Cats - is all the murder acceptable?

[mx wcfc]

As a teenager I had a holiday job on a farm. The farm had a feral cat who kept rice and rats down. That was so important to the farm (we are talking late 70's here) that the farmer provided a home for her and milk (straight form the cows) when she had a litter.

It's the suburban domestic pets ruining bird populations that are the problem.

 

[story]

Same with the Brixton Market cats. They're part of the workforce for sure.

 

[YouSir]

Do urban cats hunt rats?

Mine do, live next door to takeaways and a supermarket, was a real issue when I moved in. Since then though the pair of them have slaughtered whole generations of rats. Never seen them go for birds though.

Cats aren't purely indoor creatures, cruel to lock them in all the time, although not sure how you deal with the bird issue when there is one.

 

[Pickman's model]

Maybe when people in southern Europe stop shooting migrating birds and people in this country stop shooting grouse etc then we can turn to cats.

 

[eatmorecheese]

When the local Primary school next to our house in Streatham was demolished and redeveloped into a big Secondary, all the resident mice fled to neighbouring houses. My little killer Moz scalped between two and three a day (that I know of) for at least two months. That's roughly 120 mice

Yes, they are killers. But in the UK, Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia, their impact is largely in balance with their environment. The ancient Egyptians depended on their micing and ratting skills to protect the granaries. Urban areas needed them to keep mice and rats down and this applies even today.

Australia is very different and cats are an invasive species (along with rabbits, cane toads and many others). The control of cats is necessary and may save certain species from extinction.

The only thing that really gets me is when cats kill birds. I fucking hate that. Moz and Monty, you fucking bastards

 

[D'wards]

Last week I was garden-sitting for me mam down in semi rural Kent, I took it upon myself to set up a bird feeding station on the back fence.

A Blue Tit mother would bring her fluffy babies down and sit them on the fence and feed them. It made my day when I saw it. I loved that family!

So I'm defo #teambird if you had to choose sides in the upcoming war

 

[YouSir]

Last week I was garden-sitting for me mam down in semi rural Kent, I took it upon myself to set up a bird feeding station on the back fence.

A Blue Tit mother would bring her fluffy babies down and sit them on the fence and feed them. It made my day when I saw it. I loved that family!

So I'm defo #teambird if you had to choose sides in the upcoming war

Tbf I've seen crows go at a parakeet nest and destroy all the eggs. No united front against the cats, that's why they lose.

Also saw a Magpie torment the shit out of a cat though tbf. Then a fox ate it.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Australia is very different and cats are an invasive species (along with rabbits, cane toads and many others). The control of cats is necessary and may save certain species from extinction.

Humans are an invasive species given the huge damage we do - maybe the answer is to ban humans from Earth, and leave the other species to sort out their differences between themselves.

 

[mx wcfc]

The only thing that really gets me is when cats kill birds. I fucking hate that. Moz and Monty, you fucking bastards

Absolutely this. I hate my cat when he's done this. I could strangle the little shit.

But, the only time I've seen a wren close up, was when I was helping the poor thing get out of the house after the cat brought it home.

I appreciate the cat may have wounded it, but the way it flew out when I opened the patio doors gives me hope.

 

[D'wards]

Photo taken from video so bad quality but you can see fluffy bairns and mum giving them a beakfull of fatball each

 

[frogwoman]

I've seen my neighbours cat kill frogs in my garden. I told my neighbour about it and her response was 'yeah, he does that'

The issue with cats isn't just killing stuff it's the fact that even a scratch or lick can give an animal deadly diseases it's not immune to because of the bacteria in it's saliva. Something like a frog has very sensitive skin and even a light scratch can kill it.

Dogs are pretty bad as well honestly but cats tend to get all the stick.

 

[D'wards]

I've seen my neighbours cat kill frogs in my garden. I told my neighbour about it and her response was 'yeah, he does that'

The issue with cats isn't just killing stuff it's the fact that even a scratch or lick can give an animal deadly diseases it's not immune to.

Dogs are pretty bad as well honestly but cats tend to get all the stick.

Our old Westie Billy damaged a frog in our garden and caused it to limp.
I found it quite upsetting- handsome devil he was

 

[frogwoman]

Our old Westie Billy damaged a frog in our garden and caused it to limp.
I found it quite upsetting- handsome devil he was

Dogs are probably worse than cats in many respects honestly.

 

[Thora]

Why not just put a bell on their collars?

We've tried putting collars on my cat but she just takes them off.

 

[D'wards]

Dogs are probably worse than cats in many respects honestly.

Its the only time I ever caught him at it, but the git may have been slaughtering frogs behind my sleeping back all the time.
Although I didn't see too many frogs in the garden tbh. We didn't have a pond nor did the immediate neighbours

 

[frogwoman]

Its the only time I ever caught him at it, but the git may have been slaughtering frogs behind my sleeping back all the time.
Although I didn't see too many frogs in the garden tbh. We didn't have a pond nor did the immediate neighbours

The main problem with dogs is chasing after ground nesting birds like skylarks, some of the populations have been decimated

 

[eatmorecheese]

Humans are an invasive species given the huge damage we do - maybe the answer is to ban humans from Earth, and leave the other species to sort out their differences between themselves.

Indigenous Australians lived in balance with their environment for thousands of years before the disease-ridden prison hulks arrived from London, Portsmouth and Cobh. Within 10 years, as Europeans pushed out into the hinterland around Sydney, they came across many indigenous corpses, presumably victims of diseases their immune systems couldn't handle.

So you may have a point.

 

[Supine]

Tbf I've seen crows go at a parakeet nest and destroy all the eggs.

That’s the working class rising up against the ruling elite.

 

[DaveCinzano]

They would defo vote tory if they could too

100% cats would not vote

 

[Raheem]

100% cats would not vote

They'd moan about the result, though.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

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

Well evolved creatures, cats. Totally at home in their bodies and they enjoy their work.

 

[nogojones]

Do urban cats hunt rats?

Yes. They're pretty good at it as well.

 

[nogojones]

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.

I'm sorry to say, but you've just had shit cats.

If you get cats that have had a decent bit of time with their mum, ideally feral rescues, they never turn down the free lunch that a mouse or rat provides.

As a gift to you though, they might leave you the head and stomach of the mouse/rat as a pressie. Because they're nice like that.

 

[nogojones]

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

Or maybe there would just be packs of roaming, starving, feral pugs snuffling everywhere

 

[8ball]

We really need to look at getting rid of humans, since they are a prime cause of
pets and also do a massive amount of damage in themselves.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Or maybe there would just be packs of roaming, starving, feral pugs snuffling everywhere

I'd hope that those poor breeds like pugs would be the first to die out - I always feel sorry for them when I see them. I doubt they'd be able to survive for long in the wild anyway.

 

[krtek a houby]

Indigenous Australians lived in balance with their environment for thousands of years before the disease-ridden prison hulks arrived from London, Portsmouth and Cobh. Within 10 years, as Europeans pushed out into the hinterland around Sydney, they came across many indigenous corpses, presumably victims of diseases their immune systems couldn't handle.

So you may have a point.

The prison systems have so much to answer for

 

[petee]

del.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

I like cats, more than I like dogs. I look after my sister's cat when she goes on holiday.

However, the more I get into gardening and wildlife, the more I see cats as an issue. And I don't think it's fair to a cat to keep it indoors permanently.

So..

 

[DaphneM]

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.

totally agree, really not fair