You know i'm not trying to call you out, i'm trying to call you up when I ask, "If you love the cat so much and will mourn it's violent passing, WHY do you let it be an outdoor cat?" This was obviously one of many terrible scenarios that can happen when you place an animal in an unpredictable environment and I know you knew this ahead of time. Sure, I can appreciate the philosophy of freedom, but I can not side with your view that a domesticated cat should be a hybrid. Especially NOT when they aren't the alpha predator in that environs. In theory it's all well and good, but this isn't a "human" that needs to go off and become independent like a child you love needs to in terms of their development i.e. college where you are expected to lose control of their safety as the parent. I'm arguing that a domesticated cat lives a perfectly adequate life indoors and it being introduced to the wild has minimal upside in terms of quality of life. My cat may be less "free," but the odds of her being attacked by a wild animal, hit by a car, terrorized by by the neighbor kid, poisoned, etc, etc is ZERO. Zero. When I love something, I personally do what I can to ensure it's safety and quality of life. Do I wish my little girl cat could experience the "thrill of catching a real mouse?" Sure, personally, I (selfishly perhaps you feel?) keep her inside so while she probably won't ever get the real rodent, she gets plenty of exercise inside, she loves to play with her realistic toys that get her amped up, she always has a warm/cool place to be, and if an animal that was dangerous some how by the grace of God got in to my residence, at least I would be able to kill it with my bare hands. I guess i'm a control freak and maybe that makes me in the wrong here, but I just could never let her outside by herself. She's like the little girl I never had. At the end of the day, it's a free country and I support you doing what you want to do, I just felt an urge to cut in and speak my side and look forward to yours and other"s thoughts-I know thousands of cats across the country are hybrids....cheers.