Page 19 | If you have a cat you have to stop it scaring and eating birds

lasagnelle · 2024-11-10T16:10:28+00:00

Get a bell collar or something. Give the wildlife a chance. Can you train cats to leave birds alone?

Unluckycat1 · 10/11/2024 16:41

I don't know why I clicked on this thread, I find the attitude of the lolz I'll-have-a-word-with-my-cat owners depressing. The best thing to do is not get a cat. Otherwise give them a collar with several bells on so they can't find a way of avoiding making them ring out a warning. Keep them in for a couple of days if you see fledglings in your or your neighbours gardens. Take responsibility for your choice of pet basically. Of course cats decimate birds in non natural numbers, we have destroyed bird habitat on mass and got loads of pets. There's nothing natural about the predator prey balance.

ArticWillow · 10/11/2024 16:41

@lasagnelle maybe you have more luck creating a petition for Parliament to make roaming cats illegal.
MN cat owners are notoriously ignorant when it comes to their pets = 🙈🙉🙊!

JawsCushion · 10/11/2024 16:39

Just remembered, mind mine once caught a squirrel and brought in a slow worm snake thing and another time a frog.

K0OLA1D · 10/11/2024 16:38

Some do some don't. If they don't want a collar on it won't take them long sod it off. Unless you want to keep them in there isn't really anything you can do

Lifeglowup · 10/11/2024 16:37

Quintette · 10/11/2024 16:11

I’ll have a word with mine, explain the problem. See what he says.

🤣

FloralGums · 10/11/2024 16:37

Consider a carnivorous pet’s impact on the climate emergency too.
phys.org/news/2021-03-carbon-pawprint-friend-planet-enemy.html

Herewegoago · 10/11/2024 16:37

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 10/11/2024 16:34

Do you mind lions killing gazelles? Foxes killing rabbits? Birds eating worms? It's what animals do. Even the RSPB says that cats do not have a significant effect on bird numbers.

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Not at all, I understand the circles of life even if I don’t like them. Nature is vicious, it isn’t up to us to interfere.

RadioBamboo · 10/11/2024 16:36

Suggested alternative for conscience-stricken cat owners - do things to help replenish the bird population by a similar number to those eaten by naughty Tiddles. A bit like trying to achieve carbon neutrality by continuing to burn fossil fuels, but planting some trees to compensate.

shellyleppard · 10/11/2024 16:36

@lasagnelle maybe get a cat yourself and try and train it..... please do update us with the results!!!! 🫤🤣

MarketValveForks · 10/11/2024 16:36

Cats contribute to the health of the bird population as lions contribute to the health of the zebra population and tigers contribute to the health of the Gazelle population. Only the weak and sick get caught, most birds stay well out of reach.

PeskyPotato · 10/11/2024 16:36

I just want to burst into song "it's the cirrrrrrrrrrrrrcle of life"

Cats be catting. They have for generations and will continue for generations.

Original poster

lasagnelle · 10/11/2024 16:34

RadioBamboo · 10/11/2024 16:33

Would this ever work? Modus operandi seems to be to hide stock-still under a bush next to the lawn, wait patiently for bird to land within a metre or two, pounce. I can't see that a bell would make any difference.

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Maybe some kind of electronic noise maker. Like they put in electric cars

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AllProperTeaIsTheft · 10/11/2024 16:34

Herewegoago · 10/11/2024 16:17

Funny isn’t it, no one really seems to mind them killing these creatures…

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Do you mind lions killing gazelles? Foxes killing rabbits? Birds eating worms? It's what animals do. Even the RSPB says that cats do not have a significant effect on bird numbers.

RadioBamboo · 10/11/2024 16:33

Ascanonthr · 10/11/2024 16:14

I hate that cats kill so much wildlife, yes put a bell on it.

Would this ever work? Modus operandi seems to be to hide stock-still under a bush next to the lawn, wait patiently for bird to land within a metre or two, pounce. I can't see that a bell would make any difference.

Iamacatslave · 10/11/2024 16:32

@Tophelleborine behave.

Original poster

lasagnelle · 10/11/2024 16:32

Crunchymum · 10/11/2024 16:20

Mine are indoor cats.

I now expect an absolute pasting for that!!

No no that's good the article I linked suggested indoor cats. Why would anyone paste you. Some cats can't go outside

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coffeesaveslives · 10/11/2024 16:31

Bells make no different - if anything, it just makes them even stealthier.

All three of mine go out but only one is a hunter - normally rats/mice but he's also caught two pigeons and a sparrow in the past.

Original poster

lasagnelle · 10/11/2024 16:31

Tophelleborine · 10/11/2024 16:22

Cat owners are generally really selfish. They don't think it's a problem when their cats shit all over other people's gardens either.

I'm not really sure what can be done about cat poo

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Original poster

lasagnelle · 10/11/2024 16:30

shellyleppard · 10/11/2024 16:23

@lasagnelle you can't train cats to not hunt....its in their DNA!!!! What a totally goady post

You can put bells on them. As someone else suggested you can keep them in during certain times of the year. I don't know what you can and can't train a cat to do, I don't have one!

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FloralGums · 10/11/2024 16:30

And if you have a dog, don’t use flea treatments.
www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/17/pet-flea-treatments-poisoning-rivers-across-england-scientists-find

SleepingisanArt · 10/11/2024 16:29

1st cat we had was a prolific hunter and the bell didn't make a difference at all. Unfortunately he was killed (by a child with a pellet gun). The 2nd and 3rd cats (moved in at the same time) didn't chase anything bigger than a daddy-long-legs and once in their 20s didn't even bother them. Current cat occasionally chases a pigeon but as he's 18 and has arthritis he's never going to catch one. Not interested in chasing anything else at all - he said 'why should I? I have servants to prepare my meals and I don't believe in tipping!'

Original poster

lasagnelle · 10/11/2024 16:29

Waterboatlass · 10/11/2024 16:21

I don't think it's a joking matter even if there's no perfect solution. I love cats and wildlife.

I have 2 cats and they both have collars and bells. They seem to stay on, from paw some couture. Clip, not buckle so apparently safe.

The advice I've been given and will been sticking to even if our name is mud among the cats is to keep them in at the height of nesting season for a few weeks.

Sensible.

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HauntedBungalow · 10/11/2024 16:28

Juicy breasts??!

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lasagnelle · 10/11/2024 16:28

sweeneytoddsrazor · 10/11/2024 16:20

Are we to stop Lions killing Zebra?
Crocodiles lining up for the annual wildebeest migration, penguins swiping fish, or humans slaughtering animals

Cats are bred in large numbers. Lions aren't.

And humans slaughtering animals is a whole other thread I won't go into here 😬

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Original poster

lasagnelle · 10/11/2024 16:26

JawsCushion · 10/11/2024 16:19

My cat has as many bells on her collar as I can get on it. Her brother takes his collars off. What the heck do you expect me to do?

If it makes you feel better I say sorry to any bird I have to clean up and stopped feeding them so they weren't bait. They still kept coming for a really long time looking for food. Broke my heart. Mostly it is mice I'm presented with. That ok?

You're making the effort

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