im just glad i don't have a garden, my kitties can go on the balcony and from there onto the rooftop of our building, which is horseshoe shaped, if i had a garden i still would let them out alone cos of all the cars and nasty cat haters. our neighourhood has dozens of posters at anytime of missing cats and the papers are full of tortured and mistreated cats in the dumpsters...and our donwstairsneighbouring cat is very agrrssive to other cats, so no way...just me being overprotective. at the allotment they can chase butterflies and i have 1 frog in my minipond, but they havent seen it yet or sont care about it. if i have a garden i would make it cat-er-thight ;-)
My young cat brings in mice and birds all the time, but they're alive and I always rescue them and give her a good telling off. Spring just gone she found a nest of very young birds and brought them to us 1 at a time, we managed ro save them and take them to a wildlife rescue centre where they were very well looked after. I feel that everyting my cats does is my responsibility to try to put right and think more cat owners should do the same.
Since my neighbours' housebound cat has taken to going outside, I've had no more trouble with rats, and I used to have lots of them. I don't know if she catches them or not, but she's earning her keep as far as I'm concerned. I know she catches mice but I think she's too elderly for birds. If only she could develop a taste for those big brown slugs which I've had a plague of this year!
I dont have a problem cats are welcome in my garden ok they use it as a litter tray so I cover the newly planted bits with netting really not much effort. What they do is keep the rabbits and mice out before them sweet peas and bean seed wa always being ruined by mice now the cats do a good job in keeping out the vermin
My cat (now 13 yrs 80 in human years) catches grey squirrels on a regular basis. This last week he has had a family of young ones. He catches voles, mice, rats and the odd bird. In all of his 13 years I think he has caught about 10 birds. And he now uses my new flower bed as a litter tray, annoying but at least it is my cat.
Cat people - that's cat owners, not people with tails and furry ears and whiskers - like to send their cats out at night to wreck the gardens of non-cat people. They teach them yo uproot seedlings and generally mess with the worms. It's their way of getting back at us, because they know that we know that their houses stink of pee.
My 'girls' are only let out when I'm home. When I go to work or out, they're called in and the flap locked. They also have to be in at night before it gets dark and aren't let out till it's light in the morning. They're collared (with safety buckles which snap open if they get snagged) and have bells so all wildlife is warned of their proximity. My old boy cat, who I lost recently (nearly 20yrs old) used to lie on our shed roof and the sparrows used to hop around him. He was an exceptional cat who only ever bothered with mice.
arhhhhhhhhh sj your moggie boy sounded sweet....good old age as well.
my sister lost her cat recently [he was 23yrs old, human years as well] so a very very old boy and he would love chasing spiders...he would catch them in his mouth and you could see the spiders legs moving as it hung from the cats mouth,he would then spit it out and keep doing the same thing to the spider for ages how cruel is that....yuk......but was funny to watch...arhh such memories getting choked up now.
Getting a cat was the best thing i've done for my garden. Rats were becoming a regular sight and alot of my fruit was being pinched by the birds before i got one. All that's been sorted since having my cat, he's kept in at night and seems too slow to catch anything. A win win situation
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at the allotment they can chase butterflies and i have 1 frog in my minipond, but they havent seen it yet or sont care about it. if i have a garden i would make it cat-er-thight ;-)
my sister lost her cat recently [he was 23yrs old, human years as well] so a very very old boy and he would love chasing spiders...he would catch them in his mouth and you could see the spiders legs moving as it hung from the cats mouth,he would then spit it out and keep doing the same thing to the spider for ages how cruel is that....yuk......but was funny to watch...arhh such memories getting choked up now.