Can I ask a question about house cats? I dont have cats or have them coming into the garden, but I have had a problem with a previous property and can certainly vouch for the anger and frustration felt. I have a friend with 2 house cats. They do occasionally venture into the garden, which is a small walled area and they can’t get out. They are very happy pets. That’s perfect for everyone isn’t it? Cat lovers and gardeners. When she wanted to rehome another cat, she was told by a charity they don’t rehome as house cats, and the small garden didn’t count, they need their ‘freedom’ and to express natural behaviour etc. I find this very odd indeed. From the pro cat side, surely it’s better to have them safe than roaming about crossing roads?
I was going to keep out of this but I really can't let that go ........ Nature? It's no more 'Nature' than it would be for a dog to savage an annoying child in a park ...
My son's cat is an indoor cat ... he's never been outside and is perfectly happy and healthy. My daughter's cat is a pet and as such it doesn't go out into the garden without her and she keeps it within her own garden. She doesn't leave it outside to kill wildlife, cr@p in other people's gardens or roam the streets risking accidents.
That's being a responsible pet owner. To do otherwise is totally contrary to the duty and responsibility of owning a pet.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
1. I decide to keep some chickens in my garden ... free range of course ... as is their nature my chickens repeatedly fly over the fence and scratch up the seedlings in your veg patch, eat your brassicas and lettuces and make a dust bath in the middle of your lawn ... is that Nature .... after all, it's what chickens do and chickens don't understand human boundaries? Or should I be a responsible poultry keeper and ensure my chickens stay within my property?
2. My chickens are a specialist breed and win some prizes at the local agricultural show and people ask to buy some of their progeny at £30+ each .... however a neighbour's cat comes into my garden and kills several of the chicks ... shall I sue the cat's owner for my losses and if not, why not?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I think one of the main problems with many [not all] cat owners is denial, Dove.....
The oft quoted response to sh*t in your garden is - 'just get a cat/dog of your own'. If I wanted to spend my time picking up sh*te, surely it wouldn't bother me in the first place.....
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I've spent a lot of time and money making my garden a haven for wildlife. The neighbourhood cats came in and wiped out the lizard population. I get owls visiting the garden because of the voles we get but cats keep killing the voles so the owls have less food. I should be able to decide how I manage my garden and not have my cat owning neighbour's idea of 'nature' ruining the work I do. There is a lack of predators in our modern ecosystem and cats can have a place in keeping disease at bay in prey populations and things like that but to suggest that your pet cat is part of nature so should be able to roam where it likes and kill what it likes is ignorant and irresponsible.
If it's cruel to keep cats indoors then they shouldn't be kept as pets in the first place.
You will never see legislation to control cat ownership as no politician would even commit career suicide by losing the cat owner vote. There are signs all up my street threatening £1000 fines to dog owners who don't clear up after their dogs yet there is cat cr*p everywhere, even under the signs, and this is perfectly legal.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Personally I think that keeping a cat indoors is cruel, it's the same as caging a bird. If you kept a dog inside and never let it out you would be considered abusive. My cat could not do her job if she were inside (mouser) neither would she keep the neighbours 15 cats out. (although I think the dogs help her there) However we are rural, only three houses down here and all over 100m apart.
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“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
When she wanted to rehome another cat, she was told by a charity they don’t rehome as house cats, and the small garden didn’t count, they need their ‘freedom’ and to express natural behaviour etc. I find this very odd indeed. From the pro cat side, surely it’s better to have them safe than roaming about crossing roads?
When a domesticated pet cat goes out and kills wild animals, how on earth can this be considered as " Nature"
Is it "Nature" for the mice, rats, frogs and birds to be killed by a domestic cat, I don't so.
My son's cat is an indoor cat ... he's never been outside and is perfectly happy and healthy. My daughter's cat is a pet and as such it doesn't go out into the garden without her and she keeps it within her own garden. She doesn't leave it outside to kill wildlife, cr@p in other people's gardens or roam the streets risking accidents.
That's being a responsible pet owner. To do otherwise is totally contrary to the duty and responsibility of owning a pet.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
1. I decide to keep some chickens in my garden ... free range of course ... as is their nature my chickens repeatedly fly over the fence and scratch up the seedlings in your veg patch, eat your brassicas and lettuces and make a dust bath in the middle of your lawn ... is that Nature .... after all, it's what chickens do and chickens don't understand human boundaries? Or should I be a responsible poultry keeper and ensure my chickens stay within my property?
2. My chickens are a specialist breed and win some prizes at the local agricultural show and people ask to buy some of their progeny at £30+ each .... however a neighbour's cat comes into my garden and kills several of the chicks ... shall I sue the cat's owner for my losses and if not, why not?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The oft quoted response to sh*t in your garden is - 'just get a cat/dog of your own'. If I wanted to spend my time picking up sh*te, surely it wouldn't bother me in the first place.....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.