Sounds great Justa.

On cat territory, this varies vastly depending on population density and food sources. The extremes I've heard were a few hundred square yards (Portsmouth dockyard) and about twenty square kilometers (Orongorongo valley on the East side of Wellington harbour). Of course the radius of an established territory and the distance travelled trying to find an uncontested area are not the same thing, but on balance I wouldn't have expected your new cat to have wandered far.

RichM I don't say that de-clawing a cat is cruel from any abstract conception, just from real life. If your cat never goes outside the house, and I realise some don't, they are not living naturally and it could be argued that not being able to mark and defend territory, or to kill prey species is no more unnatural. However if they are not confined totally, then all the above are essential to survival, physically and psychologically.

As to interactions with human society, I'm with Kat, if a person, child or adult, is hurt by my animals after being told the way that animals behave and interperet actions, then that's their problem for not conforming. Cats shredding furniture? No chance, the dogs have already chewed it to bits.

Pete M