Out killing

[CorvusCorax]

I am very opposed to the way in which suburban pet owners let their cats out to kill and crap everywhere and expose themselves to RTAs and weirdos with crossbows and airguns in the same way as I am towards people who let their dogs roam.
I try to keep my own pets secure, safe from harming themselves and others and would like the same courtesy.
No counterpoint necessary, these are my strongly held views, based on my experience as a dog owner in a suburban area

My own dogs have tried to go for small fluffies in the past but so far I've either physically or verbally stopped them or they've realised they've got no chance and given up...

 

[some show]

I did write a post about cats/RTAs yesterday and then deleted it because I didn't want to open that can of worms, but yeah...it does confuse me that a lot of cat owners (not all) see it as an acceptable risk. I would be so upset if I hit a cat. According to PetPlan their customers report approx 230,000 cats killed on the road in a normal year (630 a day) - which seems crazy figures to me.

 

[meleeka]

I did write a post about cats/RTAs yesterday and then deleted it because I didn't want to open that can of worms, but yeah...it does confuse me that a lot of cat owners (not all) see it as an acceptable risk. I would be so upset if I hit a cat. According to PetPlan their customers report approx 230,000 cats killed on the road in a normal year (630 a day) - which seems crazy figures to me.

This is another reason I wouldn’t own a cat. I just couldn’t cope with the worry of them, unless I lived in the middle of nowhere or could make my garden secure enough.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I do get it, I have had hens killed by a wayward dog in my own garden. I was told it was my fault because it could have been a fox-except I've never lost a hen to a fox and it was the middle of a sunny summer

My cats are there to do a job. I am pretty rural with no immediate neighbours and I did ask the farmer next door if she had any concerns re toxo and if she had objected, I'd not have got them. Some people dont like cats, some dont like dogs-what you gonna do, ban everything? And no, my dogs are not allowed to mither wildlife but I see plenty of people thinking its ok for dogs to chase birds etc.

I have had a house cat, it can be done well.

As for cats and RTAs being an acceptable risk being odd, many on here are pro horse racing and given the stats on horse deaths with that, I dont see the difference.

 

[some show]

As for cats and RTAs being an acceptable risk being odd, many on here are pro horse racing and given the stats on horse deaths with that, I dont see the difference.

I just assume that most people like/love their pets (but that's for cats that are pets, rather than just rodent removers) so find it odd to be okay with the risk of them being run over. And that people will lose one to a RTA and then get another, and when the same thing happens they get another...I would be devastated if my dog got out and was hit by a car. I'm not pro-horse racing but anything related to gambling/sports is another whole can of worms (like greyhound racing, which I'm also not pro).

 

[YorksG]

I wonder if the reason that dogs killing things is less acceptable than cats doing the same, is that, in general, cats kill things that aren't owned by people, whereas dogs tend to kill things that are owned iyswim?

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I just assume that most people like/love their pets (but that's for cats that are pets, rather than just rodent removers) so find it odd to be okay with the risk of them being run over. And that people will lose one to a RTA and then get another, and when the same thing happens they get another...I would be devastated if my dog got out and was hit by a car. I'm not pro-horse racing but anything related to gambling/sports is another whole can of worms (like greyhound racing, which I'm also not pro).

I agree that if I lost sequential cats to RTAs due to living in a certain area then I wouldnt be replacing them. There's the same issue with people replacing poultry because they've lost them all in a fox attack and yet they've done nothing to improve housing etc. I dont think anyone is 'ok' with having a cat run over but yes, its a risk if you let them out. My last cat was (we think) killed by a fox/badger/dog but I did replace him and yes, I was very upset but he was a rescue that absolutely would not have tolerated an inside life, being as he was picked up as a farm stray at 4yo.

I love my cats, they arent only vermin control, I just cant have them in the main house due to OH's allergies (he'd actually like them in more than me, I've lived with cat hair previously!). If people can't marry up my acceptance of that risk then fine, there's plenty other people do with their animals that I wouldnt do either.

 

[HashRouge]

This thread has turned into another celebration of cat kills ??

More dog kills, no?

 

[NinjaPony]

I have a house cat and I’m looking into building her a catio. I wouldn’t want my cat out uncontained for her own sake- she’s a loveable but dim BSH and has no common sense. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her! For me, a contained/secure garden is the best compromise for cat owners who don’t live in very rural areas.

 

[Clodagh]

More dog kills, no?

Maybe, I didn’t count ?

