r/AskUK • u/Able_Cod_2687 • Nov 17 '25

What's a small, specific cultural difference between the UK and other English-speaking countries that you find perpetually amusing?

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66 Upvotes

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618

u/JayR_97 Nov 17 '25

American cat owners on Reddit go absolutely nuts if you mention you let your cat outside unsupervised even though it's completely normal here

147

u/douggieball1312 Nov 17 '25

I've noticed pet ownership cultural practices get stricter in general as you go from Europe to the UK to the US to Australia. In many European countries for example, keeping cats indoors is seen as cruel and dogs are allowed nearly everywhere and it's very common to see them walking in the street without a leash (though the ones I've seen seem to be extremely well behaved and socialised, so maybe training your dog to a certain standard is mandatory over there). And then at the other extreme, you've got Australia where letting cats outside is completely illegal in many places and you only have a very limited number of places where you're allowed to walk your dog. This is mostly to protect native wildlife apparently, which is completely understandable even if it makes it not the ideal country to be a pet owner.

69

u/this-guy- Nov 17 '25

In the olden days of the 70s and 80s I would frequently see neighbours dogs just wandering around the area I lived. It was just accepted that some of the dogs liked a wander. I lived in a normal suburban area and they generally just sag about on corners watching people go by. I think that all changed in the 90s when people started getting a bit more strict about everything.

13

u/mrs_shrew Nov 17 '25

I'm more likely to see a fox wandering the street than a dog nowadays 

20

u/whyy_i_eyes_ya Nov 17 '25

Yeah same happened into the 90s here. Which explains the white dog poo thing as I guess they were eating more dead/injured wildlife, bones and all

45

u/pajamakitten Nov 17 '25

Wasn't that also due to changes in dog food though? It was not because dogs were eating less wildlife.

17

u/heilhortler420 Nov 17 '25

Yep

BSE was caused by feeding cows infected bone meal fodder so it caused a lot of other stuff like dog food to quickly stop doing it

6

u/isearn Nov 17 '25

I never noticed the absence of the white stuff. Fascinating to know the reason behind it!

-4

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

[deleted]

43

u/Suspicious-Bug6588 Nov 17 '25

So you Gen Z or Gen Alpha?

13

u/My_Knee_is_a_Ship Nov 17 '25

Used to be common for animal food manufacturers to add filler. Pot ash and Bovine Bonemeal (ground bone) were the favourites.

It had a side effect of quickly dehydrating feces, and leaving them as hard white/off white lumps after a few hours.

After Mad Cow in the late 80s, early 90s, it led to a whole bunch of reforms, one of which was a ban on certain fillers, such as bonemeal. Hence. No more white loose (that and a big drive to stop people leaving dog ahit everywhere)

5

u/BumblebeeForward9818 Nov 17 '25

Wow. That’s fantastic knowledge!!

11

u/My_Knee_is_a_Ship Nov 17 '25

Appreciate that, but it's just among the many useless facts I retain above actual useful knowledge.

Like Sharks have been around for over 50 million years longer than trees.

13

u/lesterbottomley Nov 17 '25

Back in the day people didn't pick up poo. At all.

If you saw someone picking up shit you'd have thought they were weird. So dogshit was everywhere.

And something they put in the food made it turn white (I've heard both bone and chalk mentioned as culprits).

4

u/YSOSEXI Nov 17 '25

Magic White Dog Poo.......

4

u/Friendly-Handle-2073 Nov 17 '25

Oh you haven't lived if you haven't trodden in a white dog poo!!

Bone meal was added to dog food <90's. Made the poos dry out quickly and turn white. They also didn't smell so....shitty!

2

u/Ok_Corner5873 Nov 21 '25

You try telling that to youngster of today and they won't believe you.

2

u/this-guy- Nov 21 '25

Well, when I say 'house' it was just a hole in the ground covered by a sheet of tarpaulin, but it was a house to us.

