Do you think cats will ever be banned from roaming by law?

[Sparklingbrook]

As a result of this not particularly nice thread, I have been thinking about it.

Are cats and their poo/roaming as much of a problem in RL as they are on MN?

I have never ever had a conversation in RL about the problem of cat poo - probably because you are a cat lover & it is not an issue for you. As a non cat lover I have had plenty of conversations and evil thoughts about the subject. .

Go on then, Dooin. Tell me how to cat proof my garden. Whatever you come up with; I'll bet I've already tried it.

Lots of none cat owners in The Litter Tray today. I might go over to the fish thread and see what's happening.

I do voluntary work for a cat charity Ragwort. When i tell people it gives them the opportunity to discuss cats and their habits with me. Nobody has ever mentioned poo-ever.

Our Australian relatives who have a cat have to keep it in - local by laws to protect native birds. They have this big cage thing in the garden it can go out in. They call it 'the slammer'. Cat does not look happy in the slammer.

Awesome thank you. It is very friendly and has a collar but it's quite unkempt and raggy looking. I can't ignore an animal that asks for help. Especially one with babies.

I'll give them a ring.

I'm In the North East but I'm sure somebody will help.

Can you get close enough to see if the collar has a tag gamer. Poor cat-be good if it could be rescued.

I have two cats. Oldcat usually uses the litter tray because going outside is too difficult/takes too much effort. Stupidcat uses the litter tray only when locked in or it's too cold/wet or there are dogs outside. Both shit in the back garden, as does at least one of my neighbours' cats. Both shit in the front garden, as do at least three of my neighbours' cats. I have a particularly ineffectual dog-owning neighbour, and her huge (and disobedient) labrador also occasionally shits in both my gardens. It's rank, yes, but not really a big problem.

Cats are allowed to roam, unlike dogs, but also unlike dogs they are not protected by various laws (I have no clue which). For instance, if you run over a wild animal or a cat, that's unfortunate. If you run over a dog, it's unfortunate and you need to alert the police. I think cats exist in a sort of no-man's-land between wild animals and pets that the law thinks it's worth caring about.

Also, badly-behaved cats don't attack/kill people, and are solitary. So roaming is not dangerous to people. If dogs were allowed to roam, can you imagine the horrendous tales of feral packs that would arise?! Cats and dogs are not the same; it's a shame so many people don't seem to realise that.

But presumably the people you meet in your cat charity work are also cat lovers spark and again it wouldn't occur to them to discuss cat poo?

I am by nature reasonably polite so if someone approaches me for a donation to the Cat's Protection League or similar I don't rant and rave aboud cat poo to them, I usually politely decline to give or a donation or if it is someone I know I probably would give them a few coins rather than be confrontational about their values.

But when cat haters get together I can assure you we do discuss this problem, we had huge issues in our previous home with cat lovers as neighbours and it all got a bit unpleasant - we moved away in the end - not just because of that of course !

I got a dog. Solved the problem of cats crapping in our garden in about a week. Of course, now I have to pick up dog poo but somehow its easier when its your own animal bit like children I guess

No, not all of them Ragwort, and not people I meet that ask me what I do that aren't themselves involved.

I would have thought someone would have said 'Eww I don't like cats much they poo in my garden' or some such? I don't know.

at 'When cat haters get together' is there a club with a badge and an annual subscription?

Spark - no of course not , but like lots of things in life people do have very strong views on whether or not they 'love' cats. I am sure cat lovers enjoy getting together and discussing their cats, going to cat shows & whatever else you do. .

silver - I don't like dogs either .

i think it was the phrase 'cat haters' Ragwort. Sounds like a horrible club. Cat lovers sounds nice.

I have come an agreement with my neighbours they have an area of their garden that my cats use and my cats have solved in 18 months the rodent problem that had been struggling with for 30 years.

I hope not sparkling. My cats would not be happy kitty cats!

The thread the other day was horrid. And I too have never been approached because I have cats about their poo! If someone did I would happily go with a bag and pick it up.

I adore cats and would be very sad if cats couldn't roam as I like making friends with the neighbourhood cats (crazy cat lady alert). However I'm getting to the stage where I'd trade that off for stopping the neighbour's cat using my vegetable beds as a litter tray.

I think there should be a law through which you can ban specific cats from roaming. Our local thug (who I swear is actually an ocelot), for example. If he were a person he'd be locked up.

Re the cat poo - my cats bury their poo. I've seen them do it. One is a bit crap at the burying, but she at least tries. So I don't understand why some cats bury and some clearly don't - they must have evolved from slightly different species or something?

That would be good Hassled I would ban the burmese assassin from down the road from leaving it's own garden and beating Sparkling Cat up.

I like cats. I just don't want them in my garden, killing the song birds, fighting and waking me up at 3 am. or relieving themselves in my vegetables.

It's funny how the more foaming-at-the-mouth cat haters really don't get - or choose not to get - that cats are cats. They are not dogs. So all this 'cat owners should pick up their cat's poo' just does not apply. By the cat haters' logic, someone should stop all those birds flying anywhere they fancy, or worms digging up the garden, or snails sliding everywhere. Or fish swimming everywhere. Bonkers.

And human beings should definitely confined to quarters. Look at all the species we have made extinct and all the damage we have done to the environment. Cats have never caused extinction (except one cat, once, that lived in a lighthouse on a a remote island that got rid of all the - heard it on QI).

Australia is entirely different because cats are not a native animal and can be Bad News for the native fauna. And that's the fault of human beings for taking cats over to Australia in the first place.

You're fine with mine then, Amy :) Even Stupidcat is pretty geriatric and stays in most of the time, and Oldcat is asleep for about 20 hours in every 24. Catching birds is well beyond both both of them, and fences are insurmountable barriers... As for fighting, well, they both ran away from confrontation when they were young, I can't see them doing anything but hobbling away and hiding these days.

Evilgiraffe, your cats sound lovely.

Yes, your cats sound lovely, evilgiraffe, want to swap for my 'orrible ratbag? Woke me up this morning by scratching at my bedroom door (shut because dh had to get up early to leave for work so didn't want to wake me v early), has scratched up all the carpet outside two doors, has attacked the bannister so ferociously he's actually torn chunks out of it - even though we wrapped string around the newel post so it was a scratching post for him - brings in decapitate mice and leaves them just where we will step when we come down in the morning, hunts washing up sponges and rips them to shreds so I have to have dishcloths instead...