To ask why cats roaming is acceptable?

[PengAly]

Just want to hear opinions on this. Firstly i should be honest, i am a dog person, 100% love dogs and i really dont understand how people like cats (seems like they are a tad selfish of a pet) but i am an animal lover so obviously wish no harm to any cat and will play with one given the opportunity. This is JUST my opinion. But back to my original question...

Why does it seem universally accepted that cats can roam on other peoples properties and poop in the garden- even digging up flowers?! Now Im certain mainy people would get up in arms if a dog on a lead stepped one paw on their front garden or god forbid came within 3 feet of them or their child(I've seen many dog hating threads on MN) yet cat owners get a free pass for their cats doing as they please?

Im honestly not trying to start an argument i just dont understand it

They also do a lot of damage and o wildlife that way. They were a huge problem where I grew up and very endangering native species.

I’m afraid this is just part and parcel of living in A well populated community. There are many irritations that come with having neighbours which most of us will experience at one time or another - loud noises, inconsiderate parking, shitting cats ...

Also, for all you know your neighbour might have a phobia of dogs or be intolerant to barking, and will be similarly up in arms when you get your new dog...

@augusta you think that regular maimings often resulting in deaths is a reasonable price to pay?

I witnessed a cat killed by two dogs recently. Poor thing was torn in two. Was horrific. While I may not be a cat person I hate what happened to the poor one on my street. Two whippets were being walked and playing on the green where dogs walk and clocked the cat in the bushes outside my house.

Cat owner was (understandably) livid and upset, dog owner not so much. She tried stopping the attack but the whippets were so quick. Horrible horrible horrible thing to see :(

Police were called by cat owner who said they don't deal with dogs killing cats it's a council issue, council said they only deal with strays, at the time someone posted about it on the villages Facebook page and cat owner said the dogs should be put to sleep because they are dangerous, someone pointed out that a whippets prey driven instinct will have kicked in and that her cat had killed plenty of birds and even a pigeon and dumped on their step, does she agree her cat should have then put to sleep. She said it's different but when asked how she couldn't answer and the thread fizzled out. I'm surprised similar hasn't happened a lot because there's a few people who let their dogs roam at night here as well as the cats. I hate walking out of my own door with my dog in case one of the neighbours growling little shits comes running out of the bushes.

Everyone I know who has cats keep them inside, a family member has very expensive bald looking things that he won't let out, mil keeps hers indoor through anxiety after previous one was hit by a car, sil keeps hers in for same reason. A few of them have something like this built for them so they still get to play outside.

I'm on the fence. I don't think people should be forced to clean up anybody else's pet's shit but don't know enough about cats to say keeping them indoors all the time is healthy for them.

you think that regular maimings often resulting in deaths is a reasonable price to pay?

As unpleasant as it is there are many things that regularly result in human deaths that mankind would appear to accept as a reasonable price to pay.

Cars, pollution, electricity, production of technology and clothes in dangerous places to work, DIY, stress, free availability of alcohol, to list just a few.

@bollockingbaubles - were the dogs on a lead?

My old dog did kill two cats, both of them on my property. While I feel bad I can't do more than keep my dogs on a lead or on my own property. If a cat had of run under my dogs nose when we were out walking (she has passed now) she would have nabbed it for sure but not sure what you would want someone to do to prevent that?

On the other hand if the dogs were off lead and not under effective voice control then that is another thing altogether.

My cats shit in my garden.

We have 5 cats and have always asked our neighbours to tell us if any of them are a nuisance or cause damage.

Ditto (although I have 3, not 5!).

I've even offered to buy one neighbour a water pistol (she declined, as her kids already had some for her to borrow!). My cats now give her garden a wide berth, as she has discouraged them with my approval/assistance.

