Lancelot

He is gorgeous,you must have the most satisfying job working at the shelter

Aww.. he's a dear! Are you in the northern part of the state?

I don't like the idea of locking cats indoors all their lives. It isn't natural and makes them depressed.

Lancelot does not look old enough to be 10yrs old. What a lovely name
your cat has it suits him....Hello! Lancelot, you look very cheeky & cute
please give him a cuddle for me Lauram.....Welcome to GOY & Enjoy!!!

The leash laws here apply to both dogs and cats, and you can't keep a cat in a fence, unless of course he's like Lancelot and has trouble walking.
I always tell people, if they ever saw what gets brought into our shelter, they would never let their cats outdoors again. Poisoned - shot - ripped apart by dogs - hit by cars - infested with wolfworms - rabid, etc. It's awful. I have a lost-and-found binder at work full of cats who "ran away" or "got lost." They didn't run away, something got them, and they'll never, ever come home. I'm sure my cats wouldn't mind going outdoors, but they seem quite content living inside.

I know that in the UK, most cats spend a significant amount of time outdoors, but there are reasons why a majority of cat parents in the US keep their kitties inside. Just an example: a woman came to the shelter recently to adopt a cat. She mentioned that the cat would be kept indoors 100% of the time, because of "what happened yesterday." Well, naturally, I had to ask her what she meant. She said her husband had been outside with the cat planting rosebushes that morning, and a coyote came up, pounced on the cat - right in front of her husband, obviously killing the cat instantly - and took her off. Her only consolation was the fact that the cat didn't know what hit her and probably didn't feel a thing, it happened so quickly.

You obviously don't live in a suitable place for cats, so I suppose you're doing the best thing then.
There are people here who live in small houses and never let their cat outside. It's relatively safe here. There are people living near me in a small bungalow - I mean it is tiny. They have 2 cats and they are locked inside this tiny bungalow all the time. It must get very hot in there and must be uncomfortable for the cats. I see them looking out of the windows , and they do look miserable I must say.
My cat goes ballistic if I don't let her out - she starts to shead the furniture lol.

That's a great mind picture, Hywel. Blodyn the furniture shredder!
That is so sad, Laura, It sounds like things are dire for the wildlife too... if they have to stoop to killing domestic animals. In the case of the coyote, they are expanding their range here in Canada... and are crowding the wolf and fox population and creating horrible situations like the one the lady at the shelter related... The continent is so large...you'd think there could be room for everything.

One reason coyotes are so prevalent here is the large amount of easy prey, like cats. Cats are their favorite meal. You could call coyotes subsidized predators because - along with raccoons, crows, etc. - they do well around human habitation....food and water sources, shelter. But cats themselves are subsidized predators. Perhaps the ultimate subsidized predator. I'm not sure whether they share the same ecological niche as some of our native carnivores, such as bobcats - I've read that they really aren't in direct competition with them, but I don't know whether that's true. They do come quite close to people & homes - they show up on my security camera walking down the driveway in the middle of the night.
There have been cougar sightings for years in the area, including in the swamp about a mile down the road from me.

What a lovely picture of a beautiful (and very lucky cat) Lauram. I totally admire you for doing this extremely harrowing job, especially in the area in which you live. I would love to do it but I know I would get very bery upset and that's in this country! Animals need more people like you.

Lancelot is beautiful. Bianca says hello, she looks very similar. I do let her out. I've lost one but she was a real hunter ranging far and a bit mean to neighbor animals. Bianca is so mild tempered and safe she doesn't go far. Worst fear here would be an owl, but she usually stays under the house. Terrible keeping a cat in after they've been out and taken to it. They do go wild.

Lovely cat. I'm very glad I live in the UK with no major cat predators. It is rumnoured that occasionally a fox will take a cat but it would have to be a big fox and a small cat.

I owned a very large german shepherd dog and 6 cats and the cats were boss!