this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2024
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Im a professional ecologist. I have to listen to one of my colleagues rant about this topic on a nearly weekly basis, because its the focus of her grant work.
There are multiple groups of actual researchers in nearly every institute of biological study on the planet dedicated to spreading local awareness about wild cats.
There are multiple websites entirely dedicated to trying to inform people that the small apex predator from a far off desert doesnt actually belong wandering the wilds of your neighborhood.
There are a few actual native species of wild felines currently threatened due to feral domestic cats, that are having trouble becoming stable again because of folk like you.
The kind of person who doesnt really grok that owned cats are where feral cats come from, because your cat is fucking left and right in the bushes.
The kind of person who thinks their cat can win a fight with a car, or coyote, or wolf, or fox, or badger, or weasel, or any other predator in the wild that youre gleefully feeding it to.
The kind of person who is to blame for multiple feline diseases spreading and festering in local populations because you let your cat go pick them up from the source and spread them about willy nilly.
The kind of person who failed to pay attention in grade school science.
But please. Go on, tell me how the majority of science is a pop article about cat litter, flunkie.
Holy shit you're insufferable
I mean... I know Im not lying, and my comments are repeating the current standard. So either you retired 4 decades ago, or youre about as successful an ecologist as you are a conversationalist.
Letting your cat outdoors means its interacting with wild populations. That makes it succeptable to the same problems. An ecologist would know this.
A responsible pet owner doesnt let their pets roam outdoors, so thats a confirmed lie. But at least its not breeding, yes.
Wildcats are often refered to as apex predators in their native environments, because they dont live near all those predators. But piddling over the exact definition of apex doesnt really stop your cat becoming a coyote meal.
This basic concept is a grade school science lesson. If you dont know algebra, why would I assume you took calculus classes?
Some of us, sure. I dont think youre part of that collective group though.
For starters, Ive never met an ecologist who wants to feed their pets to the local wildlife, or who completely ignores the massive issue of feline disease spreading.
E: I just noticed your edit, on apex predation. Do you genuinely think that cats cannot be an ecological threat to small mammal, reptile, and amphibian populations just because they can be eaten by larger locals? By that logic, you are counting on your pet getting eaten. Thats.... Thats insanely fucked up.
And something an actual ecologist would have thought of, as you are essentially considering your pet cat as part of the food web, a high school level ecological concept.
"Never met an ecologist who wants to feed their pets to the local wildlife."
"A responsible pet owner doesnt let their pets roam outdoors."
Dude. You're clearly not an ecologist, just some loudmouth repeating sensationalist, unfounded, unresearched pseudoscience. Just stop.
You cited a decade old research paper with funding conflicts.
But my awareness of cat risk makes me not an ecologist?
Lol, ok. Your cat is likely riddled with parasites and other diseases, and might vanish one night in a smear of red alongside the road to die a slow, painful, lonely death.
But you keep spreading your lies. Im sure the slow, painful, lonely deaths of other peopled beloved pets makes it worth it to you.
I’m sure this is frustrating for you but I am enjoying every response you get that you then get to reply to.
Ill be completely honest, I am well aware this guy will change nothing. I feel horrid for their cat, who will certainly die young and die violently. But this isnt about facts, its about feeling right about past actions. And they dont want to face that previous pets probably died because of them.
But my comments serve as signposts for passersby, who will hopefully actually care about their pet and their local ecosystem, and do the right thing.
Lowkey sucks to deal with a whiney cat who is used to going outside, I get it, but you can harness train cats. Or build a catio.
AS a bystander in all this, could all of you... CITE YOUR DAMN SOURCES! If you have proof of your assertions via studies or research papers, LINK THEM!
Why?
Because this topic is of interest to me and I want to be informed with actual scientific data. Not by a person, but by peer-reviewed studies.
You should just look it up yourself.
Im not going to do anything different than you would. Open google scholar, put in various searches about outdoor cats, and read the newer articles.
Im not going to badger any of my real world friends about sources for a dumbass internet argument, and my memorized sources are all about my actual work, which is specialized in botanical study specifically.
Or reach out to your local university. Im sure there are a few local researchers who are plenty passionate about this and are invested in giving you specific local examples.
So no, you have no actual data to support you. Check
If being told that a random knock off reddit forum is not a high enough priority for me to go google things for you that you are fully capable of googling yourself, translates in your head into "theres no data at all" then you didnt want facts in the first place.
No one memorizes all studies ever written anywhere about anything. I specialize in botanical science. Cats? Not plants. So I dont have those studies titles and authors memorized.
To go find them, I would do what every other researher or grad student would do. Use google scholar. Which is very easy to use, and you can do it just fine yourself.
If you actually cared about the data, you can easily and quickly find it. But, you dont, so you wont.
I know who’s winning, imo! 😉
Yeah they're the loudmouth ....
Enjoy getting trounced. It's obvious to everyone else.
If you're a professional ecologist, then you should know full well that even if a cat is perfectly sedentary and kills nothing, and is neutered, they can still get and spread diseases, they can still get run over, and they can still be attacked and killed by other outdoor animals
You can put anything you like in quotes, it's not cited. As a "professional ecologist" you'd habitually cite your sources
If you don't think outdoor cats, not just feral cats, are destroying the ecosystem, then you're not only an ignorant ecologist, but a fucking dangerous one. God only knows what other goody-ass looney tunes theories you have. Not only are you misinformed, but you go so far as to defend and spread that misinformation. Jfc.
Please, present your credentials mr professional ecologist
The argument is based on hearsay, personal experience, and this flimsy excuse for authority.
Troll, or insane person?
As a "professional ecologist" you should be aware of the concept of "landscape of fear".
Non-consumptive effects have an equally strong (some argue an even stronger) effect on prey populations compared to consumptive effects.
Letting domesticated cats roam freely creates an unnaturally high predation pressure in the area and has more effects on the local wildlife than just killing it.