I am going to piss off just about every cat owner out there with this article…but I DON’T CARE! I hate your outside cat! Last night, I am sitting with my wife trying to enjoy a nice dinner. Our two Boxers are blissfully playing in our fenced in backyard…did I mention it was fenced in? Ok…just making sure. All of the sudden, my 75 pound male, Hans, is losing his f’in mind. He is barking and running all over the backyard. As I walk outside to see what all of the ruckus is about and to stop him from barking (I am one of those neighbors who KEEPS his dogs from annoying everyone else in the ‘hood), I notice that he is now jumping on the fence that he doesn’t think he can clear! You know…because the reason we have a fenced in backyard is to keep our pets from annoying/bothering/etc. the rest of the neighborhood.

What could be causing all of this mess? An outside cat! Of course! There is a cat on the top of my fence post that is a pet of someone else in the neighborhood, and it is driving my dogs…who are in their own backyard…absolutely crazy. Why on earth do people get a pet and then expect the rest of the world to just put up with it? What makes them think that I wanted a cat as a pet too? I don’t want a cat as a pet. If I wanted a cat, I would have gone out and got one! Instead…YOUR CAT is in MY FENCED IN BACKYARD causing problems! To make matters worse…I am allergic to cats! So you can understand my frustration when your cat wants to call my house home!

When you decide to have a pet, you take that on the responsibility to make sure that your pet does not annoy the rest of the neighborhood. We don’t live in a farm out in the middle of no where that pets can just roam free without causing major problems. We live in a busy neighborhood in the ‘burbs of Atlanta (have to use a little ‘hotlanta lingo every now and then!). You are lucky that I have enough of a conscience that I don’t let my two Boxers eat your cat! Instead…I now have to interrupt my nice dinner by taking the dogs inside and shoo off your “pet” from my backyard.

Now…I know there are a select few dog people out there that make their dogs the top of the world and a very few amount of those let their dogs roam around like they own the place. However, what is it about cat owners that make them think it is ok to let their cats just roam all over the place? Every neighborhood I have ever lived in has had several outside cats that call the entire place home. The madness has to stop! There is no such thing as an outside or inside cat! You got a pet…now act like it!