Cats: Why? Why not? Vote now please!

[mercalia]

And if a fix or badger defecates on your lawn you would celebrate....

Cats are fantastic creatures, not all kill pointlessly... one of mine was very proud when he caught a stick, others have grabbed the odd mouse from the nearby fields - but generally they are well enough fed at home to not bother.

seems like your cats not the brightest things on 4 legs

[Mick F]

One of ours brings in sticks and leaves. (plural of leaf, not that he leaves!)

[[XAP]Bob]

And if a fix or badger defecates on your lawn you would celebrate....

Cats are fantastic creatures, not all kill pointlessly... one of mine was very proud when he caught a stick, others have grabbed the odd mouse from the nearby fields - but generally they are well enough fed at home to not bother.

seems like your cats not the brightest things on 4 legs

He did once catch a frog, then take his paws off the look at it, so the frog hopped on, and he pounced again, took his paws off ... rinse and repeat all the way across the garden. Never did use his claws - the frog was, as far as I could tell, unharmed - though it was looking for a pond that no longer existed.

The other one rather struggled to bring a pigeon through the cat flap. I was rather impressed he’d carried it at all - it was nearly half his size, and walking was rather difficult with it in the way...
No convinced he’d caught it mind... I suspect it was “otherwise deceased”.

The lump currently on my lap can’t even catch a spider... completely useless animal.

[kwackers]

And if a fix or badger defecates on your lawn you would celebrate....

Cats are fantastic creatures, not all kill pointlessly... one of mine was very proud when he caught a stick, others have grabbed the odd mouse from the nearby fields - but generally they are well enough fed at home to not bother.

I would take issue with that.

I think cats will kill anything that moves given the chance, hungry or not (although hunger will drive them harder).
Old cats are probably the least killy and I suspect lack of speed is the issue for them a fact they adapt to and simply give up.

My missus is in constant denial about how many things the cat kills and I suspect most owners are. They don't need to kill that many things to make a huge hole in the local ecology.
I like cats, I think they are fantastic creatures but I honestly think there'd be no harm if there were less of them (I also think that of most 'pets' though).

They're not without their issues and killing things is just one aspect.
I can deal with the odd bit of cat poo in the middle of my lawn but we currently have a problem with someones tabby cat that's spraying on everything around the house and frankly it stinks.
Worse if we leave a window open it'll come into the house and spray inside and it's not like we don't want our windows open this weather. Ditto my workshop...

[Pebble]

And if a fix or badger defecates on your lawn you would celebrate....

Cats are fantastic creatures, not all kill pointlessly... one of mine was very proud when he caught a stick, others have grabbed the odd mouse from the nearby fields - but generally they are well enough fed at home to not bother.

Well fed cats hunt for pleasure, they will take a lot more wildlife than hungry one, you will have no idea how much damage it is doing to our already hard pressed and struggling wildlife population. It really should have a bell around its neck if you are letting it out unsupervised.

Interestingly 'wildcats' seldom if ever prey on small birds, less energy in the catch than that spent catching it.


by wildcats I don't mean ferrel, I am referring to the likes of the Scottish Wildcat - sadly another soon to be extinct indigenous mammal that we have systematically destroyed. some estimates suggest less than 100 left

[bigjim]

If you wish to deter cats and other creatures from using your lawn, pee on it on a regular basis. They hate the smell of human male pee. Don't upset the neighbours though.

[Cyril Haearn]

Escaped cats are a curse in Australia, they kill and displace innocent native marsupials

[Marcus Aurelius]

And if a fix or badger defecates on your lawn you would celebrate....

Cats are fantastic creatures, not all kill pointlessly... one of mine was very proud when he caught a stick, others have grabbed the odd mouse from the nearby fields - but generally they are well enough fed at home to not bother.

seems like your cats not the brightest things on 4 legs

He did once catch a frog, then take his paws off the look at it, so the frog hopped on, and he pounced again, took his paws off ... rinse and repeat all the way across the garden. Never did use his claws - the frog was, as far as I could tell, unharmed - though it was looking for a pond that no longer existed.

