Australia must control its killer cat problem

mellowyellow

mellowyellow

Well-known Member
cat.jpg
Indoor cats live longer than cats allowed to roam. Jaana Dielenberg

Australia is teeming with cats.
While cats make great pets, and can bring owners emotional, psychological and health benefits, the animals are a scourge on native wildlife.

Cats kill a staggering 1.7 billion native animals each year, and have played a major role in most of Australia’s 34 mammal extinctions. They continue to pose an extinction threat to at least another 120 species…….

https://theconversation.com/austral...-explains-how-but-doesnt-go-far-enough-154931
 

A great uncle of mine who owned a hobby farm in the 70's, used to shoot housecats that ventured onto his property.

My husband showed me a video that was filmed in Australia, where hunters go out on hunts looking for feral cats, and when they find them, they kill them.

I support stiff fines and penalties brought down on cat owners that allows their cats to stray and roam (away from home).
 

I'm very much a cat person and mine are 100% strictly indoors. I do feed the 3 spayed and released feral at my work place that have been there for over 7 years per employees that have been there that long. There are other cats and colonies along that unbuildable gulch behind my work place.

I hate that cats kill native animals and I actually can't blame Australia for doing this.
 
Many many years ago, at this very house we now own, A pregnant stray cat showed up, and Ms Trudie started feeding it.
A couple years later, we set up an ambush and eliminated 27 inbreed feral cats.
There were so many around here that she didn't even notice....
Since we have moved back, have trapped several and sent to the shelter,
Still have 2 feral's that been fixed and released back here
 
mellowyellow said:
View attachment 148889
Indoor cats live longer than cats allowed to roam. Jaana Dielenberg

Australia is teeming with cats.
While cats make great pets, and can bring owners emotional, psychological and health benefits, the animals are a scourge on native wildlife.

Cats kill a staggering 1.7 billion native animals each year, and have played a major role in most of Australia’s 34 mammal extinctions. They continue to pose an extinction threat to at least another 120 species…….

https://theconversation.com/austral...-explains-how-but-doesnt-go-far-enough-154931
Click to expand...
Ah, but do the cats kill rabbits?
 
Ceege said:
My cats, over the years, only left our house for a trip to the vets.
There are too many diseases and parasites they can bring home when you let them roam.
Click to expand...
I've heard that & it's rather puzzling to me. I feed several wild cats. They sleep in my lap & they don't get diseases. They do have fleas in summer, but I treat them with "Advantix" which is very effective.
 
win231 said:
I've heard that & it's rather puzzling to me. I feed several wild cats. They sleep in my lap & they don't get diseases. They do have fleas in summer, but I treat them with "Advantix" which is very effective.
Click to expand...
How nice that they trust you enough to climb into your lap. :love: Most feral cats are extremely suspicious of humans.

Thanks for caring for some of the wild creatures in your neighborhood, and I mean that most sincerely.
 
win231 said:
I've heard that & it's rather puzzling to me. I feed several wild cats. They sleep in my lap & they don't get diseases. They do have fleas in summer, but I treat them with "Advantix"
Click to expand...
"Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is second only to trauma as the leading cause of death in cats, killing 85% of persistently infected felines within three years of diagnosis."
"FeLV is passed from one cat to another through saliva, blood, and to some extent, urine and feces.
https://pets.webmd.com/cats/facts-about-feline-leukemia-virus#1
 
StarSong said:
How nice that they trust you enough to climb into your lap. :love: Most feral cats are extremely suspicious of humans.

Thanks for caring for some of the wild creatures in your neighborhood, and I mean that most sincerely.
Click to expand...
It takes a few weeks of feeding them before they'll trust me. I start out just leaving food, then after a couple of weeks, they let me know they won't hurt me by nuzzling my hand with their chin the way cats do, then after a few more weeks, they start fighting over me. When one is already in my lap, he'll hiss & growl & swat at another one that looks like he's getting ready to jump into my lap, LOL.

The key is patience & not forcing myself on them or trying to speed up the process; let them decide when to trust you.
Same with the 4 raccoons I've been feeding for several years. Like wild cats, they all have different personalities. Two of them walk right in while I'm getting their food & they'll scoop food out with their paws while I'm pouring it in their bowl. Yesterday one of them dragged the container closer to him with his paw. Hilarious. One of them lets me know when he wants to eat by standing on his hind legs & putting both front paws on my leg. So far, no bleeding...... 😊
 
mellowyellow said:
Australia is teeming with cats.

Cats kill a staggering 1.7 billion native animals each year, and have played a major role in most of Australia’s 34 mammal extinctions. They continue to pose an extinction threat to at least another 120 species…….

https://theconversation.com/austral...-explains-how-but-doesnt-go-far-enough-154931
Click to expand...
Aunt Marg said:
I support stiff fines and penalties brought down on cat owners that allows their cats to stray and roam (away from home).
Click to expand...

I support stiff fines and penalties for feeding and harboring them too.
The feral cat problem in the U.S. is terrible, and is perpetuated by the people who feed them.
Feral cats are non-native destructive animals, and as @mellowyellow has posted, they exterminate the native species.

The story that they help to reduce rodents is a myth that is not based on facts.
Rodents were and are handled much better by the native species than killed by the non native feral cats.
Besides exterminating wildlife, they spread parasites and diseases to other mammals, including coyotes, dogs and humans.
 
Last edited:
Don M. said:
Feral cats aren't much of a problem in our rural areas. A lot of "city" folks dump their cats into the countryside, and most of those either wind up as "roadkill", or target practice.
Click to expand...
When we moved to the country, my husband envisioned us having a lot of dogs, dropped off by irresponsible people. I was looking forward to it, because I love dogs.

Instead we had cats and kittens (one smaller than a soup can) dropped off. I kept the cats in the basement until a friend of mine who had an "in" at a no-kill shelter that actually found homes for them, she came and got them. The tiny kitten had to be fed with a bottle (I got the milk/formula and supplies from a pet store). We would have kept them, except I didn't trust my dog, Aidan, to be safe for cats to be around.

The feral cat problem is caused by irresponsible people. The people infuriate me. As it is, our no-kill shelter here can rarely take cats because they are already overcrowded. .

Years ago, one of my neighbors gave me a feral kitten, to add to the kitten they had already given me. They were great cats. The feral kitten, I could tell, yearned to be treated like my other cat, but she was too afraid. I ended up petting her while she ate, and after a few months, she finally felt safe to sit in my lap. After that, she was like a totally normal cat - she probably learned a lot by watching my other cat - she wasn't afraid of her at all.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top