To really not understand why people are OK with cats

[Duvetstay]

Full disclosure, I'm allergic to cats and also very much a dog person but I really don't understand how it's acceptable for cats to go round decimating local wildlife and crapping in gardens.

I've lost count of how many times I've had to pick cat poo off the lawn and my daughter came in yesterday with cat sick all over her feet as a local moggie had vommed on our patio. I'm sick of it. It's a health hazard and you shouldn't have to wear a hazmat suit to go in your own garden.

We have tadpoles outside which are about to froglet and I've just seen a fat cat with its head in the water. I'm fuming, a few of the tadpoles are injured and this is the same cat I had to get off a terrified bird last week.

I'm not remotely sentimental about nature, if a hungry creature kills another then that's how life works. However I cannot understand how people can let these cats out knowing that they're injuring animals for no reason and causing health hazards to other people in their own home.

I couldn't take my dog for a shit in your garden so why can your cat do that in mine? They're not even natural predators as they just trot home to get their whiskers.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND!

I've had a cat in the past, now have a dog. While I'm more of a dog person, I like cats too. I think they're an excellent pet for people who are working, as they can be left alone all day and especially if you have a garden and a flap there is minimal day to day care. They're easy to housetrain, you don't have to walk them or entertain them, and unless they've got long hair they don't need grooming.

Post read whilst being woken up at 6am by my cat nudging my arm for a stroke. She is laid quite happily half on me in bed while I massage her neck, nudging again if I stop.
When she's had enough she will give me a nip ! But I still love her .

I don’t get your point @Winesalot you seem to be pinpointing cats when other species are equally decimating wildlife but cats are more to blame?

Cats are fine, but they need to be kept in where they cannot kill wildlife
Birds
frogs
Slow worms - endangered
Crap all over my borders

We have just got a baby dog and hopefully this will deter the beasts

Plus the right to roam law isnt applicable to cats. 😂

Dogs have been bred to stay with their family for hundreds of years, having been given jobs that require them not to roam. Those with a strong desire to roam have tended to get lost/die and not contributed to the pet gene pool.

I see your point but the vast, vast majority of dogs in the world do roam. The 'pet at home' variety of canis familaris is, by far, the minority. And increasingly these roaming dogs are adding to the global gene pool as dogs are moved around the world.

www.inbrief.co.uk/animal-law/cats-fouling/

Cats do have a legal right to roam.

MamaKarmaLlama . I am not sure why you believe I am blaming cats more than any other animal that might be loose to do damage. Any any animal that has an owner shouldn’t be harming wildlife. I believe that dog owners tend to keep their dogs in their home or yard and will therefore know and see what their pet has done. As do owners of livestock. Happy to be proven wrong in this assumption though.

My neighbour, however, keeps pointing out their cat has a right to roam and they will not take responsibility for its actions. No dogs have come into my garden at all.

And yes, since the 1970s in England at least, cats have the legal ‘right to roam’.

Another reason I don't have an outside cat is that humans are awful, my friend is a police officer and she said the worst case she ever had to deal with was a cat who had a firework shoved up its bum and set off for a laugh, the cat had died blown open and they left its corpse in the street.

That cats owner probably just thought the cat was missing and had run away.

Dogs come into my garden. They shit outside my house, they chase my chickens. One dog bit my child in the face. Don’t have a vendetta towards dogs. Don’t hate dogs....but if we are having a conversation about why cats are shitty let’s just admit dogs can be shitty too.

And if it’s the law that cats have a right to roam, that’s the law. Even the rspca won’t home to folk who keep their cats locked up indoors because it’s cruel.

My neighbour (not next door but across a corner) has two dobermans and a bulldog, they are completely out of control and the owners let them run around the street, don't bother calling them back, and they work in a pack. They have chased children and cats, they run into people's gardens and houses, and the owners don't care at all. It's hell. Obviously not all owners are like this but I don't think dog owners can claim a moral high ground saying that "all cat owners" are whatever. Some cat owners are irresponsible just like some dog owners are. But I know which one I'd rather have in my garden. No cat has ever genuinely made me afraid.

@leckford er.. no they do not need to be kept in .
And do you mean a puppy? Baby dog is such a weird term

You just need to cat-proof your garden OP. Make it difficult/impossible for them to get in, eg block up any gaps and add a layer of blunt spikes to fences/walls. Spray cats with water from a squirty bottle or hiss at them. They’ll soon stop coming.

As for the tadpoles, can you net the pond or put mesh across it? This will stop birds eating them too (I’ve seen blackbirds and crows fish out newts and tadpoles from my pond, they’re worse than cats IME!)

Cats will always be around, they’re sort of domestic wildlife and there are lots of strays about too. They’re just following their instincts.

I agree it’s horrible to have cats poo in your garden but you just need to keep them out.

Get a cat. That’s help.

*that’ll help!

Tadpoles eat each other too.

The cats around here keep the mice away, and they don't poo in my garden because of my dog. I wouldn't be happy if they were pooing all over my garden but there's plenty of ways to deter them

There isn't an animal on this planet that is as cute, wholesome and cuddly as we humans like to believe they are. Nature is red in tooth and claw and all that.

I've got a cat. And a dog. Love both of them. Cats are great company and much less demanding than a dog for those who don't have time, energy or physical resources to deal with a dog. Dogs are great company in and out of the house. Pooh is incidental.

The cats around here keep the mice away, and they don't poo in my garden because of my dog. I wouldn't be happy if they were pooing all over my garden but there's plenty of ways to deter them.

That's just bloody selfish. They don't shit in your garden, so they go in someone else's who hasn't got the means to deter them. They have to go somewhere!
And how many birds do they kill? A neighbour's cat killed a beautiful wren that used to sing to us from our hedge. Don't tell me that's just natural - the birds are natural. Domestic cats aren't natural, they are artificial breeds brought into houses by humans.

Careful ,love. You’ll burst something

Really don't like them. I also don't think it's ok to let them roam free in built up areas. Isolated farms are ok.

Cats will use your garden when your dog is indoors.
Its much more likely that they shit in your garden when your dog is indoors, then your dog digs it up and eats it. Cat turds are a form of crack for dogs.

And how many birds do they kill?

Not enough to make any difference, apparently. Or cause any decline in numbers. According to the RSPB anyway.