Kotare

Agree dogs off a lead unless properly trained/under control are also a pain in the butt, but unusual in a farming area as dogs roaming loose are likely to be shot.

SSky

I mean 'REALLY' bunnies on the lawn? Cats will not attack domestic full grown rabbits, they can stick up for themselves big time!
We have hares on our block, they're also classed as pests so we dispatch of them with a rifle which is quick and kind. No lingering for weeks ... seeming to get well, and then developing mouth ulcers and losing any dignity they had.
My pedigree burmese Simba was our last cat I had to have euthanized due to poisoning by the vet, he slept in my bed with me the night before I took him to the vets, he still had enough strength to have a look out the car window on the way there and gave me a last meow as he took his last breath. He was my buddy, my pal and I had him ever since we arrived in NZ and I loved him and someone just thought it was ok to poison him like a pest.

Kotare

Certainly my cats (when I had them) would take on rabbits.

No one condones poisoning domestic cats. As I said the local conservation group traps them and I suspect anything with a collar is delivered home.

But cats (much more than dogs) are natural predators and should, at a minimum, be kept indoors at night (and ideally behind a cat proof electric fence during the day). If you google cat predation the numbers for mammals and birds killed are horrendous.

SSky

Then you don't know rabbits, I bred them for years and they are not to be messed with ... cats will not mess with an adult rabbit.
I won't get into the dog verses cat debate, I don't particularly like dogs but I wouldn't go around poisoning them willy nilly.

As I said in my original post if I knew what I know now I wouldn't bring a domestic cat to NZ as it's so risky unless you plan on having an indoor cat and you can only do that if the cat has never been outside.

BEVS

I'm so sad and sorry to read that Ssky. They're our lovely pets aren't they & we love them so just as we would any of our family.
Made me feel very upset for you.

I think we all agree actually. Our domestic cats and dogs needs to be in at night. Dusk to dawn. Dogs taken to walk in and around conservation areas, estuarys etc should be on a lead at all times ( except from what I see they are not ) & a muzzle.

All predatory feral animals need control & eradication. That includes cats & dogs of course.

Oh and totally off topic now but can someone vote in a Minister of Conservation that actually believes in that so our penguins and dolphins are also brought back from the brink.

Anyway. ArthurFowler.

As you will read Ssky has had the most dreadful time over her lovely pet cats & it does illustrate how some can be towards them.

I brought two cats with me 12 yrs ago from the UK . I have just the younger one now and he is 18 yrs old. They both settled well . The process to bring them over was quite simple an the pet carrier guided us throughout.

I am in a village environment and many folk around me have both pet cats and dogs. Someone hurt a pet here and there would be a lynching as everyone knows everyone. Heck. We even have a village cat.

SSky

Thank you BEVS, I couldn't bury him straight away when I brought him back home from the vets, I kept him for a whole day and night curled in his basket on his favourite blanket by the fire before I could accept he was gone.

BEVS

Totally understand. After all people hold wakes for people don't they.

When my Hollycat had to be put to sleep we kept him overnight . We had him cremated & his ashes sit beside his wee photo. It is arranged he will be scattered to the winds with us and Ty once we are also no more.

They hold our hearts .

movingtonewzealand

When you say everything, does $1600 cover shipping from UK to NZ, as well as quarantine fees?? If so, I've been ripped off!

Kotare

See my earlier post