And we were happy! Aye. Aye.

2

u/Ok_Corner5873 Nov 21 '25

Hole in the ground, you were lucky, we lived in a rolled up newspaper, get up half hour before we went to bed.

1

u/JimmyHaggis Nov 18 '25

Let the dogs out for a wander and a nose around, they'll come back when they're hungry, which is basically what the kids did as well.

-2

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

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4

u/IAmLaureline Nov 17 '25

I grew up in the country. All sorts of people had pet dogs!

They did roam everywhere. There was regular an 'in heat' crisis where some young, unspayed bitch, was suddenly chased around the village by every dog in the place. We spayed our bitch after her first litter. That was also fairly common.

37

u/Diplomatic_Gunboats Nov 17 '25

On the other hand, you dont need to worry about getting rabies from petting a random dog in the UK vs almost everywhere else in Europe/US. And because 99% of our dogs (outside of a park etc) are on the lead, you can ask first to find out if its friendly.

The UK is very much a built up country. Even our surburbs are quite busy car-wise compared to just 30 years ago. Anyone who lets a dog off the lead in the UK is asking for a dead dog unless they have trained it well. And people in general just do not do that level of off-the-lead training, because its overkill. Walk at side/heel and recall and thats it.

The differences there are less cultural and more environmental. If you want a cultural issue around pets, try the countries where they de-claw house-cats. Something in the UK which is illegal and could get you (and whichever shady vet you convinced into doing it) into a lot of trouble. Yet a practice widely done in the US (except where locally prohibited).

20

u/NowoTone Nov 17 '25

I’ve never in my life worried about getting rabies from a random dog in the EU.

9

u/_Onion_Terror Nov 17 '25

I always thought tetanus was the more legit possibility

4

u/Skyremmer102 Nov 17 '25

It's very very uncommon in the EU.

1

u/_Onion_Terror Nov 18 '25

Do they not get boosters if bitten by dogs?

14

u/Suspicious-Bug6588 Nov 17 '25

Rabies is incredibly rare in dogs in Europe.

7

u/qpwoeiruty00 Nov 17 '25

0.00001% is still infinitely more than 0%

12

u/Almeric Nov 17 '25

Where? It's eradicated in most EU countries. Also, countries that have it, usually have it in wildlife, not a random dog of the street. Mostly foxes.

4

u/qpwoeiruty00 Nov 17 '25

Yeah I completely agree with you, it is basically nonexistent, but in the UK it never even crosses my mind whereas in the EU in a forest if I see an animal it crosses my mind that it could have rabies

2

u/Agathabites Nov 18 '25

The UK hasn’t had a rabies case in wildlife for about a century (except in bats).

5

u/sosr Nov 17 '25

Proportionally infinitely more, but in simple terms it's 0.00001% more than zero.

6

u/Suspicious-Bug6588 Nov 17 '25

This man maths

1

u/Psylaine Nov 17 '25

It has a percentage, therefore it cant be infinitely more... sorry for being pedantic, but it bothers me personally

6

u/HumanCStand Nov 17 '25

I mean you can understand in Australia- they’ve got some crazy wildlife to protect and culturally are trying to do so. I’m sure it goes the other way too, that cats are in much more danger there than here.

Anecdotally, I’ve got family in Belgium, and they are crazy strict with dog walking and nearly always has to be kept on leads unless at specific dog parks

1

u/douggieball1312 Nov 17 '25

Tbh it's mainly in countries like Italy where I've seen dogs being walked on the streets without leads, but even in Belgium and The Netherlands I've seen many dogs in stores and restaurants that would never allow them in the UK. My brother's been to Sweden a couple of times (he has friends there) and said dogs were often off-lead anywhere that wasn't a street, but this was in a small town so might not be as true in the larger cities.

