If you have a cat you have to stop it scaring and eating birds

For when the cats reversing?

My cat figured out the quick release on safety collars, if you put one on him it'll take him very little time to find the quick release and bite it until it opens. We then moved on to elastic safety collars but he eventually figured those out too.

We keep him mostly indoors and he has access to a balcony so he gets to watch the birds but they never come close enough for him to catch one.

We feed the birds so a wide variety visit our garden so I feel like we're doing our part for local wildlife.

Apparently they were brought over by the Romans so have been here a good few years. I would have thought by now that we have reached some sort of equilibrium with the number of birds killed.

My conscience is clear. My cat has always had a bell on her collar, can hardly be arsed to go outside and couldn't catch a bird if she tried due to being a bit on the lardy side 😁 she does hate birds though, its innate I think.

A lot of birds are killed by other birds.

I don't believe the 50 million figure for cats. Most cats are too well fed to be really good hunters, and they can't fly! If they do catch birds, they are going to be the ill and old ones anyway,

The frog wasn't eaten. He was left in the kitchen, alive, and we took him back to a pond.

edited for typo.

I went lateral. I haven't got a cat but I do have lots of birds on my feeder and hanging out in the bushes and trees in my garden, so I've asked them to be a bit more alert for things creeping up on them. I think they took notice, but it's hard to tell because they all flew off at the first sign of my approach.

I also asked them to keep down the chirrupping at four in the morning in the summer and the crapping on my washing, but I doubt they'll stick to that.

I have tried to explain to mine but she told me to F off.
Seriously though OP mine is old and catch catch anything these days but she and her sister used to. We put bells on them and only fed birds in areas they couldn't get to but short of keeping them in (which I don't agree with) there wasn't a lot I could do
We still have lots of birds around though, including some more unusual ones so I don't think they made much of a dent on them

Our vets don't recommend collars.

Our cats are now 6 - they don't really bother catching much nowadays - which I am grateful for.

Fwiw, my cat is an older lady so think she is slowing down.

When we lived in rural Lincolnshire, she did an amazing job at catching pests like rats and mice for our farmer neighbour/landlady.

Like it or not, cats provide an essential role. Without cats, we'd be out of luck and overran with rodents.

If by nature birds are too slow to escape a cat, well I'm afraid the feline is helping weed out the weak and slow

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Good luck with explaining anything to a cat lol, but yes, a collar with a bell can help. 😉

Millions of birds killed on the roads every year. I don't drive so I think I balance out the odd bird my cats bring home tbf.

Mumsnetters hate indoor cats, outdoor cats, cats and cat owners.

My parents are dog lovers, always big breeds. They’ve also killed birds aswell as voles, squirrels, hedgehogs, rabbits and fox cubs. There’s never threads about that 🤷‍♀️

Okay, OP.

I'll definitely bring it up in Any Other Business when I have my weekly meeting with my cats.

Mate, we can't even stop people owning child killing dog breeds.

Find it hard to believe cats eat frogs. I thought they tasted awful.

Cats are deeply philosophical, it's about the journey, not the destination.

Or maybe they're french.

The flippant ("I'll do what the fuck I like and sod you") responses show why we have a climate and ecological emergency.

And all the other wild animals that eat wildlife?
All the humans that eat meat? Most house cats don’t kill very much from my experience 😂 neutered toms are particularly lazy

@Quintette

Maybe he just eat gamma pigeons and the odd seagull? No one would mind that surely?

@Crunchymum no pasting here, I think indoor/outdoor is a totally contextual decision. It depends on the cat and the location. My senior girl could be an indoor cat, in the winter she mostly is, by her own choosing. She'll go for a quick check of the gardens when the sun appears, but that's enough for her. She doesn't hunt. I don't think she can. She's lovely, but not the sharpest tool in the shed. This little one is a proper cat though. She absolutely loves being outside, she's incredibly savvy, really capable, knows about cars, and unfortunately yes - she can hunt. She does wear a safety collar, and I don't let her out at dawn and dusk. This limits her success but it doesn't stop her completely. I don't think there is a way to stop her completely. If anyone has one I'm all ears.

Lol at training them to leave birds alone though. She doesn't take orders. Its all I can do to keep a collar on her, she considers it an offense against her person.

Find it hard to believe cats eat frogs. I thought they tasted awful.

My 14lb white Persian wore a collar with a bell, it made no difference.

None of us owners are thrilled about it either but a bell isn’t going to make a difference and can strangle our pets who we love like family members.

@ProvincialLady24 he says he’ll see what he can do, but he’s not making any promises.

He does point out that they’re irritating pecky little shits.

but tasty.

I think you may have misunderstood my post. I see people griping all the time about cats killing the poor little birdies. The less beloved creatures such as mice and rats, no one seems to care about. In fact it seems to be encouraged if someone has mice or rats in an area where they’re not wanted, the first suggestion is to get a cat. We either accept that they’re hunters or we don’t. I very much do. And it’s our fault they’re even here, too late to be pearl clutching imo.

Well done puss, good riddance to squirrels, they also eat eggs and fledglings (not too mention my fucking daffodil bulbs).