Scientific institute classifies cats as 'invasive alien species'

[Essjay]

Leo has a few year to go to catch Itiwhetu, we'll have to see what he's like if he reaches 20. He's 17.5 at the moment. He's currently asleep on the floor between the spare bed and the radiator but he sleeps on the bed at night. He has a low footstool next to the bed to help him climb on it.

 

[itiwhetu]

Leo has a few year to go to catch Itiwhetu, we'll have to see what he's like if he reaches 20. He's 17.5 at the moment. He's currently asleep on the floor between the spare bed and the radiator but he sleeps on the bed at night. He has a low footstool next to the bed to help him climb on it.

We have the "Iti stool"so she can get up onto the bed as well

 

[Colin_T]

You'd be able to spot the homes with cats as they'd resemble a high security prison . 10 foot fences all round the property with razor wire on top. Cats can jump a surprising height, a 6 foot fence is nothing to a cat.

Our cat doesn't jump, we don't think he's ever been allowed to and at 15 when we got him he was too old to learn. He climbs but if he can't grab hold with this front claws he doesn't go there. This did make life easier as we didn't have to cat/toddler proof the house when we got him.

No need for razor wire unless you're trying to catch long haired cats

The people who fence their yards just have a 7ft high fence and put shade cloth or wire over top. They basically turn the backyard into an aviary but it keeps cats in and birds and other animals out.

I saw a few places on TV that had enclosed runways all around their property. They basically built a wire cage that was about 1 foot wide x 1 foot high and just ran it all over the property. They had a few bigger areas where several cats could stop, sit, have a drink, etc, but a lot of it was just runway up trees, along fences, over the roof, etc. The cats would zip around all over the back and front yards but were confined and couldn't get to the wildlife.

 

[ClownLurch]

Ours has two bells and a metal mob phone number tag on his collar to warn birds he’s approaching. He’s 11 and only caught one in all that time and that was when he was inbetween collars.
Mice? Now that’s a whole different story. No idea where he gets them from though almost every house in the street has decking areas in their back garden that they eat on when the weathers nice. He only eats their heads strangely enough.

 

[Lynnzer]

Cats are wonderful indoor pets.

The guy next door adopted two shelter cats and kept them in all summer as they got used to their new lives. He let them out about 2 weeks ago and the result has been carnage. The ground nesting birds I watched all summer have been slaughtered. I'd say numbers are down by 75%. They also picked off a female mourning dove. The usual - well fed cats.

A similar thing happened when at my old house, the neighbour's cat had surgery that kept it out of action for a number of weeks. My yard had a rich bird life, but once the cat was out, it had a lot of blue jay feathers blowing around. I liked those jays - they were neat creatures.

I imagine the local bobcat will seek them out, which will be a sad ending for the wandering pets. I like cats, but they are invasive thrill killers.

Just as dogs need a license and a collar it should be mandatory that cats wear a collar with a bell on it. That's so if it creeps up on prey birds or animals they get a warning before it rips them apart.
Our neighbour had a cat for years, She was a widow and loved it to bits. It sat on her lap most of every day day. Then one day it sunk its claws into her arm. Within 3 days she nearly died of septicaemia.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Our cats always had a bell on their collar - don't put overmuch faith in a tiny tinkling bell stopping a cat from hunting. Didn't stop ours...

Sure we hear them tinkling as they wander around the house. But they're not hunting then. When they go into stealth mode, as all cats do when they hunt; and creep up ever so slowly towards a bird/rodent/rare endangered animal, their movements are so slow and smooth that the bell is useless. By the time the cat commits to the ambush it's within reach of the prey, and the bell won't save whatever they're leaping towards.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Leo has a few year to go to catch Itiwhetu, we'll have to see what he's like if he reaches 20. He's 17.5 at the moment. He's currently asleep on the floor between the spare bed and the radiator but he sleeps on the bed at night. He has a low footstool next to the bed to help him climb on it.

This bought tears to my eyes, I have to admit! My cat who passed away last year was called Leo. He was a little over 17 when he developed pancreatitis. Rushed to vet who tried to treat it and give him another chance, but when his kidneys began to fail I agreed it was time to let him go, and held him while she gave him the needle and he slipped away peacefully. Miss him terribly.

What colour is yours? This is my Leo when he was younger and still healthy, the way I try to remember him.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

OK here is a catty question....

How do you train your puddy tat to only hunt and mince non endangered animals?

