Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

Cat Ballaching

Orang Utan said:
I didn't know that! I've always seen them as outdoor creatures which is why I'm shocked to find it seems to be a common practice to keep em in
Click to expand...

Yes, mainly pedigree breeds of course & in the last 15yrs or so, a number of easy-care breeds have become popular because they are so well suited as housecats. The Ragdoll is probably the most well-known:

ruffus1.jpg
 
tarannau said:
Dogs can look very well after themselves and get frustrated at home too. Why shouldn't dog owners just be able to turf their pets out when they're at work?
Click to expand...
Yeah, why not? Unless they bite people of course
 
tarannau said:
Rubbish. That Chris wotsit name fella was in The Guardian the other day suggesting just the same. I would find a link, but I'm deluged by a load of saddo cat sites:p under the search terms
:p
Click to expand...


I don't need a link, your claim is shite. I work in the field & I even host an RSPB region. I can get it from the horse's mouth thanks. :p
 
And what about cats who cause accidents on the road, or people with severe cat allergies. It's a rubbish double standard.

Interestingly, a few US States/cities are beginning to insist on cat confinement now too - roaming cats can be impounded and disposed of if no owners can be found, much as with dogs. Fair?
 
tarannau said:
Dogs can look very well after themselves and get frustrated at home too. Why shouldn't dog owners just be able to turf their pets out when they're at work?
Click to expand...

I have a big issue with people leaving lone dogs at home, even if its outside in a big garden.

Dogs are pack animals and so when they are left all alone they are miserable.
When you come back in the evening and its chuffed to bits and happy to see you because its part of a pack again but you haven't seen the 7-8 hours it was miserable so you think the dog is happy all the time.

I nearly reported a neighbour because they left their Alsatian in the garden when they went to work and it used to cry all day long. I felt well sorry for the poor bugger.

I’d only have another dog if I could keep it with me all day long because I worked from home or was retired or something or because I had enough money and space to have two dogs so that they could keep each other company.
 
pogofish said:
I don't need a link, your claim is shite. I work in the field & I even host an RSPB region. I can get it from the horses mouth thanks. :p
Click to expand...

Erm, and my dad hosts the local RSPB region in his pants too. OK, so I added the last bit for effect, but he's a serious twitcher too.

The fact remains, there is debate about cats efficacy in killing local wildlife, and it's not half as one-sided as you're making out. Personal experience - and the bitter sight of seeing much loved robins ripped apart in the garden - tells me that there's more truth in it than you want to concede.
 
We have recently given our 1 year old cat free reign to go outside whenever she likes. To be honest, I'm paranoid that something will happen to her while she's out, but seeing how much she loves being outside, I think it is worth the risk. I would feel mean keeping her in. She tends to be in and out for most of the night but doesn't go far away, and then sleeps most of the day.

Over the weekend she stayed inside for 3 days because of the pouring rain and she was definitely behaving more manically and neuroticly because of it.
 
I actually like cats Orang - as certain Urbanites know I tend to get on well with them too - I just like birds and value the native wildlife more. There's a nasty assumption that letting cats out is the way it should be and damn the consequences, which seems selfish, irresponsible and lazy to me.

In the countryside that's more acceptable, but in a busy urban landscape letting huge, ever increasing numbers of predators out to do what they please strikes me as daft, particularly with all that traffic around and wildlife already in decline. It's something which depresses me slightly if I'm honest - it's the sheer thoughtlessness and denial of it all.

By the way Pogo, here's that article from the Guardian for you, complete with quote from Chris Packham. It's encouraging cat owners to fit 'high visibility' bibs to the cats to help save local wildlife.

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,2088668,00.html

You can apologise for the 'your claim is shite' comment any time you like btw...
:p
 
tarannau said:
The fact remains, there is debate about cats efficacy in killing local wildlife, and it's not half as one-sided as you're making out. Personal experience - and the bitter sight of seeing much loved robins ripped apart in the garden - tells me that there's more truth in it than you want to concede.
Click to expand...

No there is no debate.

The amount of birdlife lost to cat predation is utterly insignificant when compared to both the losses to farming & even the expected natural attrition rate for most species.

Even with cat-predation, urban/suburban environments have now become important breeding grounds/habitat for many types of traditional songbird & I really don't think I've heard any of the numerous experts I've worked with in the last 15 years or so express much different.
 
tarannau said:
I actually like cats Orang - as certain Urbanites know I tend to get on well with them too - I just like birds and value the native wildlife more. There's a nasty assumption that letting cats out is the way it should be and damn the consequences, which seems selfish, irresponsible and lazy to me.

