Topic: Sad cat story

[BeSeeingYou]

from my experience the amount of wildlife domestic cats kill is greatly exaggerated

Thats an interesting point of view from you Steve, you come across as a bit of a greenie so i didn't expect that. Over here feral cats are a massive problem, I used to hunt them in NSW, In Queensland they are growing up to and over 40 pounds, they are killing machines as Cal said earlier, the only animal apart from Humans that kill for fun. It depends on the cat but i have seen domestic cats wipe out every living thing within hunting distance from where they live and not just small prey, our possums are savage as hell and quite large and still get killed by cats, I'm sick and tired of picking up dead birds and possums from my yard because my friggin neighbor can't keep his 2 cats inside, they both have bells on their necks and still manage to kill, the only good use for a cat is in a crab pot...

    I make the distinction between feral and domestic cats.  A few years ago there was a study that blamed the decline in birds to domestic cats and according to their numbers the cats had to catch 1 or 2 birds a day, every day...total hogwash.  Lets blame the cats and deflect attention from habitat destruction for shopping malls, pesticides and chemicals we humans pour into the environment, etc, etc, we couldn't be responsible could we? 
    I have had cats for at least 30 years and I never had one that would catch more than a 3 or 4 birds over the course of an entire year....some never caught a bird.  Just today the white cat was outside and caught a mouse and came up to my wife with it.  In a stern voice Jackie told the cat to put the mouse down and she did...the mouse ran away.
   I understand some people don't like cats.  Even domestic cats are wild animals, essentially miniature tigers and that's what I admire about them and their independent nature.  Not for everybody some people seem to prefer the dependent, slobbery, eager to please dog personality.  But an animal that has a tendency to eat it's own sh!t and constantly shove it's nose in your crotch.....not for me.   Some friends have a dog and cat and when the dog hears the cat in the litter box it runs down to eat the poop.  They finally had to build a box to house the litter box with a small entry......  what's not to love?

[scottly]

Anyone else had a cat that was smart enough to teach itself to pee in the toilet??
 

[calj737]

My grey tabby was feral at one time so if he catches anything it does not survive but the other two seldom kill anything they catch and I have no problem getting the victim free and letting them loose across the street in the woods.

Feral cats I am sure take a larger toll but... killing or trapping does not work as others will just move in to fill the void.

It would seem by your own statements about your domesticated cats, that without your life saving efforts, your friendly cats would kill all their little playmates?

"Killing" feral animals is the only productive measure at reducing their population or the damage they inflict. Look at Texas, Florida and many other southern states and the problem with feral pigs. Look at Australia and the Cane Toad, the Donkey in the Outback, the Rock python in South Florida. You really do need to be better informed on the unrestricted destruction that invasive species do to an environment where there is no natural predator to a species to keep environmental balance.

I could list examples endlessly of land animals, then move to aquatic animals... It's not overstated, it's under-managed.

[calj737]

Anyone else had a cat that was smart enough to teach itself to pee in the toilet??
 

That's impressive! My sisters cat opens the door and let's itself out-

[scottly]

Anyone else had a cat that was smart enough to teach itself to pee in the toilet??
 

That's impressive! My sisters cat opens the door and let's itself out-

Can your sister's cat let itself back in? My cat figured out it was easier and more comfortable to pee in the toilet, that to go outside into the rain and snow.

[calj737]

She says yes. Comes back at night to sleep in the house. I asked if she were going to give the cat it's own key so they could keep the house locked while they were away 

[ofreen]

Occasionally we'll hear about post-mortem predation, where a person living alone with their pets dies, leaving the animals hungry.  It is said dogs will wait several days before beginning to dine, but cats may hold off only a day or so before partaking.  The cats get points over dogs for pragmatism, but the dogs have them beat in sentiment.

[krusty]

from my experience the amount of wildlife domestic cats kill is greatly exaggerated

they both have bells on their necks and still manage to kill

Bells just make them more efficient hunters.

[Retro Rocket]

My grey tabby was feral at one time so if he catches anything it does not survive but the other two seldom kill anything they catch and I have no problem getting the victim free and letting them loose across the street in the woods.

Feral cats I am sure take a larger toll but... killing or trapping does not work as others will just move in to fill the void.

It would seem by your own statements about your domesticated cats, that without your life saving efforts, your friendly cats would kill all their little playmates?

"Killing" feral animals is the only productive measure at reducing their population or the damage they inflict. Look at Texas, Florida and many other southern states and the problem with feral pigs. Look at Australia and the Cane Toad, the Donkey in the Outback, the Rock python in South Florida. You really do need to be better informed on the unrestricted destruction that invasive species do to an environment where there is no natural predator to a species to keep environmental balance.

I could list examples endlessly of land animals, then move to aquatic animals... It's not overstated, it's under-managed.

Exactly, introduced species, we don't have too much trouble with donkeys Cal but Camels are a totally different story, the cane toad is the worst of the lot but the crows have worked out a way of eating out their stomaches by turning them on their backs, anything that tries to eat them from the top dies, you wouldn't believe the amount of dead snakes i used to find on my property up north, they all have a lump in their guts and when cut open, they all have a toad in them..  Steve, i was talking both domestic and feral cats mate, my mates mums cat kills absolutely everything that moves and has made a huge difference to the wildlife in their area, remember, we have NO native felines here and lots and  lots of small wildlife, cats are a huge problem, both domestic and feral....  The sheer size of Australia and its relatively small population makes it hard to do anything about the invasive pest problems we have here...