I would caution people over thinking that cats aren't as vicious as dogs... They may not be as capable of killing a human, but they can certainly do some serious damage. My arm is scarred for life from an unprovoked cat attack after moving into a new house and trying to 'make friends' with a feline garden visitor... The culprit displayed friendly body language and then turned on me in a split second... I never touched it again and ended up treating this cat with more wariness than any dog I've ever met and had to give myself a stern talking to in order to walk past it with fake confidence instead of turning around.

We always rehome rescue dogs or cats -the ones no other person wants because they aren’t cute puppies or kittens- the puppy/kitten industry is a disgrace in my opinion-as a person who tries to help mistreated a animals!

I'm a cat lover. I like dogs too. I own two very affectionate indoor cats. They don't leave the house so don't cause anyone any harm, and they won't be harmed by traffic or other dangers.

Cat owners can't win though. If you keep them indoors, people say you're being cruel and they need to roam. If you let them roam, people complain about garden toileting and danger to wildlife. So I guess we shouldn't keep them at all? (In before a dog lover agrees).

By the way, I see a hell of a lot more cat hate than dog hate. 'Cats are evil, mean' etc.

By the way, I see a hell of a lot more cat hate than dog hate. 'Cats are evil, mean' etc.

Interesting. I wonder if it's to do with the animal you are most interested in. I am more interested in dogs so tend to click on threads that mention them - hence see much more dog hate (weekly anti dog threads was not an exaggeration) and perhaps am totally ignorant of any cat hate just because I don't click on those links. Vice Versa might also be true.

"But my point was cats CAN injure people. PPs said they dont but thats not true"

Never in my life have I ever heard of a pet cat turning crazy and attacking someone un provoked whilst roaming. If this has ever happened, it would be a very rare occasion and not anything to be concerned about.

Also- part of having a garden means that wildlife and roaming cats may enter, it's just part of life. No biggie

@ErrolTheDragon
People have died from septicaemia caused by cat scratches. And then there's toxoplasmosis...

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll
Aside from the fact that cats CAN cause people physical harm (toxoplasmosis, anybody?),

@StoppinBy
I not own a cat and do not want o pick up after someone else's or get toxoplasmosis from someone else's cat either.

Ahhh, that old chestnut.
You're MANY times more likely to get toxoplasmosis from handling or eating raw/undercooked meat or shellfish.
You can't get toxoplasmosis from touching a cat. You would need to ingest cat faeces - not just handle, but eat. So just don't lick your hands after cleaning the litter box before washing them

@Oswin
How common is toxoplasmosis? I had never heard of it till I was pregnant.

It's common but about as harmful to non-pregnant people as a common cold.

OP states they aren't trying to start an argument, however they have started an argument.

Don't worry, cats won't come near your garden if you have a dog so you don't need to worry about "accidents" of that kind.

I don't believe cats ruin gardens. How? And what about other animals which come and shit in the garden - foxes, rabbits, mice, hedgehogs, birds? Moles and rats are probably more disruptive to a garden than cats are.

I don't think it's antisocial that they walk around. So do lots of animals and nobody even owns them.

Toxoplasmosis comes from mice. Cats only carry it if they hunt. You get it from soil not only from cat poo but from mouse poo too - and you can't avoid mouse poo as you wouldn't distinguish it from soil.

My arm is scarred for life from an unprovoked cat attack

Four posts later...

Never in my life have I ever heard of a pet cat turning crazy and attacking someone un provoked

Selfish? Talk about generalising our cat is the most affectionate animal ever, he greets us when we come home and loves our 8 month old, he's such a big softy.

He's also very intelligent and amazes us sometimes.

He's an indoor cat but that's mainly for his safety... I actually don't understand people that don't like them, I think you have to be a miserable bastard not to...

There's a reason why the Egyptians worshipped cats and not dogs

@tildaMa - yep, you are correct, you get it from ingesting infected faeces.....( particularly a problem if you are pregnant as it can kill/maim the baby)…. guess what I do with the vegies I grow in my garden.

