Should i stop feeding the birds in this situation ?

[stigofthedump]

Feed it…Good quality cat food Now that would be rubbing salt in!
Sorry Valley Forge, whilst your reasoning might well be logical, I for one would find this approach somewhat demeaning.
I could just imagine poor Steve going around a supermarket looking for suitable cat food. I wonder what curses would be troubling his mind!


Vince

[Madelinew]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

Cat apologists are keeping their heads down so far. With a thread like this they soon leap in to attempt to defend the indefensible!

Jim

Funny thought I'd made it clear I AM a cat owner.

[Madelinew]

Originally Posted by Steve_In_Cheshire

valley forge


You see hardly any with bells on their collars either, i bet the majority of cats don`t have them as ive never heard jangle jangle once from a cat bell.

That's because they are a waste of time. If they worked, my own cats would have collars with bells on them. Cats have the ability to move so stealthily that they learn very quickly how to do this without making the bell ring. Bells attached to the small perimeter fence I set up round my bird feeding area however DID work.

[davejg]

Super soaker & very cold water, bet you dont see it after a couple of hits, it will find somewhere else to play.

[Steve_In_Cheshire]

Since moving the bird table into the middle of the garden earlier its been full of finches so it hasn`t put the birds off, even our pair of cheeky magpies have been inside the bird table to get some sultanas.

Ive put some orange peel in the places where the cat has been hiding as i read that cats don`t like citrus fruit, i also squeezed some juice over the fence panels and put a bit of peel on top in a couple of places.

The little critter hasn`t been around since i chased him off this morning but that will be mainly down to the weather as its been hammering it down with rain all day.

I`ll just see how it goes.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Madelinew

That's because they are a waste of time. If they worked, my own cats would have collars with bells on them. Cats have the ability to move so stealthily that they learn very quickly how to do this without making the bell ring. Bells attached to the small perimeter fence I set up round my bird feeding area however DID work.

I normally keep out of these dog eat dog or should say cat eat cat situations ..
But must must say you have got some very good tips there Madeline more sensible than the usual "for and against cats" your doing something constructive and if the anti cat brigade listen to what your saying then maybe they can save a few lives too..

I have a dog who keeps my garden cat free..

[wizzo]

That's the same argument the pro-Fox hunting brigade use Jim, every time that chickens are killed. You can't blame the cats but you can ask the cat owners for their cooperation. I have known of cats that were deliberately targeted and killed by Lurchers etc because of this. I can't imagine anyone would condone such action in a forum like this?

[Madelinew]

Thanks Kayleigh I did like the suggestion someone made earlier about a motion sensor water spray. Mind you you'd have to be careful the poor old birds didn't trigger it.

And I do agree that there are some very irresponsible cat owners out there. Mine are not allowed out at night. And I've worked hard to protect the birds in my garden as much as possible from them. A friend of mine recently got a kitten from her brother who lives under the misapprehension that it is somehow unfair to prevent a cat from having kittens. I pointed friend in the direction of the Cats Protection League who were offering free neutering but she didn't go and guess what happened. I was fuming. There are far too many cats around. When my ancient old biddy died last year, I got 2 rescue adult cats from the CPL. Said CPL is absolutely overrun at the moment with kittens.

[rangersarah2]

I'm resenting cat owners being call irresponsible. Cats provide a lot of love and companionship, but do like to go out - they can get bored and unhappy otherwise. I have had a lot of cats, all with varying hunting skills.

That said, I don't like them catching birds etc any more than the rest of you. I used to have a cat that was a brilliant hunter like the original post. Bells didn't work because cats can learn how to hunt without them ringing - even if they have three. There is a collar on the market that bleeps when the cat pounces. The cat can't stop it bleeping because it has to make the same movement when it pounces. I used it on my psychocat, and he never caught a fully fledged bird again. Sadly, there is nothing to prevent it from getting fledgelings.

I would suggest asking around about the owners and asking them to put one of the collars on their cat. If it is already wearing a collar they probably wouldn't mind. Not sure how much they cost now, but they were £10, but £10 well spent in my opinion.

[Kayleigh]

Dogs have to wear a collar by law with the owners contact details on why don't cats have to with bleeping collars.
Not all cat and dog owners are responsible its good if you choose to own a cat you try your best to reduce the casualties.