[trueblue]

My grey tabby was feral at one time so if he catches anything it does not survive but the other two seldom kill anything they catch and I have no problem getting the victim free and letting them loose across the street in the woods.

Feral cats I am sure take a larger toll but... killing or trapping does not work as others will just move in to fill the void.

It would seem by your own statements about your domesticated cats, that without your life saving efforts, your friendly cats would kill all their little playmates?

"Killing" feral animals is the only productive measure at reducing their population or the damage they inflict. Look at Texas, Florida and many other southern states and the problem with feral pigs. Look at Australia and the Cane Toad, the Donkey in the Outback, the Rock python in South Florida. You really do need to be better informed on the unrestricted destruction that invasive species do to an environment where there is no natural predator to a species to keep environmental balance.

I could list examples endlessly of land animals, then move to aquatic animals... It's not overstated, it's under-managed.

Exactly, introduced species, we don't have too much trouble with donkeys Cal but Camels are a totally different story, the cane toad is the worst of the lot but the crows have worked out a way of eating out their stomaches by turning them on their backs, anything that tries to eat them from the top dies, you wouldn't believe the amount of dead snakes i used to find on my property up north, they all have a lump in their guts and when cut open, they all have a toad in them..  Steve, i was talking both domestic and feral cats mate, my mates mums cat kills absolutely everything that moves and has made a huge difference to the wildlife in their area, remember, we have NO native felines here and lots and  lots of small wildlife, cats are a huge problem, both domestic and feral....  The sheer size of Australia and its relatively small population makes it hard to do anything about the invasive pest problems we have here...

Exactly the reason I refuse to get one even with the missus wanting one.  We have a good population of sugar gliders near where I live and I would rather not pick the poor little buggers up after they have been killed by a mongrel cat.  We don't have any cats within half a click of here and I want to keep it that way.

Some cats are just not as social as others, even down right nasty. I think the one that was shot was one of the more sociable ones.

Sad Cat Story brings back a memory of one of my parents friends who had a neighbor's cat crawl up into their nice warm engine compartment. The described the gawd awful noise it made when they started the car. They delivered it back to the neighbors in a black plastic trash bag, and since  infants were around when they delivered it to the door, they spelled out what was in the bag. Here is your C-A-T as they handed them the bag.

When I was an apprentice working at the local council, I had to clean one of them mongrels out of the radiator of a truck.  It was winter time and they had been doing night works the previous night.  The truck had only been sitting for a few hours and the engine was nice and warm.  When the daytime driver hopped in and fired it up there was a horrible thud, splat sound followed by squealing fan belts and one of the most horrible smells I have ever had to smell. 

Seeing as I was the apprentice I had the fun job of cleaning it up.  I won't go into too much detail but it was nearly a full days work and it sure as hell wasn't pretty.

[faux fiddy]

Some cats are just not as social as others, even down right nasty. I think the one that was shot was one of the more sociable ones.

Sad Cat Story brings back a memory of one of my parents friends who had a neighbor's cat crawl up into their nice warm engine compartment. The described the gawd awful noise it made when they started the car. They delivered it back to the neighbors in a black plastic trash bag, and since  infants were around when they delivered it to the door, they spelled out what was in the bag. Here is your C-A-T as they handed them the bag.

Your first post made me sad fiddy but the second really hurt to read;I'm allergic to cats and always have been but they're animals & they have rights too.I just hope when someone adopts any animal that they make a life long commitment or at least do their 'dead level best' to;I highly respect some folks and they're adoption big hearts. I've seen well cared for animals and met some of their caretaker/owners I've always enjoyed the experience. 

There wasn't much left  to do after it hit the fan. There are many cats I like, the first I certainly wouldn't shoot at, but it was kind of exciting to have it wander in the house and have the dog go nuts on it. And it was really friendly and relatively cooperative as we tried to get it out of it's predicament.  I studied a fair bit of life sciences, to me the cat in the  car story was more related to Darwinism. A  Cat that crawls into an engine compartment is just not selected for in this case, the trouble is it probably already reproduced.  The people had a real mess  in their car to clean up, and in some ways the owner shares  blame on both circumstances.

[grcamna2]

Fiddy, I've been missing not having a pet;it's been a few years..., my apt. now has a 'no pet' policy so it's been real boring here.

[faux fiddy]

As matter of fact I grew up with dogs and got used to cats because of friends that had both. I love the animals I am close to, and am responsible to drop in on a friends attention starved whippet as I type. There is practically no better subject matter for photography and I love all the animals I am close to.

The best part is I don't have to commit a lifestyle or find someone to care for them when I want to do a me thing, or much worse neglect them because I know what I do.  If I had pets I could not promise to not disappear for a few days at a time.

Here's a video I did of  'Monkey.' I'm not a Metalhead, but I think this one could go viral with enter sandman played behind it.

http://vid237.photobucket.com/albums/ff191/salmonshark/monkey.mp4

[dave500]

heres a sad cat story,look whats happened to mine ive squeezed its head off?about 1962 me and my older sister.