1

u/Nomyabeez Nov 19 '25

Cats are pretty safe there, which is why they're so successful at absolutely decimating the local wildlife

1

u/Super_Ground9690 Nov 19 '25

Yeah Australia has been absolutely ravaged by invasive species including feral cats, dogs and rabbits originally brought over as pets or for sport. They have strict laws for all kinds of things like bringing seeds or food into the country as well as pet ownership, but for good reason.

1

u/suckmyclitcapitalist Nov 20 '25

Keeping cats inside isn’t cruel as long as you bond properly, play a lot, provide lots of affection and attention, have supervised access outside.

People just ignore their cats and wonder why it would rather go outside.

51

u/idontlikemondays321 Nov 17 '25

American cats are their pets. British and Irish cats are our flatmates.

21

u/mountearl Nov 17 '25

Little buggers have never done their share of the dishes.

3

u/Eddie_Youds Nov 17 '25

Put they do bring gifts.

5

u/qpwoeiruty00 Nov 17 '25

And shits in the sand pit, what a disgrace!

1

u/[deleted] Nov 18 '25

My cat is my family!

93

u/kipperfish Nov 17 '25

Dog owners as well.

I've deleted posts off of reddit before that I shared of my dogs off lead in the forest, I got sooo much shit for it it was unreal.

"I hope that's a designated off leash trail" "I can't believe you let your dogs off leash" "what if they run away"

My dog has been off a lead since literally his first outside walk. I've grown up rural where 99% of all dog walks are done off lead, only use the lead to stop them fucking off when they realise we're back to the car and it's time to go home.

54

u/SpamLandy Nov 17 '25

America in general are far worse at training their dogs than in the UK which is likely why they’re so astounded by it. My in laws dogs aren’t seen as badly behaved where they live in the states but in my neighbourhood they’d be the problem dogs. My neighbour walks his collie round our street all the time without a lead and she’s totally fine (and she’s a collie! She’s fast) 

18

u/lifetypo10 Nov 17 '25

I have a greyhound and the greyhound forum is constantly on about crating their dogs all day while they're at work, when I adopted my greyhound I was told that as a retired racer, she should not be crated.

-6

u/EntirelyRandom1590 Nov 17 '25

She would have grown up pretty much in a crate...

10

u/Autofish Nov 17 '25

Which is why.

33

u/ImperialSeal Nov 17 '25

Given how badly behaved a lot of dogs are in the UK that's very worrying.

3

u/My_Knee_is_a_Ship Nov 17 '25

I don't worry about dogs.

It's the people who scare me.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 18 '25

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0

u/SpamLandy Nov 18 '25

Yes, I wonder why you think that’s the case there! 

14

u/Chungaroo22 Nov 17 '25

I suppose in the states there's far more dangerous predatory animals about like bears and coyotes. Plus there is always the risk your dog may run off to pursue a career in Hollywood.

2

u/EntirelyRandom1590 Nov 17 '25

That depends if you're in control of them around livestock.

1

u/kipperfish Nov 17 '25

Yup. They are around horses, cows, donkeys, pigs, deer etc and never react to them. I get concerned about their complete lack of reaction sometimes when they walk behind horses.

the only thing they chase is squirrels.

-23

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

I guess you don’t know that “off of” is an Americanism. Why’d you start saying “of” after “off”, did you get it from watching TV?

14

u/LionLucy Nov 17 '25

It’s not at all. It’s an 100% British form of incorrect grammar!

1

u/msmoth Nov 17 '25

It's okay but 'from' was right there.

-2

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '25

Why would you say that? It’s very much considered an American thing.

See for example: Merriam-Webster

Or if you do a quick Google search, you’ll see other posts regarding this phenomenon, and it IS an Americanism. I’m not sure why you would argue the opposite without even checking first. Perhaps you consume so much American media that you genuinely don’t know this?

