GetMeDownUnder Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I don't actually see anyone saying don't own a cat at all, I may have missed it though. Cats should be confined DAY and NIGHT either indoors or in a secure run. Even if you have acres of your own farm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 God knows how many rats there would be if everyone confined their cat all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marenmatt1 Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Find the feral cat debate so frustrating. Instead of blaming the cats why not blame the humans who refuse to desex their pets & then dump the unwanted litters in the wild. As well as the whole opinion that cats are single handedly destroying our wild life. Actually the largest killer of animals on earth is humans. My cat has never killed more then a cockroach. She's not allowed outside unsupervised not because of what she may do but what people may do to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyHeart Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I see too many cats dead at the side of the road and too many in my garden that risk their lives when my greyhound spots them and takes chase. Not to mention her risk of injury running into the fence. That said, it's not much life for a cat kept indoors, you need space for them to roam safely...how achievable is that really? Better to not have them at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacaranda Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I will happily confess to being a 'cat hater' when it comes to my garden......I don't like cat sh!t with my home grown beetroot. Or to run over sh!t with the mower on the lawn.......urgh, the stench! Cats should be confined to their owners own space, not left to run wild and cause a nuisance. All the 'oh they are just doing what comes naturally' is a crock. If you were allowed to just let your dog come and go as it chooses, imagine the chaos. Responsible owners are the key, and control should apply to cats as well as dogs. If you haven't got the time or the space, don't keep animals. I don't hate cats,had two myself years ago but now I wouldn't.I do confess though to disliking cats fouling in my garden. Once we moved into a brand new estate.No one had any cats.Within 6 mths,the place was overrun with them.I'd look out my back window and sometimes see up to 4 cats sitting on my fence or in my garden,and loads wandering around out the front.It became quite unbearable at the time.(A good tip to keep cats off gardens (and yes I also grow my own veg)is to peel lemons thinly and spread the peel over the beds,or place prickly offcuts of twigs (holly?or similar)over beds.You can stick wooden skewers in the ground too to deter them but I don't really like that idea too much incase their injure their eyes or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Our pussy bashes up the local dogs and they are scared of him even though he is an old man now. Meeooww Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I must admit, it does amaze me how acceptable it is here in Australia to be completely anti-cat. We were at a barbecue once and this - otherwise perfectly nice and completely normal - couple were laughing about how they had trapped their neighbour's pet cat, removed its collar and taken it to a vet to be put down as a stray! They didn't live in South Australia - I don't think it's legal here - but where they lived if a cat without a collar can be trapped (and their local council supplied cat traps free of charge) then it can be legally euthanised. I asked why they didn't just have a word with their neighbour, and ask them to keep it inside and not let it out if it was a problem, but they just laughed at the fact that the neighbour never found out what had happened to her family pet! I haven't kept in touch with them...... Also another friend of a friend who we met in Melbourne had a farm in rural NSW. Feral cats out there are a huge problem as people with unwanted cats would drive out to the end of the blacktop, and just dump the cats there where they became wild. This lady was joking about how she put out a whole row of saucers with tuna on them, and waited with her gun to shoot any feral cats that came down to eat. One of her farm workers joked with a new starter to watch out if the boss ever offered him tuna.... Don't have so much of a problem with this - ferals can be a problem - but knowing how devasted I and my kids have been when any of our cats have been run over (here and in UK) I think deliberately harming or killing someone's pet is another matter. I don't like cats, but I tolerate next doors. Until now. I topsoiled the lawn and reseeded over the weekend. Next doors cat looked me in the eye, then squated and did a big streaming turd in the middle of it. Water pistols at dawn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 God knows how many rats there would be if everyone confined their cat all the time. I think dogs are better with rats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 You are just a cat hater. I have never seen any evidence that pet cats are decimating wildlife to these ridiculous proportions, it is just something made up by cat haters. The evidence suggests there is plenty of undecimated wildlife in Australia. To be fair, most Australian's live in cities with their cats where I expect there is less wildlife for them to eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 To be fair, most Australian's live in cities with their cats where I expect there is less wildlife for them to eat. You would be very surprised. I'm surprised at how little wildlife I see in Southampton, even walking through the New Forest, compared to what I used to see in my Sydney suburb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wan2go Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 You would be very surprised. I'm surprised at how little wildlife I see in Southampton, even walking through the New Forest, compared to what I used to see in my Sydney suburb. Too many cats (and foxes in the Forest)......... For a number of years it was rumoured that there were more cats than people in my road! