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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Cats everywhere!

360 replies

GoldfinchFeather · 25/06/2025 14:39

Since we have plenty of threads to moan about dogs and dog owners, how about a bit of balance and a thread for the same about cats?

I, for one, am not a fan of the things and think there are too many around. And sure, while the problems they cause may be less obvious than dogs/dog ownership, I personally think they're worse in many ways. Particularly for the terrible effect they have on local wildlife and birds in particular.

On numerous occasions I've had the misfortune to come across birds and animals that have clearly been attacked by cats. One distressing incident occurred just a few weeks ago - on an evening walk I came across a domestic cat that had just attacked a tiny baby wild rabbit. Despite shooing the cat off and it still being alive when I got to it, it didn't survive.

Seeing that made me just want to go and give the bloody thing a boot up the backside.

Yet many cat owners seem to find this behaviour either a mildly amusing part of their cat ownership ("you'll never guess what my Tiddles caught the other day!"), or have no qualms about letting their cats roam freely and slowly kill all wildlife within a several mile radius. When really, they should just be kept indoors.

And if they were, there'd be far less of them that were always going bloody missing or being stupid enough to get themselves run over on the road.

Surely I can't be alone in my hatred of cats?!

OP posts:
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Sahara123 · 25/06/2025 16:10

Esgaroth · 25/06/2025 15:29

Mr Tiddles can't believe what he's hearing.

I have a ginger Tom very much like yours, he’s gorgeous! And fairly useless at hunting, he thinks if
he hides behind a flower pot he’s the same colour so he’ll blend in ! Unlike his wily calico sister, she’s the smart one !

WitchesCauldron · 25/06/2025 16:09

ilovesooty · 25/06/2025 15:42

Little Tennyson caught a magpie yesterday and catches a lot of mice. He rarely leaves his own garden and when he does he doesn't go far. He's particular about the company he keeps. He doesn't care for the opinion of someone who thinks booting him up his backside is normal behaviour.

What a fine black panther he is !

Esgaroth · 25/06/2025 16:09

In all seriousness, I think you'd miss the rodent control if it wasn't there, OP. It's a real public service. Essential in agricultural areas but very useful in urban areas too.

I've had mice move in before (when I didn't have a cat and neither did any of my close neighbours) and it's a nightmare trying to get rid of them once they've established a nest and started breeding.

Dogs are brilliant too, especially the dogs that do a job. I think humans need dogs and cats and we're lucky to have them.

PierretheBear · 25/06/2025 16:08

Rabbits also cause significant damage to farmland, crops, and can make a significant impact on UK food production. They are an invasive introduced species.

DeedlessIndeed · 25/06/2025 16:08

I have 2 cats that I adore. I agree they can be awful for wildlife - one of ours hasn't ever caught anything and now she's going into her elder years I doubt she ever will.

Our other one does catch birds, along with mice and rats. It is horrible, I've put a bell on her collar but it only has limited effect. I feel awfully guilty about the birds. She has a bell on her collar, I don't feed the birds and I do try to shoo birds from landing or nesting in the garden.

However, if I ever get another cat it will be an indoor only breed.

ExercicenformedeZ · 25/06/2025 16:07

YABVU. Cats are superior to dogs in every way.

SockFluffInTheBath · 25/06/2025 16:07

Not a fan, I’m a dog person. My garden is full of birds, frogs, newts etc so I don’t want cats in my garden and do chase them out if I see them. When they pay my mortgage then they have the right to stay in my space, until then I’ll chase them off.

WitchesCauldron · 25/06/2025 16:06

GoldfinchFeather · 25/06/2025 15:14

Yes, for human consumption. As in, there's an actual purpose to it - whether you agree with it or not.

There is no purpose to allowing cats to kill that much wildlife, putting certain species (particularly ground nesting birds) at risk of extinction in future. Because they don't need to do it to survive, they're fed extremely well at home anyway.

You seriously can't be making a direct comparison between the two?!

She's absolutely right. Millions of animals are bred to simply be slaughtered never seeing the light of day. You can't bemoan cats doing what comes naturally when most of our supermarket meat is produced this way.

Tagyoureit · 25/06/2025 16:06

Theres certainly too many in my garden spraying all over the place! But now the fence has finally been fixed, I can hopefully ward them off somehow.

Certainly love a funny cat video though!!