In the countryside that's more acceptable, but in a busy urban landscape letting huge, ever increasing numbers of predators out to do what they please strikes me as daft, particularly with all that traffic around and wildlife already in decline. It's something which depresses me slightly if I'm honest - it's the sheer thoughtlessness and denial of it all.

By the way Pogo, here's that article from the Guardian for you, complete with quote from Chris Packham. It's encouraging cat owners to fit 'high visibility' bibs to the cats to help save local wildlife.

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,2088668,00.html

You can apologise for the 'your claim is shite' comment any time you like btw...
:p
Click to expand...
Well I have a clear conscience cos my cat never kills owt - it even follows spiders around but doesn't dare kill them
 
pogofish said:
No there is no debate.

The amount of birdlife lost to cat predation is utterly insignificant when compared to both the losses to farming & even the expected natural attrition rate for most species.

Even with cat-predation, urban/suburban environments have now become important breeding grounds/habitat for many types of traditional songbird & I really don't think I've heard any of the numerous experts I've worked with in the last 15 years or so express much different.
Click to expand...

Hmm, do I trust the words of a self-appointed expert on a bulletin board who I know has spouted some dubious information on other subjects. Or consider the words of renown public figures, govt. organisations, plus many wildflife experts that my dad's worked with and my direct experience of watching cats kill a family of robins.

Let me think....
 
tarannau said:
You can apologise for the 'your claim is shite' comment any time you like btw...
:p
Click to expand...

No,m you can appologise for linking-up an even more pathetic study than the last one that tried to justify this. As for Chris Packham, I've had the pleasure before now so don't start me! :rolleyes:
 
He's a knob admittedly, but he's not the only bloke I'm taking info from.

You seem a little overdefensive pogo. Cat shat in your garden?
 
Sorry, finger waggling accepted.
:o
But I did object to Pogo's bollocks that there's no debate at all on he subject - either that or he's counting respectable American orgs like the NWF as some kind of misinforming fruitloops.
 
Anyway, the debate doesn't have any effect on me cos I like cats more than birds, so I couldn't give a shit about cats eating birds like wot they are supposed to do.
 
Orang Utan said:
Anyway, the debate doesn't have any effect on me cos I like cats more than birds, so I couldn't give a shit about cats eating birds like wot they are supposed to do.
Click to expand...
Murderer!!! Accomplice to murder!!
 
tarannau said:
He's a knob admittedly, but he's not the only bloke I'm taking info from.

You seem a little overdefensive pogo. Cat shat in your garden?
Click to expand...

Indeed & I'll bet you will be reading that predation study from a few years back (which I also participated in) - which was taken, used & reported totally out of context.

Also, if you call ongoing participation in one of the world's longest-running bird habitat & ecology studies, plus a good number of others for birds, reptiles, mammals & amphibians from all parts of the planet dubious then fine. :rolleyes:

Cats shit in my garden all the time, I have two myself & a good range of birdlife too. Nasty as it is, I'm not going to make what the cats drag-in into a pending natural disaster when there is absolutely no evidence tho.
 
If a cat is outdoors, what the fook are you supposed to do if you have an overwhelming desire to ballache the fooker.:confused:

I like to be able to stick my fingers in the cats ears anytime of the night or day.:cool:
 
tarannau said:
PS: Pogo - I can point to at least 6 studies,
Click to expand...

Which all tend to share the same weaknesses - they cite large numbers of bird deaths but fail to make any reference to the numbers that would be expected naturally, nor the threat from other causes. Like it or not, birds don't have an easy time - even in an ideal habitat.
 
tarannau said:
but this unimpressive looking page
Click to expand...

Yes & it even has this gem near the beginning -

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects native birds from being killed or kept by people. Any person who willfully allows his or her cat to injure or kill migratory birds is, in effect, in violation of this federal law.
Click to expand...

You can see right where they are coming from, can't you? Very objective.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

TopCat
Cat fleas
3 4 5 6 7
Replies
192
Views
4K
TopCat
TopCat
RubyBlue
My cat…
2
Replies
47
Views
1K
Epona
Epona
Gromit
  • Poll Poll
Cat on a lap
Replies
21
Views
954
Me76
Me76
TopCat
Overgrown cat claws
2 3
Replies
60
Views
3K
TopCat
TopCat
platinumsage
Cat food recommendations
Replies
13
Views
1K
ddraig
ddraig
Back
Top Bottom