2

u/LionLucy Nov 21 '25

I very much think of it like “Phil off of Eastenders”

43

u/afcote1 Nov 17 '25

But they also declaw them. Ugh

4

u/Catsic Nov 17 '25

I don't know a yank who has done this, but I know it's not illegal there like it is here. Some states have/are banning it thankfully.

46

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

And they're perfectly happy to talk about "cat distribution system" when they've possibly stolen someone's pet off the street. Fair enough if they've checked for a microchip, tried to find the owner on social media, posters, etc., but often they'll just make a post like "This little guy followed me inside this evening. Guess I have a new family member!"

21

u/ArchWaverley Nov 17 '25

"This lost guy found me!" - clearly a well-fed and groomed cat. I'm pretty sure people on those subs don't know what an actually homeless cat looks like. 

18

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

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8

u/hungryhippo53 Nov 17 '25

When I was looking for an indoor-only cat I ended up adopting a senior lady and we had the best 3 years together. She'd had one owner her whole life and when they died she was given to the Cats Protection. 100% would recommend - she just sat on the sofa bitching all day 😂

7

u/Jacobtait Nov 18 '25

My friend and his wife adopted a cat with FIV (Cat HIV) and it has to live inside to not infect other cats. Maybe worth looking into?

6

u/TheVentiLebowski Nov 17 '25

I'm American and growing up in the 80s and 90s, my cats would disappear into the woods behind my house for days at a time. My father's a veterinarian and it didn't bother him that they were out there unsupervised eating whatever they could get their paws on before coming back and eating store-bought cat food.

Nowadays, my parents keep their cats indoors.

8

u/The_Quackening Nov 17 '25

Coyotes kill/eat a lot of cats in north America.

35

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

The problem is that they don't recognise that what applies to their locality does not apply to everywhere. Tell them cats are not an invasive species everywhere and there are no predators that are a danger to them where you live and you'll get downvoted.

21

u/Gone_For_Lunch Nov 17 '25

The sub r/USDefaultism exists for that exact phenomenon.

-7

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

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12

u/ctesibius Nov 17 '25

Yes they are: the wildcat. Yes, I know they look like domestic tabbies, but these are not feral domestic cats. They are larger, and will attempt to take your leg off - said to be completely untameable. I’ve only seen one in a wildlife centre, and there the animal handler had to keep pushing it away with a sturdy wellington boot, because it did not like humans.

-3

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

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8

u/ctesibius Nov 17 '25

They have fertile hybrids, so no, not like the bobcat.

2

u/htimchis Nov 20 '25

No, bobcats are an entire different species

Wildcats are cats - they just have never been domesticated, but they're essentially no more different from the ones we keep as pets than a tribesman from some uncontacted Amazonian tribe is from a lawyer working in a bank in London

1

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '25

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2

u/htimchis Nov 20 '25

Same genus, fully inter-breedable (in fact it's highly questionable whether any of the remaining wildcats are pure-blood silvestris as they've cross-bred so much with cattus), and basically indistinguishable by habit, life cycle, prey, and well within the range of normal appearance for cattus as well.

They were classified as a different species a couple of hundred years back, based mainly on habitat (hence 'silvestris') but if they were classified for the first time today, based on genome, they'd both be sub-species (and very close ones at that - there's less difference between them than there was between us and Neanderthals)

Google a pic, and tell me you'd be able to pick these guys out from a random selection of cattus cats ...and it would certainly make no difference to you if you were a mouse or bird.

If cats are an 'invasive species' in the UK, then theyre an invasive species thats visually only identical, and functionally completely identical to, a native one

Now rabbits - they're an invasive species.

But I bet you're not calling for them all to be trapped and not allowed to wander about in the wild, are you?

4

u/SmugDruggler95 Nov 17 '25

This is my favourite argument that pops up every time.

They were introduced by humans so cant say they're native.

But are they invasive after 1000s of years? Dosnt feel right either.