123teenagerfood · 25/06/2025 16:06

Cats are the best. Dogs are everywhere, in shops, cafes, the school run, beaches, people want to bring them to your house, no thanks. Many are dangerous to humans, I've not heard of a cat killing a small child or ripping the face off its owner.

baklavagoddess · 25/06/2025 16:06

My 3 cats have never caught or killed anything, not sure they know they are even cats tbh

WitchesCauldron · 25/06/2025 16:04

GoldfinchFeather · 25/06/2025 14:56

Your sentence seems incomplete. Let me finish it for you:

"Cats are the best at killing wildlife and are responsible for killing an estimated 160-270 million animals annually in this country"

An absolute pest on society.

I can't agree- I love cats. All cats. Even the ones with no hair that look like a man's genitals.

Bigpaintinglittlepainting · 25/06/2025 16:02

I understand where you are coming from but unfortunately we are absolutely over run with wild rabbits, mice and rats and that's due to lack of predators.

It does seem that my cats love to kill rats and stuff on the floor like mice. Never seen a dead bird.

We had a terrible problem with rats, they piss everywhere and kill chickens, now I have cats that problem is gone.

LakieLady · 25/06/2025 16:02

MugPlate · 25/06/2025 14:59

Neighbour’s cat has eradicated a nest of rats.

Very useful and no poison involved. Eco.

One of my lakeland terriers was an excellent ratter. Her record was 7 in 10 days. She'd just grab them and shake them and after 2 or 3 shakes, they were a gonner.

I've never seen any sign of a rat since her reign of terror.

Simbaonedaythiswillallbeyours · 25/06/2025 16:00

Una takes your point but doesn't give a shit.

Dogs and their owners are more of a problem. Dog shit on paths or hanging in bags in bushes, letting them jump up or approach well, anyone. Lack of recall and taking them into restaurants and don't get me started on 'emotional support' dogs that aren't officially trained. No Sally, thats just a vest you bought off Amazon, now get your dog off my food counter!

My cats keep the mice in my garden and the rats from next door filth pit at bay.

Cats everywhere!
GoldfinchFeather · 25/06/2025 16:00

Icecreamhelps · 25/06/2025 15:59

@GoldfinchFeather Just admit you're wrong.

No, I'm not wrong for hating cats. I'm perfectly entitled to my opinion, thank you very much.

OP posts:
Icecreamhelps · 25/06/2025 15:59

@GoldfinchFeather Just admit you're wrong.

GoldfinchFeather · 25/06/2025 15:59

No3392 · 25/06/2025 15:57

Honestly, op you're coming over very hostile and aggressive.

I'm sorry. But when people can't tell the difference between feeling something and acting upon it, it's easy to get frustrated!

OP posts:
ghostyslovesheets · 25/06/2025 15:59

So if I train my cats to kill only grey squirrels, mice and rats, injured rabbits and I shoot foxes who kill chickens I’m all good

they only kill mice at the moment so they need to be more

Niftyowl · 25/06/2025 15:58

my 2 cats are loved by our farmer who lives behind us because they happily go into his field with sheep and lambs that are for and kill any rats and mice lurking about in his barns and fields 🤷🏼‍♀️ they’ve never caught birds as they aren’t fast enough but do like to bring home the mice and rats they catch on the daily.

they are referred to as employees of the farm 🤷🏼‍♀️

FuzzyPuffling · 25/06/2025 15:57

This.

Cats everywhere!
No3392 · 25/06/2025 15:57

Honestly, op you're coming over very hostile and aggressive.

dogcatkitten · 25/06/2025 15:57

GoldfinchFeather · 25/06/2025 15:40

Because one belongs to be there, the other is a man-made problem.

Which one is a man made problem? Rabbits were introduced into the UK by the Romans and have been a pest ever since they escaped from the warrens where they were kept purely for breeding for food. There have been wild cats in the UK pretty much forever, other cats arrived by ship, cats have pretty much always been used to keep down vermin, think grain stores in Egypt for instance.

GoldfinchFeather · 25/06/2025 15:55

SilenceLover · 25/06/2025 15:49

So what about animals hit by cars? Does this give you the same ‘white hot rage’, or is it specific to cats?

Are you seriously asking whether I feel the same anger between something that is usually an accident compared to something that isn't?

OP posts:
scalt · 25/06/2025 15:55

Was it you who advised the government that they might have “needed” to kill everybody’s cats in 2020? They hope we’ve forgotten that.

They would have had to have killed me first.