If you have a cat you have to stop it scaring and eating birds

[lasagnelle]

Get a bell collar or something. Give the wildlife a chance. Can you train cats to leave birds alone?

She does have a bell btw but often comes home without her collar. And I guess at least she ate the bird she killed

Collar with bell

I spoke to her and she licked her lips.

Mine brings rabbits. I’ve watched him hunting in the field, he’s very clever. My last cat was really lazy.

Maybe you won't be so nonchalant when a dog decides the same game is fun

I can think of another difference.

Cats were brought in for rodent control to protect food resources.

In theory, they are still very helpful for that

Now we could argue we should restrict them to farm ownership only - but then what of the rats and mice in cities, spreading diseases?

And the same would have to be argued of dogs too only - I can't think of another purpose for dogs that really justify their existence out of working farms either.

Companionship? Same is true of cats.

Always kept our cats in candymay, several cats trees round the house sleeping areas it’s like a cats crèche lol their safety is paramount to us

comparing birds to rodents is just another extreme.

Birds cannot be compared to worms either apparently. Is there a reason why not?

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I bet most of the posters here talking about the poor birdies are more than happy to tuck into a roast chicken that had a far worse life than a wild bird caught by a cat....

Totally agree. Keep your cats in.

Mine said they gave no fucks. But tbf they only kill mice and pigeons and they aren’t really birds. Just rats with wings

I live in the country. I have a farm cat who hunts rodentia…rats, mice, occasional baby bunny or weasel. I wouldn’t have a vegetable or fruit harvest without her doing her thing

We also have nesting house martins…she’s learned they are almost impossible to catch and baby bunnies are much tastier. She’s microchipped, but no collar, I would not declaw her, she’s spayed and she’s mostly outside, but strolls in sometimes to sit in front of the woodstove and sleep. She has a nice bed in the conservatory she sleeps in, good wet food, and is taken to the vet annually for a check and vaccinated. I let her be a cat and do her job.

Are you as interested in people who don’t stop their dogs killing other dogs, cats, other small animals, children and adults or is it just cats you have a problem with and want to be goady about?

Cats don’t usually catch birds from feeders.

(Regularly restocked and cleaned) feeders provide food to birds during the lean weeks or the cold when food is hard to come by. This means more birds survive the winter and breeding season than would without access to feeders.

RSPB advice is that it’s fine to have bird feeders up high. Keep them away from easy hiding places for cats like hedges, clean them regularly to reduce risk of spreading disease and restock with seasonally appropriate food.

IMm an active member of the RSPB and a cat owner. It’s not hard to be both, whatever the OP thinks.

Cats can and do catch fledgelings out of nests.
They catch native Wildlife in Australia and reach enormous sizes-
It's not at all ''just the old and the sick''. That's complete nonsense.

Cats are efficient predators.

They get stuck in trees and hung

I get the issue with birds but without the domestic cat population I dead to think how many rats they’d be.

Thank you.

I have had a cat strangle itself with a collar on so nope.

plus I watched in horror my mums cat catch a bird with a collar on with bell made no difference.

I now have an old gentleman cat that doesn’t go outside now, he’s part feral well was now he lords it over the big dogs and we are his slaves. I also have a floof cat who can’t ever go outside as she’s stupid and larger birds would see her as prey.

old gentleman watches the birds and the odd Squirrel from the window and then just cleans himself. I’m sure the squirrel is taunting him but he seems to not care

The UK’s largest bird charity, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), is not particularly concerned about the impact of cats on the British mainland. Instead it focuses on what it says is driving UK bird declines: global warming, intensive agriculture and expanding towns and cities leading to habitat and food loss. “While we know that cats do kill large numbers of birds in UK gardens, there’s no evidence this is affecting decline in the same way that these other issues are,” said a spokesperson.
A big reason why they are less worried is the evidence that cats primarily take “the doomed surplus”: weak or injured birds likely to die anyway.

OP, your big mistake here was being so didactic. If you'd said 'If you have a cat, please try to keep it inside as much as possible when young are fledging to stop the learner-fliers getting caught'. Telling people what they HAVE to do is never going to go down well.

Unless you are, like, the King or Prime Minister or something, and then you can just bring in some laws.

Bell collars, haha. They easily learn to move without jingling the bell. Back when I used them, the little madam thought it was a service bell and would enter the room and ring it to get my attention for food or petting.

Those that get cats don’t care where it goes or what it does. They’re not going to do anything but make bizarre jokes on threads about how hilarious their contribution to decimating the local wildlife is. My dogs have been trained to protect the wildlife in this garden. No cats allowed.

The RSPB need to get real and stop tip toeing around the issue of cats. They have a massive impact. Encouraging people to provide habitats and food for birds when it’s near impossible to do so with cats about. I see them stalking all the nests in my neighbourhood for weeks during fledgling season. It’s devastating.

Biggest issue is neighbours cats pooping in my garden! I hate it and ruins the garden.