Shelter offers "unadoptable" feral cats to help control rat problems

Ralphy1 said:
Yes, cats weren't meant to be pets anyhow...:eek:nthego:
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what makes you think that? They have been domesticated LONG before dogs... I think it CRUEL to leave them to the streets to fend for themselves. My cats.. (all five) have never seen the outside.,. and will live very long and healthy lives.

That said,... in this case, these poor animals cannot be pets as they have been left to the streets and to breed constantly. This is the fault of reckless and inhumane humans. These cats will at least be neutered and given shelter. So two problems solved IMO. Now we should figure out who should NOT be allowed to own animals.
 

Ralphy1 said:
Yes, cats weren't meant to be pets anyhow...:eek:nthego:
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I disagree Ralph and my Ziggy disagrees:eek:! He's so lovable and loves to be cuddled and chatted with that you just can't say no. He loves being a pet. Better than starving like he did when he was dumped out in the country, before we managed to catch him.

And probably too, like you mentioned QS, when they're neutered and 'adopted' out, those folks are probably putting out feral cat housing which is also a plus for the feral cat population. When we were still trying to catch Ziggy, he made full use of the Rubbermaid bin that I renovated and insulated for him to use as a little cozy cat cave.
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You are just being sentimental and, thus, thwarting nature's plan of a balanced food chain...
 
Ralphy1 said:
You are just being sentimental and, thus, thwarting nature's plan of a balanced food chain...
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Shttp://www.livescience.com/7299-house-cats-wild-ancestor.html

Domestic cats have been traced back to a single wild ancestor whose relatives still live in the remote deserts of the Middle East today.
The transformation of a vicious predator into a docile tabby took place some 10,000 years ago, a new genetic analysis suggests. That is the same time humans adopted an agricultural lifestyle in the Fertile Crescent. So the first of the friendly cats likely acted as a mouse hunter for grain-storage areas.


“We think that was the beginning of one of the most interesting natural history experiments ever done,” said Stephen O’Brien, a geneticist at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland, “which is the changing of a wild, ferocious predator into a friendly mouser that decided to hang its wagon on humankind.”
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Cats, while able to forge out an existence, being left to their own defenses, hardly live happy and healthy lives. They are subject to inbreeding, diseases, parasites and not to mention predators like dogs, and risk being killed on highways and busy streets. They are meant to be house pets.. I believe the average lifespan of a feral cat is around 3 years... A cared for and loved house cat can live well into his upper teens.
 
QuickSilver said:
Shttp://www.livescience.com/7299-house-cats-wild-ancestor.html




Cats, while able to forge out an existence, being left to their own defenses, hardly live happy and healthy lives. They are subject to inbreeding, diseases, parasites and not to mention predators like dogs, and risk being killed on highways and busy streets. They are meant to be house pets.. I believe the average lifespan of a feral cat is around 3 years... A cared for and loved house cat can live well into his upper teens.
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:thanks:
 
Food chain is the one subject on this forum where science is thrown completely out the window. Except maybe for snakes and spiders. They are different---sometimes. It's a hard needle to thread.
 
NancyNGA said:
Food chain is the one subject on this forum where science is thrown completely out the window. Except maybe for snakes and spiders. They are different---sometimes. It's a hard needle to thread.
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I have no problem with the food chain... I enjoy it myself.. However, cats have been bred to be house pets and are not meant to be out in the wild. So they really cannot be considered part of the food chain.. Neither can dogs for that matter.
 
Hmm, you have probably never heard of rice dog. I won't gross you out with how humans made food out of a dog. Most animals are either for our amusement or our food...
 
Ralphy1 said:
Hmm, you have probably never heard of rice dog. I won't gross you out with how humans made food out of a dog. Most animals are either for our amusement or our food...
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Don't go there... International groups are trying very hard to ban that inhumane disgusting practice.
 
OK, I will say no more about eating dogs, but I must mention that we have all heard about stray cats as a replacement for chicken in some restaurants...
 
