Cats - is all the murder acceptable?

[D'wards]

I love cats, but find the sheer amount of sadistic murder unacceptable.

For that reason I'd never have a cat, or at least not an outside one.

So is the hundreds of millions of song birds and small mammals killed for fun every year just one of those things?

I note in Australia they are gearing up for a total ban on cats being allowed out to protect the wildlife. Which I would support.

Sorry for fail link but its only non paywalled place I could find story

Cat kill up to 270million prey every year, study suggests

Pet cats in Britain's suburbs may be killing up to 270 million animals per year, a study suggests - with suburban cats living on the edge of natural areas killing an average of 34 animals each per year

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Raheem]

The worthy and sober response is that we should probably be moving away from keeping large pets.

If you're going to have a cat, though, I don't think it's on to keep it locked indoors.

 

[yield]

Do urban cats hunt rats?

 

[D'wards]

I wonder what the twitchers' opinion is

 

[weltweit]

IIRC there are places, Tasmania may be one of them, that are culling feral and domestic cats precisely because their indigenous ground living animals have no defences and are being wiped out.

 

[Supine]

This’ll go well

 

[planetgeli]

I wonder what the twitchers' opinion is

Raises hand from birdwatching thread. It's horrible but I think those figures may well be a bit (a lot) overblown. And the main danger to birds comes from modern agricultural practices.

 

[platinumsage]

270 million sounds a lot but there are 10 million cats so it’s only like 2 a month per cat. Barn owls kill 4 a day, but there are only 10 thousand of them. So if there were no cats the ecosystem would be disrupted by a surfeit of mice eating all the sparrow food, and then people would complain about sparrows going extinct.

 

[D'wards]

For me its the sadistic nature of it. Killing for food is obvs vital.
Killing for a laugh isn't. Cats are the Ian Brady and Myra Hindley of the pet world.
They would defo vote tory if they could too

 

[Supine]

For me its the sadistic nature of it. Killing for food is obvs vital.
Killing for a laugh isn't. Cats are the Ian Brady and Myra Hindley of the pet world.
They would defo vote tory if they could too

They kill to eat. After playing with the food obviously.

 

[D'wards]

They kill to eat. After playing with the food obviously.

Isn't those pouches enough for them?
With a few Dreamies here and there to augment it

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

The problem isn't cats. We just need to re introduce the wolf to keep the cat population in check.

 

[D'wards]

The problem isn't cats. We just need to re introduce the wolf to keep the cat population in check.

But what when the wolf population gets out of hand?
I'm all for introducing grizzly bears to our woods and forests

 

[Elpenor]

It’s not just cats... I know an old lady who is even worse

 

[Raheem]

Think wolves would be mostly rubbish against cats, because cats can climb.

If we assigned one wolf to each rodent as a bodyguard, they could probably chase the cats off, though.

Maybe we'd then have to give all the humans tasers.

 

[skyscraper101]

It’s acceptable if they get rid of vermin. But I always find the concept of getting a cat to stave off mice the biggest swizz ever. In my experience they do nothing but bring the fuckers in and drop them on the floor, most of the time alive.

 

[ouirdeaux]

That's because they love you. And are teaching you how to catch mice, as you obviously haven't picked up the skill.

 

[Wolveryeti]

Why not just put a bell on their collars?

 

[editor]

My cat has so far only caught flies. So he's cool.

 

[mx wcfc]

I love cats.

We are historical cat owners, and have one cat now. Previously, up to three (well I think 12 at one time before we rehomed the litters).

I was happy with the fact they have rid the immediate area of rats, which was a bit of a problem once.

I cringe at the wreckage they have wrought on local birds, shrews, field mice, even frogs. We rarely see birds in the garden now.

Our current cat hasn't brought anything back for a while, so here's hoping that's it for him.

Once this one goes, I won't get another.

 

[Supine]

Why not just put a bell on their collars?

Mice don’t wear collars

 

[mx wcfc]

Why not just put a bell on their collars?

Never worked with ours

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Think wolves would be mostly rubbish against cats, because cats can climb.

If we assigned one wolf to each rodent as a bodyguard, they could probably chase the cats off, though.

Maybe we'd then have to give all the humans tasers.

I'd be fully in favour of wolves being introduced - they're beautiful.

 

[story]

It’s acceptable if they get rid of vermin. But I always find the concept of getting a cat to stave off mice the biggest swizz ever. In my experience they do nothing but bring the fuckers in and drop them on the floor, most of the time alive.

My cat is a mighty mouser. One night he brought in five. He’s very proud of himself and wants to play with them. Repeatedly picking him up, with mouse in mouth, and shoving him outdoors and locking the cat flap has worked. He now only plays with them outside. The foxes get the left overs.

I had mice in my flat for a while before I got the cat but now he only finds them outdoors. Probably on the estate out the back, I think.

He also catches rats, and given that there are local food shops nearby, I’m glad of it.

He doesn't go after birds because his tail doesn’t work and he can’t balance, so he can’t leap. Or walk along the fence.

 

[Supine]

I'd be fully in favour of wolves being introduced - they're beautiful.

We could just stop selective breeding dogs and stop feeding them. It wouldn’t take long for them to evolve back into wolves (maybe).

 

[1927]

Do urban cats hunt rats?

Yes

 

[story]

Do urban cats hunt rats?

They do, which is just as well because the foxes often don’t bother if there’s plenty of left over food aroun.

 

[D'wards]

We could just stop selective breeding dogs and stop feeding them. It wouldn’t take long for them to evolve back into wolves (maybe).

I reckon they'd just turn into a generic mutt in a few dozen generations. Very healthy specimen

 

[farmerbarleymow]

We could just stop selective breeding dogs and stop feeding them. It wouldn’t take long for them to evolve back into wolves (maybe).

Some breeds would probably become pretty feral quickly - some of them are excellent hunters.

 

[D'wards]

Some breeds would probably become pretty feral quickly.

Chihuahuas would probably have a go but none of the other dogs would take them seriously