Bermudashorts

My husband and I have just been granted our visas. There has never been any question as to whether we take our cats with us, we took them on for life and they are part of the deal. Tiddles, our eldest cat, moved to Bermuda and back with us so he is a bit of an old hand at this moving lark.

Tiddles was a house cat for the first few years of his life but when we moved back to the UK we got a house in the countryside and he started to go out. He would go stir crazy being cooped up indoors now I think. Fluffy is predominantly a house cat but he will go out ino the garden sometimes, if we are around. He does enjoy his time outside though and in fact ideally I would like him to be able to go out a bit more.

In the last few weeks I have started to worry about whether it will be safe for them to go outside in Australia or do people keep their pet cats indoors over there? What are the biggest dangers to cats? Do people really shoot them? We are planning to move to the Northern Beaches. (Our cats will not be a threat to the local wildlife, they could not catch cold).

The idea of Tiddles in the house 24/7 is not one I am relishing.

Cheetah7

Do people shoot them? It depends where you live, my neighbour said on his fathers land - yes he does. But these could be feral cats - I don't know.

At least keep them in at night, Ive been told some parts have a cat curfew where you are expected to keep your cat in from dusk to dawn, not sure if that is for sure though.

Some people think that if their cat catches the odd lizard/parrot/bird it wont have any effect on the wildlife as it is only one.

Some people dont want their cats to catch anything at all - me included. My cat is an indoor cat but if you want to let your cat outside there are ways you can do it.

You can 'cat proof' the garden with perimeter fences or get cat pens that link to your house via a catflap.

Or you can just make sure they are kept in at night when they are most likely to hunt.

The guy opposite me, always complains about the neighbours cat trying to kill his birds through the avery bars and shitting in his garden and now sets his dog onto it.

But if you are responsible and keep your cats in at night and put a collar with a bell on it, there shouldnt be a problem.

Feral cats I should imagine can be a problem for some people so I am guessing that is where the shooting comes into it, this guy I know didnt go into detail about feral cats, just that they were a nuisance on his dads property.

Your cats will be fine, how cool is it that your cat came from Bermuda

Bermudashorts

Thank you, I will have to look into these perimeter fences I think. I have seen them for dogs, but not for cats before. I am sure a cat could get around it better than a dog could.

I always keep my cats inside at night so that won't be a problem.

Tiddles* will be a well travelled cat. He wasn't born in Bermuda, he came out with us, lived there for two years and then came back to the UK again. He is quite good at travelling, whereas Fluffy* gets very stressed even in a ten minute car ride to the vets. He is NOT going to like the journey.



* Names have been changed to protect the innocent.