Surely puddy tats would not know the difference tween a common garden sparrow from next door's prize winning budgie...all a puddy tat sees is a tweety pie sat somewhere easy to reach and go decide to play kiss chase with it....they don't sit there thinking "to kiss chase or not to kiss chase...this is the dilemma I face here"

My neighbour's puddy tat often presents me with his latest catch....normally an oak or elm leaf that he (de)stalked whilst on the prowl each morning.....proud little puddy tat with his leaf in his mouth, so maybe he understands the difference tween endangered and non endangered....

 

[Essjay]

What colour is yours?

I need to take some more photos of our Leo, this is him 18 months ago. Time flies.

He's a pedigree lilac silver spotted British shorthair. He's a big lad and when he went to the vet a couple of weeks ago with cystitis we were told he needed to lose weight as he was 7.8 kg. Blame my husband and the Dreamies

We are his 4th owners. I know nothing about the first. The 3rd owners told us that the 2nd ones had to rehome him as they discovered their child was allergic to him. The 3rd owners are friends of our ex daughter-in-law. The wife wanted a dog, but everyone said you can't get a puppy and leave it alone all day, get 2 kittens and they'll keep each other company. So they adopted a 12 year old cat. She still hankered after a dog and she and Leo ignored each other. The husband liked cats and Leo adored him - but he's a ship's engineer on a private super yacht so he's at sea most of the time. Then the wife got pregnant, left work and got a dog. Then had a baby. Leo was ignored, and worse he had to live with a very energetic bouncy dog and a baby. So they finally agreed that Leo was unhappy and we were asked if we'd take him, which we did. We've had him since January 2020.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I need to take some more photos of our Leo, this is him 18 months ago. Time flies.

View attachment 165358

He's a pedigree lilac silver spotted British shorthair. He's a big lad and when he went to the vet a couple of weeks ago with cystitis we were told he needed to lose weight as he was 7.8 kg. Blame my husband and the Dreamies

We are his 4th owners. I know nothing about the first. The 3rd owners told us that the 2nd ones had to rehome him as they discovered their child was allergic to him. The 3rd owners are friends of our ex daughter-in-law. The wife wanted a dog, but everyone said you can't get a puppy and leave it alone all day, get 2 kittens and they'll keep each other company. So they adopted a 12 year old cat. She still hankered after a dog and she and Leo ignored each other. The husband liked cats and Leo adored him - but he's a ship's engineer on a private super yacht so he's at sea most of the time. Then the wife got pregnant, left work and got a dog. Then had a baby. Leo was ignored, and worse he had to live with a very energetic bouncy dog and a baby. So they finally agreed that Leo was unhappy and we were asked if we'd take him, which we did. We've had him since January 2020.

Aaawww, he's a beauty! Glad you took him in and he's in his final forever home.

That 3rd owner couple annoy me though. Selfish woman needs to learn that pets aren't toys. Scan anywhere that people post pets for rehoming, and you'll see plenty of dogs being rehomed because "we had a baby and dog needs someone with more time for him", and yet there are still idiots that decide to get a pup when they're pregnant or have just popped a kid out.

Dogs are work. The first few weeks with a pup is almost like a having a newborn, if you determine to housetrain them right anyway. They're not mature until around 18 months - 2 years for your average small-medium breeds, and if the basic training hasn't been done because you've been sidetracked looking after a baby or were way to pregnant to even bend down, then you now have a potentially powerful, completely untrained dog at the peak of it's physical energy levels and now an adult with absolutely no manners. So many of those dogs tend to be powerful and strong dogs too, 18 month old huskys, German Shepherds, Bully breeds with no training being moved on because the novelty has now worn off and the owners are busy. Urgh. I hate those kinds of selfish people. Don't get a dog if you can't commit to it.

 

[Colin_T]

I need to take some more photos of our Leo, this is him 18 months ago. Time flies.

You should take video of them too because it can show more unusual movements and behaviours that aren't captured on still pictures.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I can't count how many collars our Jones got through, he'd learnt how to get them off so we just stopped bothering in the end! He didn't bring us many presents in the 8 years we had with him thankfully

 

[Slaphppy7]

Cats should be sterilised unless used for breeding, and they should be kept on their property at all times, unless they are on a lead and someone is holding that lead when the animal is out in public. Same stuff dog owners have to do.

Like this? (watch on Youtube)

 

[Colin_T]

no video???

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Like this? (watch on Youtube)

Ooooooof! Bad kitty! that had to fuplie hurt!