Cats everywhere!

[GoldfinchFeather]

Since we have plenty of threads to moan about dogs and dog owners, how about a bit of balance and a thread for the same about cats?

I, for one, am not a fan of the things and think there are too many around. And sure, while the problems they cause may be less obvious than dogs/dog ownership, I personally think they're worse in many ways. Particularly for the terrible effect they have on local wildlife and birds in particular.

On numerous occasions I've had the misfortune to come across birds and animals that have clearly been attacked by cats. One distressing incident occurred just a few weeks ago - on an evening walk I came across a domestic cat that had just attacked a tiny baby wild rabbit. Despite shooing the cat off and it still being alive when I got to it, it didn't survive.

Seeing that made me just want to go and give the bloody thing a boot up the backside.

Yet many cat owners seem to find this behaviour either a mildly amusing part of their cat ownership ("you'll never guess what my Tiddles caught the other day!"), or have no qualms about letting their cats roam freely and slowly kill all wildlife within a several mile radius. When really, they should just be kept indoors.

And if they were, there'd be far less of them that were always going bloody missing or being stupid enough to get themselves run over on the road.

Surely I can't be alone in my hatred of cats?!

Cats are the best. Dogs are everywhere, in shops, cafes, the school run, beaches, people want to bring them to your house, no thanks. Many are dangerous to humans, I've not heard of a cat killing a small child or ripping the face off its owner.

Theres certainly too many in my garden spraying all over the place! But now the fence has finally been fixed, I can hopefully ward them off somehow.

Certainly love a funny cat video though!!

She's absolutely right. Millions of animals are bred to simply be slaughtered never seeing the light of day. You can't bemoan cats doing what comes naturally when most of our supermarket meat is produced this way.

Not a fan, I’m a dog person. My garden is full of birds, frogs, newts etc so I don’t want cats in my garden and do chase them out if I see them. When they pay my mortgage then they have the right to stay in my space, until then I’ll chase them off.

YABVU. Cats are superior to dogs in every way.

I have 2 cats that I adore. I agree they can be awful for wildlife - one of ours hasn't ever caught anything and now she's going into her elder years I doubt she ever will.

Our other one does catch birds, along with mice and rats. It is horrible, I've put a bell on her collar but it only has limited effect. I feel awfully guilty about the birds. She has a bell on her collar, I don't feed the birds and I do try to shoo birds from landing or nesting in the garden.

However, if I ever get another cat it will be an indoor only breed.

Rabbits also cause significant damage to farmland, crops, and can make a significant impact on UK food production. They are an invasive introduced species.

In all seriousness, I think you'd miss the rodent control if it wasn't there, OP. It's a real public service. Essential in agricultural areas but very useful in urban areas too.

I've had mice move in before (when I didn't have a cat and neither did any of my close neighbours) and it's a nightmare trying to get rid of them once they've established a nest and started breeding.

Dogs are brilliant too, especially the dogs that do a job. I think humans need dogs and cats and we're lucky to have them.

What a fine black panther he is !

I have a ginger Tom very much like yours, he’s gorgeous! And fairly useless at hunting, he thinks if
he hides behind a flower pot he’s the same colour so he’ll blend in ! Unlike his wily calico sister, she’s the smart one !

I grew up in the countryside with feral/rural/farm cats and I can honestly say I have never found something the cats had killed. I know they did hunt (thats what they where used for) but they hunted to eat, I have literally never come across carcasses of dead animals from cats and we had like 20 on our land.

My dog brought home more things than the cats ever did (although alive, she was a collector of any little creature she came across... think she wanted puppies).

Living in the rougher cities there was always dead birds around, mainly pigeons. It was people killing them for 'fun' (what possible fun you can get from torturing an animal I will never know) not cats though.

Mine are indoors only.

We have a nesting box in are garden and we were looking forward to a pair of bluetits breeding again…….sadly out neighbours cat has killed both adult birds. I detest cats…….I wouldn’t hurt one but I certainly DO NOT want them in my garden, shitting in the borders, digging up my plants and generally being a destructive pain in the arse! I have tried several methods of deterring them, some successful for a short time, others a failure. We have several around us, all very aloof and having total disregard for anyone’s gardens and the wildlife.

Why do cat owners consider that it is acceptable to have such a destructive, murderous, creature and why can’t you keep your cat in your garden to do its shitty business?

Here in Australia, feral cats (descended from domestic cats) kill an estimated 2 billion native animals per year.

In turn, the cats are killed in their millions by shooting, trapping and poisoning, but the problem persists.

I don't think owning cats is ethically responsible in this country, but obviously many disagree.

I'm a massive cat lover. My two are indoor cats, so no threat to wildlife here. But I do agree with you, OP, that parts of the UK have too many cats AND dogs.

Where I live (London) there are just too many dogs, especially badly trained ones, and they cause real problems. Just today there's a video posted on my neighbourhood website by someone who opened her front door to find two dogs there. Her cat ran out and the dogs absolutely savaged it - the cat is now missing.

The overpopulation of cats is less a problem to humans, but it is to cats themselves. They have to fight for tiny pockets of territory, and lots of them go missing or get run over.

So I kind of agree with you, though not with the hate. I must say, though, that it is rank hypocrisy to hate on cats for the loss of wildlife. Humans are responsible for far, far more wildlife devastation, even leaving out our meat consumption.

Our local council refuse recycling centre has about 6 cats mooching about apparentlly they like them because it keeps the rat population down,....

I could not agree more OP. The bloody evil little shits are everywhere. Sometimes I can't even find a place to sit on my sofa for all the little feckers snoozing away😂

Lots don’t, mine included, not keen on vermin and birds

How very dare you! Cats are a superior species. The Egyptians had the right idea.

Do you let it roam into other people’s gardens and garages and sheds etc though? I hate it and I hate they way they wind up my dogs!!

Dogs kill wild birds too.

Cats stop overpopulation of mice and birds in the same way that ladybirds stop the overpopulation of aphids and spiders stop the overpopulation of flies. Humans have become so divorced from the reality of life cycles. Even my chickens love my cat!

I much prefer cats to most people. And I'm guessing @Toottooot is from my part of Scotland where a dog is a dug.

From someone who's garden keeps getting shit on by a cat I agree with OP.

I don't think it's too different from a dog killing a cat to a cat killing whatever the hell they want to but some people seem to think that's horrible of the evil dog and just nature for the cat.

I don't hate cats in the slightest but I don't understand why they are 'let off' with everything because they are cats when dogs are expected to not have their instincts also.