Cats everywhere!

The "animals" doing the most damage to birds are humans if we didn't fuck up their habitat and food supplies cats could go at them all day and not make much of a dent in the not so distant past we had

Domestic pigeons not wild
Gulls were mostly seagulls not land gulls

How much of a knock on effect has the increase in the bigger birds gave do you think? I have the benefit of memory my grandparents lived in the road behind where I currently live forty years ago it was full FULL of small birds great flocks of swifts on the phone wires making them bend everyone had cats or dogs forty years later hardly any cats loads of dogs many more houses massive reduction in small birds we have pigeons and gulls magpies and other big birds and a big rat and mouse problem

I couldn't disagree more.

I have a hidden disability and adopting my cats has done more for my recovery and general wellbeing than any medication or therapy I've ever tried. When I walk in from work they greet me at the door purring (and no, it's not because they're hungry, DH feeds them before I get back) and they are very affectionate with us. I'm currently recovering from surgery so have been off work and in bed a lot, and they have barely left my side since I got home from hospital.

I also have two DC with SEN who find the presence of the cats extremely calming and therapeutic. When DD has a meltdown she is always exhausted afterwards and just lies face down on her bed for about an hour. Without fail, one or both of the cats will go and cuddle up to her

To my family, they are the very opposite of "useless".

I tawt I taw a puddy tat, I did I did!

Since when do a large proportion of dog owners pay attention to anything that requires them to keep their dogs on a lead.

You are wrong and it’s disturbing to hear someone talk about wanting to kick an animal.

I'm assuming your a rat/mouse person

I agree on the wildlife point but at least you aren’t inundated with cats everywhere you go. Also cats don’t need walks and can spend all day alone . They are clearly superior creatures!

I am a dog lover rather than a cat lover . Always have, always will.

That said, I don't dislike cats and wouldn't wish harm on any !

Your point about wildlife is extremely valid . My parents have a dog and where they exercise him (near a river ) there are signs about water voles nesting on the river bank and dogs to be kept on leads so as not to disturb them.
A guy whose garden backs on to the river pointed out that it is in fact the cats that disturb / kill them !

Dog owners - easy targets ?

If people started neutering their cats instead of letting them roam about unneutered then the feral cat population might actual start to decline instead of the insane amounts of colonies and cat being born on the streets. That one you saw may actually have been a feral and is just trying to survive. So far just one little rescue I follow has neutered 300 cats this year that’s basically 2 a day these are majority street cats and kittens born to them!

I only recently found out my mum had a cat as a kid - 85 years later - this as they didn’t have it as a pet but as a pest control agent, as was common. Farms still have them. So we should have used them for this, then stopped the rise of the cat?
It is sad when they torment and kill a small animal - but better than a small child, which they don’t do.
No, they’re not trained but some dog owners do train their dogs to kill small animals - lamping is still a ‘thing’ - fortunately they can’t use cats.
I think there are bigger problems facing the local wildlife than the local cat but maybe when all else is resolved we can think about stopping cats - and let the mice, rats roam far and wide as well as the birds. Nature has its own chain for balance and predators are part of that tbh though not pesticides and other man made issues.
It’s ok to not like cats (though weird to me!) but not ok to want to hurt an animal for following its instincts- do you want to hurt the fox who steals the eggs? The hawk that takes the baby rabbits?
I think there will be more sanctions against dogs/dog owners before cats and then everyone will realise cats rule and it’s cats’ rules!

I also heard that, @holidayinuk. Pope Gregory IX ( I think) told the faithful to eradicate black cats, people took this as licence to kill any cats and a hundred years later the rat population was out of control in Europe and the plague was spread by them. Moral - leave the cats alone.

in brief I heard this recently - The plague could have been reduced or even prevented by cat ownership… Women who kept cats to keep down the mice and rat populations were often called witches and some were burnt at the stake - as a consequence ownership of cats went down and the rat population rapidly increased spreading the plague. Of the animals that cats catch it’s a lot of mice. Though on the extremely rare occasion my cat brings in a mouse I often can catch it and release it.

Just here for the cat photos. 😍 Keep them coming.

I like dogs as well and all others animals. Humans are the issue.

I have been seriously misled by cat owners. When i agreed to cat sit for my friend i imagined cosy evenings with a coffee and a good book and a cat sitting purring on my lap. Her cat totally ignored me for 4 days despite the fact that i was feedling her !

Totally unreasonable.

I adore my cat, and all cats, they’re all much nicer than humans. My cat is strictly indoor, but if I saw you kicking a cat I’d report you to the SSPCA and the police.

No need to abuse a defenceless animal

That's a shame. The spiders speak very highly of you lol !

Our local prison has a terrible rat problem, apparently worse since they got rid of the cats who used to keep them at bay.

I have two cats myself, they're ace.

Then you’re a good cat owner and I would like your cat 🤝

theyoungishman · Today 14:45
Cats are the best
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.

And they crap in my garden.
My neighbour was most upset when I told her that next time my pal's dog comes for his holidays I will be sending him into her garden for a dump.

I would much rather a cat killing vermin that some bloody dog off the lead who's owner thinks it's cute that it is slobbering all over you.
Also when they are on leads the are those extendable ones which are a hazard to pedestrians.
Also, people with dogs have bad smelling houses and cars.

Jealous! I never got one.

Is 40-something to old for wizard school, do you think?

What did Chris Packham do to change the law @user1471505494 ? We have magpies everywhere, even nesting in our garden. They slaughter the thrush chicks in the nests in the tall trees nearby, there was a healthy colony of thrushes a few years ago and now hardly any.

Be angry at humans op, instead of cats.

There have always been wild cats in the UK so cats are indigenous, other types of cats did arrive by ship, the ship's cat(s) were there to kill vermin so the food was edible for the crew, they served an important purpose.

Red kites only eat big dead things like lambs (ie, they are not responsible for killing lambs, which they get accused of) they will take rodents and other birds when they are alive or road kill.

Oh, and another thought. When I'm out riding a horse on a bridle path (right of way) or on common ground, I've never had to shout "get your cat under control/put your cat on a lead, get your snarling cat away from the horse, oh no there's a cat".... just saying! I've been riding when a dog has attacked - not nice and could've ended up worse than it did.