Just think if they were birds wearing towels. Gordon would be in heaven.

He saw his first towel yesterday since arriving in Oz and was just gazing at it.

Probably plotting how and when he can get it.

I love cats [and dogs for that matter] but is it not against a cats behaviour or instinct to be kept in? I'm not passing judgment PP as I know you love Gordon and are a repsonsible cat owner, but does Gordon get cheesed off being kept indoors?

My cat has never been outdoors and doesn't miss it at all. She is quite content to lay around on our nice soft furniture looking at the inside of her eyelids for 23 hours per day. We have no problem with dead wildlife in our area, no fleas or tics, our cat won't come home beat up from fighting with neighbourhood cats and we always know where she is.

Can someone check whether Ducks are on the "allowed to shoot" list. The piles, no mountains, of crap they leave around your pool soon makes you change your view of them. I'd rather have Crows (or Ravens) any day rather than Ducks.

Mike.
P.S. I decided to keep my opinions of cats to myself.

Just get a pool cover, they soon bugger orf.........mm

Jeez...what a life. I want to be reincarnated as your cat

My cat loved going out doors in the UK but not over here

She does go out but only for 5 minutes at a time, longer if we are in the garden. The birds here seem to do the hunting and keep attacking her :curse: She gets scared and wants to come in!

Mandy

I suppose it is against instinct to be kept in. Gordon is an indoor cat as he has an eye condition that flares up when he is stressed and that can be passed on to other cats - admittedly he is far happier in Perth where he has a huge amount of space in the house to run around and floor to ceiling windows to look out of - he never tries to escape.

Although cats are not indigenous to Australia so where as keeping them in may well be against their behaviour, you have to consider that as they don't belong in Australia anyway, it balances itself out.

I will never forget one woman bragging that her cat had killed a black cockatoo declaring it 'nature'. Yet if her cat became prey to a snake, she would view it differently.

Some people say that the average cat might only kill one or two birds - but we all have the 'average' cat and the damage mounts up. It isnt even comparable to the damage a dog can do because it cannot be monitored.

Some may think that their cat isnt capable of hunting but unless you have a 24 hour camera around its neck you wont know that either.

My friend told me 'Oh most cats would never catch a parrot' but they do. I volunteered at Currumbin wildlife sanctuary and they told me that cats frequently catch parrots, not to mention the odd possum - and I believe what they told me.

I love Australia for its wildlife and believe that cats can do considerable damage to the balance of the whole system.

So in my opinion, if I can do my bit by containing my cat then I will because it all adds up.

Gordon has always been an indoor boy due to health issues but even if he hadn't, he would be in Australia.

There are loads of un-neutered male cats where I live, one of them is always hunting birds. Why people don't de-sex them I don't know.

Irresponsible pet ownership can have a huge knock on effect on the environment - especially when each owner believes that they are doing nothing wrong.

I also believe that cats can have a severe impact on the animal population, the government wouldn't have such strict rules without cause. This is why we also abide by the regulations, chip the cats and keep them in during the curfew hours.

However, the number of people we know who constantly complain about neighbours dogs kept in the back yard that bark like nutters all night and keep them awake, is crazy. It's pandemic around here but thankfully we don't have that problem. Our neighbours all have little yappy runt dogs which get brought in at night.

Cheeky birds. They are so funny. One of our cats goes to the door pokes it head out, checks they're not around and runs out under our parked car in the drive. Sits there for a while checking that the coast is clear and then walks 10ft out into the tarmac and flops in the sun. Then the birds, who have been covertly watching all this just waiting, dive bomb her and make her jump 3ft in the air! It's hysterical to watch.

Back home in Cornwall we lived in a rural coastal area and they went out all the time, but rarely left the garden or the cliff area, they also spent a huge amount of time just lounging on the door step.

Here both of ours spend 97% of the time in doors and only go out to walk around the yard, etc. This is mainly their choice. They couldn't give a toss about the rest of the area, they just enjoy the sun SO much.

Watching their little faces when they saw their first Possum was classic. It was like "******* HELL! What kind of Cat is THAT!".

Al