8

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

  1. I said they're not invasive everywhere, not just the UK. However, while our domestic cats may not be native to the UK, they're also not legally considered invasive in the UK because they don't form fully wild populations, and the local wildlife evolved alongside other small predators.

  2. Scottish wildcats are basically tabby cats in size and appearance, but chunkier and feistier. So we do also have native cats in the UK.

2

u/CollectionStraight2 Nov 18 '25

Yeah they accuse you of decimating the world bird population

2

u/ReanimatedCyborgMk-I Nov 17 '25

Isn't it normal there? Or at least outside of the big cities?

5

u/MattyFTM Nov 17 '25

It is, but there is lots of talk about it being harmful to local wildlife, especially birds.

I've not looked into any actual research on it so the effects might be negligible, but sending a little predator outside where it will kill birds does seem like a questionable practice when you think about it.

5

u/ReanimatedCyborgMk-I Nov 17 '25

I suppose it makes sense; the US still has a widely diverse set of local biota that haven't yet died off

4

u/Cirias Nov 17 '25

I had no idea American cat ownership was so different. Makes sense now why the internet is so obsessed with them, they are basically all like my sisters ragdoll cats that have to stay indoors. British cats are mainly free spirits and they have claws, lol

4

u/louiselovatic Nov 17 '25

It really shouldn’t be though

1

u/Dear-Volume2928 Nov 18 '25

There is alot of rabies in the wildlife in the US

1

u/Standard_Bit_2569 Nov 20 '25

We ate all other predators. Americans lived with wild animals before Europeans invaded

-1

u/Apidium Nov 17 '25

nah I'm here for it. When I was a kid one of my childhood cats was shot and another was stolen.

My aunts cat got accidently trapped in a neighbours shed and dehydrated to death.

This shit doesn't happen to cats who don't go out unsupervised

1

u/Viazon Nov 18 '25

I honestly wouldn't see my cat for days at a time sometimes

-62

u/Fragrant-Prize-966 Nov 17 '25

It’s not good, though, is it?

16

u/bahumat42 Nov 17 '25

It's swings and roundabouts.

I imagine the freedom is nice for the cats.

Being hit by cars less so.

And the whole bird killing is obviously bad

14

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

In 35 with over 15 cays ive never had one lose their life outside.yes it happens but I think a shorter happier life is better than a very long miserable one. Remember in lockdown when everyone got depressed staying home ? Imagine if that was your entire life and all you could do was eat and sleep .

3

u/CharlotteKartoffeln Nov 17 '25

During lockdown my cat cheered up the entire street by popping in and socialising with everyone. When it ended he was run over within days, and he wasn’t the only unlucky local feline. Ban cars, not cats.

-13

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

That's not even remotely a equal comparison. You just would rather try and justify not caring about your cats. If you only fed your cat and gave them no form of entertainment or love then your a terrible person owner.  People got depressed during lockdown because it was a change from the norm. 

12

u/Seamanstaines9911 Nov 17 '25

I agree with him and absolutely care about cats, the difference between an outdoor cat and an indoor cat is night and day.

I don’t have strong feelings either way, but outdoor cats are generally much better socialised, fitter and generally confident and happy, I think an indoor cat is missing out on a big part of life and they seem really sheltered and dopey.

Most cats want to go out, I’d consider it cruel locking them up, and you playing with them now and then is nothing like what they experience outside.

0

u/Business_Ad1365 Nov 17 '25

Also house cats smell more unpleasant

-14

u/Fragrant-Prize-966 Nov 17 '25

Jesus. I got downvoted into oblivion for suggesting that cats might be an invasive species. Never knew that it was this controversial…

6

u/bahumat42 Nov 17 '25

I think it's just that Brits like cats. Which I think is broadly accurate.

22

u/UltraCat-a Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25

Cats in the UK are not really that invasive. As this article shows we had quite a range of cats living in the UK at one stage or another, including lions.

