Problems with cats. How CAN it be discussed then?

Cats are a genuine problem for some gardeners. I've just had two threads deleted, so how can this problem be discussed? Or does CaTaliban really rule here?
Nik

 

You need to set up your own anti cat website and then you can moan about cats to your hearts content.Don't bring it here to a gardening forum :D :D

 

I agree Kandyfloss, well said.

 

***sigh*** This is the second time in a week I've had to post a mod announcement. Only the second time ever in 1 year and 8 months of membership! But here goes again!


MOD ANNOUNCEMENT

PLEASE NOTE THAT RULE 8 STATES:

NO IN-THREAD DISCUSSION OF MOD ACTIONS: Mod actions may not be discussed within topics.


Any violations of this rule will result in mod action.

END OF MOD ANNOUNCEMENT

 

Speaking as a member and not a mod, I would not be averse to any discussion of the problems of cats. I am a gardener (der - else why would I be on here!) and they annoy me as much as anybody - even my own cats get screamed at from time to time when I see them toileting in the freshly sown seed bed I've just spent all morning on.

But get real, cats are a part of life. I don't care for having to side step to avoid the dog poo on the pavements - or come to that, the gobs of phlegm left by those other unmentionable specimens of wildlife, i.e. yobbo youths!!, but at least those are avoidable actions, not a matter of pure instinct or natural behaviour. Dog owners can choose to clear up after their dogs, youths could choose not to emulate their hero footballers. Cats are only doing what comes naturally and to them, that nice, freshly dug bit of earth is just a natural litter box. That's all.

What I do object to is the mindless and offensive photographs that makes it akin to exploring websites of medieaval torture equipment - and yes I have had to do that on occasion when checking out un-allowable links on my other forum - its one of the less savoury parts of being a mod. I do not care to stumble upon pictures like that on here and I don't suppose many of my fellow members here do either.

So if you want discussion, by all means, discuss away but please don't vent your spleen by inflicting such things as this upon the rest of us.

(end of rant!!)

 

I second that, MMD!

 

Thankyou MMD,very nicely said !!!

 

Also speaking as a member and not a mod.
I'd just like to say that I am not a cat lover as such, but I do like animals in general, and I would agree that cats only do what comes naturally.
There does however seem to be an attitude amongst cat owners that they have no control over them and therefore no responsablity for the problems the cat or in many cases cats cause other people.
I've been trying to think of another animal that it is possible to own unyet have no real responsability for, I cant think of one.
Its easy to see why we are overun with cats, and that is the problem, not the cats as such, more the number of cats for a given area.

 

Bit like people, pete ... Can we control them? I think not!

I actually train my cats from day dot I get them .. and I am strict ... water hose, sprayers and all. You DO have to train them, like dogs.

Mine follow me around like shadows and if I turn and point a finger ... they are off and running and not doing anthing naughty!

I must also say that I have a sand garden ... it contains ... a Jacaranda, a bush Bouganvillea, a Rosemary, a Euryops, a Felicia, an Osteopernum, a Myrtus and various herbs for my Rosemary and Thyme strip ... my three cats can p*ss or p** their hearts out here if they like because twice a year I put more sand down.

I have seen them pee in the sand garden ... but I have NEVER seen them poo in the garden .. they run into the house to the little box in the shower to do that ...

POINT .. cats can be trained if you want to take the time .. but I've till got my water sprayers out ...

 

I have no doubt you are right LOL, if only the urban cat owner in general was to do the same I'm sure there would be less bad feeling amongst cat owners and some gardeners.

 

Another rant:

Have to agree that it is not the cats, but the owners who have the problem. It IS the natural instincts for the cats - but the annoying thing for me is that I don't have cats. This is not the p** from my own cats that I am treading in/having to pick up from the lawn from which I like to feed my guinea pigs! I am aware that some neighbours 'put their cats out' to do their business outside ie. in my garden. This is what annoys me!

The other thing is that one cat (of the 12 or 13 who live around here) is an absolute bird catcher. I have lost count of the number of casualties I have had to dispose of because of his predatory nature, this is upsetting. However, his owners continue to let him out around the clock - with frog season approaching, I can guarantee he'll be at his favorite post by my pond, fishing foot poised...

I do like cats - just not when I am removing their doings from my garden!

Rant done!

 

I do agree with all that's been said. But it's not only cats. Some people let their dogs run free as well. My right hand NDN has a dog which is often allowed to roam freely in the close and has a particular liking for the front garden of my left hand NDN. They haven't actually had a confrontation about it yet but I can sense that one day there might be! However, hers is not the only garden this dog poops in. And I know of other dog owners who regularly let their dogs out to do their business instead of taking them for a walk.

 

Michaelmasdaisy - your post just made me realise that I reckon if I had the guts to ask the offending cat's owner(s) to come round and remove their pet's mess for me - then I wouldn't be so bothered! (Just have to work out which cat(s) to blame!)

 

I think it's just a big problem globally and each has to do what each has to do for their circumstances.

As everyone on GC knows, I am a cat lover :rolleyes: I don't have to say anything.

They get up my nose as well as everyone else's (sorry, not mine because of my location) but they are doing what cats do naturally ...

For those who don't know .. THEY ARE DIFFERENT TO DOGS ....

Bless all (cats and dogs) their hearts, souls and gizzards and I love them all ..

 

Pete says it all when he says that it is not the cat's fault and that there are too many. They are naturally a predator and I don't think it is easy to train that out of them. A lot of owners say their cats don't kill birds etc but usually they are blind to what is really going on.
Cats are much closer to their wild relatives than dogs are and are very efficient predators...and the best hunters are those that are fed regularly. They do take a toll of wildlife. I remember reading of a research paper where they estimated the total number of small mammals and birds killed by domestic cats each year. That is the main reason i discourage cats in my garden and why I have never owned a cat here. When we first arrived the stream had a thriving water vole population. Unfortuantely the council, despite objections, cut down the cover in interests of tidying up. The local water vole population were just slaughtered by the local cat population that has increased in recent years - I found the evidence scattered in the gardens and streets.
It is not natural. In nature a predator such as a cat would have a territory several miles across and such cats would be widely scattered. Domestic cats are intensively concentrated and often nature cannot cope with the predatory pressure.