Thank you Gemma I do try to be and I do see both sides - I love cats and have had many of them (and have also seen many killed on the roads) - however I do feel that I should be free not to plunge my hands into carnivore excrement in my own garden if that is my choice.
I think that sometimes a bit of 'he who is not for us is against us ' creeps in and that's a shame.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gillian, cats do not just go where there is freshly dug soil! I've had loads of cat poo on my back and front lawns in the 24yrs that I've lived here, and I mean loads! I often see cats in my garden and roaming the streets day and night. The cats are probably doing more in my soil the last couple of years as I haven't had much poo on my lawn. I try and wear gloves every time I garden now.
If you wear gloves to garden where cats have defecated be sure to rinse them thoroughly outside and remove them before you go indoors - do not wash your hands with gardening gloves on in the kitchen sink - there is a risk of contracting toxoplasmosis from gardens soiled by cats and the damage that can be done to a foetus if contracted during pregnancy is horrendous .
I personally can and do get upset about the whole issue but I have never seen you do the same Dove.
Though I've said before I don't dislike cats, I do however dislike other peoples cats using my garden as a toilet and killing animals totally needlessly in my wildlife garden.
If a cat was in trouble though, I would help. I did a few years back see a cat acting 'drunk'. I recognised it as symptoms of poisoning and with the owners out at work I rushed it to the vet. It survived, yet I never got so much as a word of thanks from the owner or the cost reimbursed. When I returned the cat they seemed totally bemused, the source of the poisoning was not identified, but the cat was back outside the very next day.
It has always been just as much about the cat welfare to me. Some owners really should start to listen to what a lot of gardeners have been saying now for a long time. They really are not doing themselves or their pets any favours by ignoring the issue and carrying on in what I see as a very selfish way. One needs to remove the cat from the argument at times I think, the message is to those owners who allow their pets to bring utter misery to others - stop making excuses and change your ways!!
Hang on...just to make it abundantly clear, I am not suggesting that any one individual is upset.
I made a suggestion in an effort to put a halt to the more patronising and upsetting comments on this subject, which has been done to death. Perhaps unintentional, but the tone is aggressive by some, and that is upsetting to some (!!)
If people were not constantly upset by the actions of other peoples pets there would be no debate. I always falls on deaf ears though. It isn't their cat that is the problem, their cat doesn't do these things.. ..how do they know if they are not even there to see?
As I read it Tootles it was not your comment but an earlier one that was responded to. I do though agree in general these debates do end up with bad feeling. Though I can't help observing this is because one side is living with a problem, the other side tries to deny there is a problem or those who live with it have it out of proportion. That can be very frustrating at times.
Posts
Thank you Gemma
I do try to be and I do see both sides - I love cats and have had many of them (and have also seen many killed on the roads) - however I do feel that I should be free not to plunge my hands into carnivore excrement in my own garden if that is my choice.
I think that sometimes a bit of 'he who is not for us is against us ' creeps in and that's a shame.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gillian, cats do not just go where there is freshly dug soil! I've had loads of cat poo on my back and front lawns in the 24yrs that I've lived here, and I mean loads! I often see cats in my garden and roaming the streets day and night. The cats are probably doing more in my soil the last couple of years as I haven't had much poo on my lawn. I try and wear gloves every time I garden now.
If you wear gloves to garden where cats have defecated be sure to rinse them thoroughly outside and remove them before you go indoors - do not wash your hands with gardening gloves on in the kitchen sink - there is a risk of contracting toxoplasmosis from gardens soiled by cats and the damage that can be done to a foetus if contracted during pregnancy is horrendous .
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Toxoplasmosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I personally can and do get upset about the whole issue but I have never seen you do the same Dove.
Though I've said before I don't dislike cats, I do however dislike other peoples cats using my garden as a toilet and killing animals totally needlessly in my wildlife garden.
If a cat was in trouble though, I would help. I did a few years back see a cat acting 'drunk'. I recognised it as symptoms of poisoning and with the owners out at work I rushed it to the vet. It survived, yet I never got so much as a word of thanks from the owner or the cost reimbursed. When I returned the cat they seemed totally bemused, the source of the poisoning was not identified, but the cat was back outside the very next day.
It has always been just as much about the cat welfare to me. Some owners really should start to listen to what a lot of gardeners have been saying now for a long time. They really are not doing themselves or their pets any favours by ignoring the issue and carrying on in what I see as a very selfish way. One needs to remove the cat from the argument at times I think, the message is to those owners who allow their pets to bring utter misery to others - stop making excuses and change your ways!!
Will do that Dove.
I've taken to wearing disposable nitrile gloves in the garden, put my hand in one of the little presents once to often.
Hang on...just to make it abundantly clear, I am not suggesting that any one individual is upset.
I made a suggestion in an effort to put a halt to the more patronising and upsetting comments on this subject, which has been done to death. Perhaps unintentional, but the tone is aggressive by some, and that is upsetting to some (!!)
Tootles - understood and appreciated
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
This makes for very interesting reading http://www.catallianceaustralia.org/main/page_the_law_your_cat_and_you.html
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
If people were not constantly upset by the actions of other peoples pets there would be no debate. I always falls on deaf ears though. It isn't their cat that is the problem, their cat doesn't do these things.. ..how do they know if they are not even there to see?
As I read it Tootles it was not your comment but an earlier one that was responded to. I do though agree in general these debates do end up with bad feeling. Though I can't help observing this is because one side is living with a problem, the other side tries to deny there is a problem or those who live with it have it out of proportion. That can be very frustrating at times.