an un-neutered male escape the house and roam the neighborhood. I was inwardly scheming, what if this cat gets out and mysteriously loses his collar, so I ‘mistake’ him for a feral and have him neutered at AWLA? I was told that was a hard sell though

But if I find a litter of kittens in the neighborhood that are black and white, I know who to blame…

Article Link: Spay/Neuter Your Pet