This Is MY Garden!

[Phil]

I fully expect to be battening down the hatches after this post 

 

First image - A cat stuck in a tree. But why is it stuck?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

 

The cat is just one belonging to our neighbours, I'm not sure how many they have (at least 3) but to the best of my knowledge not one has a collar with a bell. This one clearly has no collar at all!

What makes it even more sickening is that they regularly feed the wild birds by scattering seed on the flat roof that can be seen in the background. I realise I'm fighting a losing battle but I'll state once again that cats are responsible for the deaths of 120 million song birds every year, surely cat owners have a duty to fit bells to their pet's collar? Even Harvey the dog has a name tag that rattles with the slightest movement.

 

This cat did eventually get away but not without a nip!

[FUJI]

So sad Phil, an irresponsible cat owner there.....but a nip from a loose a greyhound nearly cost my Moggie ( in her own garden at the time) almost her hind leg and her life, the vet was amazed that she pulled through after she was missing for a day....it cost the dogs owner circa £500 and he wasn't insured like he told us.

Sitting here with same, but much older Moggie purring on my lap..

TRUCE!!

FUJI

[Phil]

FUJI, I'm sat here reading your reply and through the French Window I can see 5 Woodpigeons, a couple of Chaffinches and one Blue Tit on the flat roof 

[NannyFerret]

I can see your frustration, but I never put a collars on any of my cats as they were always getting hooked on a neighbours bushes when I tried them several times. 

My neighbour ran round to get me on one occasion to unhook one cat as she was petrified of small furry animals.
My ferrets don't have collars either for the same reason, but do have harnesses if they do go out on the odd occasion for a walk.

What we didn't do when we had the three cats was to feed the birds in the garden. which is only common sense, isn't it? 

My daughter has two cats and doesn't feed the birds in her garden either, but she rides her bike through town on the way to work and takes bird seed ( bless her) to feed the pigeons instead as most of them are crippled through the frost and various other reasons.

She would risk a fine sooner than see the poor pigeons starve.

[Barbara]

Where's the Fence     

[annie]

i have three cats...they do have collars, the safety ones with the elastic, and all have three old heavy keys hanging from each collar, this gives the birds a real loud warning. the bird feeding area's in my garden are in very safe places for the birds...very close to the hedges and bushes and any bird food that is dropped on the floor i very quickly clean up...the only tree's i have are a couple of conifers that the cats cannot climb. 

[JohnP]

Both dogs and cats are a product of man's interference with nature... there are far too many of them for my liking, I have no time for either.

 

Please feel free to bash me all you like... it won't make any difference to how I feel. Phil said that cats are responsible for the deaths of 120 million song birds, they are having a hard enough time as are most creatures through loss of habitat etc etc. The thought of some overfed cat killing birds and then just playing with it after makes my blood boil.

[NannyFerret]

I think the collars these days are probably a lot safer than the ones that were around when we had our cats.

I don't object to others putting a collar on their cats, it was just a safety issue with my own three.

I didn't feed the birds until all my own three cats and the one next door had gone.

No need to batton the hatches as far as I'm concerned.   
It would be a sad forum if people fell out with each other for speaking their minds wouldn't it. Besides I like a good debate and also like to see other peoples points of view as well.

[Heather]

just to ermmm " put the cat amongst the pigeons" so to speak... my dogs chase birds and have been known to catch them too ! ive stopped feeding them because of this though.

[JohnP]

The cat is just one belonging to our neighbours

 

Save a fortune in dog food Phil... I don't expect your dog will mind a nice leg of cat for a change...

[Leon]

for a change I actually agree with the comments above, I have 2 cats, one pedigree ragdoll who only goes out for an hour with us in the garden in summer, the other a "moggie" who does go out, he has a safety collar with a bell, although he has managed once to catch a bird, he frequently catches mice which scares me with the amount of people who lad poison down rather than trapping mice when they are a pest.

 

I do also feed birds but high up and away from any place where a cat can lay in wait.

 

a few years ago we had an 8' square mesh enclosure for our Bengal with branches and pearches for him to claw when he was not in the house, the birds used to tease the cat and even steal his biscuits when he was asleep

 

[Denis]

I can see this from both sides...

 

I too am now a cat owner, I have previously owned pairs of working gundogs in the past, Labradors and English Black Flat Coat Retrievers. So I have respect for certain types of dogs. I also feed the birds in my garden, and a hundred foot away on common land where I have placed nesting boxes in the trees and hang old feeders up. I like birds, in fact, I like all wildlife.

 

My cat, to my knowledge, has caught about five birds, all Sparrows that he has deposited outside the back door, all intact but dead, in the last six years. He has brought home over 109 mice and 5 small young rats in the same time.

 

 He regulary gets chased by one of the staffies that belong to the tattooed, knuckle-dragging oik a few doors down who just laughs when I complain. I would without hesitation..... if allowed by law, shoot dead his dogs without a hint of remorse if they killed my cat.

 

 My cat is sacrosanct !

[NannyFerret]

I get annoyed when my daughter's staffi chases cats when they go into her garden, because I have no doubt that he would shake them to death like a toy.

Cat's are actually a protected species and are allowed to free roam. You can chase them off or lay cat repellent pellets that they don't like the smell of.

I've had two dogs and three cats all at the same time, and one of the cats who had been born in the wild used to lie on my sheepdogs side and suck her fur. The others used to share the basket with my MIniture Pinscher.

They all got on like a house on fire as did our previous dog and cat.

I wouldn't shoot the dog, Chronikon, I would shoot the owner.

[Leon]

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/gardening/unwantedvisitors/cats/catsandthelaw.aspx

 

 

• Domestic cats are protected by law and it is an offence to trap, injure or kill them.
• The welfare of cats must not be ignored. Remember that cats, even if they are unwelcome in your garden, may be someone's much-loved pets, perhaps of a child or elderly person living alone.
• Some people have called for legislation introduced to curb the freedom with which cats are allowed to roam. While we understand why people feel this way, we are not able to urge the government to introduce such legislation, as we have no scientific evidence of the impact of cat predation on bird populations that is strong enough to support such a call.   

Borrowed from the RSPB website 

[FUJI]

TIP.........I learned recently (there isa YouTube video) that cats just will not jump on t loose kitchen foil......the video shows a cat shooting off a foil covered worktop...my new neighbour's cat Oscar, has taken to sitting on our dividing wall right next to our bird feeder (it faces a very busy main road so to our cats it is a No No).

 

The other day, I covered that portion of wall with kichen foil; we haven't seen him on there since.......cats hate orange peel, and any volatile smell such as shoe polish etc.....Also a long range water pistol is a fantastic deterrent you will have fun whilst not harming the cat and do it enough times and the moggie wont return.

 

Setting you dog on a cat could prove very expensive, as one of my neighbours discovered.

 

Please respect all pets.

 

An aside.........We have a passing aquaintance who is rapidly losing my friendship......he delights in sending his snappy terrier into OUR garden to chase my elderly cat in HER own space....one day it will end in a pooch with a seriously scratched face or a seriously injured moggie...no matter how much we protest the prat thinks it hilarious:

 

FUJI

[NannyFerret]

It's out of order, to send the dog into your garden. Could you put a  "NO DOGS ALLOWED" sign up. 

The poor cat could have a heart attack.