 

[Goldenstar]

I have never bought a cat and have lost several to RTA’s my view is that when I get a cat it’s another homeless cat that gets a good life.

 

[skinnydipper]

Re cats crapping in other people's gardens.

Despite my cat having 24 hour access to the great outdoors, I also provide a litter tray* which she uses daily. I can't guarantee she doesn't crap elsewhere but providing a tray filled with her preferred substrate reduces the risk of that happening.

*This one:

A senior cat may have stiff joints and find it more difficult to climb into a tray. Has the vet checked him over for signs of arthritis?

I have a Booda Clean Step for my cat, it has an integral ramp so could be good for seniors who are less agile.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Booda-Cleanstep-Litter-Tray-Iris/dp/B0002DH8LE?th=1

I buy Golden Grey cat litter. It is a fine, clumping litter, easy to remove soiled litter and solids from a deep layer

 

[CorvusCorax]

So one of my dogs eats cat poo he finds in the garden, then he licks himself, then he gets skin infections and also a dicky tummy, which has to be medicated. This costs money. He is already on a flexi line in his own garden, which I think is more than reasonable and has already been frowned upon on the forum, but he has ninja skills when it comes to locating and snaffling the forbidden mousse. I'd love to be able to invoice the cat owners, but hey ho!!

When I was sitting out in the garden over the first lockdown, something caught my eye, it was a cat just nonchalantly coming round the corner of the house. My eldest dog was lying beside me off leash. I was able to silently wave the cat away and grab him in the collar and distract him. The owner of that cat is presumably completely unaware how close that cat came to serious injury or worse. During the summer I am living on my nerves. There have been lots of lucky escapes due to me being vigilant. Not vigilant enough to spot cat poop, clearly.

 

[Clodagh]

Ours all go belting off under the hedge first thing to find the freshest offering ?

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Re cats crapping in other people's gardens.

Despite my cat having 24 hour access to the great outdoors, I also provide a litter tray* which she uses daily. I can't guarantee she doesn't crap elsewhere but providing a tray filled with her preferred substrate reduces the risk of that happening.

*This one:

Mine use the sand arena, little sods. It is the grimmest of poop though I agree.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I have a house cat and I’m looking into building her a catio. I wouldn’t want my cat out uncontained for her own sake- she’s a loveable but dim BSH and has no common sense. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her! For me, a contained/secure garden is the best compromise for cat owners who don’t live in very rural areas.

There are some fab ones about-I've posted before about the one the owner of my local boarding kennels has for hers-the cats enter/exit a suspended tunnel from a catflap on the first floor-its really more a zoo-size enclosure. I like the look of the indoor wall/ceiling furniture for them as well.

 

[some show]

So one of my dogs eats cat poo he finds in the garden

Ugh, mine too. And he has EPI and it upsets his stomach every single time and then he takes at least two days to get back to normal.

I also live on my nerves in the summer. I can't let Joe snooze on his own out in the garden because if a cat jumped down off the fence he would get it, being as fast as he is, and despite neighbours assurances that it would be the cat's own fault, I don't want to have to go round with what's left and tell them.

 

[GSD Woman]

The cats in my neighborhood don't seem to come in the garden. Front or back. Sunny was a cat killer and maybe that turned off any cats. Freddie and Rudy will chase them. If they corner a cat they sniff it and then leave it.

I would be livid if a cat crapped in my garden. Current cat is very good about using his litter box.

 

[Moobli]

This is another reason I wouldn’t own a cat. I just couldn’t cope with the worry of them, unless I lived in the middle of nowhere or could make my garden secure enough.

I won't own a cat because I do live in the middle of nowhere but I'd be frightened they would be shot or snared.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Maybe, I didn’t count ?

I could post the pic that I took of the late JRT, tummy bulging with baby bunnies, if you like? I won't, though, it's not pretty viewing .

The much missed little s0d vanished for hours one afternoon. Search parties were out scouring the adjacent countryside for him. I happened to tip over an old wooden mounting block on the grass bank outside the arena, just to check, and there he was, scoffing the last baby bunny.

Mummy bunny must have made a nest underneath the mounting block which none of us knew about, until he chanced on them.

 

[palo1]

My neighbour's cats come onto our yard and garden very regularly. They have killed one of my bantams which was awful but on the whole I don't mind; I think cats probably should be able to roam unless they live right by a road which would really endanger them. However, my dog has never been trained to be steady with cats and he has treed one of these cats several times. I'm confident that the cats can get away from him too OR would be brave enough to face him down but I don't know that and potentially my dog could kill one of these cats. It's a risk my neighbours (who are not especially close) are happy enough to take. I wish my dog had given them a fright before they took the bantam to be honest...

