BS: Keeping cats from dangerous road

Subject: RE: BS: Keeping cats from dangerous road
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Sep 12 - 08:00 PM

Well put, Janie.

Subject: RE: BS: Keeping cats from dangerous road
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Sep 12 - 08:04 PM

There is no convincing evidence that magpies, even in areas where they have become abundant, cause long-term damage to songbird populations. Predation is often not nice for us delicate humans to behold but it is an entirely normal part of the natural world, and nature depends on its occurring.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/m/magpie/effect_on_songbirds.aspx

What could only be called the agricultural vandalism of the last few decades is, by a massive margin, the main enemy of songbirds.

Subject: RE: BS: Keeping cats from dangerous road
From: Janie
Date: 11 Sep 12 - 08:30 PM

It would seem that folks posting on this thread are all involved pet owners attentive to the needs of their beloved family members, regardless of their position on this issue of "letting them loose."

However, too many pet owners, regardless of whether their pets are allowed outside or not, really do not pay enough attention to what their animals need emotionally and psychologically and do not put the energy into training and socializing their pets. Good for you, Kevin, for working to figure out how to allow your kittens safe freedom. Hope you are able to do so, and in a manner that also respects any near neighbors you may have.

Subject: RE: BS: Keeping cats from dangerous road
From: Janie
Date: 11 Sep 12 - 08:46 PM

Steve, I haven't taken time yet (my kid is saying "come on, Mom, let's watch something!") to explore how reliable this article may be, but I'm gonna post it anyway.   Don't know about in the UK, but feral domestic cat populations are significant throughout the USA, and that is in addition to the number of cats intentionally fed, if not turned into pets, by households in both rural and urban settings.

Cats and wildlife: A conservation dilemma

Subject: RE: BS: Keeping cats from dangerous road
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Sep 12 - 08:46 PM

I have no neighbours and the nearest road is almost half a mile away. Not bad for cats. It's not bad for mice, rabbits and moles either, and I don't mind making things just a touch worse for those three.

Subject: RE: BS: Keeping cats from dangerous road
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 12 Sep 12 - 03:40 PM

From long experience, if you let cats out of the house, you have less chance of keeping them off the road, than you have of nailing jelly to the wall.

If, however, you live in an area with lots of cats about the place, they will tend to be territorial.

My two have become largely house and garden cats as a result. We rarely see them more than fifty yards from our boundary.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: Keeping cats from dangerous road
From: Bettynh
Date: 13 Sep 12 - 01:05 PM

A tip from the tv program "My Cat from Hell":

The host maintains that a cat can and will climb a fence of any height, but will be defeated at the top by a strip of wire netting set at a 45 degree angle pointed in and down. This blog is the chronicle of a guy's struggle with his cats. One note about plastic netting: I had a cat that lost a leg because he tried to climb plastic netting in the garden (designed for peas to climb). He got tangled half-way up and hung from it overnight, cutting off all circulation and eventually killing his leg. I'd just use what is called "chicken wire" here in the USA.

Subject: RE: BS: Keeping cats from dangerous road
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 13 Sep 12 - 04:48 PM

One suggestion I came across was to use chicken wire, but by laying it flat on the ground. The idea being it's uncomfortable to walk on. I'm not sure that sounds too convincing.

Subject: RE: BS: Keeping cats from dangerous road
From: JennieG
Date: 13 Sep 12 - 05:50 PM

We have two cats, and they live their lives indoors quite happily. We moved to this house in May 2010 - prior to that we lived in suburban Sydney. Our pure white 9YO cat has always been an indoor cat because of the harsh Aussie sun, while all other cats we have had over the years have been in and out during the day, and always in at night. Now, because we live on the edge of natural bushland, they are both indoor cats.......and two less stressed cats I have never seen.

At the end of the day it should be about the cat's welfare rather than the human's feelings, yes?

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Keeping cats from dangerous road
From: gnu
Date: 13 Sep 12 - 06:08 PM

You can teach a cat the boundaries of their territory. They will go beyond and you have to teach them it is not acceptable. At that point, if they do not learn, you have a decision to make. Keep them in the house or... let them go. Natural selection.

Subject: RE: BS: Keeping cats from dangerous road
From: Janie
Date: 13 Sep 12 - 07:07 PM

I would doubt chicken wire on the ground would be much of a deterrent, Kevin. It will keep a cat from crapping in amongst the kale, but not likely to keep them out of the road.