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?

I think all dogs should be dna tested so their poo can be matched to them if required

@lasagnelle Of course you wouldn't.. I'm not saying you do.

The title of your thread says I have to.

Anyone who gives a single fuck about wildlife doesn't have a free ranging predator they call fluffy. But this isn't news.

And the babies. We lost almost an entire brood of baby robins to the neighbours cat this year.

I don't know what you can and can't train a cat to do, I don't have one!

I think we had figured that out ourselves.

We keep ours in during nesting season with a built catio. They have collars with bells but after that it’s fair game im afraid. We do feed the birds while the cats are locked in though. Hopefully some karma balance.

Maybe lions should have collars put on them with extra large bells??? Are you volunteering?!

I had a word with mine and he said "He's not arsed with catching birds as they are hard work!"
Frogs on the other hand he loves bringing them in for me 😒

Oh and he has a ruddy big bell that clangs on his food bowel, so much so that when I'm on the phone friends will say "can I hear Thomas eating" 😂

In what way are cats not a native species? They have been in what is now the UK for around 10,000 years. We were still joined to mainland Europe back then.

Don't be silly. My cats aren't called fluffy.

I also don't eat meat or drive. All my animals are rescued waifs and strays. I don't support breeding. I own the ones dick head humans create and then dispose of.

Ah yeah sorry

To help lessen the amount your cat hunts:

• play with them a lot indoors, lots of chasing, grabbing, hunting games
• give them lots of toys and stimulation, posts to scratch, new things to bat around, places to explore, climb, hide
• make their mealtimes interesting - food puzzles and games
• keep them in for hours at dawn and dusk when birds are most active

That's so sad

Great advice!

I was thinking this. But perhaps people are confusing native wildcats with the pets Romans bought with them.

I wasn't the one calling them an invasive species.

House sparrows in the UK are a declining native species with red (most threatened) conservation status.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/house-sparrow

My vet told me that cats with bell collars actually kill more wildlife than cats without. Fun fact.

Cats kill wildlife. So do motorists, farmers, developers, airplanes, wind turbines, and gas platforms. My cat only kills mice.

I’ve never had collars on my cat as they get everywhere and it could become stuck on something. Plus can you imagine having a bell attached to you so it jingles every time you move. It’d be like torture. I hate when cats hunt but it’s just what they do.

I've had cats all my life and always made sure they had a safety release collar with a bell on it. Never had a problem, until now.
I could probably put her in an outfit made out of bells and she'd still bring them home.
If I spot her through the window trying to stalk some poor little thing I'll bang on the glass and they manage to fly off but apart from that, I don't really know what else to do.
It would be nice if they did collars that somehow send a signal out to other creatures that nobody else can hear.

Mine were outdoor/indoor cats. They killed plenty of rats and mice and our neighbours were grateful as were we. There was the occasional bird but they really preferred the wingless animals as it was more fun to catch, birds were great as observation objects.
We took off their collars due to hedges and trees around, we didn't want them to get stuck.
TBH, I've seen more birds killed by cars than I've ever seen them killed by cats. BTW, what if they eat them? Mine loved the smell of napalm in the mor... eh, the smell of fresh flesh and they ate them. They hunted for fun and snacks and that's what the cats joined humans for.
The idea of training cats to not hunt birds is amazing. Anyone who has experience, please let me know in case we get another cat.
Also, anyone has a manual for the local tawny owl? We seem to find the leftovers of her kills in the forest and it's appaling. There's a whole young generation of young birds and other smaller animals that birds seem to hunt. Will she stop if offered kibble?

Pretty sure humans are far more detrimental to wildlife to be fair.

My cats have a curfew for this reason. When we feed them their evening meal, the cat flap goes down and they're kept in until after breakfast. Birds are most vulnerable at dusk, dawn and overnight. My cats bring in all their prey (including a live rat that then escaped in the house) and we've noticed this has made a HUGE difference.

My cats don't wear collars because the safe ones are ripped off within 5 minutes and the less easy to remove ones are dangerous.

I fucking hope so, my (female) cat is an excellent ratter which pleases me greatly as otherwise they'd be prevalent on our gardens thanks to the twat nearby who collects rubbish on their garden.
I'll have a word about the birds but I think she'll most likely tell me to get fucked.
No such worries with the boy, he rarely feels the need to exit the house...