Cats

[peanut]

I agree in principal. It says a lot about the priorities of some people when they'll spend a fortune keeping a dog yet to sod all to help their fellow humans.

Having said that, our rabbits are really nice :0)

why shouldn't I spend my hard earned money on what I want to ?! I don't smoke or drink so I can afford to choose what I spend my earnings on


Why should I help the lazy sponging towrags on the local housing estates who doss around all day living on benefits and drinking and throwing empty bottles around the roads and pavements for children and animals to walk in.Then go out at night `lamping' shooting up all the wildlife they see.
I'd exterminate the wasters and no hopers and keep the animals personally.

 

[Willow]

Renadine will do the job, not sure about spelling but comes in orange can, mix with sand or hang put on rags in garden. I guarantee success, it will also stop foxes. It does whiff so try to do it on a still day and be prepared to keep windows shut and not sit outside for that day. I would be suprised if you have to do it more than once and they will stay away for a loooooooooooooong time possibly always.

 

[fossyant]

Longers - I thought you had a dog as well !

 

[longers]

you'd be surprised at how well they got on

 

[punkypossum]

ID tag and collar don't work on my cat, the collars with the safety catches stay on for less than a day, with the other ones I'm constantly worried he'll hang himself, especially as he has a nasty habit of sleeping in car engines. Also, it only takes him a couple of days till he's learnt to walk in a way that the bell and tag don't make any noise...

He's microchipped tho and fortunately much keener on mice than birds!

That green GetOff! stuff is supposed to be very good at keeping cats out of your garden...at £1.99 for a big bottle it might be worth a try....

 

[fossyant]

Blimey Longers, it's bad enough with two mature cats and a young terrorist in my house (Tiggy the Terrorist she's called).

 

[Fab Foodie]

Cats.
Hate them.
Kill birds, crap in other peoples gardens and scratch the bonnet of my car. Shoot 'em. No, better still, shoot the owners and then BBQ the cat.

 

[Danny]

DannyG - Sheddy's water pistol idea is a good option. I've had to discourage the local feral tom cat from pestering attacking my three since they moved in recently. It's taken a few pints of water being lobbed at it but it's done the trick with no harm done.

The water pistol idea sounds fun - even if it doesn't deter the cats I can always turn it on the students next door when they make too much noise.

 

[Abitrary]

You won't be able to get rid of the cats by yourself.

You need to find a way of attracting larger crow-like birds like magpies to the garden, because they gang up and tease / peck cats to keep them away from their tree, which is hilarious.

Unless the cat is *really* up for it, the magpies will win.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I don't like them, either as animals or in principal.

We've got pet rabbits. They're kept in a run in our back garden. If you have a dog you have a responsibility to keep it under control. Why is it that if one person in a street wants a cat, everyone else has to put up with the thing in their garden? I don't want a cat. If I wanted a cat I'd get one. So why should I need to accept cats in my garden because someone else wants one?

And they are utterly selfish animals. As far as I'm concerned the best thing about them is that they'll fit in a microwave!

And before all the humorless twats start bleating on again, no, I have never put a cat in a microwave or killed a cat in any way. But in principal I think you should be allowed to kill any cat that enters your property.

And they don't hunt. They just kill stuff for the fun of it. Evil vermin with bells on.

We actually have the opposite problem, too many birds! They fly into our rabbit run and steal the rabbit's food. The little cute birds I don't mind at all but it's mostly big black mothers, sometimes half-a-dozen of them at a time, and what a racket they make! I'd happily kill them all too :0)

You're full of christian charity today.

 

[mr Mag00]

no diatribe from me, those who know me personally know how i feel.
yes it is natural for them to hunt but it is not natural for our wildlife to have them present in the current numbers which are thought to be around 10 million.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I disagree, having a pet teaches a body how to care for another living object. There's much work goes on at a shelter near me with offenders from a nearby prison working in the shelter - the results are excellent. Pets can teach a human a kind of unconditional love in the sense that a pet doesn't give a toss as to whether or not you have the most expensive ar, a highly paid job, loads of money in the bank, what dress size you are or whether or not you have a huge 'member' in the case of blokes owning pets. My experience is that if a child can grow up learning to take care of a pet, then he or she learns valuable lessons on responsibility for others and for caring for another life. This is valuable for learning to care for people too. There's also work done in the States that show that those who abuse animals can go on to abuse people...

That's all true for some - which is why I didn't say pets should be banned - although your last point could equally be an argument for not allowing some people access to animals. I notice there was no attempt to address the wider ethical issues - this is not just a question of individual rights and individual development.

 

[wafflycat]

The wider issues - well those are dealt with by responsible pet ownership which I'd already referred to in previous postings on this thread - neutering etc.

 

[tdr1nka]

Cats don't like lavender either, I planted some and the local cats have since stopped using the front garden as a toilet!

 

[Arch]

no diatribe from me, those who know me personally know how i feel.
yes it is natural for them to hunt but it is not natural for our wildlife to have them present in the current numbers which are thought to be around 10 million.

I'd like to bet as much or more wildlife dies under the wheels of cars, which are even less natural and more numerous than cats... Any wild animal has some instinctive defence against a predator, whereas they generally only learn about traffic once it's too late...