It happens every summer. Wildwoods gets a phone call from someone who has heard what appears to be a squeaky toy in the near distance.
Sometimes, it's a helpless baby eastern cottontail rabbit in the mouth of a cat -- one of several bunnies from a nest. Other times, it's a baby bird in the same rough situation.
We see too many animals each year for cat bites -- tiny critters brought to us by cat owners who want to do their best to help the baby animals. This is happening everywhere across the country as more and more cats are allowed to live an outdoor lifestyle, and every time it does, it breaks the heart of one of our volunteers.
Every year, billions of wild animals are injured or killed by outdoor cats; at Wildwoods, our executive director estimates that we see 40 to 50 cases a year, mostly between April and August, our "baby season."
Outdoor cats pose a threat to wildlife in several ways including predation, disease transmission, and food competition. Many people will keep cats as pets to serve as "rodent control." However, cats do not differentiate among their prey. They are just as likely to attack non-rodent small mammal species and birds, as well as small reptiles and amphibians.
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The most vulnerable birds are ground-nesting and ground-feeding birds, and the most vulnerable life-stage for the bird is the fledgling stage, when they are just starting to leave the nest and can't fly the greatest yet.
Outdoor cats are extremely dangerous to wildlife, not only due to the injuries that can be caused by their bites and claws, but also from the dangerous bacteria present in their saliva that can cause infections and kill a wild animal very easily.
An animal with what appears to be minor injuries when delivered to Wildwoods can quickly fall victim to these infections -- and this, most of all, is what breaks our volunteers' hearts. The animal appears to be on the mend, but still does not survive.
Outdoor cats present another danger to wildlife when they compete with animals such as raptors, fox, and bobcat, for the same food source, which includes mice, shrews, and other small mammals. This food competition can lead to other native wildlife starving to death.
The life of a free-roaming cat is not a glamorous one. The outdoor cat's lifespan is much shorter than that of an indoor cat's due to the high potential for predation, starvation, disease, exposure to the elements, or being hit by a vehicle.
Some cat owners say, "My cat loves the outdoors. They beg to go out and are so sad when they can't."
However, there are options to keep an indoor cat stimulated and allow for natural behavior expression. Ideas include interactive toys, cat-specific furniture and scratching posts, videos, and aromatherapies to calm anxious cats. If a cat must have outdoor time, he can easily be tethered with a leash or placed into a secure, outdoor enclosure to prevent exposure to wildlife and other cats.
It's no secret the damage that outdoor cats can cause to wildlife through physical trauma and disease transmission. The only way we can prevent the damage is to keep cats indoors and give them alternative and safe ways to express their hunting instincts. This will also keep our cats much safer!
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For more information about wildlife and how you can help, including becoming a volunteer with Wildwoods, a wildlife rehabilitation organization in Duluth, or the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota, visit www.wildwoodsrehab.org , and www.wrcmn.org .
Leslie Reed, DVM, is a staff veterinarian at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota in Roseville. The WRC is a linchpin in wildlife rehabilitation in Minnesota, working with Wildwoods to serve wildlife that is too large or working with injuries that are too complex to be served in our smaller, regional facility.