Debby said:
I disagree Ralph and my Ziggy disagrees:eek:! He's so lovable and loves to be cuddled and chatted with that you just can't say no. He loves being a pet. Better than starving like he did when he was dumped out in the country, before we managed to catch him.

And probably too, like you mentioned QS, when they're neutered and 'adopted' out, those folks are probably putting out feral cat housing which is also a plus for the feral cat population. When we were still trying to catch Ziggy, he made full use of the Rubbermaid bin that I renovated and insulated for him to use as a little cozy cat cave.
SaveSave​
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yes... Absolutely.... and let me stress that I think this is a good solution to two problems.. however, it would be best if there were not an explosion in the feral cat population. Rodents can be controlled by other means.
 
Hope they're not declawing them as soon as they hit the shelter. Years ago I would've said not but after seeing them roam around here for years I'm not as reluctant. I have seen cat populations get out of control in other areas though. One cat has a routine, he/she tends to come by here in the evening. I've been with people else where as saw the same cat a block away in the day.
 
Yes, you could poison them or shoot them, but this human intervention once again disturbs the balance...
 
WhatInThe said:
Hope they're not declawing them as soon as they hit the shelter. Years ago I would've said not but after seeing them roam around here for years I'm not as reluctant. I have seen cat populations get out of control in other areas though. One cat has a routine, he/she tends to come by here in the evening. I've been with people else where as saw the same cat a block away in the day.
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Declawing a cat meant to catch rodents and live outside would not be done.. That would pretty much hobble them in the mouse catching arena..
 
QuickSilver said:
Declawing a cat meant to catch rodents and live outside would not be done.. That would pretty much hobble them in the mouse catching arena..
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A lot of shelters and rescues declaw and neuter once in the shelter so hopefully one can assume it won't be done. Many are starting not to declaw house cats as well.
 
WhatInThe said:
A lot of shelters and rescues declaw and neuter once in the shelter so hopefully one can assume it won't be done. Many are starting not to declaw house cats as well.
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I know that neutering is mandatory before a cat is adopted out, but was not aware that declawing was done as a matter of routine.
 
QuickSilver said:
I know that neutering is mandatory before a cat is adopted out, but was not aware that declawing was done as a matter of routine.
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Hopefully they don't but with many shelters full they might declaw to make the cat seem more adoptable on the spot. Here it seems they won't not only for the purpose of hunting rats but they also seem to be going out of their way not to put animals down.
 
That would be a help in the area we live in. Volunteer groups around here do trap, sterilize, and release with the large feral cat population. But this is an urban area. Between rodents, birds, dumpsters and people who leave out food they do eat. But they live in sewers and risk busy roads and freezing weather. It would be kind if select colonies could be caught. There are working farms all over the NJ/PA border. Transport the cats to a barn and allow them to move in. They can live happily with all the vermin they can catch and safe from the streets.
 
WhatInThe said:
A lot of shelters and rescues declaw and neuter once in the shelter so hopefully one can assume it won't be done. Many are starting not to declaw house cats as well.
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Which shelters declaw cats!!!! What a horrible thing to do! Neutering yes, but I really doubt that they would cut their toes off to make them seem more adoptable. Only if they were so ignorant maybe that they hoped sympathy for the cats would get them adopted.

I read an article about a couple who had their three cats declawed all at the same time and because the vet was incompetent and wrapped the bandages too tightly, gangrene set in on all of them. The end result was that they had to cut both the front feet off of one of them, one paw off another and the third cat has never recovered from the pain and stress. They all three cry continually and refuse to use a litter box at all and the couple are feeling so guilty about their awful decision that they struggle to deal with the results of their horrible decision.

Anybody who cuts the toes off a cat (to protect their furniture) shouldn't have cats.
 
I read an article about a couple who had their three cats declawed all at the same time and because the vet was incompetent and wrapped the bandages too tightly, gangrene set in on all of them. The end result was that they had to cut both the front feet off of one of them, one paw off another and the third cat has never recovered from the pain and stress. They all three cry continually and refuse to use a litter box at all and the couple are feeling so guilty about their awful decision that they struggle to deal with the results of their horrible decision.
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:eek:mg:
 

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