• gmtom@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    The outdoor cats discourse is my absolute least favourite, it’s such forced virtue signaling bullshit, and everyone that’s takes a stance on it is the most smug, houlier-than-thou mother fucker on the entire planet with absolutely no concept of nuance.

    And almost always they are Americans that are physically incapable of comprehending that different countries exist.

    • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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      2 days ago

      Stop saying virtue signaling (“forced” at that) for a take you just disagree with, there are valid arguments for and against.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        1 day ago

        There are valid arguments both for and against but the one most commonly used, that they decimate bird populations, is heavily contested and not actually found in evidence.

        Just because cats kill birds doesn’t mean that those birds would have otherwise made it to mating season. You have to actually check that, and most papers into the subject never bother to do that part, mostly because it’s actually quite hard.

        Actually one of the best arguments against letting your cat outside is not to protect birds, it’s to protect insects. The defleeing liquid the cats are often given gets into the water and as a devastating effect on aquatic insect life. You shouldn’t be giving your cats flea treatments unless they actually have fleas and then you keep leave them inside for a few days.

        • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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          23 hours ago

          The defleeing liquid the cats are often given gets into the water and as a devastating effect on aquatic insect life.

          Oh I didn’t know that! Wish vets would tell us these things…

    • Kate-ay@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      YES, thank you. If you live on some tropical island with endemic species threatened with extinction by domestic cats, that is one thing…