Bloody cat is catching my beautiful ghost koi!

[Ormirian]

We lost some fish to a toxic pond - not emptied for fish,cleaned, refilled and stocked with plants for the frogs to live in. We lost a few in the winter beause it was so cold and they were so small. But a few weeks ago we stocked the other pond with a few koi and ghost koi - they are beautiful and not cheap. And doing fine.

Last night Lola came in proudly carrying on of my ghost koi feebly flapping in her jaws DH grabbed it and took it back to the pond - no dead bodies this morning but I can't see how it will survive.

No we can fence it off a bit better but she will still find a way in I suspect.

Any ideas on how to 're-educate' her? I was tempted to push her in next time I catch her fishing but was persuaded that was a bit cruel Squirt with the hose instead? How about aversion therapy - force-feeding her tuna?

I would push her in. It won't harm her

Could you put netting over the top of pond?

Or a grill of some sort?

mums cat comes in with a Koi 4 or 5 times a month, despite being out of water for a considerable amount of time, they are always fine. They go into a bucket of water, then get given to neighbor over the back (they aren't even his... No idea where cat is getting them from)

No. It didn't occur to me that she'd actually catch any? I assumed she'd sit on the edge looking at them longingly. Don' cats hate water ?

We inherited two ponds with the house. The last owners left some goldfish behind - she hasn't touched those! She obviously has expensive tastes...

Also never had a killer cat before - our old cat couldn't catch cold

We have netting found the pond but clearly that isn't enough. A grill might be neccessary I guess.

I don't think pushing her in would help, your her owner who provides her food and comfort. Then you push her in a cold pond? Bit conflicting isn't it.
It could also be counter productive I.E the ponds not bottomless and most animals can swim if they need to, "oh, I never thought of getting in, I was just using my paw this is much better".

Obviously the koi have caught her attention. A fine mesh would better than a net, the holes need to be smaller than her paw. I'd imagine there must be some sort of transparent mesh available for ponds you can't be the only one suffering from fishing cats.

Some cats love water, my Bengal dips his paw in sinks of water and knocks over glasses of water/beer to play in the puddles. Turkish van cats are renowned for liking water to the point of swimming to cool down.

Ah yes, good point, my long hair gets in the bath with me if I dont shut the door

You can buy transparent mesh from pond stockists - our problem isn't cats (ours are housecats) but bloody herons!

Oh and my Maine Coon boy also has a thing for jumping in the bath

Well there you have it! Mine fell in the bath once, and in the pond on another occasion and both times reacted as if the devil had grabbed her and tried to rip her tail off so I, not unreasonable assumed, she'd not take the risk

However I think we are OK now. The pond has a fine mesh around it in a sort of cage (last owner had prize koi). He got through a small hole in it around the back which we have closed up. If it happens again I will think about putting a grid over the pond.