Fed up with cats

[RobinP]

Sorry if this turns out to be another cat hating thread but they are really starting to annoy me. My neighbour just brought round an undamaged baby Robin which his cat had brought in, I can't possibly look after it so I put it under a bush in the garden as it was calling out. Two minutes later our moggie grabbed it and despite me chasing after it ran off with it.

These pets get the best possible treatment, lovely comfortable beds and at least three meals a day so why do they have do hunt down defenceless wild creatures? Especially baby birds that can barely move let alone fly?

Sorry I am not a cat hater, in fact I love our two but as also a bird lover it really upsets me when they catch one, though at least the end is quick, unlike with rodents, slow worms etc.

Had to get that off my chest so aplologies if I've wasted anyone's time reading this.

[Steve_In_Cheshire]

I don`t mean to sound funny here but i just can`t understand people who like birds but then insist on having a cat which is one of the birds biggest predators, your asking for trouble if you own a cat and also encourage birds into your garden.

[captaincarot]

steve you have a point but some of us can't avoid ending up with cats.

i inherited 2 at the point i signed the marriage register.

i'd never get one of me own, but for some reason women seem to like em quite why i'll never know.

but you can hardly insist that some one gets rid of their new wifes cats,
so what would you suggest in this situation that they not feed the birds at all?

[kiltoncomp]

we must be lucky with our cat as i cant remember it ever catching a bird in the 11 years we have had it, but then it sleeps 90% of its time, spends another 8% eating and another 2% doing ---- but we wont mention that

[bobbarber]

Originally Posted by Steve_In_Cheshire

I don`t mean to sound funny here but i just can`t understand people who like birds but then insist on having a cat which is one of the birds biggest predators, your asking for trouble if you own a cat and also encourage birds into your garden.

I agree with you Steve, it`s been estimated by some that the 10,000,000 cats in the U.K. kill 50,000,000 birds and small mammals each year. To encourage birds into a garden where a cat is loose is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel. If the cats can`t be kept under control I would definitely stop feeding the birds...Bob

[BloomingMarvellous]

Some people really need to practice what they preach.

[christina]

Ok...gotta add my tuppence worth! I am a cat lover and have been all my life...tis only in the last three years that I've not had one. My last lady, who sadly died of cancer caused by pesticides/insectides getting into a cut on her paw (which incidentally was laid down by man), used to bring me birds...they were completely unharmed, perhaps a little shaken, but it was her way of letting me know that she did not want me to go away at the weekend (and leave the dreaded catsitter with her!). She never killed a bird or, in fact, the mice that she would bring in and allow to run around the house whilst she sat there looking at them...she ever brought in baby rabbits and just watched them. Not all cats kill birds...there are many people on this earth who kill birds for food, using large nets, there are many people (won't use the term "men") who keep birds in cages, there are many people who kill BoPs because "they kill their baby lambs etc"... Some cats do catch, kill and eat birds but don't tarnish all cats with the same brush.

Finished!

[hobble]

I have a 6 year old cat that does not chase birds.

[Steve_In_Cheshire]

Originally Posted by bobbarber

I agree with you Steve, it`s been estimated by some that the 10,000,000 cats in the U.K. kill 50,000,000 birds and small mammals each year. To encourage birds into a garden where a cat is loose is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel. If the cats can`t be kept under control I would definitely stop feeding the birds...Bob

Those are amazing stats, lets say a dog killed a cat and then not long after it killed another cat, it would be put down as a menace to society. Now if a cat kills a bird, then it kills another bird, nobody bats an eye as its just put down to a cats natural predator instinct, what about a dogs natural predator instinct ?

To me you have one or the other, you either enjoy birds in your garden minus a cat or you enjoy a cat and don`t attract birds to your garden because regardless of how lovely and cuddly you think your cat is they are natural predators, those people that have said that their cats have not killed any birds, how do you know its not attacked any birds ?

Your cuddly cat maybe attacking birds but rather than killing the bird its left it injured somehwere out of sight as birds will hide when they are injured, this is what a lot of cats do to birds rather than kill them outright. The bird maybe got away only for it to die somewhere else out of sight from its injuries.

I`m not saying every cat attacks birds, what i`m saying is they are natural predators and given the chance they will chase anything that moves like when you throw a small ball for it or get it to chase a ball of string etc. You may not know your cat is attacking but i`m sure they would if you were out of sight and their was an easy target.

[James M]

If you have enough time, I personally think the solution is to have a house cat if you're going to have a cat, plus this way they live much longer!