The other one rather struggled to bring a pigeon through the cat flap. I was rather impressed he’d carried it at all - it was nearly half his size, and walking was rather difficult with it in the way...
No convinced he’d caught it mind... I suspect it was “otherwise deceased”.

The lump currently on my lap can’t even catch a spider... completely useless animal.

The thing with the frog is that, the frog usually makes a squeal / howl when a cat puts its paws on it. Psychopath cats love this. It’s like a squeaky toy, but it’s alive. My last cat took on a badger, the badger won, despite the cat being mortally wounded ( it transpired ) he continually returned to the badger set, and waited for it. Eventually the badger re appeared, the cat paid for round 2 with his life, but fair play to him, he wasn’t letting it go

[Cyril Haearn]

The cat gave his life
What happened next?

[Marcus Aurelius]

The cat gave his life
What happened next?

He got cremated and is in a box in my mantle piece to this day. It’s a very nice box, with a little brass plaque on it.

[Cyril Haearn]

The cat gave his life
What happened next?

He got cremated and is in a box in my mantle piece to this day. It’s a very nice box, with a little brass plaque on it.

There is a thought, there is a Pet Sematary not far from home, cycled by several times
I shall cycle there specially to pay my respects

[mercalia]

And if a fix or badger defecates on your lawn you would celebrate....

Cats are fantastic creatures, not all kill pointlessly... one of mine was very proud when he caught a stick, others have grabbed the odd mouse from the nearby fields - but generally they are well enough fed at home to not bother.

I would take issue with that.

I think cats will kill anything that moves given the chance, hungry or not (although hunger will drive them harder).
Old cats are probably the least killy and I suspect lack of speed is the issue for them a fact they adapt to and simply give up.

My missus is in constant denial about how many things the cat kills and I suspect most owners are. They don't need to kill that many things to make a huge hole in the local ecology.
I like cats, I think they are fantastic creatures but I honestly think there'd be no harm if there were less of them (I also think that of most 'pets' though).

They're not without their issues and killing things is just one aspect.
I can deal with the odd bit of cat poo in the middle of my lawn but we currently have a problem with someones tabby cat that's spraying on everything around the house and frankly it stinks.
Worse if we leave a window open it'll come into the house and spray inside and it's not like we don't want our windows open this weather. Ditto my workshop...

The few cats I have had/seen try and bury their poo so the ones you experience havnt been brought up proper?

[Ben@Forest]

My missus is in constant denial about how many things the cat kills and I suspect most owners are. They don't need to kill that many things to make a huge hole in the local ecology....

Not more than us of course. They are about to build a new retail park up the road, it will destroy hedges, a bit of woodland and some farmland which was generally under arable but could have been even more useful to wildlife when under a ley crop or pasture. That land will be lost to birds, small mammals, insects, soil dwelling creatures etc forever.

Essentially what we will do will be the effect of having 1,000 cats on it forever. It will be lost green space with maybe 1% of the previous biodiversity quality. It's hard to compare that to cats.

[Mick F]

I think cats will kill anything that moves given the chance, hungry or not

SOME cats .........................

Nellie isn't in the least bit interested in birds. She wants meat, and there's not much meat on a sparrow.
Rabbits are her favourite, and she could clear a whole litter of youngsters in a day or two, then move on to the next warren. The adults are too fast for her, but she still tries.

We had a ginger tom called Fizzy, and he was just as Nellie is, and would live on rabbit for the whole spring. Never bothered with birds as they are a waste of time and effort.

A real hunter wants easy prey for maximum benefit. Birds aren't in their sights at all. A real hunter doesn't want to play, they want to eat.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Cat’s bringing you birds is interesting. They are only doing it to ‘help’ you, because obviously you’re too crap to do it by yourself.