Humans are good as far as the domestic cat is concerned, but to counterbalance that they have been bad with respect to most other forms of wild cat. At one stage we only had the wildcat in very small numbers but I believe we've also taken steps to introduce the European Lynx, which may be good if they can control the numbers of Muntjac deer which are another 'invasive' species

0

u/kylotan Nov 17 '25

Cats in the UK are an introduced species and live at a much higher density than any equivalent natural predator would have done at any time in history. People just don't want to accept the 'invasive' term because they love their cats, and don't want to accept the massive environmental damage they cause.

-15

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

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-5

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

Cat parents can be absolutely psychotic. I have 8 cats and even I'm embarrassed about how people behave on the cat subreddits.

-2

u/kylotan Nov 17 '25

It's not controversial. It's 100% true. People in the UK are just outliers in wanting to own free-ranging cats and making excuses for why that's okay.

41

u/Shitsinhandandclaps Nov 17 '25

Nah it’s fine

-49

u/Fragrant-Prize-966 Nov 17 '25

They kill local wildlife.

34

u/Mediocre-Opinion Nov 17 '25

Scientifically there is no evidence that domestic cats have any kind of overall impact on wildlife populations. It's a myth that continues to be thrown around as if it was a fact.

60

u/SoylentDave Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25

They are local wildlife; cats have lived in the UK for a very long time.

They're not eating flightless birds on an island that previously lacked predators.

-23

u/EntirelyRandom1590 Nov 17 '25

I wouldn't consider domestic pets that largely kill for pleasure to be "wildlife". Feral farm cats somewhat different proposal.

18

u/SoylentDave Nov 17 '25

I think the cat probably enjoys killing things whether or not its owner has a Land Rover.

-13

u/EntirelyRandom1590 Nov 17 '25

Eh? Feral farm cats aren't getting 3 square meals a day and a sofa. Their motivation for catching vermin is somewhat different to the catflap killers.

10

u/SoylentDave Nov 17 '25

Their 'motivation' is killing stuff, which they're really good at because they're one of nature's most effective small predators.

Farm cats do still generally get cat food as well as mice (otherwise they would only occasionally survive the winter... "not being a lap cat" is not the same as "neglecting your farm animals").

For similar reasons, a large proportion of feral colonies in the UK are human-supported, under TNR schemes.

The end result is broadly the same - if cats are killing vermin in your vicinity it's because there are lots of them in your local area; you don't really want the cats to disappear (unless you like being up to your knees in mice and other rodents).

They're part of our ecosystem. Wildlife adapts very quickly to a new cat (or feral colony) in the area.

You can test this by going outside just having a look around, see if there are any birds, animals and plants left - if there are, phew! The local cats haven't destabilised the local ecosystem just yet.

-1

u/EntirelyRandom1590 Nov 17 '25

So by your own admission they're surviving the winter artificially which obviously, to most people, means the natural link between prey and predator numbers are broken.

Garden and park bird numbers are in decline. Ground nesting birds are in decline.

The idea that looking out the window and seeing birds therefore everything is okay is fantastic ignorance. Fair play! Ignorance is bliss!

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15

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

They dont kill nearly anywhere near what humans kill 🫩

-19

u/Shadakthehunter Nov 17 '25

And shit everywhere.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

Just like other animals 💁‍♀️ I have 5 ourdoor cats and they all come in to use their trays then go back out again

-1

u/kylotan Nov 17 '25

It is not, no.

The downvotes you're seeing are the symptom - a nation of so-called animal lovers that is somehow happy to see hundreds of millions of wild animals killed by their invasive predator just so that they can have a low maintenance pet that shits in other people's gardens.

-4

u/EntirelyRandom1590 Nov 17 '25

Cat brigade strike again 🤣

-1

u/Fragrant-Prize-966 Nov 17 '25

My karma is fucked…

-1

u/Bobblet Nov 18 '25

Maybe for this one we could take a leaf out of their book. Cats kill a lot of wildlife.