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!

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.

I've heard of kittens being microwaved or shoved in washing machines alive, dogs being covered in toilet paper and set alight... Yes, some humans are awful. I have a relative who lives in an area where stuff like this happens far too often- people put poison down for them, shoot them with BB guns etc. I can't fathom why she has cats at all and when I lived on a main road I didn't have one either.

I think you've got to do a risk assessment and think carefully about the chances of each scenario and then decide from that whether or not to get a cat. Mine was a rescue from the streets, is fairly streetwise and doesn't go near anyone (including us) when out and about and is black (the ones who like to thieve them tend to prefer the prettier ones or the white ones). Yes, there's a risk of her dying, but that will happen eventually. I want her to live a fulfilling life first.

@LisaSimpsonsbff - must be great to be so perfect. How is life in your Ivory Tower today?

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!

Mine go in their litter tray.

@frillyfucks I hope karma catches up with you in a hideous way 👍🏻😊

David Attenborough on cats killing birds...

www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/10/cats-killing-birds-gardens-david-attenborough

Does he say how you're meant to keep those belled collars on a cat that removes them?

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/theconversation.com/amp/the-bark-side-domestic-dogs-threaten-endangered-species-worldwide-76782

en.mercopress.com/2019/04/08/dogs-in-uk-have-killed-sheep-and-farm-animals-worth-3.5m-calls-for-updating-legislation

The bells don't work. I've tried, believe me. The cats learn to move so slowly and stealthily that it doesn't ring. At least, mine did. And yes, they do kill lots of birds. Not enough to cause an ecological problem though, according to the RSPB. The biggest danger to birds is habitat loss caused by- wait for it- humans. Blaming it on the cats is a bit unfair.

I notice he doesn't advocate keeping them inside though...

I have 4 rescue cats. All are house cats and are beautiful. Each to their own but just because you don't like them doesn't mean everyone has to dislike them

The cats learn to move so slowly and stealthily that it doesn't ring.

Yes. I have a great video of my cat stalking a fly. His belly looks about a cm off the floor and he is creeping forward so so slowly it's unbelievable. No bell would have rung.

Please re read my post. I threw stones in it's direction not at it.
I don't need to buy a super soaker or any other tool. Stones work just fine.

My old Rescue cat was a viscous yet loving (to me only) outdoor cat. But however hard she tried she only killed one creature a bird.
And she came home to use her tray to shit in. She was too nervous to shit outside.
So apart from attacking neighbours cats, dogs & even husbands, she was fine.

Sorry vicious

I threw stones in it's direction not at it.

Can we throw stones in your direction if you do something we don’t like?

I have two ( dickhead) cats and a dog. My dog is sweet, loving and very well behaved. The cats are affectionate but slightly unhinged. What I like most about my dog though is that he doesn't leave dead rabbits in my living room, or headless ones at the back door.

I have a cat but was brought up with both so don't have an axe to grind.

I hated it when my cat caught things but it's actually very little in the grand scheme of things and they only do it when young usually.

As for poo, there is an indoor option but I've see her pee on our lawn and I've said to neighbours I am happy to come and pick up any if they've seen her use their garden. Never been asked.

There are a lot of irresponsible dog owner around though OP. I go for a 20-25 min every day (just over 2kms) and there are about 20 plus bits of dog shite on or at the side of the path. Given we need to distance, every time someone needs to step off the side of the path into longer grass they are risking standing in something. And I'll not get into the bags of poo displayed either. Then there is the barking...

They are natural predators. That's exactly what they are. The instinct to hunt and kill doesn't go away just because a cat has an owner who feeds it.
I remember our family cats catching and killing frogs etc when I was a kid. I found it upsetting, but also understood that it was just how things are.

I don't think there's much if any evidence that cats contribute to species decline.

I think someone’s bored in lockdown!

I refer you to the piles of shit I see every day in the street. NOT made by cats lol. Also, the lovely smell of piss that emanates from every tree and lamp post when the sun shines. Just lovely. Again, NOT made by cats. YABU. We have 2 cats and hundreds of garden birds. Not one has ever came to any harm. Not all cats are the same, just as not all dogs are the same.

Cats bury poo not leave it on the garden. Sounds more like fox poo ?

Well I love cats and both mine are indoor they don’t bother wildlife or neighbours

Dogs are stooooopid

Cats rule

That is all

I have a cat that was initially an indoor cat, but is now allowed out, under strict supervision.

Silly mare of a cat managed to get herself locked out one night, and jumped the fence.

Three hellish days for us, then DH goes over the (busy) road to the copse, where he turns around and sees the sodding cat looking at him, as if to say 'what the hell are you doing here?'

First thing she does on being brought home is scoot so fast to her kitty litter upstairs she practically scorched the carpet. I'm guessing she still hadn't figured out you can answer the call of nature in nature, so to speak.

She is brought in all night, every night (apart from that hopefully never to be repeated aberration). She is not allowed out of our garden. She doesn't even shit in our garden. She is way too dumb to catch more than a mozzy. The birds line up on the fence to laugh at her. . .

I don't think she's doing anyone any harm, and she is a small siamese spot of joy in what is currently a fairly joyless life.

I don't understand people who allow their cats walk on kitchen countertops, or dog owners who allow their dogs lick their ( the owners ) face/mouth or sleep on their bed.

I love dogs. I'm nervous around cats.