It’s getting cold outside

That means that it’s time to save a life.

We all know, or if we don’t, we should, that cats live longer, healthier lives when they live exclusively indoors.  When they live outdoors they are threatened by everything from FIV and FELV to predator animals (coyotes come to mind), dangers from getting hit by cars and sometimes even being shot at with everything from a bb gun to an arrow.  Really.

Presuming you live in an area where a cat getting shot with a projectile is unlikely, you still need to worry about dipping temperatures, hypothermia, poisoning from a cat getting into antifreeze, and death by automobile engine.  Fun choices, huh?

That’s right, for those of you who don’t know, feral, outdoor, stray, and escaped indoor cats will sometimes climb inside of car engines to keep warm.  This is potentially disastrous for the cat as well as the car owner.  Even if the cat makes it out alive once you turn on the car engine on a cold winter morning, your engine may require hundreds, if not thousands in repair work if there is a cat inside.  No such repair work may be available for the cat…

The good folks at Petfinder have come up with the following reminder graphic.  Cut it out and put it up on the fridge or on the visor in the car.  Make it a habit to check the car in the winter months.  You never know, you might save a life.

~Kelly