Problems with cats. How CAN it be discussed then?

It is apparent that the overwhelming body of opinion is that cat owners should be forced to take responsibility for their animals. I wholeheartedly agree. I can see absolutely no reason why cat owners should escape the reponsibilities imposed on dog owners.

 

The reason for your conclusion in the penultimate paragraph is because all other roaming animals (birds, snakes, spiders, rats etc., ) which are kept as pets are caged.
There are many irresponsible pet-owners (and many irresponsible children -owners, too) and those who keep un-neutered cats are among the biggest offenders because of the number of unwanted cats which are brought into the world.
The stray Tom I look after has now been neutered, but he still has a tendency to roam-and fight. It's not possible to make this cat biddable -he's too old, so what should I do...completely wash my hands of him to let him roam around other people's gardens, only starving now? I can imagine that certain people would want me to take an even more drastic action, but I'm not prepared to do their dirty work in order to protect their petunias.

 

I do so agreed, Jack! It breaks my heart to see how people treat their animals. And there's more than comes into my sphere of knowledge - you only have to watch the animal programmes like "Animal Hospital" to see how people who 'keep' animals of all sorts have absolutely no idea how to care for them properly which included keep them under control. One old guy had a few unneutered cats and over a few years had so many they were like a plague of rats all over his house. And none of them were ever allowed out which should have please you, Nick! But the poor creatures were underfed and over breeding. Yuk!

I must say, though, Jack - the cat in my avatar was a local stray having been shoved out of a mocing car in our neighbourhood - one can presume for being smelly and spraying indoors. He lived a totally miserable three years before I discovered he didn't actually belong to anybody and now he's in he rarely goes out anymore! I had him chipped and snipped and immunised. Now it takes dynamite to get him outside but he will come with me when I working in the garden!

 

Now THAT sort of cat I don't mind.

 

I do so agreed, Jack! It breaks my heart to see how people treat their animals. And there's more than comes into my sphere of knowledge - you only have to watch the animal programmes like "Animal Hospital" to see how people who 'keep' animals of all sorts have absolutely no idea how to care for them properly which included keep them under control. One old guy had a few unneutered cats and over a few years had so many they were like a plague of rats all over his house. And none of them were ever allowed out which should have please you, Nick! But the poor creatures were underfed and over breeding. Yuk!

I must say, though, Jack - the cat in my avatar was a local stray having been shoved out of a mocing car in our neighbourhood - one can presume for being smelly and spraying indoors. He lived a totally miserable three years before I discovered he didn't actually belong to anybody and now he's in he rarely goes out anymore! I had him chipped and snipped and immunised. Now it takes dynamite to get him outside but he will come with me when I working in the garden! </font>[/quote]That's an encouraging story MichaelmasDaisy. My puss has only recently been "snipped" (after months of gaining his confidence) and I'm hoping that he will eventually come to live indoors..nothing would please me more. However he was so distressed - absolutely terrified of any visitors I had (a nice comment on people!)- when I had to keep him in to treat him for 'flu that I don't hold out too much hope for this outcome.

 

Oh, TomTom was like that too! It took me three months to even begin to win his trust. And when he did start to come indoors, he would almost have a nervous breakdown if the kitchen door was shut! He still gets edgy about that, even after 6�½ years! And though he loves to come sit on my lap for a cuddle, he takes off like a ICBM if I try to put my arm around him! But gradually he is getting his confidence back and yesterday when my sister (eleagnus) came round with her son and their dog, TomTom didn't even move from his stool! That was a first!

 

Call me thick, but I hadn't realised who the third sister was......

Back on thread..... shows what patience, love and perseverance can achieve! You must have been so pleased, MMD!

 

What a beautiful pair they are, MMD!

I hadn't realised either, dendro. Actually, don't think I've seen eleagnus around for a while. Hope she is okay, MMD?

 

I love that pic MMD! They look so comfy, cosy and cuddley - move over pals and make room for me!

Yes, I also hope that eleagnus is fine.

 

It seems to me that there are two types of person in the world - those who love cats and those who loathe them.

 

That's true, petal. But doesn't mean we are blind to their shortcomings or the feelings of others who don't share our feelings!


And yes, eleagnus is fine, thank you. She's just been too busy to get online lately - and you all thought that retirement was a piece of cake .. !

 

Has anyone any ideas how I can discourage my neighbours cat from using my mature cordyline trunk as a scratching post.(Now 10ft tall). It is getting so bad that nearly all the bark has been removed in places and if it kills my plant I won't be responsible for my actions.I've tried wrapping chicken wire around it, but found that annoying as it's the central feature of my garden. The poo in the borders is bad enough, but this could mean war! :(

 

Would it be possible to make a barricade that could be an attractive feature, instead of the chicken wire? Perhaps some lightweight trellis put up near enough the cordyline so that the cat couldn't get access to the trunk enough to be able to do what it wants?

You can get the type that extends, and would probably be able to wrap it round a bit..... Or even those planters with trellis backs, that you can put climbers into??

I've been trying to find such a thing on-line, as I know Kaleidoscope used to do them fairly cheaply, but with no success, sorry

 

Definitely not true petal, last summer a small cat wandered into my garden, it was obviously not well and underfed.
I fed it for about six weeks, hoping that it would eventually go back to where ever it belonged, even made it a bed on my allotment.
Eventually it became apparent that its condition was getting worse so I took it to the vet, the result was that it had a tumour in its throat and it was put down.
I dont hate cats, but I would not keep one out of choice and I'm not too keen on being bothered by other peoples cats dogs or children

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=000187;p=9

[ 22. February 2007, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: pete ]

 

Well done Pete, nice to hear that you were concerned enough to take the cat to the vet.
I agree that other people's cats, dogs and children are sometimes a nuisance when not controlled and looked after properly. Cats I can more forgive but not dogs and children!

garden_fiend, if you can put some kind of scratching post or bit of fence fairly near to the cordyline perhaps a catmint plant near to it would encourage moggy in that direction and an extra bit of greenery might not be too bad - just a suggestion.