Originally Posted by rugbymatt

My point being that I don't like them, they are devastating to the local wildlife and I find cat owners to be utterly irresponsible people, if a dog owner allowed their animal to kill the quantity of wild life that cats do, people would be up in arms about it, but cats are sweet.

Of course this is simply my personal opinion.

Originally Posted by rugbymatt

I hear the argument that cats could not possibly be responsible for as many deaths as is claimed, but if you look at the situation logically (and logic is such a rare commodity) there are an estimated 9 million cats in the Uk... if only half were allowed out doors lets say (I'm being generous here), and if only half of those cats (again being generous) actually hunted every day... and lets be further generous and say that only half of them actually kill a bird on a daily basis, bearing in mind that the feline is one of natures finest hunters, then we are still looking at well over 2 million deaths, now I understand that this figure feels rather high, so lets be further generous and say its only half a million... thats half a million, and as we see from the near collapse of the songbird, and in particular the sparrow numbers in the UK you can sort of see what I get so pissy about when cat owners go on about their bloody animals!

Originally Posted by rugbymatt

I hear the argument that cats could not possibly be responsible for as many deaths as is claimed, but if you look at the situation logically (and logic is such a rare commodity) there are an estimated 9 million cats in the Uk... if only half were allowed out doors lets say (I'm being generous here), and if only half of those cats (again being generous) actually hunted every day... and lets be further generous and say that only half of them actually kill a bird on a daily basis, bearing in mind that the feline is one of natures finest hunters, then we are still looking at well over 2 million deaths, now I understand that this figure feels rather high, so lets be further generous and say its only half a million... thats half a million, and as we see from the near collapse of the songbird, and in particular the sparrow numbers in the UK you can sort of see what I get so pissy about when cat owners go on about their bloody animals!

Originally Posted by anonimouse

lets be even further generous and say Man is far more destructive of almost everything that they come into contact with (usually for greed) than any feline

Originally Posted by The Oddities

Sorry did not mean to upset you and contrary to what has been written, it was not a suggestion it was just a part of life when I grew up. There was no money around for vets and even though we always had dogs their costs were negligible, ate what was left from dinner etc.
Cats had to pay their way, keeping down rodents etc., they did not seem to become pets until the sixties, I cannot think of anyone close to where I was brought up that had a cat but virtually everyone had a dog. If someone had mice or rats then Mrs x from the next street would lend out her cat to deal with them. Half of the cat population in Sheffield was resident in the steelworks but unless you were rather stupid you never went near them, leave them a little bit of food but keep well clear but they did a great job reducing the rat population.
Graham

Originally Posted by rugbymatt

I hear the argument that cats could not possibly be responsible for as many deaths as is claimed, but if you look at the situation logically (and logic is such a rare commodity) there are an estimated 9 million cats in the Uk... if only half were allowed out doors lets say (I'm being generous here), and if only half of those cats (again being generous) actually hunted every day... and lets be further generous and say that only half of them actually kill a bird on a daily basis, bearing in mind that the feline is one of natures finest hunters, then we are still looking at well over 2 million deaths, now I understand that this figure feels rather high, so lets be further generous and say its only half a million... thats half a million, and as we see from the near collapse of the songbird, and in particular the sparrow numbers in the UK you can sort of see what I get so pissy about when cat owners go on about their bloody animals!

Originally Posted by megmet

The collapse of the songbird and sparrow in the UK at that time was down to infected peanuts that poisoned them, people (myself included) were putting these nuts in the feeders not knowing that was the very thing killing them off, apparently it was a form of mould on the nuts that was deadly! At the time I remember that shops and supermarkets withdrew supplies and stopped selling them for quite a while. The sparrow population never recovered because the magpies moved in on their territory in their absence...and you don't get the two living side by side.

Of course it's much easier for the blame to be put on cats, the same creatures that are hounded, shot and poisoned in great numbers every year by so called humans.

Originally Posted by megmet

It wasn't the idea of eating them that I (and supposedly Fred) objected to, it was your friend flushing them down the WC that I personally find barbaric.

I can perhaps understand people not being fond of cats for one reason or other, but such actions as that are not tolerable in a civilized society!

Originally Posted by megmet

The collapse of the songbird and sparrow in the UK at that time was down to infected peanuts that poisoned them, people (myself included) were putting these nuts in the feeders not knowing that was the very thing killing them off, apparently it was a form of mould on the nuts that was deadly! At the time I remember that shops and supermarkets withdrew supplies and stopped selling them for quite a while. The sparrow population never recovered because the magpies moved in on their territory in their absence...and you don't get the two living side by side.

Of course it's much easier for the blame to be put on cats, the same creatures that are hounded, shot and poisoned in great numbers every year by so called humans.

Originally Posted by anonimouse

Back on topic, last case scenario if all else fails, let them live wild with just a little help ie/a couple of tins of food a week left out, they will find their own way I'm sure.

Originally Posted by angiescarr

Many cats do live that way in the Pueblo. But because mother cat is semi-domesticated & goes back to her 'owner' the neighbour every day for food, The kittens would probably follow her. I think my neighbourly relations might take a nosedive from then on! The neighbour did warn me she didn't want this to happen! A kind member of the forum has given me an address for a refuge for the worst case. Anything from there on is a bonus! Plus, while I'm 'sponging' off my own kids a bit at the mo' I don't want extra mouths to feed for more than a limited time. It's almost reasonable to let my son feed me... but to expect him to feed other waifs and strays I brought in would be a liberty!

Originally Posted by rugbymatt

You can be tiresome can't you?