If a cat poops in my vegie garden there are faeces in my soil, things like root crops, lettuces, onions etc have a great deal of contact with the soil...not sure why it's unreasonable to not want some cat pooping on there?

My cats are the softest, gentlest creatures ever. They don't go out because both of them have been house cats from birth and have never shown any real interest in wandering. They are pedigrees though and are two breeds that are known for adapting to being house cats. I would never let my cats out anymore. There is so much irrational cat hatred around it is quite alarming. I have to say that anyone who put antifreeze out to kill cats would be lucky not to have it poured down their own throat if I caught them.

My cats are cuddly and loving, they are the perfect pets that curl up nearby or on my lap all day and who would rather be near my husband and myself than anywhere else. I have no problem with dogs but I remember when dogs used to be allowed to shit everywhere, I used to live behind a lane that was often referred to as 'dog shit alley' in the 1980s, it often stank. I often think half the rage about cats comes from dog owners who now feel outraged they have to pick up their own dog's shit.

Dogs can be very antisocial too if their owners are antisocial, I personally find barking really annoying and I was once chased by a dog as a child but I accept people have pets and just get on with it. Birds constantly shit all over my car but I don't think they should be rounded up and put in aviaries!

Completely agree Uptown... Too much irrational cat hatred about, I actually find it quite weird and disturbing.

Humans domesticated dogs. From wolves. They were a potentially deadly wild animal, until we tamed them. Dogs have been very useful working animals and companions since, but their origins are fundamentally as a animal that needs control.

Cats and humans just kind of came to live alongside one another in a symbiotic way. When we started practising agriculture, and created grain stores, we had a problem with the vermin who were attracted to the grain. However, cats were attracted to the vermin, and we liked the fact the cats kept the vermin under control. So the relationship is more about two species who live alongside one another for mutual benefit.

But MerryBear the view that humans domesticated dogs is now considered wrong and evidence is pointing to dogs self domesticating in a similar way to cats - though more to do with a rubbish heap that builds up once humans settle in one place than vermin.

Keeping a wolf to help hunt is not especially viable - they require a huge amount of calories themselves and cannot hunt until mature, meaning the human would have to invest over 1 million kcal before the animal is useful. Not great rate of return.

The likelihood is that dogs self domesticated to a large extent - scavenging and growing smaller in size etc long before humans started to see them as useful. Humans then tweaked the work that had already begun.

@StoppinBy
yep, you are correct, you get it from ingesting infected faeces.....( particularly a problem if you are pregnant as it can kill/maim the baby)…. guess what I do with the vegies I grow in my garden.

I'd assume you wash them first but maybe that's too much to ask for?

*If a cat poops in my vegie garden there are faeces in my soil, things like root crops, lettuces, onions etc have a great deal of contact with the soil...not sure why it's unreasonable to not want some cat pooping on there

As BertieBotts mentioned above, it's mostly mouse poo anyway, what do you do about that?

Please stop blaming cats.

BertieBotts

Wild animals are just that - wild. Nobody has any control over them. You may not think it’s antisocial that cats walk around because ‘ lots of animals do and no one even owns them ‘ but that’s the whole point - someone does own a cat and therefore that cat is someone’s responsibility. Just in the same way my dog is my responsibility. So my dogs poo is responsibly collected and I don’t let her kill any wildlife - so why shouldn’t cat owners have the same level of responsibility over there pets??

oliveSeaTurtle
You might think it’s ‘ no biggie’ that having a garden means that people should just accept cats digging up their boarders, curling a stinky poo out and leaving the non cat owner to clean it up - but most people would disagree with you .

Yidette I haven’t read much ‘irrational cat hatred’ on this thread. Mainly irritated people who feel that cat owners should have a modicum of responsibility over their animals and not allow them to roam at Will, killing wildlife for fun and crapping in other peoples gardens. I haven’t read of anybody saying they hate cats and wish harm on them -vsimply that owners kept the cat inside their own home !