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I don't like cats, but I tolerate next doors. Until now. I topsoiled the lawn and reseeded over the weekend. Next doors cat looked me in the eye, then squated and did a big streaming turd in the middle of it. Water pistols at dawn. I hope you threw it over the fence!!! (the turd not the cat) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambethlad Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I seem to remember a history lesson from my schooldays regarding the black plague in 16th century Europe which killed more than half the human population. Before the plague took hold there was an anti-cat hysteria which swept Europe which resulted in the cat population being decimated. Cats were thought to be the vehicles of evil spirits, the agents of witches and bringers of misfortune so there was mass slaughter of cats. This resulted in the massive increase in the rodents which carried the flea which carried the plague. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Best book ever published.........................101 uses for a dead cat, almost tempted me to get a cat.....well for a nano second it did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 I hope you threw it over the fence!!! (the turd not the cat) No. Tempted, but probably not a good move. We now have a loaded supersoaker by the back door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetMeDownUnder Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 I don't like cats, but I tolerate next doors. Until now. I topsoiled the lawn and reseeded over the weekend. Next doors cat looked me in the eye, then squated and did a big streaming turd in the middle of it. Water pistols at dawn. I am wondering if my cats are the only ones who come back inside to use the litter tray instead of using the gardens.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Australia has an absolutely massive wild cat problem these days. It also has problems with wild dogs, wild horses (brumbies), wild camels, wild pigs and other ferals like rabbits, goats, deer, buffalo, cane toads and so on. These do as much damage as wild cats I reckon. I have three cats. They stay indoors from 9pm to 6am and then are out all day. They have collars with bells. They catch snakes but nothing else. If we move into a highly sensitive rural area away from the suburbs, I will get them a cat run enclosure instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy1 Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 It also has problems with wild dogs, wild horses (brumbies), wild camels, wild pigs and other ferals like rabbits, goats, deer, buffalo, cane toads and so on. These do as much damage as wild cats I reckon. I have three cats. They stay indoors from 9pm to 6am and then are out all day. They have collars with bells. They catch snakes but nothing else. If we move into a highly sensitive rural area away from the suburbs, I will get them a cat run enclosure instead. Snakes? You are lucky they are still alive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 They catch snakes but nothing else. They don't even kill the snakes; they are just playing. We rescue the snakes and set them free. Rescued a red belly black and a brown last week and set them free in the garden......hope I don't end up regretting the brown rescue. It was a sprightly aggressive little thing whilst the red belly was docile. Everyone else wanted to kill it but nobody could actually bring themselves to do it. Hoping it doesn't seek revenge when older for the slight mauling and being man-handled with the end of a broom!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Snakes? You are lucky they are still alive. Who? The cats or the snakes!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 It also has problems with wild dogs, wild horses (brumbies), wild camels, wild pigs and other ferals like rabbits, goats, deer, buffalo, cane toads and so on. These do as much damage as wild cats I reckon. I have three cats. They stay indoors from 9pm to 6am and then are out all day. They have collars with bells. They catch snakes but nothing else. If we move into a highly sensitive rural area away from the suburbs, I will get them a cat run enclosure instead. All the problems with the feral horses, camels, pigs and goats caused by stupid human beings setting the animals free to care for themselves :mad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 All the problems with the feral horses, camels, pigs and goats caused by stupid human beings setting the animals free to care for themselves :mad: Not all the problems. Some maybe but not all. I think in most cases the animal in question was introduced to combat another problem and then just exploded in population. An initial introduction of just 24 wild European rabbits in 1859 for food for the early settlers, has now turned into billions of them because they breed like.......well rabbits! And the cane toads were introduced in 1935 to control the cane beetle in the sugar fields and that failed spectacularly too. So maybe just lack of forward thinking by humans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Not all the problems. Some maybe but not all. I think in most cases the animal in question was introduced to combat another problem and then just exploded in population. An initial introduction of just 24 wild European rabbits in 1859 for food for the early settlers, has now turned into billions of them because they breed like.......well rabbits! And the cane toads were introduced in 1935 to control the cane beetle in the sugar fields and that failed spectacularly too. So maybe just lack of forward thinking by humans. ................ and foxes were introduced by the English for the purpose of fox hunting :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 You are just a cat hater. I have never seen any evidence that pet cats are decimating wildlife to these ridiculous proportions, it is just something made up by cat haters. The evidence suggests there is plenty of undecimated wildlife in Australia. To be fair I am a cat hater for a very good reason, it's the huge amount of damage they do. There is an enormous amount of evidence to back up the claims but it is up to the individual whether they believe it or just live in denial. Both domesticated and feral cats eat massive numbers of native wildlife. I'm amazed that people think it's fine to say openly that their cats roam around and they know they eat native animals. It's quite sickening. When I see a dead cat on the road I cheer because that means more native animals get to survive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Even if you have acres of your own farm? What difference does that make ? It just means it's killing native animals on your land. I am talking about confining them for the good of the wildlife. I'm just amazed in this thread people who profess to love Australia see nothing wrong in what they are doing. How can you love the country but have no respect for the wildlife ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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