 

[Cortez]

I could post the pic that I took of the late JRT, tummy bulging with baby bunnies, if you like? I won't, though, it's not pretty viewing .

The much missed little s0d vanished for hours one afternoon. Search parties were out scouring the adjacent countryside for him. I happened to tip over an old wooden mounting block on the grass bank outside the arena, just to check, and there he was, scoffing the last baby bunny.

Mummy bunny must have made a nest underneath the mounting block which none of us knew about, until he chanced on them.

Must be a relative of my little monster, who did exactly the same thing with baby buns.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I dunno, this is purely my opinion and not judgement but I can't imagine owning an animal and thinking that getting squashed on the road or killed by a dog was 'a risk I was willing to take' and I wouldn't want my pet making someone else's pet sick or causing annoyance.

One of my dogs growing up did manage to kill three of my pet rabbits and it was pretty traumatic. Poor management/not closing doors properly, entirely our fault but she didn't eat them, didn't know what to do when they stopped moving.
**sings Bright Eyes, badly**

 

[Goldenstar]

We are in the rabbit vomiting season the rabbits also have mixy atm .

 

[Clodagh]

We are in the rabbit vomiting season the rabbits also have mixy atm .

Thankfully mine just bring them to me for culling. Tbh I preferred the lurcher days, at least I didn’t have to do the deed.

 

[fiwen30]

I’ve formally owned a number of cats, some of which were prolific hunters of wildlife, when we lived much more rurally. Our best was our first little female, whose top hits included a bat of some kind, and 4 birds in 1 night. We’ve also had cats who couldn’t catch a mouse if it was already dead.

As we’ve gradually moved to more urban spots, the current cats are now indoors until we’re able to either build them a catio or cat-proof the garden - we don’t want them on these roads, or being beaten up by the local cats, or running into the bull-type across the road which is frequently just turfed out the front door onto the pavement, unsupervised - we care about them too much.

Our dog is soft as muck, but has a vicious hatred of flies, though his attempts at catching them have gotten less successful as he’s gotten older.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I took a bat off a cat in the lane outside the house and let it go. Double Tesco-bagged my hands though ?

 

[HashRouge]

I dunno, this is purely my opinion and not judgement but I can't imagine owning an animal and thinking that getting squashed on the road or killed by a dog was 'a risk I was willing to take' and I wouldn't want my pet making someone else's pet sick or causing annoyance.

One of my dogs growing up did manage to kill three of my pet rabbits and it was pretty traumatic. Poor management/not closing doors properly, entirely our fault but she didn't eat them, didn't know what to do when they stopped moving.
**sings Bright Eyes, badly**

The problem is, most cats won't go for a walk on a lead, so either you let them out, build a catio if you can, or they have to be kept inside all the time. Knowing how far our cat used to like to wander as a youngster, even a catio is very restrictive for a lot of cats. Our current cat, who is much more of an indoor chap these days (he's 16), would have been very hard to keep as an indoor cat in his younger years as he was a real wanderer. He actually survived getting hit by a car (he broke his leg in three places and now has a metal plate in it). This was when he was 4 or 5, so quite a long time ago and we obviously made the decision to let him out again afterwards. The reasoning was, that he loved going out so much, and hated being kept in, that it just would not have been fair to keep him as a house cat. I should also stress that my parents don't live near a busy road at all - he was really quite unlucky to get hit!

However, I do worry a lot about the impact of cats on wildlife. I think what I would like to do in the future is rehome a cat from a charity that they know is a bit of a lazy, indoor type, so that I can keep them as a house cat (ideally with a catio) without too much worry.

 

[Equi]

I have 2 cats, both feral kittens but now tame to us yard cats gotten to control vermin in the stables. If i lived in a town i probably wouldn't have a cat..i don't fully agree they should roam in those highly populated places because i think house cats are more complacent because they're too tame, thus more likely to be harmed. A bit of wildness is not a negative when it comes to a cat (one kitten i got from a home environment didn't last a jot here, was way too cocky and the dogs got it when it just walked right into the pen tail raised with no fear despite me screaming no) Also i think towns are more likely to have bird tables/feeders etc which is just a dinner bell.

 

[GSD Woman]

I found out today that current cat doesn't want to be out in the back garden unless we're out with him. That makes me very happy.