After a full day doing odd gardening and pottering around,harvesting my crops, pruning, weeding and general tidying up. It gives me the greatest of pleasure to sit in the garden, with a nice cup of tea, and admire my day's work. As soon as I sit down to relax, my cat is right there next to me, as if approving of the day's accomplishment.
My cat is part of my garden, and i wouldn't have it any other way. Just to note, how many professional gardeners on tv do you see with their cats as their companions? Alan Titchmarch for one.
I am a very keen garden and have 4 cats at the moment, but I have had 7 cats at one time. I can remember when I was planting out some new plants and shrubs in the garden. All the plants were lined up by the wall and I had just dug a hole to accommodate a beautiful pink fuchsia. I went to get the plant and as I turned back, Billy, one of 6 ginger cats I had at that time, was straddled across the hole going to the toilet. He finished his business and looked at me as if to say 'thanks for digging the hole, saved my nails no end!' Needless to say, I filled in the hole and dug another one nearby. Sadly my cats have caught birds and mice but that's their nature and can't be helped, but I couldn't put out gin traps for them - that would be too cruel.
I have two cat deterrents, they worked at first but the crafty cats from nearby neighbours have learned to walk under the beam and still go to the toilet elsewhere in the garden. They also come to my water feature for a drink. What with three cats either side of me and squirrels I have decided not to plant any winter bulbs in containers as I don't have enough wire mesh/netting to cover them all.
Not all cats are killers so it is unfair to judge the species as a whole. I have four cats, they all have collars with large bells on, we have always fed the birds so they have grown up since kittens with birds around and therefore they are used to them and are not bird killers. They do however catch the odd mouse and spend hours watching and chasing butterflies and moths but never catching them - very funny to watch.
We have three cats,two don't bother much with any wildlife the third a feral kitten left by Mum in an outhouse last year is the best mouser,ratter & rabbiter ever, he has even had a couple of squirrels not to mention frogs.
Has Disgusted of Hampshire ever trodden in the foul mess left by cats. I am plagued by my neighbours cats using my flower beds as their dumping ground. Some days when I go into the garden the smell is appalling and if I can't see where they've left their mess I have been known to tread in it, resulting in me throwing my shoes away as I can't bear to clean the disgusting, smelly stuff off. I have tried all sorts of things to keep them out of my garden (they never use their own) but with no success. I now detest all cats.
Owners of cats that use someone else's garden for a toilet should be prosecuted. you need a clear photo for identification and you also need to know where it came from. Mark the cat with food colouring and follow it home! Cats faeces can make children blind!! Are cat owners exempt from any responsibility? How can anyone expose children to such an extreme risk?
I am a long time member of the RSPB and being virtually housebound, enjoy birdwatching from my window. Cat owners feed their pets, but wild birds rely on me! winter/breeding time especially. So being surrounded by many,many neighbourhood cats I'm distressed not only by bird harrassing/killing, but constant defecating in my garden. Never in their own!! One lazy puss does it's pile in the middle of the lawn. It's bad enough putting hands in a pile when weeding or planting,but being partially sighted cleaning my mower is a nightmare. Oh! the bliss of having a moan. Really I'm quite loving & only GROWL at cats - my aim in life to make people laugh. Today I wont speak of grey tree rats! have them too.
My one yr old cat brings us gifts. We've had birds, birds eggs (without a mark) and more recently someones sock. He gets most upset if we tell him no more gifts!!!
Not all cats kill. We have an adorable fluffball called Kaiser who although he catches plenty of wildlife, including slow worms, has only ever managed to kill mice. He brings all manner of things in for us but even the smallest of birds is still alive so we rescue them. We think it is his gentle nature which his breed (maine coon) is reknowned for. To stop cats defecating in your garden invest in a coleus specifically bred for annoying cats widely sold now, they HATE the smell. All my cats (3) have been trained to 'go' in our own garden, it is possible to do.
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My cat is part of my garden, and i wouldn't have it any other way. Just to note, how many professional gardeners on tv do you see with their cats as their companions? Alan Titchmarch for one.
We think it is his gentle nature which his breed (maine coon) is reknowned for. To stop cats defecating in your garden invest in a coleus specifically bred for annoying cats widely sold now, they HATE the smell. All my cats (3) have been trained to 'go' in our own garden, it is possible to do.